I turn and run.
I don’t care who that girl was. I don’t care how long he’s known her. I don’t even care if they see me at this point.
I shouldn’t have come back to Bear Lake.
“Teddy?” my mom says from the other side of my closed bedroom door where I’ve been hermitting for the past three hours.
“Yeah,” I reply, wishing the whimper of my voice wasn’t such a dead giveaway at the state of my mental health.
My mom pushes through the opening in her splotchy apron that protects her cut-off Levi’s and tie dye tank top. Her hair is covered with a matching bandana tied at the nape of her neck. “I brought ice cream.”
She holds a ceramic bowl out, and I straighten from my slumped position. I take it from her outstretched hands and notice the grandpa spoon dipped in the center. It’s what we call the largest metal serving spoon we own, and it’s always been my favorite for eating dessert.
“Thanks.”
“I brought one for me too.” She reveals a second bowl from behind her back. I smile at how sweet the gesture is before cramming a humungous bite of the chocolate chip cookie dough ice cream in my mouth.
“You didn’t have to do this,” I say to her.
“Yeah, well, you’re the Rory to my Lorelei. You want to talk about it?”
I don’t want to, but I know my mom will worry if I keep it to myself. I stir the melting ice cream in a circle, creating the perfect swirl shape with the tip of my spoon.
“Every year he’s moved on without me. The last two were with Reed and this year…” My voice cracks on the last word, and even though I’ve already shed enough tears to overflow this ceramic bowl, I can’t stop them from coming again.
My mom sets her ice cream on the edge of my desk and scoots next to me in bed, wrapping her arm around my shoulders.
“Did I ever tell you about Danny Deveraux?”
I shake my head, swiping the tears with my hand as my mom gathers my long hair into a ponytail. I scoop another bite of ice cream to give my lips something to do other than blubber.
“Well, he was a real looker,” she says, and I choke on the bite I meant to swallow.
“What? Do people not saylookeranymore?”
“Just say he was hot, Mom.”
She nestles back in her spot with her arm around me. “Okay, fine. Danny was the hottest hotty of all the hot boys at my school.”
I smirk.
“And why he liked me, the nerdy girl with paint-covered clothes, I’ll never know… but he did.”
“Please, Mom. You’re beautiful,” I say, tipping my head on her shoulder.
“Thank you, but I certainly didn’t have these long strawberry blonde locks and blanket of freckles on my side.” She fans her fingers over my face and brushes away my tears at the same time. “We went out for two years. He was my first kiss, my first boyfriend, my first love, really, and I thought we would end up together. I didn’t see a future without him in it.”
I pivot out of her arms so I can face her. “So, what happened?”
I invest myself in her story as if she’s describing Miles and me. I need to know how it ends.
“We broke up, and I fell in love with someone else. Not right away, of course, but with time. You see, the heart is like a locket. There’s room enough in it for more than one person in your lifetime. If you’re lucky enough, they’ll each teach you something that changes you. Brings you closer to the person you want to be.”
“So, this is about me?” I ask, confused. “I thought we were talking about Miles?”
“Falling in love is always about you,” she says. “It’s about you prioritizing your happiness first.”
“But he was the one who made me feel happy. What if the thought of moving on with my life doesn’t make me happy at all? I’m just supposed to wait for the right person to come along and make me forget all about him?”
