{Wattys Shortlist 2022}
A one night stand is turned inside out when two strangers discover their shared past.
After a skydiving excursion that ends in a whirlwind one night stand, Camilla writes off ever seeing her handsome instructor again. That...
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Sunday passed in a blur. We'd flown back to Newport on a too early flight, and after picking up my smiley foster pup from Doggy Day Care, I collapsed on my bed.
"Lydie, you are not going to believe what happened," I told my sister's picture. She waited for me to say more, smiling back at me from the frame. "South Tenney is Jae. You remember that night, right? Under the bleachers?"
Lydie didn't say anything. She just kept smiling. No pearls of wisdom. No encouragement.
I followed her eyes to the closet where I'd been keeping boxes of old memories locked away.
Do one thing every day that scares you.
"Doeslooking through our old school pictures count?"
Lydie just kept smiling. And I wondered... if maybe my old journal was still in there.
I hopped off the bed, Rocky trailing me, and pulled out a box labeled Georgia.
The old tape came off easily, and I rummaged through a host of memories. Pictures and yearbooks and notes Lydie and I had written each other. I swallowed back the tears, opening an old shoebox full of handmade friendship bracelets.
And at the very bottom was an old notebook—my first journal. I flipped through the pages, waring emotions battling in my throat. Middle school seemed like forever ago.
My finger trailed over the faded ink.
October 17th, 2008 Two days before my thirteenth birthday, I got the best present.
I kissed a boy named South on a dare. Lydie's idea, of course. Do all boys taste like cherries? Or is it just him?
I let out a bubble of laughter, thinking how naive I'd been. What would my seventh-grade self say now?
I spent the better part of Sunday sitting on the floor of my room, surrounded by old memories, tears burning. Rocky sat diligently by my side as I unfolded notes and looked at pictures until Sunday faded.
I kissed Lydie's picture before crawling into bed. "Sisters forever. Love you, Lydie."
The next morning, I dressed in a sleek navy sheath dress and white heels, ready to get back to work at the Newport Yacht Club.
"Good morning, Ms. Isley!" chirped the receptionist. "I've emailed your messages from last week."
"Thanks, Sandra," I said brightly. Walking towards my office near the back of the second floor.
"Oh, and Ms. Isley, you're nine o'clock is here already." The older woman gave me a sly smile. "He's waiting in your office."
He turned out to be South. And he was sitting in my chair. A lollipop in his mouth. Wearing a set of ridiculously short workout shorts and a sweaty shirt. Hair slick.
