we were thirteen. maybe fourteen.
but i think thirteen.
and you were over at my house
or maybe i was at yours
but we were together
like we were every day
when we were young.
and you dared me to kiss you
or maybe it was truth, and you asked it in question form
because you always abused
or refused
the rules of truth or dare,
but regardless, i did it.
and when i pulled away
your eyes were sparkling
and you smiled and said,
“hi emma”
because our heads were very close
and we were very awkward
and it broke the silence.
and i dared you to only say those two words for all of high school
and you said okay.
you didn’t mess up once all day
except for when your mom asked
what type of pizza you wanted.

after that we started to
slowly
fade
apart.
i became friends with the popular girls,
mostly because my brother was dating one of them,
remember?
and you sort of went off on your own.
the girls pegged you as the mysterious boy.
very handsome and, well, 
mysterious.
it became common knowledge that you didn’t talk to anyone
except for when you said hi to me.
we didn’t see each other often
but when we passed in the halls:
“hi emma”
like clockwork.
girls became very jealous and very curious.
and i said that it was just a joke
from when we were young.

but it was not a joke from when we were young
because now you are standing on my front porch
with your car parked out front
and keys in your hand
and smile on your face
and you’re saying,
“hi emma”