Four messages wait for me.
Fri, Sept 1 at 4:30 PM
REED: Hey! I heard from my dad you got to go home today. How are you feeling?
Mon, Sept 4 at 12:46 PM
REED: I just saw a student leave the art building on campus. The Titanic scenario might not be a thing in high school, but it’s definitely one here with the way she was blushing. ;)
Fri, Sept 8 at 9:32 PM
REED: I know I’m starting to act like an obsessive boyfriend, but it’s driving me crazy that I haven’t heard from you. If you’re mad that I couldn’t stay, I’m so sorry. Believe me… if I could’ve, I would’ve.
Sun, Sept 24 at 10:12 PM
REED: Judging by your silence, I know I need to move on. I promise after this, I won’t bother you again. I just wanted you to know I miss your smile, and I’m sorry for my part in all of this.
A tear splashes on the phone screen and my nose drips so much I have to use the sleeve of my shirt to wipe it.
I pause my pursuit and reach for my sketchbook to confirm what I already know to be true. The other guy in the drawing, the one with the dimpled grin that can’t hide a single thing he’s thinking even if he wanted it to, is Reed Morgan. And he was myboyfriend.
An aching sensation blooms in my chest, and I rub at it with my fingertips, willing it to disappear.
Setting down the sketch, I go back to my phone. Close out of Reed’s texts and open the ones from Cozy.
Fri, Aug 25 at 4:29 AM
COZY: TEDDY!!!! I heard what happened from Reed! I wish I could come home!
Fri, Aug 25 at 4:31 AM
COZY: If it weren’t for this year-long contract, I’d be there!
Fri, Aug 25 at 4:40 AM
COZY: It’s killing me not to know if you’re okay! You HAVE to be okay!
Sat, Aug 26 at 8:16 AM
COZY: Reed says you still haven’t woken up. I’m scared. I can’t lose you.
I scroll past several more. Texts fordayswith the same sentiments until I get to the most recent one.
Mon, Jan 1 12:01 AM
COZY: Happy New Year, BFF. It’s been months since Reed told me you went home from the hospital. When he stopped responding to my messages and said he needed to move on. I’m assuming the two of you broke up, but I don’t know that for sure, because I haven’t heard from you. It was driving me crazy not knowing why, so I did what any other sane person would do. I googled it—traumatic brain injury—common side effect: amnesia. If that’s what this is… I want you to know that I believe in you. One day you’re going to remember me, and I’ll be waiting by my phone when you do. But until then, I’m holding on to our promise for the both of us. I’m tagging you in every post I ever share because our friendship IS my bucket list.
By the time all 360 notifications have been read, there isn’t a single dry scrap of fabric on my body.
How am I going to move forward?Why, after hundreds of messages from my best friend and ex-boyfriend, can I only think about the ones that are missing from Miles?
I think about calling Cozy at least a dozen times. It’s theWondering what I would even say when I hear an unfamiliar voice on the other end of the phonethat stops me. I also don’t have the heart to tell her that even after seeing her posts, I can’t remember her. Maybe someday I’ll feel ready to do that, but today is not that day.
I look down at the face of my phone and read10:15.Shit, I should have left by now.
I borrow the hatchback to save time and arrive just as a pair of flip flops emerge from underneath the ascending garage door.
“Teddy, I live next door, and I feel like I haven’t seen you in weeks.” He greets me with an easygoing smile and a pressed apron hanging from his outstretched hand.
