“Oh, come to the window, fair Violet!”

The voice pulled me from my vanity, where I was just finishing up my mascara, and to the double windows looking down into the front yard. Pushing the cracked one open, I looked down and found about what I’d expected: my best friend, Sean, holding a rose and grinning.

My own smile tugged at my lips, and I felt a blush heat up my cheeks.

“Are you supposed to be quoting someone?” I called down.

“Yeah! It’s Shakespeare!”

I pressed my palm against my mouth, unable to stop the laughter.

“Hey!” someone called from another house. “Shut up!”

“Get inside,” I hissed at Sean. “Before the neighbors freak out.”

“Yes, m’lady.”

Closing the window, I turned for the door and caught sight of myself in my full-length mirror. It wasn’t the lavish up-do my mom had taken me to get done earlier, or the curve-hugging pink prom dress that caught my attention, though. It was the giant smile on my face.

No one could cheer me up like Sean.

What was I going to do without him?

I swallowed that awful thought down and quickly grabbed my little satin purse. Tonight was supposed to be about fun. We’d never have another chance to be as carefree as we were right then. I might have only been eighteen, but I knew this for a fact. Life would probably get better, sure, but the responsibilities would only grow.

The next day, my whole world would change. But that night was still for the taking.

Sean was already in the living room when I came down, looking amazing in his charcoal suit. His red hair had been brushed to the side, not a strand out of place. The second his green eyes fell on me, fire ignited in my stomach.

Quickly, I bit my bottom lip and looked down.

We’re just friends, I reminded myself. Nothing more.

“Oh…my…God.” My mom stood in the doorway from the kitchen, shaking her head. “You two look so grown up. I can’t take this.”

“Aw, stop, Mrs. Powers.” Sean grinned. “Violet, tell your mom to stop flirting with me.”

“Ew.” I wrinkled my nose.

My mom attempted to ruffle Sean’s perfect hair, but he slipped under her arm and stepped out of the way.

“Pictures,” she cooed, plucking her digital camera from the coffee table. “Did you leave enough time to go back to Sean’s so Abigail can get some too?”

Sean and I exchanged a quick look. No way were we trudging all the way back to his house just so his mom could take some pics. We were already fashionably late—wait any longer, and by the time we got to prom it would be over.

“You can just email the ones you take to her, Mrs. Powers,” Sean offered.

“Oh.” Mom frowned slightly. “I can?”

“Yeah,” I quickly said. “Come on, Mom. We need to get going.”

Without warning, Sean wrapped his arm around my waist and pulled me against his firm chest. I sucked in a quick breath, inhaling his musky scent. It made my head spin and my heart pound.

“Smile, Violet,” Mom said. “You look like a deer caught in headlights.”

I forced my lips open, and let her click for a few seconds.

“Okay, great,” I nearly yelped. “We need to go.”

Without waiting for an answer, I hauled my butt out the door.

Just friends. Just friends.

It was a mantra I had a feeling I’d be repeating to myself a lot that night.

At school, Sean parked at the far end of the lot. We sat silently for a moment, the only sounds our breathing.

“Ready?” he asked.

I turned to him. “It’s just prom.”

Sean shrugged. “Yeah, I know.”

“Are you…are you ready?”

“I’m a little worried I might hurt my back doing the Electric Slide, but other than that, I should be good.”

“No,” I quietly said. “That’s not what I’m talking about.”

His usually jovial expression vanished, and the serious look I’d hardly ever seen appeared.

“It’s what I want.”

“I know.”

I just didn’t understand why. Sean had everything he needed in Honolulu. His parents. His friends.

Me.

Why did he need to join the military and possibly go to the other side of the world?

If it was about wanting to help his country out, I understood that, but he’d never talked about going into the service in that way. Whenever he mentioned the Army, it was always about how excited he was to travel and see new places.

I wanted him to do that, but what I wanted even more was for us to do it together. We’d been best friends for four years, and I was terrified that his leaving meant that that would end.

“You’re going to miss graduation.”

I didn’t even know why I said it. Not only was it obvious, it was a shitty thing to point out. Sean knew what he was giving up by leaving. It wasn’t my job to police him.

And yet, it seemed I couldn’t stop trying to do just that.

“Yeah.”

He smiled, but it flickered at the edges. The dark car hid whatever was in his eyes, and I wished desperately for a moment that we could be real. There were so many things I wanted to say…

“Come on. Let’s go have an amazing night.”

He was out of the car and opening my door before I could draw another breath. Looping his arm in mine, we walked across the parking lot and into the gym.

Our last night together.

That’s what this was. Tomorrow, Sean would be reporting to the recruiting station. Who knew when I would see him again?

“Sean!” Connor Houston called, rushing past the beverage table to fist bump. “My man!”

From there on out, it was all about Sean. He’d always been popular, but that night, the entire student body rushed him, asking all about his future life in the military. Stepping away from the scene, I slipped over to the wall. There I stood, staring into a glass of punch, wondering why I was such a chicken.

“Have you seen Sean?” someone asked.

The voice pulled me from my trance, and I looked up to see Jessica Hardy. She flipped her long, dark hair over a shoulder and raised her eyebrows, silently repeating the question.

Oh, yeah. That’s why I’ve been chicken.

“Not for a while,” I answered, setting my untouched punch on the plastic table.

“Oh.” Pouting, she walked away, perfect ass swinging in her skin-tight dress.

All the girls would be looking for Sean that night. Our coming to prom together didn’t mean much of anything.

Over the past four years, Sean had probably dated no less than fifteen girls—some at our high school and some at others, and even a couple in college.

No joke, Sean was a grade-A player.

Maybe that was why I’d always kept things platonic. Being his girlfriend meant I would just become another flavor of the moment. But as his best friend, I really meant something to him.

Or at least, I had. Come the next morning, everything would change.

“Hey.”

He’d come out of nowhere, creeping up while I’d been lost in thought. I took Sean in, doing my best to engrave the sight of him into my memory. For the rest of my life, I wanted to remember him as he was right then: hands in his pockets, wearing a playful, half-smile. My Sean.

A new song started, something slow and sweet.

“Let’s dance.”

He took my hand in his, not waiting for a response. With hardly any effort, he pulled me into his arms. Just like at my house, the close proximity robbed me of my senses. I was limp putty, moldable to his will.

His hand loosely holding mine, Sean guided me to the center of the dance floor. Couples swayed on all sides of us, their arms locked tight around each other. With my heart thudding in the base of my throat, I awkwardly looped my own arms around Sean’s neck.

He smiled down at me. “This is nice.”

“Yeah,” I thickly replied, unable to look at him for more than a second.

Without warning, he pulled me closer to him, planting my face against his broad shoulder.

“Just relax,” he whispered, his breath kissing my ear.

A shiver ran straight down my back. With another exhale, I let it all go. The tension. The worry. Closing my eyes, I sank into the moment. There was just me and Sean, dancing into forever.

“Hey, Violet.”

“Mm-hmm?” I murmured, lifting my face to look at him.

Sean’s irises were big, his lips soft-looking and perfect.

“This is nice. I’m really…I’m really going to miss you.”

Tears instantly filled my eyes, but I blinked them back. “I’ll miss you too.”

“Get a load of them.” He nodded at something over my shoulder.

Next to us, Katie Weaver and Clem Takahashi had stopped dancing to profusely make out. The sight made heat fill my body, and I turned back to Sean with my face ducked.

“Guess they’re having a good time,” he whispered.

“Yeah.”

I forced myself to look at Sean. His eyes were trained on my face, his lips parted just the smallest amount.

I swallowed hard. Somehow, despite the fear barreling through me, I didn’t look away. Could it be that… Was Sean…?

No. He didn’t want to kiss me. We were friends, nothing else.

Unless…

His face moved slightly toward mine, and I sucked in a breath. Licking my lips, I parted them, ready for whatever was to come.

Suddenly, the slow song ended, and an upbeat dance tune filled the gym. Sean stopped moving toward me, and he smiled instead.

“Nice segue,” he cracked.

“Yeah.”

I had to drop my face again, afraid he would see the disappointment there.

“Eddie has a flask. Want to go outside?”

“Sure.”

I let myself be guided along once more, shoving my own wants and needs under the rug—something I was good at.

Hours later, as we stood under my porch light, the dread I’d felt earlier returned.

“This is it,” I dully said.

“Yeah.” Sean nodded, lips tight.

“What time are you going to the recruiting spot tomorrow?”

“Eight a.m.”

I tried to say ‘cool’, but the word died somewhere in my throat.

“I’ll be back to visit as soon as I can. I just don’t know when that will be. But I can write to you as soon as basic training is over.”

“Okay.” My voice cracked on the simple response.

Sean swallowed hard, and though the light was poor, I thought I saw his eyes glisten.

I searched for something to say to make him stay longer, but failed. It was past midnight. I had a curfew. And he had a life to live—one that no longer included me.

“Goodbye, Violet.”

Sean squeezed my hand lightly and stepped back, holding onto my fingers for as long as he could.

I stayed where I was, watching as he climbed into his beat-up sedan and backed out of my driveway. His headlights swept across the lawn, and all I saw was his dark figure as he drove down the street and out of my world.

For a long, long time, I stood still, frozen in one spot.

Had I made a mistake? Should I have told Sean how I felt about him?

Maybe things could have been different between us. We had a connection he didn’t with all those other girls.

But it didn’t matter now. I’d let him slip away. He’d be back for visits, but I wasn’t naive. Things would be different. I might never get the chance to tell him how I felt.

Now, there was nothing to do but learn to live with that.