The Summer of Broken Rules

by K.L. Walther

He was my friend, my partner in crime, the person who made me laugh so hard before lulling me to sleep with his heartbeat and adorable mouth breathing.

“They’re like the von Trapp family, Nick!” I heard someone say, and I turned to see a blond girl holding hands with a ginger-bearded boy. “Aren’t they?” I smiled to myself. That was exactly what we were like.

“Your shoes,” my mom said. “Mer, where are your shoes?” I glanced down to see only my bare feet. Shit—I’d forgotten them in my bike basket. There had been so many children to guide. “It’s a tribute,” I said, wriggling my toes to show off my pedicure. “Sarah goes barefoot on The Farm, so I’m going barefoot at her wedding.” My dad chuckled again. “I love you, Meredith,” he said before kissing the top of my head. “You have no idea how much your mom and I love you.”

aww

“Which table are you at?” Wit asked, holding up a smooth gray stone. STEPHEN WITRY, it said across the front in black calligraphy, giving me goose bumps. I loved his name.

BENJAMIN FLETCHER sat right next to MEREDITH FOX. The wedding planner hadn’t gotten the message about Ben; Aunt Christine or Sarah had probably forgotten to pass it along to her. I started laughing—really, truly laughing. “What?” Wit asked as I giggled. “What’s so funny?” I picked up Ben’s stone and handed it to him. “Here,” I said. “Look at this.” Wit studied it before grumbling something, then turned and walked straight out of the tent. I imagined him hurling the stone into the dunes. Upon his return, he flashed me a grin. “Drink?”

I was not that light pink–tinted girl posing at parties and dangling from her boyfriend’s arm like an accessory. I was the girl who loved laughing with her friends in the sunlight, sleeping in a sandy bunk bed, and grinning while licking butter off the face of a beautiful boy named Stephen. That was the real me.

period queen

My grandmother and her steadfast crush on Michael Dupré. “Eh, I’m not worried about that,” he replied and nodded toward his wife and stepbrother. Honey had just joined them. She hugged Sarah and patted Wit’s cheek. “I think she now has eyes for someone else.” We watched Honey smile like a schoolgirl as she smoothed down Wit’s hair.

“Enough with this pretending nonsense. If you want him, go get him. Don’t miss your shot.”

period michael king

“I know you don’t like hearing this,” I heard him say, “and I know I promised not to tell you, but you are pretty, Killer. You’re pretty, beautiful, stunning, mesmerizing.” He paused. “But that’s not all you are. You’re everything Claire said and more. Clever, funny, caring, lively, strong, brave—all of it. You are all of it.” He kissed the top of my head. “And I do know how much you adore me,” he whispered. “I just wish it was as much as I adore you.”

“Stephen!” I shouted, and the cashier stationed behind register two looked up at me. Mop of sandy hair, shining turquoise eyes, sun-kissed skin, and that goddamn crooked grin.

Except that I missed Stephen. I missed Stephen a lot. “You’re not going,” I’d said during our final goodbye in Vermont. We were standing by the Raptor, my head buried in his shirt. “You’re not going. You’re coming to Clinton next weekend, preferably with maple sugar candies.” He’d laughed. “Are you going to tell yourself that for the next nine months?” I knocked my head against his chest. “I’m going to damn well try

I’d sit in my dorm’s common room until 8:00 a.m. FaceTiming him and then cry my eyes out in the shower before leaving for breakfast. “She’s in a Stephen Slump,” my roommates had said on those days.

My favorites included little souvenirs from his travels, a leather journal that always contained a new letter to me, and either a faded T-shirt or long-sleeved flannel that smelled like him: his orange shampoo, soap, sweat, and some new scent he’d picked up Down Under. I always wore the T-shirt to bed and the flannel around campus until they smelled like me, then sent them back with my own entry in the journal.

Nothing was better than spring break, though. Hamilton gave us two weeks off, and I’d spent them exploring Australia with him. We’d been apart seven months by that time. Stephen had laughed as I’d scrambled into his arms at the airport and tangled my hands in his hair. He hugged me tight. “You have no idea how much I’ve missed you climbing all over me.”

“Okay, good.” Stephen had sagged in relief. “Ugh,” he groaned. “Now I have to go back to Meredith Missings…” Goose bumps had broken out on the back of my neck. “Wait a second,” I’d said, pulling away to look at him. “What are Meredith Missings

I ducked underwater before he could kiss me, bubbles of laughter fluttering to the surface when he dipped under, too, and hugged me to him. Then I escaped his clutches and beat him back to shore. “Hurry!” I shouted. “If we’re late, we’ll have to do the dishes!”

Only a minute passed before we heard her mother’s voice. “Oh my god, where is she?” Sarah screeched from inside the house. Most of the windows were open to the evening breeze. “Where is Claire?” “I believe my bride has her outside,” Stephen said. “Wit, sweetie, that’s not how it works,” Honey told him. “Why not?” he asked. “Meredith is Claire’s godmother, and I’m Claire’s godfather—we’re her godparents. It seems logical to me.” A pause. “Plus, Mer’s called me her groom once or twice.”

He was living in the Big House this summer, and she cooked him breakfast every morning while merely mentioning to Wink that the coffee was ready.

Then I snuck around to the front of the house to throw them at Stephen’s window. “Rapunzel, Rapunzel!” I whisper-yelled. “Get your ass down here!” His window squeaked open. “Only if you promise to protect me!” Stephen whisper-yelled back. “Do you happen to have a knife?” I giggled. Yes, my pocketknife was now at Paqua instead of hiding useless in a box at home. “Of course,” I said. “Anyone who crosses our path is doomed.”

yesss shes embracing her true self

We talked about anything on these walks. We talked about everything. We talked about the future. Stephen was transferring from Tulane to University of Vermont, and he was excited to teach me to ski this winter. Meanwhile, I was excited we would be on the same coast, let alone the same continent

I still insisted on my Stephen Surprises, though. I didn’t care if it was just an autumn leaf or a UVM newspaper. When his packages arrived, when I saw his handwriting… Well, it made me melt and my whole day better. “Okay,” he’d agreed, “just as long as I get my Meredith Missiles in return.”

“Because I adore you, Stephen,” I murmured. “I adore you, but I love you even more.” “As much as I love you, Killer?” he asked, grinning at me in the moonlight, his smile so crooked and perfect.

After sneaking out of Stephen’s room early the next morning, I visited the old oak tree at the edge of the Annex’s lawn and ran my fingers over Claire’s notches in the trunk while imagining the inscriptions on her trophy. “I’m going to win,” I whispered once I reached the final mark. “This year, I’m going to win.”

Martha’s Vineyard: you enchant me. Our love affair began before I could walk, and I know it will last a lifetime.