our last summer

in which her heart breaks

She's standing in a parking lot. And she's standing under a streetlight. And her hair is so pink, it's burning out his retinas one cone at a time. She leans forward and grabs his t-shirt. And she's standing on tiptoe now. She's reaching for him. She smells like black tea and American Spirits- and when her mouth hits his ear, he wonders if she remembers his name.

"Alina," he says, annoyance creeping into his voice. "What did you do?" he pushes her away and she stumbles back, giggling. She smiled wide, but her voice breaks, her eyes begin to water. "Finn said he doesn't love me anymore. He loves Charlotte now. You know Charlotte?"

Everyone knows Charlotte. Charlotte is the perfect girl- beautiful and unnervingly smart and athletic. Of course Finn Anderson would go after Charlotte. But Alina's crying now and all he can do is pull her towards him and hold her. He never thought this moment would come so soon-but Alina's fifteen, and if a boy tells a seventeen year old girl he loves her, she's going to believe him.

"I'm sorry," he mutters as she cries, but part of him is ecstatic. That douchebag finally let Alina go. All he has to do is say the word, and she could be his."I should've known better," she cries as he walks her to the bench. "I'm such an idiot. Don't tell Natalie about this."

Natalie. Natalie would look at Alina with a look that said "I told you so." Natalie is Alina's best friend, but Natalie is also Charlotte's best friend. She'll find out either way, but Alina doesn't want it to be now. Now is too early.

"I thought he would care," she's crying now. "I thought he cared." She chokes out this last word bitterly.

First loves are hard to get over.

He remembers the first time he met Alina. Sixth grade, Ms. Warburton's math class. She walked in, brushing her brown hair out of her eyes, her eyes locked on him, and she smiled. He smiled back, heart beating fast as she took the seat next to him. He remembers everything after that. Eighth grade, when he realized he was in love with her. Ninth grade, when he realized she didn't, and never will, love her back-

First loves are hard to get over.

(he's still not over her.)

Nostalgia hurts his heart. In his mind, a sad song plays but the sun is shining, and Alina is next to him playing Wii, screaming in victory as she wins. And then it's Alina again, smiling as she hands him an ice cream cone saying, "it's your favorite." It's Alina, throwing her arms around him at the eighth graduation, a smile on her face, saying, "We did it!"-

It's Alina now, crying over a boy, because they're not little anymore. They're in high school, and senior year has ended. They'll be college freshmen in three short months. Here they are, at one in the morning, sitting on a bench near the center of town, crying because life isn't working out the way they want it.

(It never has).

Alina's sobs have quieted, and she leans on him, causing him to slip his arm around her, pulling her close (making her feel protected).

"Where does the pink hair fit into all of this?" He asks after a moment.

She laughs a little. "Natalie dyed my hair while you were at Barney's with the guys."

He laughs. "My sister's crazy."

"We went to that concert last weekend and she threw her shirt off."

He snorts, but feels a pang of envy. He wishes he could be a bit like the rest of the family, or maybe at least like Michael, who is the male version of Natalie. Fun and loud and outgoing and popular. Those are the boys Alina likes. The boys she loves.

"If I were like Natalie-" Alina is whispering now, her breath hot on his skin. "If I were like Natalie, I would be fearless."

"Hmm." He knows Natalie better than the rest of her friends. He knows she's scared of the dark, even at age sixteen. She's afraid of heights, and buildings and tunnels. He knows she's not fearless. But she's fearless enough- enough to be able to disappear and not even care. Fearless enough to shake off love and feelings for other people.

So fearless-

Nothing will hurt her.

hi guys,,,,,,, ummmmm. so i sort of had this idea in my mind and thought i'd publish it. you don't have to read it but it's recommended that you do. ok. thank you:)

-trys