Page 40 of Thick & Thin

She chuckled a little through a few sniffles. I couldn’t tell if she was sniffling because she was crying or because she was sick. “You know better than that,” she said.

“Just a few more weeks and I’ll be home. Hopefully before you leave for Texas,” I assured her and myself.

“Hopefully.”

“Have you gone to the doctor?”

“Yeah.”

“What did they say?”

“They gave me a round of antibiotics. I should be as good as new in no time.”

“Maybe you can come and see me then?”

She sighed and sniffled. “Yeah. Maybe.”

She wasn’t saying much, and I didn’t know what that meant.

Did she regret our kisses?

Our touches?

The way I made her body weep with my fingers?

Was our relationship different?

Did I ruin our friendship?

“Are we okay?” I asked.

“What do you mean?”

She answered my question with a question. That was never a good thing.

“I mean, are we okay? Like after everything that happened.”

The kiss.

My hands inside your panties.

Why couldn’t I say it?

I wasn’t embarrassed by it, but I was scared to death that things would never be the same between us.

“Oh. Of course, we’re okay. I’m just not feeling well.”

I spent most of visitation wishing Jenny was there. I enjoyed my time with Mom and Dad, but a dark cloud hung over the moment, and I knew it was filled with worry. I hated not being able to go down the road with a bag of gummy bears and make things better.

By the time I was graduating from basic, Jenny and I were barely talking. It wasn’t for lack of trying, but it seemed something always came up. I got pulled away. Her phone died. We couldn’t Skype because the signal was shit.

It was always something.

When graduation came, and I saw her with my parents in the crowd, the sense of relief that moved over me made my knees shake. How I got through graduation without falling was beyond me. The second we were dismissed and able to socialize with our families, and I saw her across the field walking my way, my heart skipped a beat. We had never gone so long without seeing each other, and knowing things were different between us made it all the better.

Mom hugged me first, moving to the side so Dad could wrap an arm around my shoulder.

“I’m so proud of you, honey,” Mom said into my ear.

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