Hey, Darling.

Mia cried. John flipped. Garrett expressed his love. Kennedy broke my heart.

Twenty-four hours and there was so much going on my head was spinning. When I stumbled into the house, tears streaming down my face and breath so gross I wanted to vomit again, Mia was the first to shed a tear. She took me into the bathroom, shoved a toothbrush in front of my face, and then broke down with me right on the bathroom floor.

We cried together. For different reasons, I knew, but I still had someone to hold as I sobbed my heart out, and that’s all that mattered.

The second he saw my face, John was out of the house. I presume that he called Garrett, and I think maybe that they gave Kennedy a visit, but no one has ever told me for sure.

When my tears had calmed down, I asked Mia why she was crying.

She told me it was because she was going to miss me. Mom was coming tomorrow, with the intentions to pick me up. When she said just me, I gave her a puzzling look. That’s when she told me that she was staying in Arizona. She had asked grandma, and she was going to finish off her senior year. She had asked for me, too, when she thought that things between Kennedy and I could be fixed easily. Now she figured that I would want to get as far away from Arizona and Kennedy Brock as I possibly could. She was right.

In the middle of our sisterly conversation, Garrett burst through the door, looking exasperated and pissed off all at the same time.

The first thing he did was pull me up by my arms and plant a kiss directly on my mouth.

I did not kiss back.

He pulled away after three seconds, looking apologetic but not regretful. “I’m sorry,” he apologized, letting go of my arm. “But I had to do that before you leave.”

I blinked. He explained.

“I’ve had a crush on you since I saw you at that party the first day. You were wearing a dress, and I thought you were beautiful. I was going to talk to you, but Kennedy got to you first, and then I just let that happen. I’m sorry for kissing you now, but I needed to before you left.”

I was stunned into silence.

We exchanged words - I’m not going to go over them, because I don’t quite remember them now, and then Garrett hugged me and told me that I was beautiful and that the next time I was in Arizona he would be my tour guide.

After Garrett left and Mia and I stopped crying, I went upstairs to pack. According to Mia, my mother was going to be here at around midnight to come get me. We were driving straight through the morning and we’d be home around noon tomorrow.

I went around the house, picking up my scattered belognings and trying to make sure that I had everything. I knew I would forget something, but I didn’t really worry about it that much because Mia was always there to ship it to me. When my mother arrived at midnight, I loaded my stuff in the trunk, said goodbye to Mia and John (who was still there), waved to my grandma, and got in the front seat.

I didn’t even exchange pleasantries with my mother during the drive. I stared straight ahead at the black, winding road and into the night sky. I clutched my phone in my hand and kept my earphones on.

When we passed the Arizona state line, my phone started vibrating in my hand.

K-man, stared back up at me, and I almost cracked a smile. That was the name Mia had given Kennedy, and John was J-dog. They were funny names.

He was calling me. I was officially out of Arizona and he was calling me.

I didn’t answer the phone.

Five minutes later, my phone buzzed again, but this time it was only once. I had a new text message.

I love you.

I started crying again, but not because I was mad or happy or disappointed. I was crying because Kennedy hadn’t lied to me - he let me experience. I got to see Arizona. I saw Buttons and I saw the vegan bakery and I saw the inside of Kennedy Brock, guitarist of teen girl phenomena, The Maine. I felt flattery and excitement during my summer. I experienced love and happiness and heartbreak.

I experienced.