She was able to hold her own with everyone in a conversation and was always joking and making fun of us, so she fit right in. She went with me a lot when I’d take Charlie out driving, and she sat at the DMV when he took his road test. They went out to celebrate after her passed, and she called me periodically to tell me they were still alive, which amused Alice but scared me a little every time I saw that it was her. Shane gave her a job at the Planet that was really flexible around her school and swimming commitments, and Charlie took one too so he could spend more time with her. I thought it was cute, but Alice was certain that he was going to make us grandmothers by the time he was 17. He always laughed about that, though, and Shane told me in confidence later that he’d sworn to her that he always used protection.

When she broke up with him their senior year, I thought his world was ending. It was early spring and he’d been so happy about them graduating and going off to school together. She’d given up swimming the year before to focus more on her studies, while Charlie coasted a little and took up diving, which he turned out to be excellent at. I guess her studies took her a little out of his world, too, or more accurately she grew less infatuated with him while he was growing evermore infatuated with her.

They had a talk one night and she told him that she just wasn’t ready to even think about settling down or being with him the rest of her life. She wanted to keep her options open at college, and while I sort of agreed with her on that, Charlie was devastated. It seemed like he’d really been hoping they’d make it. He’d really thought they were in love. I tried to tell him that just because they were breaking up didn’t mean she’d never loved him, but while he said he understood that, I could tell he didn’t really believe me.

It was really hard. He was still giving his diving his best shot, but after their breakup he wasn’t doing as well at that as he had been. He’d been awarded a full ride to CU for it, though, so he was still practicing nearly every day both before and after school. Still, his heart didn’t seem to be in it anymore, and Alice and I were at a loss as to what to do for him. Everyone told us that there was really nothing we could do, and we understood that, but it didn’t make it any easier to see our son in such obvious pain. Especially since Ashley still seemed to want to be his friend, and he just wasn’t ready for that.