How I Remember Us

The End of Summer

Towards the end of summer, I had cut my hair short and was still living my pleasure seeking lifestyle. Over the summer, Zach and I had barely spoken and I wouldn't have known what was happening in his life if we didn't have our trusty group chat.

Our group chat was how I knew that he had gone half blind due to a freak cooking accident.

It was also how I knew he and Jamie had broken up.

It's safe to say that he didn't have the best of summers.

About a week after their breakup, some of us went to a movie. I pulled on my black cutoff jean shorts, a white cami, and a blue flannel. When I arrived, I immediately greeted all my friends with an enthusiastic hug. Then Zach arrived. He was wearing sweatpants, a grey t shirt, and he was sporting a new pair of glasses. However, he was incredibly different. He didn't say a word when he arrived, he didn't smile, and he didn't laugh.

Even after more than half a year of not speaking, I still found myself incredibly worried about him. We all sat down to watch the movie, and Zach sat by me. As the lights went down, he quietly asked if I could give him a ride home, since I now had my license. I texted my mom I would be later than I originally thought and told him sure. He nodded and didn't make a sound for the rest of the movie. As the movie came to an end, I found myself laughing with all my friends to my car while Zach followed silently. My best friend Anton fired a remark at me and I flipped him off in reply as I closed my door. Zach got in beside me and told me his address as I plugged it into the GPS. 

Then we started our drive.

Over the course of the twenty minutes, he opened up to me a little bit. It was during that ride that I knew we still weren't done being in each other's lives. As I pulled up to his house, I grabbed his hand before he left and told him he could talk to me whenever he needed. He silently looked at my hand and nodded slowly before leaving.

We talked a little here and there. Then came the programming party.

Our friend, Luke, and his other friend Will had created a 24 hour programming party in which participants had 24 hours to create the best program. Zach, Kevan, and I signed up in support of Luke. When I arrived, I was a little late. I sat in a chair next to Kevan and we clicked through meaningless sites. Soon after, Zach joined. Zach had seemed to bounce back a little. He was more energetic and back to his old self. Around 6 pm, the three of us headed to a conference room and shut the door. We proceeded to play games, watch youtube videos, and 22 Jump Street until about 5 am. At 5, I lied on the ground to take a nap. Zach joined me, and shared my blanket. 

After the programming party, we still didn't talk too much, but that was okay.Our friendship was on the mend and summer came to a close.