17 Chapter 17

I tore my gaze away from the drawing and opened the notebook to a random page. The entry was from May 21, 2007—Jessica’s high school graduation. One of her many accomplishments that filled me with pride; one that I shared with Drew in the only way I knew how. I smiled, recounting Jessica’s other milestones that I memorialized in the notebook and the responses I imagined Drew would have.

“I knew about you and Ricky,” she mused after an extended pause.

“You did?” Of course, she did.

“C’mon, Wes. I’m not oblivious. You were careful not to bring him here, but I knew you two were together. He wasn’t like any of your other friends.” Smart girl. Too smart sometimes. “Did you have the same kind of feelings for Drew?”

Confession time. “My feelings for Drew were, are, different. We met the summer before eighth grade.”