Page 36 of Captured Love

“I know you’ve been applying to internships all over, hopping between journalism and creative writing,” I pause for a second. “Wait, you mentioned one with a newspaper. Did you hear back?”

She nods. “They offered it to me.”

A smile appears on my face because I'm genuinely excited for her. This is huge; an internship like that could set her future career up.

“Willow, that's amazing! Why didn't you tell me sooner? We need to celebrate!”

She shrugs, but I can see the pride and also the conflict playing out on her face. “I wasn't sure how to break it to you. The internship is in New York.”

“So?” I say. The summer is months away and she deserves to get out of Crestwood if that’s what she wants to do. “Asher’sgirlfriend, Isla, went to college in New York for years, so I’m sure she could help you plan your summer there.”

“Wait, you said her name is Isla? Isla Johnson?”

“That’s her. Why?”

Willow sits back in her chair with a small smile on her face. “She’s in my creative writing seminar class and we recently ran into her while hiking. She was with three other girls. We exchanged numbers and I keep forgetting that I said I would follow up with her about photography.”

The tune to “It’s A Small World” plays in my mind, but I don’t mention it. Instead, a question pops up that I can’t help but ask. “Do you know who the other three girls were?”

Willow stares at me for a second before she replied. “Um, I think their names were Hailey, Jade and…shoot. Her name started with a S.”

“Selene?”

Willow snaps her fingers. “That’s it. How did you know?”

This time it’s my turn to lean back in my chair, knowing I should have kept my mouth shut. “Lucky guess,” I say, though it's anything but.

Willow narrows her eyes at me. “Knox, are you dating her? Is that what this is all about?”

“No,” I say quickly, too quickly. “You know that I don’t date.”

“So then you’re fucking her.”

I shake my head at my younger sibling. “I don’t want to ever hear you say that phrase again.”

“Knox, I’m not a kid anymore,” she says, clearly annoyed. “Just tell me what's going on. It’ll be less painful than me guessing.”

I sigh, knowing that if I don't tell her now, she'll just keep digging until she figures it out. “It's complicated, Wills. Yes, we slept together. I got freaked out after and iced her out. I’ve nowapologized and offered to make amends, but I haven’t heard anything back yet.”

“It’s taking everything in me to not tease you about how the Sanchez charm doesn’t seem to be working. In fact, I’d say its backfiring on you.” She chuckles and then speaks again. “But seriously, if you like her, why not just tell her?”

“I don’t know if I like her,” I lie. “It was supposed to just be casual.”

“Casual,” Willow repeats, as if testing the word on her tongue. “And where is casual getting you with this? You need to go all in.”

I open my mouth to argue, but she's right again. Casual has gotten me nowhere except more confused and frustrated. I close my mouth and run a hand through my hair, thinking of Selene and the way she laughed the first night we met. It was so carefree and beautiful. I thought I could keep my distance, that I could separate the physical from the emotional. But I was wrong.

“Look,” I say, trying to change the subject. “The point is that you have some awesome news. We should focus on that.”

Willow studies me for a moment longer, as if deciding whether to let me off the hook. “Yes, it’s great news,” she says, though her tone is more subdued now. “But it's also scary. New York is huge and expensive, and what if I'm terrible at it?”

“You'll crush it,” I say with the confidence she should have in herself. “Remember when you thought you couldn’t handle the high school newspaper? You were editor-in-chief by your junior year.”

“That was here, with people I know,” she says, biting her lip. “This is different.”

“Different, but not impossible. You have talent, Willow. And passion. Those are things you can't teach.”

She smiles then, a real one this time. “Thanks, Knox. That means a lot.” She checks her phone and then says, “We should head back soon. I still have a story I need to write.”

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