The Summer She Died

Synopsis

My childhood friend Manuel George had no idea that my life had quietly ended the summer after the SATs. Five years later, at our class reunion, someone casually mentioned me. "Manuel, it's been five years. You've let go of the grudge over your mother's passing, right?" He shook his head with a smile. "Of course I have. Besides, she lost her mother too." Then, feigning casual curiosity, he asked, "Oh... now that you mention it, she didn't come to the reunion, did she? How's she been these past few years?" The room fell utterly silent. Everyone stared at Manuel in shock. He looked confused. "Huh?" Finally, our class president Bentley Lopez spoke after a long pause, "You don't know? Carolyn... she's been dead for five years. She died right after the SATs."