Jean had no reason to apologize, she had such an infectious energy. Everyone loved her.I adored her. As the summer went on, I grew to absolutely love ...her.Jean took a liking to me, too. I was 18, tall and lean with messy brown hair. She would joke to girls who I may have been talking to that "he's all mine, you can't have him!" Everyone on the store staff found it adorable."She's old enough to be your grandmother!" one girl said. "It's so cute."Secretly, there was nothing cute about it. Jean may. “You ever done the Universal Studios tour? You get to see parts of the Bates Motel set. THAT was a creepy film too!”It was that kind of date, where the conversation just flows. What was not to like, except for it having to end. I insisted on getting the check; she left the tip, another generous one.At her suggestion, we extended our time together with a short walk down to the shore, holding hands all the way. There’s something about being on the beach after dark – I guess a stronger connect to. "Brother David, can you carry a statist for a mile? Do you want to?"I subsided. Rose was definitely better at this than I was.Finally it was Rebecca and Nadine, Diane and Judith who came to see us off. It was impossible to use the front door of the ranch house -- the snow had buried it, but the garage door was clear so we went that way.The wind was blustery, but not as bad as it had been, but there were still a lot of snowflakes in the air -- both still coming down and what the wind kicked up.. “Mallory,” Daphne’s voice squeaked when the realization hit her. She could pinpoint the first moment both Mallory’s love and vulnerability flooded her soul all at once. Her eyes watered as she watched her drunken classmate softly, trying in vain to dab her red puffy cheeks dry. “I-I’m sorry.” “Are you?” Mallory sniffled, cutting her eyes up at Daphne as she shook her head. “You don’t have to be sorry, y’know? This is my crap. It’s got nothing to do with you.” “Mallory, I-” “Please.” Mallory.