“Jess? Are you awake?”
I opened my eyes as I tried to recall where I was, and who would be waking me up in the middle of the night. A faint smell of smoke was in the air, and I was curled up in the back of my best friend’s SUV.
“God you look so beautiful like this.”
Slowly I started to come to my senses— it was the last weekend before Labor Day, and we were all headed to different universities by the end of the week. To celebrate our last summer together, we had built a bonfire and bribed our older siblings to bring us beer in a field outside of town. I hadn’t had much to drink, but the evening was dragging me down and I told everyone that I was calling it a night. Jake had encouraged me to sleep it off in his car before morning came. Morning, and a new life without Jake. Morning and a fresh start without the guy who I’d had an unrequited crush on for as long as I could remember. I could’ve sworn it was Jake’s voice, but he’d never said anything like that to me before.