This is probably the most placid place I have ever seen, Michelle thinks. The crashing of the waterfall makes for a calming background noise. And of course, being here with her best friend only makes it seem all the better. With Brig’s temperate nature, he seems to fit right in. She will miss him so much when she has to go back to New York. In fact, Brig brought her here in an attempt to console her bruised soul.

Michelle and Brig have been best friends since the womb, practically. Brig’s and Michelle’s mothers are also best friends, and they happen to live across the street from each other. Brig grabs her hand as they walk, which is common for them, but she can’t help but feel the tingle that runs up her arm. Surrounded by the trees, she thinks about all the adventures they went on as kids, carried by the winds of imagination. She thinks about meeting under the trees in his front yard as preteens, talking about the stress of beginning high school. And of course, she remembers the one and only kiss they shared, under the giant willow behind her house.

She remembers the smell of the moss and the bark, the rustling of the flowing limbs, the brush of his hand across her hair as she cried into his chest.

He had just told her that he was moving to the backcountry of Tennessee. His father had just been given the news of his promotion to administrator; however, the job was at a small hospital in a virtually unheard of town in the mountains. They were about to begin their senior year of high school, and Michelle had just come to the realization that she was in love with Brig earlier that very week. Michelle had been planning on telling him that night. His news shook her world, and her consciousness narrowed for a few moments, almost as if in shock. When she accepted what he’d told her, she collapsed into tears. She never told him her confession, instead burying it deep inside and locking it up. He most likely presumed that she was upset just because they wouldn’t be able to see each other very often; he probably never guessed just how much she loved him.

But here in the woods, an actual forest with a small stream and waterfall, she couldn’t help but notice how much he belonged there. The realization both elated and saddened her. She was so glad to see how happy he was going to be here, but also sorrowful that he would never know the extent of her feelings. Just as Michelle was thinking this, Brig pulled her to a stop and spoke six words to her and, once again, shook her world. “Michelle,” he said, “I’m in love with you.”




By the shocked look on her face, Brig thought he’d made a bad decision, telling Michelle his feelings for her. Yes, I realize this was kind of a bad time to tell her, but I just couldn’t hold it in any longer, he thinks. It’s just that he’s going to miss her so much, and he couldn’t stand for her to think that he’ll just forget about her the second she gets on the plane back to New York.

“Michelle, are you okay?” No reply.

“Michelle?”. She begins to cry, and Brig freaks out a little. What did he do! How stupid of him to tell her something like that. And of all times, the night before she has to leave!

“Michelle, I am so sorry. I didn’t mean to upset you. Just forget I said anything about it. Don’t worry, you don’t have to tell me the same. I understand,” says Brig, feeling miserable. Not only did he bear his soul to her to be rejected, but that statement probably ruined their friendship, too.

“No Brig, you don’t understand,” Michelle says. “I’m not crying because you upset me! I’m crying because-” she laughs, and it sounds so joyous, “I do feel the same! And just moments ago I was feeling sad because I thought you’d never know.” She smiles up at him, him being a whole head taller than her, and the warmth and familiarity of her features makes him feel happy and alive inside.

“I was actually going to tell you the same night you told me about your dad’s promotion. Which is part of the reason I reacted so hysterically,” she says, a little uncertain of herself. But Brig didn’t care, the fact that she told him she’s in love with him too is making his head spin a little. He can’t contain himself, so he just leans down and kisses her right on the mouth. But only for a second, cause he doesn’t forget that she has to leave in a little less than twelve hours, and they won’t see one another again for months.

When he steps back he sees a myriad of emotions on Michelle’s face; delight, confusion, sorrow, and a little bit of disappointment. He also sees the gleam of more tears in her eyes.

“Why did we do this now, Brig? I mean, we’ve had 17 years to fall in love and figure it out, and we only begin to understand when we’re going to be split apart. It’s not fair!”

“I really don’t know, Shell. But I do know one thing; we should enjoy each other’s company while we still have it!” She begins to say something else, but Brig cuts her off, “Come on, I brought you out here for a reason!” They fall into a comfortable silence and begin walking again, holding hands once more, but this time with their fingers intertwined. Michelle looks up and sees the trees beginning to thin out, and she wonders what’s up ahead. Brig stops her and says, “Stop here, close your eyes, and grab my hands.” She complies, and he leads her forward again, carefully.

They don’t go very far when he stops and says, “Okay, you can stop and look now.” She opens her eyes to the most beautiful view she has ever seen. Up ahead is a grassy area, almost like a pasture, and a little farther is a bluff that overlooks the valley below and the mountains on the other side. To the right is another waterfall, falling all the way down the bluff. Michelle had never even noticed that the sound of the river had gone from muted background noise to roaring louder than one could speak.

Utterly speechless, she just turns and looks at Brig. He had already been watching her, and she notes that he’s confident in his decision to bring her here. He points over his shoulder, and Michelle nods. They walk away from the waterfall a bit so they could hear each other speak. Brig spots a smooth, round rock sticking out of the ground at perfect sitting level being warmed by the sun, and they both sit down. He leans close to Michelle, and she thinks he’s going to kiss her again so she tilts her head up the slightest bit. However, he just says into her ear, “I found this place when Dad and I came out here house shopping. This place is why I convinced Dad that we had to have the old ranch house we bought; because I knew you’d love this spot.”
Michelle doesn’t say anything, she doesn’t even know what she could possibly say in response to that; instead, she just leans her head against his shoulder and sighs. This act is so familiar, yet so ripe for new interpretation; so innocent, yet almost suggestive. They just sit quietly like that until it begins to grow cooler as the light deepens and takes on a reddish hue.
“We’d better go, or Dad will start to get worried,” Brig says regretfully.





That night, they stayed up as late as they possibly could, and ended up falling asleep against each other on the couch in the living room. Andrew, Brig’s dad, came and woke her up in enough time to grab her stuff and head out the door. Brig never noticed her absence, and she just whispered something in his ear and kissed him softly before she left, tears streaming silently down her face.


Brig dreamed of words whispered into the wind and kisses so soft you almost couldn’t feel them. When he woke up, the first thing he noticed was the fact that Michelle was no longer here. He heard his dad in the kitchen, and headed int here to grab some breakfast. When he walked in, he saw his mother and father sitting at the kitchen table, talking quietly. When he walked in the door, they both grew silent and smiled discreetly up at him.
“Okay, what’s going on,” he asks suspiciously.
“Oh nothing”, Miranda says smugly, “we were just talking about the prize of the bet we made.”
“What did you too bet on?”
“Whether you and Michelle would finally confess that you love each other before she left,” his dad answered. Brig narrowed his eyes at the two of them. They were betting about his personal life!
“Well who won, then?” The way his mother smiles at him, he knows it was her. He can’t be mad at them for this. In all likelihood, such an event was bound to happen anyways. He smiles back at her and asks, “Well, what is it that you’ve won?”
“We haven’t quite decided yet, but,” she winks at him, “I’ve got a few ideas.”
“Okay, okay,” laughs Andrew, “just go easy on a poor old fellow.” When he walks out the door shaking his head, Brig and Miranda both bust out laughing. Brig makes a bowl of cereal and takes it back to his box-laden room. He picks up his phone and checks the time. Michelle will have been off the plane for about an hour now, he thinks, and sends her a text
I’m sorry I missed you this morning. -B
She replies almost immediately:
That’s okay. You looked so peaceful I couldn’t make myself wake you! :) -M
Well, I miss you already. :( -B
And I, you. When can I come down again? -M
Not till fall break. -B
:( -M
Brig sets his phone down and thinks about his last hours with Michelle. On the way back, they’d stopped at the stream to get a drink, and Michelle had pushed him into the water. When he turned around she was jogging away, looking back at him laughing. She looked so beautiful and joyous that he just watched for a moment. Then he took off after her and they played tag almost the whole way home. They came upon a pile of leaves underneath a shedding oak tree and simultaneously collapsing onto it laughing. They just laid there watching the light filter through the leaves and listening to the wind rustle the leaves.
Michelle was the first to get up, and they walked the rest of the way back to the old ranch house hand in hand. He thinks about her dark, wavy hair that hangs down her back, her vibrant blue eyes that immediately capture your attention, the way she tilts her head back when she laughs. She is without a doubt the most beautiful and infectious girl Brig has ever met. And I have her all to myself, he thinks. Well, almost.
Michelle has been in an on-again, off-again relationship with someone, whom Brig thinks is an arrogant jerk, for almost a year now.


SIX MONTHS EARLIER



“Gosh, I can’t believe I fell for it AGAIN,” Michelle stomp-paces in front of him, ranting about Josh. Again. He doesn’t understand why she doesn’t just break up with him already. Damn, this is getting so old, he thinks. But he doesn’t say anything, because Michelle is his best friend and he wouldn’t want to hurt her more.

“Brig, he is such a jerk!” She turns and looks at him pleadingly and says, “Why can’t I seem to stay away from him? I swear, it’s like I just can’t say no to him.” All is quiet for a few moments before he realizes her question wasn’t rhetorical and that she’s waiting on an answer.

“Maybe because he’s such a big ‘hunk’, as I heard the twelve year olds down the street call him the other day,” he says, trying to make a joke out of it. Michelle slaps him on the arm and says, “This isn’t funny, stop trying to joke about it.”

“Sorry. But seriously, I don’t know what you want me to say. I can’t tell you how you feel about someone or why. You’ve got to figure that out yourself.”

“Well, I’ve made a decision. I’m done with him. I won’t take him back again. I’m done with his s***.” Yeah, OHkay. She’ll be back to him before the week’s up, Brig thinks hatefully.

And sure enough, just like he predicted, Brig sees them in Time Square together no more than three days later, Michelle laughing and flirting like no other. When she catches sight of him, Brig sends a pointed look at Josh, then to her. She just shrugs sheepishly and mouths sorry. Josh notices their silent conversation and sneers at him. When Michelle’s back is turned, Josh sends him the “suck it” gesture. Brig turns away, disgusted. What a jerk.