Match Cut by Olivia Julie

Author:Olivia, Julie
Language: eng
Format: epub
Published: 2020-06-14T16:00:00+00:00

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Leaving the campsite the following morning lacks the same excitement from when we arrived. Kayla and Joey are hungover, stumbling into the back of their car as Lily volunteers to drive. We exchange hugs, and after the girls tell me they would very much like to have a girls day soon, I pull myself up into the back seat of Keaton’s Jeep.

We don’t speak the entire ride back. Asher is asleep in the front seat, letting the seatbelt hold him in place so he doesn’t fall through the opening of the missing door. Keaton doesn’t look at me once.

Trees fly by, sunlight flickering through the branches. The morning air is cool, but the sun warms my face once we reach the stretch of land leading into Foxe Hill. Fields are fenced in on both sides, with grass waving in the emptiness save for the occasional grazing cow or long dirt driveway leading from the road to a well-kept house that always seems to be precariously placed on a hill.

The area becomes slightly less rural as we approach town until we’re back on Main Street. It’s a Sunday morning, and nobody is out. The streetlights are red, flashing a coordinated intersection into a four-way stop. The lights for Keaton’s sandwich shop are on, but there’s only the one employee inside.

I can see how the locals are worried. Sunday mornings have always been slow and vacant, but I remember there being at least a few folks walking on the sidewalks, getting in their weekend exercise, or maybe even early moviegoers catching the matinee.

It’s sad what Foxe Hill has become, and I almost feel nostalgic for it too.

I’m dropped off at my parents’ house, and Asher wakes like a bear coming out of hibernation, lazily saluting me as I carry my bags and tent into the house. Keaton gives a small wave, nothing a friend wouldn’t give to another friend, nothing to signal that we kissed last night, which makes my heart feel just a bit heavier.

Regret is the first word that comes to mind because I know he must regret it. Asher is his best friend, and I’m just the desperate little sister.

My mom is already plucking weeds out in the back yard when I walk in. Dad watches from the kitchen with the newspaper and his cup of coffee, giving a thumbs-up when she points to the thriving flowerbed. I turn to my phone, seeing a text from Keaton before my bag is even off my shoulder.

Keaton: Meet me at the theater in an hour.

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