you go!”
Jane watched, her teddy bear latched safely in her arms, as her sister jumped into Dave Collin’s arms. Ellie laid a huge kiss on his lips. He spun her around in his arms like she was a princess before her sister turned away with a wistful sigh and back towards their packed car. Jane’s family would be leaving Repo Ridge today and Ellie’s boyfriend had come over to give her one last goodbye. Ellie told Jane that she didn’t see the long distance thing working out. This made Jane sad. Dave was always so fun to be around. He made her sister laugh and always wrote such sweet letters to Ellie that Jane secretly read. He always penned them in black sharpie. Jane once asked him about it and he told her he loved the smell. He delivered the letters to Ellie rolled up in a glass root beer bottle on their doorstep.
Dave loved them both—he told her a million times over the last few years. And just when Jane was beginning to feel cared for by someone other than her sister, they would have to leave. It was upsetting, but Jane hoped Dave would come visit. He promised that he would.
But he never did.
For a few months she held that against him. She continually asked her sister when he would come to see them. Ellie finally told her they decided it was best to part ways. They were both young and Ellie didn’t want to return to the past, she wanted to move forward. Shortly after that, memories of Dave began to fade, and eventually Jane stopped asking about him. Life became different—any joy of childhood was extinguished and even at a very young age, Jane began to grow up quite quickly due to unfortunate circumstances and death. Her teen years were a blur of chaos and survival. And for a long time, the name Dave Collins lay waiting in her subconscious, resting until the day the first trigger would be pulled.