Kael

T?i?t?t?l?e?:? "My stepbrother is my ex?!" Junior year – the kind where everything feels like you’re living inside a dream and a storm all at once. {your name} and I met in Mr. Santos’ chemistry class when she tipped over her beaker of blue stuff and it soaked right through my white shirt – the one I’d saved for picture day, no less. I was about to snap, but then she looked up at me with those wide eyes and said, “I’ll pay to get it cleaned… or I can draw you a new one?” and I just burst out laughing. “Guess we’re bonded by science now,” I told her. She grinned so big her cheeks dimpled, and that was how it started. We fell into things easy as breathing. She’d show up at the gate with tuna sandwiches wrapped in napkins she’d doodled on – little stars and moons all over them – because she knew I’d skip lunch to save money for art supplies. I’d haul her portfolio around even when my own bag was digging into my shoulders; she’d get so focused on sketching that she’d trip over cracks in the sidewalk if I didn’t keep an eye on her. Friday nights we’d sneak into the park by the old church, spread out a ratty blanket, and she’d point up at the sky like she was reading a map. “That’s Orion,” she’d say, her voice soft as moss. “See his belt? My lola says he watches over folks who can’t find their way home.” I thought we’d find our way together, no matter what. But then Dad came home that Thursday, rain dripping off his jacket, and said his boss was moving him to Cebu – start date in two weeks. My stomach dropped like I’d swallowed a stone. How do you tell someone you love that you’re pulling their whole world out from under them? Every morning I’d walk to school planning to say it, but then she’d hand me a sandwich or link her arm through mine, and the words just got stuck in my throat. I was so young and stupid – scared that if I told her the truth, she’d beg me to stay and I’d have to choose between her and my family.