Page 33 of All Your Tomorrows

“Jesus Christ,” Kyler said.

“What?” I asked Kyler.

“He was gonna dump her,” Bono repeated, thinking I’d asked him the question.

“I kind of remember that,” Kyler said, excitement in his voice. “It’s faint, but I remember.”

“Did she know he was gonna break up with her?” I asked Bono.

“Everyone knew,” Bono said.

“Why?” I asked.

“You’ve gotta know Melanie. She’s kinda crazy.”

“Yeah, we’ve met.”

“She’d been crushing on Ky since high school. They only started dating the summer before the accident. He was lonely and she was always throwing herself at him.”

“Shewasalways throwing herself at me,” Kyler said as if it was slowly coming back to him.

“So, he gave in?” I asked.

“Pretty much. I thought he was gonna kick her to the curb before going back to school, but she wasn’t hearing it. She said they’d make the long-distance thing work.”

“She wouldn’t let me break up with her,” Kyler said, recollection flashing in his eyes as he began pacing around the picnic table. “She said I could see other people while I was away, but we’d meet up when I was home. I agreed, thinking I could avoid her when I got home. But then she showed up at the party acting like we were still together. I couldn’t take it.”

“So, what do you think happened on the bridge?” I asked, directing the question at both of them.

“Icy roads,” Bono answered.

Kyler tunneled his hands through his hair with pain etched into every line on his face.

“Worst night of my fucking life,” Bono said, his eyes avoiding mine.

“I know it’s hard to see him…the way he is now,” I said to Bono. “But I think it helps when he has visitors.”

“Yeah. Maybe I’ll stop by,” he said, though his words didn’t hold much conviction.

“Can I ask you something else?”

He met my eyes. “Shoot.”

“What’s your favorite memory of Kyler?”

Amusement fluttered across his face.

“What?” I asked, eager to know what brought about the reaction.

“He was such an idiot sometimes,” he said, laughing at his own words.

Kyler stopped pacing and looked to his friend. “Woah, Dude. Don’t.”

“A couple of us convinced him we were gonna streak across the football field on senior day,” Bono said through his laughter.

“Asshole,” Kyler cursed, though amusement twitched the corners of his lips.

Bono couldn’t catch his breath he was laughing so hard. “He showed up naked and all of us were pissing our pants because we were all wearing clothes with no intention of streaking.”

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