Carley Fortune

“Then let me have you,”

Sometimes I felt sure he was—like there was an invisible, unbreakable string that ran between us, stretching vast distances and keeping us joined.

He gave me a lopsided grin. It was a quiet smile, but it was a great smile, his blue eyes glinting like sea glass against his sunny skin.
I did that, I thought, a thrill running through me. I wanted to do it again.

But the memories and the regrets they carried with them chafed like the blanket’s wool, and I would lose nights imagining where Sam was at that precise moment, wondering if there’s a chance he might be thinking of me. Sometimes I felt sure he was—like there was an invisible, unbreakable string that ran between us, stretching vast distances and keeping us joined. Other times, I dozed off in the midst of a movie only to wake in the middle of the night, my lungs feeling like they were on the verge of collapse, and I’d have to breathe my way through the panic attack.

And not for the first time, it feels like someone stole the script to my life story and wrote it all wrong.

It felt good to give shape and order to my thoughts, and I liked using words to paint pictures of the lake and the bush.

“I’m serious. Boys are for fun. Lots of fun. But don’t let one stand in the way of your greatness.”

“I can’t tell you how many times I’ve thought about kissing you that night in my room.”

“It was incredible. I know it sounds corny, but it was the best night of my life. I think about it all the time.”

is how your actions are in complete contrast to your words.”