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go and make sure Scott plays nice,” I offer. It’s stupid.
Granted, I was probably going to go anyway, but knowing that she’ll be there
makes the decision easier.  I wonder if I’ll even get to talk to her.  Brendon
isn’t really a big fan of mine.  Probably because I’ve gotten in his face a few
times. Ally doesn’t need to know that, but I don’t want him treating her bad. 
I don’t really think too much about my reasons.  I just know that Ally means
something. 
    “Good.  We can
avoid Scott together,” she says. “Are you gonna bring, Sarah?”
    I let out a
laugh that sounds more like a grunt.  “No.”
    “I thought you
liked her,” she cocks her head to me like a confused puppy. 
    “I like her
fine. But I don’t want her to get the wrong idea,” I shrug.
    She puffs out
air in an exasperated way and I chuckle.  “Owen, when are you going to settle
down?  You gotta give one of these girls a shot at some point. Don’t you want
to be with someone?  I mean you know, that you can talk to or just hang out
with.  It’s nice to have someone,” she says. 
    I smile at
her. “I do have someone.  I have you.” I mean it. She is pretty much my best
friend.  She knows me better than anyone else. 
    “You know what
I mean.” I can tell she doesn’t have much fight left in her.  We’ve had this
discussion many times before. 
    “Kat, you know
how I feel about relationships. It’s not that I don’t think they can work, I
just don’t know that I can make them work,” I say simply. 
    She looks at
me seriously, “You aren’t your dad, Owen.”
    I sigh.  “I
know.  But I could be.  And I don’t want to put anyone through that.” I think
about my mother and the nights that she cried herself to sleep when she thought
I couldn’t hear.  I think about how she has struggled to keep us afloat without
any help from him. 
    “But, what
about later?  Won’t you want to get married or have a family?” She understands
how I feel, but she still wants to fix me.  I try to humor her most of the
time, but the truth is, I don’t see that future for myself.  I just don’t trust
myself.  I know it might be crazy to think that I’ll turn out like him just
because we share blood.  I know that I could fight against it, and maybe, with
the right girl, I would.  The trouble is, how do you test the theory on the right girl?  I think about Ally and how much I care about her.  She is the closest
thing to perfect that I’ve ever run into and the idea of betraying her and
causing her pain makes me sick.  So, no, I don’t know that I could ever even
try. 
    “Maybe I’ll
just do one of those arranged things.  Or help some poor girl get her visa,” I
smile teasingly at her. 
    She laughs a
little, “Whatever, Owen.”
    We go quiet
and watch the sun make its final decent.  I hear her take a deep breath as she
takes it in.  I watch her from the corner of my eye, because I can’t help it. 
When the sun is gone I bump her shoulder with my own.  “Ready?” I ask.  She
just nods and jumps to the ground.

Chapter Six
     
     
     
    Things were
good. Life was good.  I was happy and content and living in a strange virtual
relationship.  It had been a few weeks since I had reconnected with my past. 
We chatted all the time and oddly, it felt like I knew him nearly as well as I
had back in high school.  He was still that same contradiction of easy going
and extremely driven. 
    It was all
unfolding naturally, much like it had when we’d become friends the first time. 
The difference was that this time I had the knowledge of what it was like to
cross the friendship line.  My memories of that night long ago were always
there, teasing me.  They made my heart beat a little faster when he’d say
something particularly insightful.  It messed with my head a little and I had
to give myself a constant reminder to push that night out of my mind.
    It was easier
to do, to keep the distance, when he