“Are you crazy? You cannot go down there!”
“How am I supposed to get out?”
I look around wildly, channeling my well-honed Jason Bourne instincts, and then my eyes land on the window. It’ll have to do.
“You can climb out my window,” I explain. “There’s the tree, right there. Climb down it and hey, you’re home free!”
Sam stares at me like I’m insane. “What am I, Spider-Man?”
“It’s totally easy! I’ve done it, like, millions of times.”
Okay, that’s an exaggeration. I did it once, last summer, when I was grounded and Kristen convinced me to sneak out so we could drive over to the lake and get drunk with Warren and Joey. I almost twisted my ankle in the process. Totally not worth it.
But what other option is there? A broken foot would be far preferable to whatever my dad will do to Sam if he finds him in my room.
He goes to grab his jacket and the green-and-silver scarf Asha knit for him, stuffed at the foot of my bed. As he tugs it out, he frowns and pulls at something else.
“Your sweater must’ve got caught in here,” he says, tossing it to me.
I look down at the soft pink fabric in my hands. “This isn’t mine.”
It’s Kristen’s. A sweater she lent me ages ago and I forgot to return. How did I miss this?
Sam comes over and kisses me softly, and I’m distracted from the memory. “I can walk to Rosie’s from here. Meet you there later?” he says.
I nod, and then watch as he crawls out my window, giving me a salute before reaching for the nearest tree branch. I hold my breath and don’t let it out until he’s scaled all the way down to the snow. He lands on his knees but gets up quickly, waves up at me with a grin and runs off. I wave back as he disappears around the corner.
I shut the window and lean against it, staring at the pink sweater in my hands. Everything feels so close to perfect—but this is a glaring reminder of why it’s not. Of everything that’s still unresolved. Not every chapter of my life is going to have a happy ending, but they all do need endings, regardless.