Chapter 1: Drift happens

Nothing lasts forever. Elementary school ends, and kindergarten seemed like yesterday. The years stacked up like a Jenga tower—then toppled into a blur of memories. Please stay for just a little longer.

The dread of this loss and middle school closing in eased a bit, knowing my best friend would sleep over. Emily had suggested a ‘bff celebration’ months ago to start the summer off right. Ever since we met in kindergarten, we’d been inseparable; Jess Lindsey and Emily Wu…friends called us Jessily. Our favorite subjects, art and music, were how we spent our time together.

This summer was supposed to be ours. Instead, Mom was dragging me off to the family ranch in a one-horse town in the Texas Panhandle. No camp. No Emily. Just cows, dust, and tumbleweeds. The summer between elementary school and middle school is when exciting new things happen, and I was going to miss it! This one night with Emily had to count. I wouldn’t get another one before school started again.

We planned to meet after school at the front door and walk to my house. Eager to get the party started, I emptied my locker, shoveling all my supplies and personal stuff into my backpack, and rushed to the school’s main entrance to wait for her. It was hot outside, but I didn’t feel it, filled with excitement for the fun night ahead. I fired off a quick DM to let Emily know my location.

Me: Waiting out front near the buses
Emily: ...

Her response was taking forever. I waited and watched as an endless line of kids piled onto the buses. Excitement filled the air as school ended and summer fun began. Kids laughed and shouted “Bye!” and “See you at the pool!” while the yellow, idling school buses belched out stinky exhaust, making me cough.

Still nothing yet from Emily. I paced, scanning the crowd. She was never late. Fifteen minutes had passed. I checked my messages again…nothing. Then I wondered, did she say she could sleep over? She didn’t say she couldn’t, but as the minutes passed, I remembered the awkward moments from our last hang. It was probably nothing, but she appeared distracted, as if her head was somewhere else. Another 10 minutes passed, and still Emily didn’t show.

Then, I saw her leaving school with Skylar, the new girl, and they were laughing and whispering. I called out, “Emily!” and she looked back for a split second. Our eyes locked. Then she turned away as if she hadn’t seen me and kept walking. I ducked behind a pillar to observe them, watching from a distance. Ashamed, my face flushed. She saw me; I knew she did, but she acted like she didn’t. Emily and Skylar got into a luxury SUV parked at the curb. Shocked, I realized that my other three friends were inside the car! It pulled out onto the street and headed in the opposite direction from my house.

Me: where are you? We planned a sleepover
Emily: Skylar has tickets to a concert and invited me
Me: sounds fun can I join?
Emily: sorry. No ticket for you

No ticket for me, but everyone else was going. How did this happen? I used to have clout in this fam. Now I’m the one who doesn’t make the cut. I was part of a squad, and now I’m on the sidelines.

I should’ve been in that car with them. Instead, I stood in the empty parking lot as the SUV sped off, taking my friends to fun and leaving me behind. It didn’t matter where they were going; I just wanted to be included. Shattered, I walked home alone, feeling the heat now, and drained, as if my chest was hollow.

Walking home, it hit me. Emily never said she’d come over. I just assumed she would, like always. You know that uncomfortable flutter in your gut when you sense something is not right, but you can’t put your finger on it? It’s that hunch that something is coming, something different, awkward, or even heartbreaking. Until this tragic brushoff, I was clueless that my world had already changed.

The concrete sidewalk was hot, and I was sweating through my t-shirt, while the neighbor’s dog, Curly, barked at me as if I was a total stranger. My little furry friend didn’t recognize me because I was no longer part of Jessily. I was just Jess…an outcast.

The summer vacation lay ahead like an empty black hole. The ranch, a distant memory, was flat, brown, and prickly, with random cows and horses dotting the horizon. Not much to do but play in the dirt.

“Ugh, two months!” I groaned, sagging under the weight of my backpack.

Mom and Will went to the ranch the last two summers, while I stayed home with Dad and went to camp with Emily. My parents separated this year, so I had to go with them. Why was I being punished for that? How would I survive the entire summer without Dad? Being a musician was his dream, so he moved to California. Adults always get their way, and kids end up losing out..