Page 57 of All Your Tomorrows

“What set it off?” I asked.

“Stepping in here? Talking about Melanie?”

“Do you think a memory was coming back to you?”

“Like I didn’t want to remember it?” he asked.

“Sheiskeeping a secret,” I reminded him.

“Nora?” Mr. Fletcher said from the doorway.

I sprang up quickly, knowing I must’ve looked strange curled up on the chair talking to myself.

Mr. Fletcher’s eyes moved to the chair. I could see Kyler as clear as day, but I knew he couldn’t. “Is he in here?”

I nodded, feeling like I’d been caught doing something I probably shouldn’t be doing.

“We want him to know he’s welcome here. He can even stay in his old room,” he offered.

I looked to Kyler who sat up, the sadness in his eyes heartbreaking. He shook his head.

I looked back to his dad. “I don’t think he can. He couldn’t get in your house until I came in. He’d been trying before he found me. But once I was allowed in, he was too. I know it sounds crazy since…” my eyes drifted to the Kyler in the bed. “…he’s already here.”

Mr. Fletcher nodded. “I’m happy he found you.”

“Me too,” Kyler said.

I shot him a small smile before looking to his dad. “I am too. He’s a great guy.”

“The girls always loved him,” Mr. Fletcher said as if he was no longer there.

But hewasthere. He wasrightthere.

“So I’ve been told,” I said.

“Heeey,” Kyler admonished.

I smirked in his direction before looking to his dad. “What can you tell me about Melanie?”

“She’s here every day. She’s become like family.”

My stomach roiled. “Does she ever talk about that night?”

He shook his head. “She said she wants to forget it.”

“That’s understandable,” I said. “But she’s never mentioned the events leading up to the accident?”

He shook his head. “Why? Has Kyler said anything?”

“No, he can’t remember. But I spoke to his friend Bono. He said Kyler was going to break up with her when they left that party.”

“She never told us that,” he said.

“Told us what?” Mrs. Fletcher asked as she stepped into the doorway.

“That Kyler planned to break up with Melanie,” Mr. Fletcher explained.

She shook her head. “I knew he wasn’t that interested in her, but he never said anything about breaking up with her. And, as far as Melanie’s concerned, they’re going to get married when he wakes up.”