Stay -2005- May 2026

“Yeah. That’s the point.” He kicks a loose pebble. It skitters under the U-Haul. “No memories there.”

He gets in the Jeep. The engine coughs to life. For a second, he just sits there, hands on the wheel, staring straight ahead. You think maybe—maybe—he’ll cut the ignition. Maybe he’ll get out. Maybe he’ll say You’re right. Stay.

Then: never.

“I’ll call,” he says.

But he doesn’t.

You flip it open.

Cole shrugs, that easy, infuriating shrug. “Start of senior year. My dad got the transfer. Phoenix.” Stay -2005-

Later, you go up to your room. You have a blue portable CD player, and you put on the mix CD he made you last summer. Track four is “Boulevard of Broken Dreams.” Track seven is “Since U Been Gone.” You lie on your bed and hold the folded paper over your heart.