Make Me Hate You

by Kandi Steiner

It reminded me of high school, sneaking wine coolers from her mom’s stash and dancing in her backyard or out on the dock by the lake. It reminded me of long, hot summer nights in the pool with her and Ty, staying up until the sun rose again, the days blurring together. And it made my chest hurt with the longing to go back to those days, to that specific day, and to never cross the line with Ty. I wondered what it would have been like if Morgan would have been in her room that day my mom left, if I would have found her instead of Tyler, if nothing would have ever changed between us. I stopped dancing, my arms falling to my sides, eyes fluttering open as the bar came into focus again. I’d missed so much with Morgan. I didn’t know why it hit me at that moment, but it did. Sure, she’d visited me in California, and we’d met up on girls’ trips, but we hadn’t gone to the same college like we’d always dreamed of. After what happened between me and Tyler, I’d fished out an acceptance letter for the summer session at San Francisco State University that I hadn’t thought twice about once I got accepted into BU. Lucky for me, they accepted, and though Morgan begged and pleaded with me to reconsider, she said she understood when I told her I wanted to get out of this town, out of this state, out of this area of the country and start anew. But because of that choice, we hadn’t been in the same sorority like we always thought we would be, or danced at the same parties, or stumbled home fr...