Emmy & Oliver

by Robin Benway

made us sit at the table and eat a snack—Double Stuf Oreos. That’s how I knew it was really bad.

When the adults are full of indulgence, you know things are really bad.

That’s when I first learned about true frustration, that wrenching ache when the thing that matters most to

you barely makes a ripple in other people’s lives.

The only way I could describe what kissing him felt like was, like the last day of school, knowing that months of freedom and sunshine lay before you, the feeling that you could do anything you wanted and time stretched out in endless possibilities.