The Summer Pact

by Emily Giffin

As organic as our friendship felt at the time, I look back now and see how unlikely it was.

Then came the rumors that Summer had been caught cheating on her micro exam. Several classmates claimed that they had seen their professor tap Summer on the shoulder before they both left the room.

Her school running records would have been expunged. She would not have gone to Harvard—or any other medical school. In Summer’s mind, her life would have been over before she took it.

The most until now, that is. As my heart is broken for the second time.

My stomach turned at her flimsy explanation. I could only imagine the consequences of me doing something wrong, like shoplifting, then saying, Sorry, Mom. But sometimes the heart wants what the heart wants.

“Maybe one day,” I said. “But for now, I have you guys. My friends are my family.”

It was written eight days before she died. In it, she pondered whether a secretive love could ever be true love. “I don’t know the answer,” she wrote.

heart. I’m trying to focus all my thoughts and energy on Lainey. She is the love of my life.”

As devastated as I am for Hannah, though, I’m thrilled that her dick fiancé has finally been exposed.

“It’s not about trust. It’s about respect.”

Summer was the least conventionally attractive of the three, but I liked her strawberry-blond hair, warm freckles, and intense green eyes. And I loved her strong legs and sleek, effortless stride. Sometimes I couldn’t believe how fast Summer was.

“Seriously,” I said. “I’ve never been so proud of anyone in my life.”

But another part of me knows that I’ve built the vision for my entire future around Grady. Without him, I don’t know where I’m going or even who I am.

“It is true. You’re a really good person, Hannah. You deserve so much better.”

He’s annoyed. He’s always been jealous of my friendship with Tyson. It has stressed me out in the past, but now I relish it. Yes, I type back. Such a wonderful surprise, isn’t it?

“I mean—I’m leaving this restaurant. I’m leaving this relationship. I’m leaving you.” “Hannah! Wait. Please, please don’t do this,” he says, his hands in prayer formation. “Please, Hannah. I love you.”

tell her Hannah looks pretty calm—and her chin is up—but as she gets closer, I start to worry that she’s almost too composed. Maybe she hasn’t done the deed?

It isn’t the first time that Hannah and I have discussed Lainey’s drinking—which seems to have gotten worse since the pandemic and her mother’s death. But it’s the first time it’s occurred to me that it could have something

“So you knew he had a fiancée?” I ask her,

“Ruth,” Mr. Davis says under his breath. “Some things aren’t forgivable.”

“Sorry, Mom. But that’s what happened. And I know none of us is perfect. But I’m not a liar. And I’m not a cheater. And I’m not going to marry one. Period.” I feel a burst of pride in my best friend. She is finally standing up for herself.

“I guess. Now that I’ve taken a step back. But I still miss him. Or at least who I thought he was and what I thought we had.” Hannah pauses,

Tyson says, “For me, it was her passion. How fully she lived and deeply she loved.”

“Legend has it that if you kiss your sweetheart under the arch of the di Mezzo, you stay with them forever.”

‘I’m just a girl, standing in front of a boy—’ ” “ ‘Asking him to love her,’ ” Hannah finishes with a sigh.

“No. But they’re all drop-dead gorgeous Black girls—”

I glance away, remembering how Summer and I used to pass novels back and forth. We loved all the same stuff and shared several favorite authors: John Green, Khaled Hosseini, Ann Patchett, and Curtis Sittenfeld.