Summer came, bringing heat that soaked into every corner of the house. I lay sprawled on the balcony, the sun’s warmth brushing my skin.
You didn’t reach out after graduation. Not once.
I could feel it—the weight of it, the quiet doubt, the sting of discouragement. How could you just let go so easily? Was I really the reason you stopped trying? Was I that unworthy of your pursuit? The emptiness inside me grew, gnawing at my chest, an ache I couldn’t escape.
Absentmindedly, my fingers traced the macrame bracelet on my wrist, still there like a thread tethering me to something I couldn’t quite name. I remembered the early morning hike we had on the mountain—the simplicity of those moments, so pure and effortless, now slipping through my fingers like water. My fingers brushed the bracelet, and the flood of memories hit me with force, too much for me to hold. Tears spilled down my face as I realized just how much I had wanted to hold on to it all. To us.
It was hard to let go. Harder still to say goodbye. I felt like I was on the other side of the glue, holding everything together, desperately trying not to fall apart.
Then, a shadow loomed over me.
“Mel, what are you doing glooming over?”
“Knox, is she dosing over again? Melanie! We have to go now!” mom shouted from downstairs.
Sometimes in the summer, the Elliots and our family hang out whether it goes camping or going to another place. This time, we’re off for the beach.
“Coming, mom!”
" Wow, you grew alot of hair." I blinked, surprised at Knox. His hair was tied back when he went to my graduation, but he had his hair let down, much longer than I remembered.
"Yeah, the university’s not that strict. Come on, let’s go."
We arrived at the beach, and I was surprised who was with the Elliots.
“Ephraim??? What are you doing here?”
Dianne smiled.
“Ohhhh.” I just realized.
“I’m not going easy on him though just because–” Knox who was beside me.
“Please go easy on me.”
“Guys, I need your help here!” Knox’ dad called us.
“How are you older sister?” Dianne asked
“I’m doing good, how about you? Does auntie and uncle know?”
“Definitely not. They just know he’s older brother’s close friend. Help me out later older sister, I want to spend time with him alone. Can you and older brother go with us later?”
“Well, if your brother says yes. Sure!”
“Yay!”
“But I definitely was not expecting you both. How’d you know you like him? I remember you think that he’s annoying.”
“Yeah. I don’t know either. It just happened. I don’t know why, but he’s always there for me, you know? He’s a year older and we’re not even on the same year. But he’s always around.”
We both looked at Knox and Ephraim, barbecuing together.
“Oohhh, you’re blushing.”
Dianne puts both of her palm on her cheeks. “I never knew we could happen. But he's such a gentleman.”
I put my arm around her. “Well, I am happy for the both of you. And I also know he’s a good man.”
Dianne looked at me. “Well, I am also rooting for your happiness, older sister.” With a sly smile, he looked at the way to his older brother Knox.
“Huh?”
“What do you think of my older brother?”
“Knox? Uhhh” The question caught me off guard. I do care for him and I see him like an older brother. Like I really do.
There are things where I just don’t want to cross the line. Especially what happened between me and Matt. The things me and Knox, if we move mountains, I might lose him.
And I am afraid of that.
“I’m not his type.”
“Oh, so you do see him as a potential?”
No, I shouldn’t have said that.
“Your brother is like a brother to me too, I don’t see him that way.” with a hint of doubt with my words.
“Hhhmmm, alright older sister, if you say so.”
Our families gathered to eat lunch. After a while, we went to the beach and played a little bit.
Afterwards when the sun went down, the mans in the family set up the tent while our moms were cooking for dinner. Me, Knox, Ephraim and Dianne went around the forest to pick up some woods and there was a river nearby. Ephraim and Dianne went on their separate ways, but had to ask Knox for permission first. “You better take care of my sister, Ephraim. Don’t do anything unnecessary you both.”
Ephraim smiled. “I’ll take care of her. And I won’t do anything that will disappoint you.”
“You better.”
So it was just me and Knox. Just like always.
“Shall we get going?”
As we walked, I asked. “So, you trust Ephraim?”
“He will protect my sister over himself, that much I know.” with a sly on his face, a cloud above his head I can see. Knox barbecuing Ephraim if anything happens to Dianne.
“Haha….Hmmm.”
“Hmmm?”
“So, how’s college? I never see you on family gatherings since you went.”
“It was busy. Well, med school. It’s rather interesting. And I’m liking it.”
“So, you really wanted to become a doctor huh?”
“Yeah. How about you? How are you?”
“Well, I’m planning to take up business.”
“What I meant to say is, you and Matt.”
“Oh.” The question caught me off guard again. “I don’t know. I think he’s had enough of me? Haha–” I let off an awkward laugh, shrugging my feelings off. Until I noticed Knox let off an upset face.
I let out a sigh. “He likes someone else now. Happy with the answer?”
Knox turned to face the ocean. I couldn’t read his face.
“How about you? Did you find someone in college?” my voice teasing.
We sat down by the beach, and being near Knox made me aware how much he had changed. The wind blowing his hair, the sound of the waves, the way the night light caught the edges of his jawline—it all felt different. Older. Sharper.
He faced me.
“Maybe?” he said in that same teasing voice.
“What? Who???” I pushed his arm playfully.
“Secret.”
“Oh, come on, tell me!” I punched his arm, half-laughing.
“No way.”
“Hmmph. Whatever. Probably it’s just made up anyway. I’m going back to the cabin.”
I stood up and brushed the sand off my shorts, but before I could take a step, Knox caught my wrist—gently, like if I wanted to pull away, he’d let me.
“What if it wasn’t made up?” he said, quieter now.
I turned. His smile hadn’t vanished, but it had changed—smaller, hesitant, like something behind it mattered more than the joke.
I blinked. “Then she’s lucky.”
He let go of my wrist slowly, and for a second, our fingers touched like they’d done it before.
Knox
The next morning, around 7 a.m., the sun was already stretching across the beach like it owned the place—warm, golden, way too cheerful for how early it was.
“Time to wake up, sleepyhead,” Mom called from outside my tent. “There’s another family camping nearby. I think Melanie knows them! You should come out and say hi. You might know him too.”
“Wh—what?” I mumbled, rubbing my eyes and yawning hard enough to crack my jaw. The zipper stuck halfway down, and I had to kick the flap open like I was escaping from a sleeping bag prison.
And that’s when I saw her.
Melanie.
With a guy.
A guy?
She was laughing at something he said, her shoulders tilted toward him like she didn’t even notice. But the second she spotted me, her face lit up. “Oh! Knox! You’re up!” she called out, practically skipping toward me. Then she leaned in and whispered like we were kids again, trading secrets on the playground. “That’s Andre! Remember?”
I blinked. “Oh yeah. The one you used to like back in middle school?” I said it casually, stretching my arms like I didn’t already feel a weird twist in my stomach. “He’s still the same—”
“Oh my gosh,” she cut me off, grinning too hard. “Why did we run into each other again? Is this my chance at love again?”
I stared at her. “You just met. You don’t even know him, and you’re already talking about love? What if he’s a dumbass—” I stopped myself, realizing I’d slipped into full scolding mode. Her smile had stiffened into something tight and awkward.
I knew she was just joking. And I also knew she wasn’t over Matt.
“You’re so mean,” she muttered, barely looking at me. “Why’d you take me seriously? I was kidding, you know.”
She turned and walked away slowly, her flip-flops dragging in the sand.
Then she spun around again like she’d forgotten something.
“You know what? Maybe! What if he does like me? I like his face, okay? What if he’s the one who ends up choosing me and I choose him too! You wouldn’t understand.” She jabbed a finger in my direction. “And it’s none of your business. Idiot Knox.”
She stomped off, threw a tongue out over her shoulder, and yelled, “Bleehhh!”
I stood there, blinking at the spot where she used to be. My hand scratched at my hair, like maybe that would help me make sense of what had just happened.
It didn’t.
I watched her walk away, kicking at the sand like a toddler mid-tantrum, and I couldn’t help it—I laughed under my breath.
Typical Melanie. All drama, all spark, all heart.
But something about the way she said "Maybe he likes me. Maybe I like him." It stuck. Like a splinter I couldn’t quite pull out.
Andre. That guy. He looked the same as every other guy she’d ever gotten flustered around—tall, smooth, probably said things like “vibes” and wore rings that didn’t mean anything. I didn’t know him, but I already didn’t trust him.
Not because of him.
But because of her.
I knew Melanie. I knew the way she laughed when she was nervous, the way she talked too much when she didn’t know what else to feel. And that little crack in her smile earlier? That wasn’t about Andre. That was something else.
Matt. It always came back to him.
I dragged a hand through my hair again and looked out at the ocean, hoping the waves could shut my brain up for a second. But they didn’t.
Instead, I kept hearing her voice. “You wouldn’t understand.”
She was wrong.
I understood way too well.
I grabbed a hoodie from inside my tent and tugged it on, then started walking down the beach. Away from her. Away from them.
At least, that’s what I told myself.
Later that afternoon, I spotted them down by the rocks. Melanie and Andre.
She was laughing again, that same laugh—loud, messy, real. But for some reason, hearing it from a distance, with him, felt different. Off. Like it wasn’t mine to hear anymore.
Andre was showing her something on his phone, probably some lame video, and she leaned in too close to see it. Her hand brushed his arm, and she didn’t pull back.
My jaw tightened.
I wasn't watching them. Not really. I just happened to be walking by, heading back from grabbing snacks from the cooler. That’s what I told myself, anyway.
But when Melanie threw her head back and laughed again—that laugh—I froze.
He didn’t deserve it. Not after knowing her for, what, half a day?
I knew that laugh. I earned that laugh.
And yet she was giving it away like it meant nothing.
I turned away and walked faster than I needed to. Back to the tent. Back to nowhere. I stuffed my headphones in and tried to drown it all out.
The sky had dimmed to a soft indigo. The fire pit was half-built, logs stacked like crooked Jenga pieces, and the smell of grilled chicken still clung to the wind. The parents were somewhere up by the cabin, finishing dinner prep, leaving us to fumble with matches and half-burnt kindling.
Melanie showed up carrying a plastic bag of marshmallows—of course, the jumbo kind—and just as she leaned forward to hand them to Dianne, the bag slipped from her hands and plopped right into the sand.
A puff of sugar dusted the ground.
Typical.
I didn’t even try to hide my eye-roll. “You’re so clumsy.”
She straightened immediately, eyes sharp. “What’s your problem?”
“It’s pathetic,” I muttered before I could stop myself.
Her body stiffened, and when her eyes met mine, they were wide, dark, and hurt. “Excuse me?”
“You’re acting like a schoolgirl again,” I said, too tired to soften it, too wired to care. “You barely know Andre, and you’re already planning your wedding.”
She blinked like I’d just slapped her across the face. I saw it—the change in her expression, the way her mouth opened slightly and then snapped shut.
“Why do you care so much, huh?” she snapped. “It’s not your business.”
“You’re right,” I said, voice low and tense. “It’s not. I shouldn’t care.”
I looked at her—and I mean, really looked. The way her cheeks flushed when she was angry. The way her hands balled into fists at her sides. The same girl who used to sneak out of the camping with me to lie under the stars. The same girl who called me in tears when Matt left, and who still, somehow, managed to laugh like nothing had ever broken her.
“I shouldn’t care,” I repeated. “But I do. And maybe I’m sick of watching you chase guys who don’t actually see you.”
Her mouth parted, stunned into silence. For a second, I thought she might cry—or scream.
“Wow,” she said instead. “You really think I’m that desperate?”
There was a tremble in her voice now. “God, I’m starting to hate you. Like—really.”
I took a slow breath, heart pounding in my chest like a drumbeat that wouldn’t stop. My face hardened. I couldn’t hold it in any longer—the feelings I’d buried so deep, they were practically fossils.
“No,” I said quietly. “I think you’re incredible. But you don’t see how much you give to people who won’t give anything back.”
Her arms folded across her chest. Defensive. Her jaw clenched.
“And what, you think you would?” she challenged.
I stepped closer.
“Yeah,” I said, eyes locked on hers. “I would.”
And then—
Silence.
Only the fire crackling behind us, a spark popping in the logs, and the distant hum of waves brushing the shore. The air between us was thick, electric, charged with all the years we never said what we meant.
“I like you, Melanie,” I said, the words falling out like a confession I hadn’t rehearsed. “Way more than any of those guys you’ve liked. Probably longer than I should have. But I figured you’d never look at me like that.”
She didn’t move.
Didn’t blink.
Just stood there, stunned, as if the wind had knocked the breath right out of her.
Then—she flinched, looked down, looked away. Her cheeks were pink, and not from the heat of the fire.
“I—” she stammered, gaze still not meeting mine. “I’m going to the washroom.”
And just like that, she turned and walked away. Not fast. Not storming. Just… gone.
The sound of her flip-flops faded down the path.
I stood there for a long second, staring into the flames, letting the silence settle back in.
“Now I’ve done it,” I said under my breath, to no one in particular.
Because I had.
And I had no idea what came next.
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