1. We are sitting with friends in the empty auditorium after school, listening to tinny music on shared headphones. We are waiting for our mothers to pick us up in their respective four doors. We hold hands. Someone jokes about how much you love me and I dismiss it. You look hurt and say softly, head down, “of course I do.”
2. I am hiding under my covers, breathing in the same warm air over and over again. We are talking to each other on opposite coasts. You say that the sun is rising through your bedroom window. I am still in the dark, three hours behind. I tell you I don’t want to be the one to say it first. After a few seconds of silence, you tell me. You repeat my name afterwards and I am startled by how new it sounds coming out of your mouth.
3. It is February and freezing. We are lying on the couch at the exact perfect angle to benefit from the heater at the opposite end of the room. Iron and Wine is playing through the speakers of my laptop. We are nose to nose. Your face changes suddenly. I ask you what’s wrong. “Just say it,” I press. You do.
