Free So Over It by Stephanie Morrill

and faced me—“then what are you doing with me?”
    The sun hung golden behind him, silhouetting him against the blue sky. It made it impossible to read his expression. “What do you mean?”
    “I mean, what’s the point of us starting up something if you’re leaving in August?”
    Like hanging together was pointless if I didn’t eventually have a ring on my finger? Hello, what about just having fun?
    “We can’t just hang out?” I asked, shifting so I could see his face better.
    “We can, I just . . .” He took a deep breath, his gaze intense on my face. “Oh, why not just tell you. I really like you, okay? You’re sweet and fun and beautiful, and I had a great time last night. But I don’t do summer flings. I don’t want to get too involved if you’re leaving.”
    “I don’t know if I can just pick up and leave Kansas City.”
    “Why not?”
    My phone chimed with a voice mail. Connor, presumably. “Well, there’s Abbie and Owen to consider.”
    Justin nodded as if thinking about this. “I don’t mean this the way it’s potentially going to come out, but why should Abbie get consideration above what you want? If you can’t leave home now, if you feel too tied down, when will you be able to leave?”
    A good point.
    “I guess you’re right.” I resumed walking. The conversation had gotten a little too intense, too pointed, for my liking.
    “I know it’s hard to make a change,” Justin said, walking with me. “But you made the decision to move to Hawaii, and you should stick with it.”
    Before I came, I didn’t have a doubt in my mind that I should be here in Kauai. But now there seemed a thousand reasons to go back. And not just in two months, but on Thursday with the rest of my family. But how could I do that? How could I go home and just give up on reinventing myself?
    The counterquestions came unbidden. How could I give up watching Owen grow up? Seeing Heather get married? Leave my sister to fend for herself when I’d said I’d be there?
    My phone chirped again and I silenced it. “I just don’t know what’s right.”
    I didn’t realize I’d spoken it out loud until Justin said, “I think you know you’re supposed to be here. You’re just not ready to admit it.”
    But if that was true, why did it aggravate me to hear him say so?

    “So, I’ve seen your nephew outside,” Kelli said. “He’s darling.”
    “Isn’t he? We’re all crazy about him.”
    “I love babies.” She sighed. “Chase thinks it’s weird.”
    “They don’t do anything,” Chase said absently. It sounded like an old argument.
    Kelli rolled her eyes at me, and I smiled. She reminded me a lot of Heather, very sweet and confident. She’d moved to Hawaii with the guys and lived by herself in what she described as a teeny-tiny shoebox of an apartment. Kelli seemed hungry for friendship, which suited me fine. I’d never had a Christian friend my age. Well, Justin, Chase, and Kelli were two years older, but basically my age.
    We’d long ago finished dinner, and now the four of us sat on cheap white chairs on the guys’ rickety wooden patio, watching the sun set. My friends back home would’ve busted out the liquor at a moment like this, but my new friends seemed content with Cokes as they entertained me with stories of back home. Well, “entertained” wasn’t the best word. I had a tough time following some of the stories but appreciated their efforts to include me. They seemed eager to accept me as a new member in their group, and with the warm breeze on my face and no pressures to light up or doctor my Coke, joining them sounded good to me as well.
    I pushed back from the table. “Where’s the bathroom?”
    “Down the hall and on the right,” Justin said.
    “And don’t worry,” Kelli said. “It’s clean. I made sure.”
    I wound my way through the guys’ house, which was small and creaky like my grandparents’, only with sparse furniture and excessive electronics. They had no couch or