January, 1988

"God, it's so cold," Lindsay said as she and Michael walked down the boardwalk, hunching her shoulders against the wind coming in off the water. "Frozen bananas may not have been the best choice."

"Yeah, maybe not," Michael laughed.

They'd just mailed in Lindsay's college applications and gotten frozen bananas to celebrate. The banana stand was closed for the night, but Michael still had the key from when he'd worked there and they'd gotten in and made some for themselves. When Lindsay had said she hadn't done as much as she should have on her college applications she'd meant that she hadn't started, and the two of them had stayed up well past midnight on New Year's Eve to make sure they mailed them by January 1st, the deadline for most of her applications.

"Whoo! We made it!" Lindsay said, looking up at the night sky and spinning around.

"Thank god," Michael laughed. "Maybe don't leave the rest until six days before the deadline?"

"I know, I know," she sighed. Michael had done a good deal of complaining about staying up all night writing her essays, but she could tell he'd had as much fun as she had. She didn't even care about the work, she was just so happy to be spending time with him again. "But I'm through the worst of it, only two left!"

"Yeah, definitely cause for celebration. I think they turned out pretty well."

"Me, too! Thanks for helping."

"No problem," he said, smiling. She smiled back and sat down on a bench. He sat with her. She glanced over at him, thinking about how good it felt for things to be almost back to normal between them after these last few months.

"It's nice having you here," she said tentatively.

He smiled. "It's nice being here."

"When are you going back?"

"Sunday."

"Sunday?" she repeated, horrified.

"Yeah, I thought you knew that."

"No, I didn't," she said, not even bothering to hide her emotions. "That's in two days!"

"Yeah," he said, looking guilty. "Sorry, I thought you knew."

"Damn it," she said quietly. "When are you coming home again?"

"Summer."

"You're not coming home for spring break?"

"No," he said, looking even guiltier. "Sorry, it's just such a long drive. And the more time I can spend away from Mom and Dad the better." He forced a laugh. She didn't even smile. The same hurt and anger she'd been feeling for the last few months was suddenly returning. "Maybe I can come home for spring break, too," he said. "It's been nice spending time with you again."

Her anger evaporated. "It's been nice spending time with you, too," she said.

She looked at the reflection of the pale white streetlights in the dark water below, trying to repress her disappointment that he was leaving so soon. They'd wasted most of the break barely speaking to each other, but over the last few days things had become almost like they used to be, and for the first time in months she didn't feel like she was drowning. She couldn't go back to that. But it would be different now, he would call her more, and maybe visit for spring break. And he would definitely be home for the summer, and if she got accepted into Dominican she'd go back with him in the fall and they'd visit each other every weekend like they'd planned. Maybe there was even still hope that he would change his mind. She still thought that if she had enough time she could convince him.

She looked over at him. Her heart skipped a beat when she saw that he was looking at her, too. He quickly looked away, embarrassed. She hesitated, her heart beating quickly, then leaned over and kissed him on the cheek.

He jumped back. "What are you doing?"

"Nothing, I just—"

"You just what?"

"I didn't mean it like that!" she said, her face turning pink.

"Oh," he said. "Sorry."

"Jesus Christ, what is your problem?" she muttered angrily, looking down at her lap.

"Okay, sorry!" he said, sounding extremely embarrassed. She kept staring at her lap, blinking away tears of embarrassment and anger.

"Let's go home," she said harshly.

"Oh. Okay," he said guiltily.

She got up and started walking quickly down the boardwalk. She didn't look back to see if he was following her, she just wanted to make sure he didn't see her crying.