Amelia stopped and faced him. Her features were obscured in the murky light.
"I think we need to end this. I think we peaked early and I think that, if we don`t end it now, we`re going to spend the rest of our lives talking about something that happened when we first met. One day, all of this will be a dream, partially a nightmare, and we`ll feel bound to each other because of it. Because of something unreal that happened so long ago."
The growing space.
"I don`t see why we have to end it, though," James said. But he did. He understood what Amelia was saying. It hurt was all.
"You`ll be okay," Amelia said. "And I`ll be okay."
A car drove by. To James it sounded like the engine was gargling. Like it was wet.
The waning light distorted Amelia`s face just enough to make it appear as if she was wearing a plastic mask.
"Okay," James said.
Amelia reached out and squeezed both his hands.
James walked away.
Amelia walked the other way.
And as she walked, she thought about what she`d just done. It was right, she told herself. Had to be. Couldn`t sit around for twelve more days thinking about a house that didn`t exist. Couldn`t spend the rest of her life talking about the time when she was seventeen.
She`d seen people like that. Mom and Dad`s friends. Stuck. Snagged. Submerged.
She cried as she walked but she walked bravely. And every time she looked over her shoulder, looked to see if James was still standing where she left him, maybe even walking toward her, she saw only emptiness. Darkness. Like the areas of the lake the sun couldn`t reach.