That summer, Drew invited me to his family’s beach house. I imagined holding on to his strong torso as waves crashed against us in the ocean or him rubbing sunblock on my back, but I was too embarrassed to tell him that you and Papa would never allow such a thing. You did not even know we were dating. I stopped calling him back. I reasoned that a guy who looked like him probably didn’t really like me, anyway. The truth is, I had no idea if Drew could have appreciated me for who I really was. I never gave him the chance. I couldn’t accept myself, so how could I let Drew?
