I knocked on my friend Casey’s door, waiting impatiently for her to answer it. When she did, she pushed it open and threw her arms around me, pulling me in for a tight hug.
“Why are you knocking?” she asked, tugging me by the arm into the house behind her. “You never knock.”
“I haven’t been here in a year,” I said, laughing. “I didn’t think I could just walk in.”
“You never have to knock,” she said, waving me off as I followed her through the front hallway and into her living room, where she had pizza and wine ready for us on the coffee table. I flopped down on her couch and took my shoes off, and she sat down next to me.
“I’m so excited that you’re here,” she said. She beamed at me as she took a bite of her pizza. Casey had a way of making you feel special just by looking at you, and I found myself settling into a familiar feeling of comfort and love with my friend within minutes, as if we hadn’t been apart for months.
“I am, too,” I said, looking around the place. Casey still lived in her childhood home, which she had gotten after her parents had died a couple of years back. As the oldest, it was actually given to her brother, but he had moved on to grow his own fortune and purchase several properties all over the world. He had left it to her, and being there again was like being transported back to my own childhood. I used to spend days here at a time—entire weekends going in and out of this house, playing around the neighborhood with Casey.
“So how have you been?” she asked. “You look great—tired, but great.”
“I am tired,” I said, leaning back against the couch and sinking into it. “I’m in my final year of school. I have endless work to do, and I feel like I never sleep.”
“I can’t believe you keep going through school,” my friend said. “And at an Ivy League. No wonder you have so much work to do.”
“I think it’ll be worth it, though,” I told her. I had been sure at one point—when I first took on all the loans I’d needed to go to Yale and live on campus, I had felt like there was nothing stopping me. Now, as I’d progressed through school, I’d only grown more and more unsure about my future. “I hope it’ll be worth it. With as much debt as I’m in—”
“You need to marry a rich man to take care of your loans,” Casey said, looking up at the ceiling, her voice dreamy. “That’s what I’m looking for.”
I laughed, but didn’t respond. The truth was, I’d had my eye on only one man my entire life and it was Casey’s brother, Travis, who was completely off-limits. He was also ridiculously rich, but I had fallen for him far before he had made his fortune, back when we were kids and he had given me my first kiss on prom night.
It was then that Casey’s phone went off, and she reached into her purse to pull it out and look at the screen. I glanced at it to see Travis’ face, waiting patiently for her to pick up a video call. I felt my heart flutter in my chest, something like panic course through me as I quickly snuck my hands up to my face and pushed my hair back, smoothing the front of my shirt down. I hadn’t seen Travis since that last night he’d kissed me, but I’d thought about him ever since.
Casey answered the called and the screen widened to show Travis, a grin on his handsome face. I kept myself out of view. I was nervous to talk to Travis, especially in front of Casey. Throughout high school, Casey always got extremely annoyed whenever any girl mentioned that they thought her brother was hot. She had been glad to make friends with me knowing that I didn’t have any interest in him, that I was her friend alone. I had kept my crush on him private for that reason, and wasn’t sure that I would be able to hide my feelings for him if I had to talk to him for the first time right in front of her.
“What’s up?” said Casey, her voice excited. She and her brother had always been close, and I knew that they had these video calls at least once a week while they were apart in separate cities.
“Hey, sis,” Travis said, and just the sound of his voice made something shift in my body, made my stomach feel light and fluttery. He was so handsome—his dark hair was pushed back from his face, his hazel eyes sparkling with light. Casey caught me off-guard by turning the camera toward me then, and I watched Travis’ face light up when he saw me. It made my heart do a flip in my chest and for a second I could only stare at him. I hoped to god that Casey didn’t notice the pause between us as we drank each other in for a moment.
“Hi,” I said to him finally, breaking the silence.
“Jenna,” he said. “Wow.”
“Um, I was just over here visiting Casey. How are you?”
“I’m good,” he said, looking over at Casey, then back at me. “How are you guys?”
“We’re good,” I said, my throat dry. I had to look away from the screen. I felt his eyes on me for an instant before Casey started to speak. He was studying my face intently, making me blush under his gaze. I only hoped that Casey didn’t notice my reaction; not only would it be embarrassing, but I was sure that she would be angry at me if she found out how I felt about her brother, that I had always carried a torch for him even when we were kids.
“So are you ready for this big family bash, Travis?” she asked. “It’s going to be crazy.”
“It is going to be interesting,” he said, rubbing his hand over his mouth. His eyes were still on me even as he spoke to his sister, and I prayed that he would look away from me before she noticed how focused he was. I knew then that he was remembering that kiss, too, the first one we’d had. It had been prom night and I hadn’t had a date; we’d gone home to Casey’s after the dance and she’d fallen asleep after a long night of dancing, but I had stayed up. Travis had been outside when I stepped out for some air and we had barely talked before he leaned his face down to kiss me, a kiss that was soft and sweet before he pulled away. He had left for college the next day.
“Why don’t you come, Jenna?” Travis asked. I blinked at him, looking over at Casey. I had zoned out and wasn’t sure what he was talking about anymore, hadn’t been focused on anything but the memory of our first kiss.
“Come where?”
“On vacation!” Casey said. “It’s my mom’s fiftieth birthday. She would love it if you were there.”
“I don’t know, I—”
“Come on,” said Travis. “It’s a private island in the Florida Keys. Beautiful place. You’ll love it.”
“You definitely need a rest,” Casey said. “You said you were exhausted.”
“I guess I could go,” I said, realizing that neither of them were going to let me say no anyway. A vacation did sound great, even if it meant being around Travis in person for a few days.
“Good,” said Travis, who was chewing on his lip as he looked at me. “Good girl. Case, make sure you bring suntan lotion this time, you know—”
“Okay, dad,” Casey said, rolling her eyes.
“I’m just saying,” he said with a grin. “I’d better go. I’ll send you the final details later today. See you later.”
“Bye, Travis,” I said softly, and he winked at us before he hung up. I was still feeling fidgety and warm as I had been while he was on screen. I looked at Casey, studying her face to find out if she noticed how I had been affected by Travis on the phone. She didn’t look like she noticed—she was smiling and bouncy, excited that I was going to go on the vacation with her. I was excited, too. It meant that our couple of days together was going to expand into the full week. It also meant that I would have to see Travis in person, which I imagined would be much more difficult than seeing him smiling on a phone screen.