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I lowered myself into Summer's pool as the sun lowered behind us. "Isabel and Brad left." She commented. "I'm going to miss them."

"Me too." I said. I let myself sink into the water. "I'm going to Salem."

"You're going to leave me all alone?" Said Summer laughing.

"No, I want you to come with me." I said looking at her. "You don't have a job here, it would be easy to get a job there. It's an adventure."

"I would love that." Said Summer. "We could be roommates and everything. Besides, didn't I tell you the news?" She asked.

I looked and her and shook my head. "No, what is it?"

"I guess I kind of forgot with... Everything that's been going on." She said softly, "I sent in a comic strip too the paper and they gave me a job."

"A cartoonist?" I asked smiled, "That's great." I said smiling.

"I can work anywhere in the country." She said.

"Oh my god, that's great Summer! Does that mean you'll move to Oregon with me?" I asked her.

She nodded, "Of course I will. It'll be fun!" She said. We sat in silence for a few minutes. "Can I ask you something?"

"You just did." I said looking at her.

"I'm asking you something else." She laughed, "You said Max had been depressed for a long time, but how long it that?"

"About four years. After Michael died he just wasn't the same... I'm honestly a little surprised he made it this far." I said softly.

"Thinking back on it I could kind of tell. I mean at the time I didn't realize it." She said.

"He did a good job of hiding it. I hated that about him. If only... If only he had asked for help." I said, my voice wavered.

"You can't blame yourself for this Wynter." She said softly.

"I know..." I said sighing heavily. "I just feel like part of its my fault."

"Part of it's my fault too. I mean I didn't even realize how bad it was." Said Summer. I watched the sun set slowly. I guess it was everyone's fault.

＊＊＊

Summer and I sat in her car as she drove us to Oregon. I had kept asking her to let me drive, but she insisted that she needed too. We were about halfway there somewhere in the middle of Nevada when we stopped for lunch. "This is a fourteen hour drive." She said as we walked into McDonald's.

"We're going to drive through California though. We can stop in San Fran and we could even detour and go see Isabel and Brad." I said.

"Why not? We're going to have to find some place to stay the night too. There's no way in hell I'm driving straight through." She said as we ordered burgers.

"You'll pass out. Let me drive the other half and we can make it." I said.

"I'm not letting you drive my car." She said laughing, "But nice try." She rolled her eyes. We are our burgers and then we left again.

When we got into California I sighed softly. "Max wanted to go to San Francisco university so bad. I bet he would've got in too." I said looking out the window.

"He would've. He did amazingly in school." She said smiling as we continued driving.

"He really did." I said. I realized how much I missed Max at that moment. I wished he was with us right this moment.

"Didn't you say your grandparents live in Salem?" Asked summer.

I nodded, "They do. I'm going to go see them when I get there." I said shrugging.

We continued to drive, Summer finally gave up the wheel and let me drive. When we made it Oregon I couldn't help but stare at the scenery. It was so beautiful and I couldn't help but slow down. "You're a distracted driver." Mumbled Summer from the passenger seat.

I laughed as I continued to drive. When I got into the Salem area we stopped and had breakfast. "It's beautiful here." I said walking inside the restaurant.

"Mmhmm." Said Summer as we sat down. She yawned and stretched. "We need to find out apartment."

"Yeah, but we can do that later. Besides we won't have any furniture." I laughed.

"True." Said Summer laughing. We ordered, I got waffles and Summer got French toast. Blegh. We ate and drank coffee. It was relaxing. Eventually we payed the bill and got back in the car to find out new apartment.

It wasn't very hard. We got the key and went upstairs looking in the room. It was a two bedroom apartment. It wasn't that far from campus so I could walked. Summer already told me she wouldn't let me drive her car. The apartment also had a beautiful of the city and forest. "I'm gonna sketch that." Said Summer as she looked out over the view. "Which reminds me!" She ran out of the apartment.

I walked over to the window and smiled. I was excited to live here. Especially with one of my best friends. Isabel came back in the room holding something behind her back. "I hope you like it." She said smiled.

She pulled a framed drawing out from behind her back. It was a drawing of me hugging Max. Except Max had angel wings and a soft smile on his face. I had a smile on mine too, my eyes were closed. I gasped softly and took the frame from Summer. "Summer... It's beautiful." I said. She had captured both of us perfectly.

"Thanks." She said smiling softly as she looked at the drawing. "I've been working on it for awhile."

"I bet you were. I love you Summer, thank you." I said smiling as I stared at the drawing.

"You're welcome Wynter, I love you too." She said smiling.

"Max would've really liked this." I said softly. "All of this. I can see him smiling now."

"I'm glad Max would like this." She said laughing softly. I had chosen to go to college. I had chosen too move to Oregon, start a new life. I knew I would never forget about Max, and that was okay. I also knew that I would be happy once again. I had gotten out of my blue funk.

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