“From the first day we met, it was like magic,” I said. We started walking again, more slowly this time so they could listen to my tale. “I was lost in my giant, new high school and dropped my books while I was trying to find my class. There were so many people that I kind of freaked out a little. I was picking up my books and he stopped to help me, and he ended up walking me to my class, even though it made him late for his.”

Owen had shrugged when the bell rang. “It’s the first day. They won’t care.”

“Thank you again.” I held up my schedule. “And for pointing out my next class.” I smiled and dashed into the classroom. I’d sat quickly and glanced back to the door, surprised to see him still standing there.

He smiled at me and my face grew hot. He held up a hand to wave, his smile spreading even wider, before he finally walked away. When class ended, I’d looked up and down the hall for him, but didn’t see him.

I knew where to go next, thanks to him, and when I got to my next class, he slid into the seat next to me. My heart jumped.

“Glad you didn’t get lost on your way here,” he said. “I’d hate to think I’d miss out on one minute of being this close to you.”

“He did not say that!” Julie said and they both giggled.

“We were only fourteen,” I reminded them. “And his brother used to teach him to say all these cheesy lines. It didn’t matter, though; I fell for all of them. And he meant them, too. Those things only come off as cheesy when the person saying them isn’t sincere.”

“Okay, okay,” Emma said. “So, it was love at first book drop. What happened next?”

“We would talk before and after class. Usually, he would walk me to my next one. Then, one Friday, he handed me a note with his phone number and he asked me to call him over the weekend. I called that day after school, and he asked me to go to the mall with him that night.”

“The mall?” Emma asked, flabbergasted.

“Yeah, the mall. Hello? Fourteen,” I said.

“That’s where we spent, like, all of our Friday nights, Em, and you know it,” Julie said. They’d gone to a nearby high school and had been friends before college, where they met me.

“Ignore her,” Julie said. “Did he hold your hand as you walked around?”

“Of course,” I said. “He bought me an Orange Julius and everything.”

“This story could only be cuter if you’d shared a container of fries from the food court,” Julie said.

I pressed my lips together and stifled a laugh.

“You did, didn’t you!” Julie said.

“I feel like I’m stuck in a teen drama,” Emma said.

Julie shoved her lightly.

“We shared fries and a slice of pizza,” I said. “And that was it. From that moment on, we were inseparable. We talked on the phone all night, went to the mall and roller skating and all those things we used to do when we were young teens.”

“So cute,” Julie said.

“Yeah, cute,” Emma said. “So where did it all go wrong?”

“Well…” I blew out a hard sigh. “We dated for years. All through high school. We went to proms together, homecomings, all of that.”

“Wait a minute!” Emma grabbed my arm and turned to face me. “Was he your first?”

“Yes,” I admitted. “And I was his.”

“This is the cutest story ever,” Julie said. “I’m quite jealous.”

“And then he broke my heart,” I said.

“I knew it,” Emma grumbled.

“No!” Julie said in a whiney tone. “He’s so cute! How could he?”

“He got into a college out of state and wanted to get away from everything. So, that summer, when he told me his plans, he said he wanted to end things. He thought a long-distance relationship would be too difficult to maintain, and that it would hinder our studies.”

“Boo,” Julie said.

“I know,” I said. “It was horrible. I cried for weeks. Then I swore off men.”

“Until Sam,” Emma said.

“Yeah well,” I said. “I should have sworn him off, too. Jerk.”

“Let’s not have a Sam moment, please,” Julie said. “You’re done with him, and let’s stay done.”

“Yes, please,” Emma said.

“I think part of the reason I ended up staying with him for so long was because of Owen,” I said. “I just wanted to be dating, you know? After four straight years of being with the same person, it was weird to not have a boyfriend. But, I have no desire to talk about or think about Sam.”

Except that now that he’d been brought up, my mind drifted toward Sam. It had been a complete disaster of a relationship. I’d expected something like what Owen and I had. A relationship that was fun and easy with someone enjoyable to be around. Owen made me laugh. Sam made me worry. He was so intense, I had never been sure where I stood with him or what was going on in his mind. The year we dated was fraught with frustration and confusion.

If being in a relationship was going to be like how things had been with Sam, I never needed to be married. I didn’t want that kind of drama surrounding me all the time. In a relationship that was meant to last a lifetime, I would need someone more like Owen. Well, like Owen but with enough dedication to want to attempt something as common as a long-distance relationship.

Maybe Owen had set the bar too high. After Sam, I started to wonder which one was a more accurate representation of what marriage would be like. The best I could hope for was something in the middle.

“Maybe this will be good,” Emma said. “Maybe you can remember a relationship other than Sam and can actually have someone who’s good for you.”

“I think the bigger problem is, I never really got over Owen.”

They stopped and looked at me.

“After he broke your heart, you still have feelings for him?” Julie asked.

I shrugged. “That’s the only thing he ever did to hurt me, though.”

“Well, it was a pretty big thing, don’t you think?” Emma said.

“It was,” I admitted. “It’s just hard to hate him when all my memories are good ones.”

“And when he’s that hot,” Emma added.

“Not helping,” Julie said, nudging her.

I scrunched up my face as if I were in pain. “The worst part is, he looks even better now.”

Emma sucked in a breath. “Oh. Sorry.”

“You should date him,” I said to Emma.

“Are you crazy?” Emma said. “First of all, no. Second of all, he’s your ex. Third of all, you just said you still have feelings for him! I may not be the best friend in the world, but I’m not that evil. Or stupid.”

“No one’s dating Owen,” Julie said.

My face fell into a frown. No one was dating Owen, and none of us ever would be. He probably had a girlfriend anyhow. Maybe even a fiancé. I didn’t want to be hung up on anyone, especially not my ex from high school who I hadn’t seen in over four years. It was about three and a half years longer than it should have taken me to get over him. Yet, here I was, my heart still racing from our brief encounter, my mind still full of his face and voice.

I shook my head. No. “Okay, stop.” I held up my hands and we all stopped walking. “I can’t do this. If I’m going to get over him, I can’t think about him. Or Sam. Or any other disaster in my life. I want to enjoy the fact that I just earned a degree after four years of very hard work, and so did the both of you. We made it through college, and we’re ready to start our new lives. I’m not going to do that being stuck in the past. From this point forward, I am in love with no one!”

Julie pumped her fist in the air. “Down with love!”

Emma raised her eyebrow at us. “Um, how about not ‘down with love’ so much as, yay for strong women who don’t need a relationship or a man to feel whole!”

“And that!” I said, raising my fist high to match Julie’s. “Here’s to focusing on our careers!”