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good idea, because he doesn’t appear to be very settled down.
    And what is he doing here? There isn’t an army base in Brunswick County. Maybe he’s just on leave, and visiting his friend?
    I can handle a summer fling. After this summer ends, I have some major life decisions to make. The pressure from my parents to start a life with Grisham isn’t going anywhere, and now that I’m done with college it’s only going to intensify. I don’t feel any pushing from Grish, but I know where he stands. If I want him, he’ll be happy to want me back. He’s a great guy, he’d take good care of me. I just don’t know if I can ever learn to love him that way. No matter how much my parents want it.
    I interned at an interior design firm in town last summer, and absolutely adored it. I loved how the owner used her creativity every day to make people feel good inside their own spaces. I loved meeting new people and clients, and being exposed to different environments. It was everything I’d ever wanted for myself. And I know that one day, if I want to, I can make that happen.
    I so badly want to.
    The internal conflict that comes with this decision is suffocating sometimes. I just want to live my life, without having to worry about crushing my parents’ hearts into dust.
    I’m broken from my thoughts by a pillow being thrown over my face.
    “Hey!”
    “Get up, get up!” Mea is bouncing so merrily on my bed, my whole body is thrown up and down each time her ass hits the mattress.
    “Get off of my bed!”
    “No.” She pouts. “And I don’t like your tone.”
    “My tone! It’s ass o’clock in the morning!” I can’t help my grumbly morning voice. Mornings have never, ever been my friend.
    Mea, on the other hand, has been. We met in high school, when I finally began to notice that not everyone’s parents planned their children’s lives out like a thoroughly detailed treasure map. Thinking back to when we first met in the hallway after school, I smile.
    I’d been rushing toward my second activity meeting of the afternoon when my hugely heavy backpack slipped off my shoulder and spilled out all of its contents. I was crouching, trying to stuff everything in as quickly as possible when two tiny hands appeared beside mine, picking up my stuff.
    “Need some help?” asked Mea’s chipper voice.
    She was dressed in our school’s cheerleading uniform, with bands of black and gold swirling around her petite, lithe body. A huge ribbon held back her bouncing curls, and she looked…happy. Not frazzled, like me. Not like she had a million too many things on her plate, like me. Just happy.
    “Thanks,” I’d said.
    When we stood, she scrutinized me, and then asked where I was headed.
    I told her that I was on my way to debate club, and had a mini-freakout when I glanced up at the clock on the wall.
    “Oh, no,” she tsked. “If you’re reacting like that to being a few minutes late to debate club, you’ve got some problems you need to share. Come on.”
    She firmly grabbed my elbow with the strength of a football player and towed me along toward the exit.
    “I can’t miss it!” I exclaimed. “My parents will kill me.”
    “Honey,” she said, slowing down and facing me solemnly. “Keep going at the pace you are, and I’ll be watching you die of a heart attack by the end of senior year. Blow off debate and come hang with me and my friends. We’re having a study date, but there will be actual fun there. And I won’t take no for an answer.”
    Smiling, I was filled with a warmth that I hadn’t experienced before. This girl, in just a few minutes, had managed to make me feel like she wanted me around. Not for what I could do for her or give her, but just because she liked me and wanted to help me.
    “I’m Berkeley,” I’d said, sticking out my hand.
    “Mea.” She grinned back.
    And that was the beginning of a seriously beautiful friendship.
    “No, it’s not, Berk. It’s almost lunchtime. Why are you so