Page 89 of Don’t Be A Stranger

“Yeah…I guess?” I can’t help but chuckle. “Why is this so funny, Lillian? I’m heartbroken.”

“You guys are idiots. How could you not work out or at least give it a shot? You two look at each other like…like you just know. You know?”

I groan because her hopeless romantic tendencies are starting to sound like everything I want right now. “You need to stop watching so much Pride and Prejudice.”

“I’m serious.” Lily’s laughing calms down and she lightly pokes at my thigh. “You and I are best friends. But you and River? I don’t even know how to put that into words.”

How is Lily Hollis of all people making something sound so easy? She weighs out the pros and cons of absolutely everything in life. No matter how minor. She once made an entire PowerPoint about why going on our last high school field trip was a terrible idea.

She, River, and I didn’t end up going after all, deciding to camp out in Lily’s backyard instead. Tent, sleeping bags, bonfire. The whole nine yards. Honestly, it ended up being the most fun we had all school year.

Lily is known to overthink everything and here she is telling me that loving River is as simple as just that.

“He doesn’t think it’s that easy,” I remind Lily of the big issue here. “And maybe he’s right, Lils. Not only could this ruin me and him, but what about the three of us?”

And she’s laughing again.

I love to hear it, but I don’t know if I appreciate it being directed at me.

She pushes her slipping glasses up the bridge of her nose. “You’re in love with River and you’re worried about me?”

It’s habitual at this point. I don’t think there’s a moment when I’m not worrying about Lily.

“I think you should just tell River how you feel.”

“I tried—”

“No,” she interrupts. “Not just that you love him, but why you do because clearly River’s finding it hard to believe you could feel the same way.”

I’ve never thought about it that way. I just assumed that he could tell how I felt. I thought he could see the version of him that I see. That I’m in love with.

I smile softly at Lily, the tangling in my chest unraveling, for now at least. I’m sure I’ll still cry about all of this later.

“Maybe you should be going to Kingswell to be a therapist instead of a marine biologist,” I joke.

Lily only rolls her eyes playfully and goes to stand up to finally take a sip of her lemonade.

I can’t help but look back at the empty spot in the grass that River should be on. I’d brush the hair from his eyes and tell him that this could all be so simple if he could just see himself the way I do.

Thirty

Summer

“What the hell are you doing?” I try to keep my voice down as I help River climb through my bedroom window. I may want to punch him right now, but I don’t need him slipping and plummeting onto my front yard.

River trips over my ruffled carpet, landing on the floor with a thud. We both wince and halt our movements when the sound of footsteps coming from my parents’ bedrooms starts heading in the direction of my room.

“Shh.” I put my index finger over my mouth, warning River to not move a muscle.

I walk over to my bedroom door, cracking it open just as Papi reaches for the door handle. “What was that?”

Dad has always been the stricter one, but I guess with age the roles have reversed.

I clear my throat. “What was what?”

He narrows his brown eyes but tries to hide his amusement. “The loud thud, Summer.”

“Oh.” I blow hair out of my face. “I was getting into my pajamas and tripped.”