See You Again Next Year

The summer when she was twelve years old, this truth hit Valeria with force: she was just a flat skinny girl, and Daniel, though always kind and willing to play videogames with her or ride their bikes around the neighborhood, was moving on to different interests. And maybe she wasn’t able to follow him no matter how hard she tried.It was difficult to keep up with someone you only saw once a year, but even more if that person was Daniel, who changed passions as others changed shoes. Just a year ago, he was into chemistry and talked a great deal about his club in school, which also made Valeria put a lot of extra effort into her science subjects (one day she’d understand better the things he tried to explain to her). But now, Daniel had just come back from an exchange year in Italy, where he’d lived with a host family, attended school, and learned yet another language during the past eight

“I can’t believe this of you, Valeria. Thank God Mateo is a nice young man and he brought you home safely. But how can you come back like that?” The disapproval in her mother’s voice, the disappointment in her eyes, and the words she said at that moment were all a slap in her face.“I’m sorry.” Valeria lowered her head. “It won’t happen again.”Entering her room again without saying another word, she waited until her mother’s steps could no longer be heard, and the silent tears turned into strangled sobs.She did not mean for any of this to happen, but what was she supposed to say now? Her mother was so mad just because she came back home drunk, what would happen if she told her the rest?The sweet fantasy

“What are you doing here?”“Just hanging out with friends.”“You’re not old enough to buy alcohol.”Daniel chuckled at the exchange between the two siblings, finally getting Meili to acknowledge his presence. “Hi, Dan.”“Hey, long time no see. You’re getting prettier every year Mei.”“I know.” The young woman smiled. “Would you please tell my brother to mind his business and let me be.”She’d come with her friends, but to her bad luck, ended up in the same bar where her brother was.&

“I’ve heard you are traveling during the holidays. So, you won’t be around for my party?” The woman batted her eyelashes coquettishly. At least, it was her attempt to do so.Daniel cleared his throat.“Ah, thanks for the invitation… but I’m visiting my grandparents.”“You must really like it there, you go every year.”They had just bumped into each other in the market, there was no need to make conversation beyond some polite greeting.“I guess so. Then… see you around, Monnie.”He didn’t like Monnie very much. However, her new year’s parties were famous and when they were teenagers it mean

We all want to show our best side to that special person. It was almost an instinct that prevented Valeria to reveal her ugly scars to him. However, a contradictory thing it was, he was also the only person she could ever bring herself to be honest with. “Because I drank too much, I couldn’t defend myself from him. I just wanted to go home. I was so afraid.”Maybe one day, she’d tell him. One day when it hurt less… but that wasn’t the moment yet.She whispered those words in the absolute silence of the hour before dawn, convinced he was sleeping. Then he opened his eyes wide and rolled on the bed to look at her in the face.“What do you mean?”