Jason tweeted: [Lynn and I broke up amicably.
There’s no drama here.] Ashley’s tweet
vanished. But the fans weren’t buying it. Most
assumed he was covering for me, that he’d
pressured Ashley to delete her tweet. Suddenly,
the internet was demanding I apologize to
Jason. But no one would tell me what I’d done
wrong.
At our high school reunion, Ashley saw me enter
the room and went off. “Well, well, if it isn’t the
princess who dumped Jason and ran off to
Europe. You actually have the nerve to come
back?” The room fell silent. A few old friends
gestured for me to sit down, telling me to
ignore her. But Ashley wasn’t done. “You were
so happy dating him, then you just ditched him.
to go study abroad. You know his mom
almost…” “Enough,” a male voice interrupted.
All eyes turned to Jason. “It’s Jason! He never
comes to these things,” someone whispered. “I
know, the class president has invited him like a
million times.” Ashley glared at me and shut up.
<
My seat was close to where Jason was
standing. It had been two weeks since our
unexpected encounter at the airport. “Long time.
no see, Lynn.” He used my name, so I couldn’t
pretend I hadn’t heard him. “Long time no see.”
The class president, clearly unprepared for
Jason’s arrival, scrambled to add a chair beside
- me. Time really does change things. We’d gone
from talking non–stop to sitting in awkward
silence.
After the reunion, I went to the restroom.
Coming out, I saw Jason, masked and dressed
in black, leaning against the wall, like he was
waiting for someone. As I walked past, he
spoke. “Want to talk?” I agreed.
- 5.
Jason drove me to the beach. We sat on the
sand, the cool night air brushing our faces.
“How have you been?” I asked the man I’d loved
for five years. “Pretty good,” Jason said. “You?”
I smiled and nodded. “Me too.” Just thought
<
about you a lot, I didn’t add. He was about to
get married. I was his past.
We talked about how we met, our grades, old
promises, shared memories. A strange thought
crept into my mind. Our ending didn’t match our
beginning. This wasn’t how it was supposed to
be with Jason and me. But it was how it was.
