The Summer of Sara

Meet Sara. She's a bright, young woman with short blond hair. She loves to read Shakespeare, drink coffee, and living the Up North life. She works at the local souvenir shirt shop in town in the summer and attends college in Michigan's Upper Peninsula. She's studying to be a psychologist. So, she's smart. I never met someone as smart as her.

There is one problem. She's dating someone else.

When I moved to Frankfort, Michigan, in 2018, I began working at that same shop. My family loved coming to the area, and that summer we decided to move, me first. 

I met Sara on my first day. I thought she was very pretty. I normally like long, brown hair, but her blond bob was beautiful. It was like she was transported from the Roaring Twenties. I'm sure somewhere in her closet is a glittering party dress wrapped around a Glenn Miller record. 

She was so beautiful that I avoided eye contact for most of our time together. We bonded almost immediately. It turned out she was a theater nerd. I was in theater all four years of high school. She told about the terrible times she had with her instructor, who cast a dating couple to play a couple in a play, and the couple broke up halfway through production. I told about the time I made a flower crown for a play that got destroyed after the show for "memories" without my consent. 

I figured out that we could play music from our phones when we plug them into the stereo, so I made a massive playlist of over four hundred songs. Many osongsf were by Taylor Swift. She's one of her favorite artists. In a way, I made her a mixtape.

I remember one song she commented on. It was "Eclipse (All Yours)", by Metric, which is featured on the Twilight Saga: Eclipse soundtrack. She said, "I know this. It's from Twilight. Is it sad I know this?" I said, "Is it sad that I put it on the playlist?"

Not all of the songs were winners. I put "White & Nerdy", by Weird Al, on the playlist. She said, "Is this Weird Al?" with a hint of disgust in her voice. Weird Al didn't stay on the playlist any longer.

Sara is a coffee drinker. She loved this little coffee shop down the street. Every once in a while, she'd go on a coffee run. I never asked for anything; I didn't drink coffee much at the time. To keep me from feeling left out, I guess, she brought me a bottle of Northwood's Black Cherry Cream Soda. And let me tell you, that is cherry pie in a bottle. I still drink it to this day. She also had a miss in bringing something for me. Another time, Sara brought me a bottle of Bundaberg's Australian Root Beer. I told her I'm sort of an amateur root beer connoisseur, so she got it for me to broaden my horizons. I, however, had already tried it, and it tasted like bubblegum flavored toothpaste. She felt bad. I told her not to worry about it.

Enter Justin, her boyfriend. I would later find out on Facebook - Sara and I are friends on Facebook - that they've been dating since sophomore year of high school. He was handsome in a cute, quirky, nerdy sort of way that makes any man uneasy. I knew he existed, so it was a matter of time before he wandered in and got a discount on an M22 hoodie.

I'm not the kind of person who would cause drama and break them up. I would never do that. I could see how incredibly happy she was. 

Soon came a time for us to part ways anyway. My mother needed my help packing up the house. Sara left to start her semester at Northern Michigan University. But before she left, I gave her a present. It was an atlas because I'm such a dork, and I love atlases. She joked about having to listen to CDs in the U.P. because of the poor radio reception. I thought to give her an atlas in case the GPS didn't work either. I didn't give it to her directly; I left it for her to find. Mostly because I was embarrassed. 

I also left her a note. I don't really remember what I wrote exactly. Verbatim, I said that she was very pretty, and Justin is lucky to have her. 

Our last day together, she didn't say anything about the atlas. I didn't bring it up. We just quietly went around the storeroom folding shirts customers looked at, running the register, and taking the extra money to the bank.

I closed up the shop that night, and I found this on my lunch box.

"Thank you very much for the nice letter and map. It was very sweet and respectful. I am glad and respect your honesty. If everyone spoke their feelings more often, the world would be a happier and kinder place. I appreciate your friendship and hope you are able to flourish in this next year towards your life goals. Thank you again, Sara."

I still have the letter to this day. Because part of me, selfishly, still hopes they'll break up. It also serves a purpose, I guess, in terms of no regret. I'm glad I told her. I may have gone insane if I kept it to myself. 

Sara is now studying at college. I got a job at the fruit factory across town. My family is up here with me, so it's not so lonely. I saw Sara one other time. It was during the annual Sidewalk Sales, and she was running the register outside the storefront. She smiled and waved at me. I waved back.

We're still friends through Facebook. It'll be her birthday next week. She'll be 22. Even though we're not hanging out much, I still wonder if she ever thought anything of me. If I was likeable enough. I always figured myself not worth dating. I have a short temper, like my father, and I fear hurting her, or anyone for that matter. It's probably best we stayed friends. 

I'll never forget her, and I thank her for the letter. Maybe we'll see each other again. Maybe we'll date. Who knows what the future holds for us?