If You Love Something...

Sweetheart

A cool, Mid-July night.

A group of our high school friends sat around a dimming fire, none of us wanted to leave, so we were going out of our way to keep the fire ablaze. We all knew this would be the last night all of us would see each other again. Things were changing, we all were leaving. Jamie, Lisa, Eric and I all will leave for Colleges across the country in two weeks, all of them longer than a five hour drive to get to the other.

Tanner and Collins would leave for basic by the end of the week. My heart couldn't stand the thought of Tanner leaving, every thought of our impending departure grew a more painful pang in my gut. Tanner and I have been together since our Sophomore year, since just before my 16 birthday and a couple months after his. We had been inseparable ever since then, there wasn't a day that went by that I didn't see or, at least, talk to him.

We all stared at the fire, we'd take short glances at each other, trying to soak in our last moments together. Who knew where we'd be in the years to come. I'd like to think everything worked in all of our favors, Tanner and I made it through this contract. Collins wouldn't get deployed. Jamie graduated with a Bachelor's in Business and would be contemplating going for a Master's. Lisa would survive Nursing School. Eric would be happy still studying Physical Therapy. I would be graduated with my degree in Education. We'd be happy, we'd be satisfied.

The silence grew painful. Tears welled in Lisa's eyes, I stared at her and I could tell she was trying to find the words to break the silence. She chuckled softly, the corners of her small mouth stiff and then cleared her throat.

"Can we promise to meet back here when we get back to this town?" She asked quietly, her blue eyes looked glassy and sorrowful, "Like, can we meet here and get together and let it be like we never left?" She looked at all of us, her gaze darting from person to person, like she was afraid one of us would disappear when she wasn't paying attention. Some of us nodded and the rest of us tried to bring up a small smile.

"I'd love to, Lisa." I said softly.

Collins leaned back in his red lawnchair, his sandy blonde hair stuck out on the sides, making it curl up slightly on the ends. That's how I'd like to remember him, how I'd like to describe him to my children when they ask who my friend was when I was little, since I was three years old on my grandmother's front porch. Sometimes the thought of Collins enlistment hurt more than the thought of Tanner's more so because Collins was like the older brother I never had.

Eric chugged the warm beer that sat next to him, he wasn't the best with sad experiences. His expression looked close to the expression he wore after his father became sick. I always worried about the way Eric coped with things, but Tanner always told me I was being to maternal towards him. He took the can and threw it in the flames, the metal began to shrink and melt into the burning embers.

"That's fine with me, but Collins here," Eric said with a small smirk hiding in his dimpled face, "will owe me a 12-pack." Collins threw his hands up in front of him laughing in a slight disbelief.

"No way, dude. You still owe me from graduation." Collins said, leaning forward so his chair hit the soft ground in front of him. I leaned into Tanner's broad shoulder, his dark eyes looked upwards to the stars. He felt frigid against my touch, but I shook it off, he was saying goodbye to his best friends.

Jamie's short crimson red hair looked brighter against the light of the fire. I couldn't see her face through the dark, she was turned to look behind her as her parent's switched on the back porch light. They did that periodically to make sure we weren't being too wild and wake the neighbor's. Jamie's always been kept on a short leash, but had been slowly loosening the chain since we graduated. She dyed her hair not too long after High School ended, her long, brown hair was always something she complained about so it wasn't much of a shock to me when she drastically changed it one afternoon.