Page 579 of The Winslow Brothers

Nerves fill my chest, and Maria sits beside me, at one of our favorite spots in Central Park. She fidgets with her jean shorts, and I try to gain the strength to have a conversation with her that I know is going to be hard.

In less than a week, I’m going to be heading off for college, and Maria will be here, finishing her last two years of high school.

I love this girl like crazy, I really do, but I don’t think staying together is the right thing. She should enjoy her last two years of high school, and I should have the freedom to enjoy being in college.

We shouldn’t be stressed over a long-distance relationship right now.

We should just be living our lives. Having fun. Enjoying being young while we can.

“Do you want to grab dinner aft—” she starts to say just as I finally find the courage to tell her. As a result, we pretty much talk over each other.

“We need to talk, babe.”

Her eyes jerk to mine, but I repeat myself, just to ensure she hears me.

“We need to talk, babe.”

She doesn’t say anything at first, instead searching my gaze. Eventually, she looks out toward the park and nods. “Yeah, I guess we do, huh? You’re leaving soon, and we need to figure out where we go from here.”

“Yeah,” I say, nodding even though she isn’t looking at me. “I don’t want to break up, but I don’t see how we’re going to be able to stay together.”

She grimaces, her eyes fixated on her shoes. “You don’t think we can manage long-distance,” she says, her voice tinged with sadness.

Fuck. This is hard.Harder than I thought it would be.

“I…I don’t think that would be good for either one of us, you know?”

She looks up at me, and one tear slips from her lid and down her cheek.

I feel like the biggest bastard on the planet.

“Fuck, babe. I’m sorry. I hate this. I hate—”

“It’s okay.” She shakes her head and sniffles. “I understand. You deserve to start college with a clean slate. A new beginning without anything holding you back.”

I don’t know what to say to that, but Maria doesn’t give me any time to figure it out. She stands up from the park bench and leans down to press a soft kiss to my cheek. Herlastkiss to my cheek. “Goodbye, Remington Winslow.”

Fucking hell.This isn’t how this was supposed to go. This isn’t how it was supposed tofeel—like I’ve intentionally put myself in a meat grinder.

“Maria, I don’t want it to end like this between us,” I start to say, but she shakes her head and pulls up to stand straight.

“Nothing else needs to be said, okay? I understand. You’re moving on, and one day, so will I.” Her eyes shine with more emotion, but she doesn’t linger after that. With a flick of her hair and a turn of her toe, all I’m left with is the sight of her walking away.

I pull my Walkman from my pocket and put my headphones on in an effort to drown out the feeling of sitting on this bench all alone.

I expect it to make me feel better, to help me find the reasoning in my decision and settle into the consequences. But when the opening lyrics of “Someone Like You” start to fill my ears, I find myself thinking,I hope, one day, I’ll find someone like Maria again.

Still Friday, November 15th

Remy

I was such a fucking idiot back then.

An eighteen-year-old prick who broke up with Maria because he was going off to college. Because he wanted freedom. Wanted tail. Wanted to play the fucking field. A dumb little shit who had his priorities all fucked up.

But I know better now.

I know what my priorities are, and I know exactly what the woman standing in front of me means.

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