Chapter 11: Hannah
Chapter 12: Lainey
Chapter 13: Tyson
Chapter 14: Hannah
Chapter 15: Lainey
Chapter 16: Tyson
Chapter 17: Hannah
Chapter 18: Lainey
Chapter 19: Tyson
Chapter 20: Hannah
Chapter 21: Lainey
Chapter 22: Tyson
Chapter 23: Hannah
Chapter 24: Lainey
Chapter 25: Tyson
Chapter 26: Hannah
Chapter 27: Lainey
Chapter 28: Tyson
Chapter 29: Hannah
Chapter 30: Lainey
Chapter 31: Tyson
Chapter 32: Hannah
Chapter 33: Lainey
One Year Later: Hannah
Acknowledgments
About the Author
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This one is for Kate, my trusted assistant and treasured friend.
The Summer Pact explores love and loss, touching on issues surrounding alcohol abuse, mental health, and suicide. More than 700,000 lives are lost due to suicide every year, and it is the fourth leading cause of death among fifteen-to-twenty-nine-year-olds. Please read with care. If you or your loved ones are in distress, call the 988 Suicide & Crisis Lifeline for free, confidential 24/7 support.
Prologue
Hannah
I often wonder what makes our coming-of-age friendships so powerful. I know the usual theories…. That they fill the void of adolescent loneliness. That they give us a sense of belonging. That they shape our adult identities. All these things are true, but when it comes right down to it, I think it’s a simple matter of who was there by our side, bearing witness to our loss of innocence.
For me, that moment came late, during the spring of my fourth year in college. As my classmates and I studied for final exams and counted down the days to graduation, emotions ran high. We were excited about the future but weren’t quite ready to part ways and face full-fledged adulthood. At least I wasn’t. I couldn’t imagine life without the people who brought meaning to mine: Summer, Lainey, and Tyson. My best friends.
The four of us had met in the basement lounge of our dorm our first year, just days after we arrived at the University of Virginia. It was a Thursday night, the kickoff to the weekend, but none of us was in the mood to go out. Summer was studying at a corner table, her face buried in The Odyssey as she furiously highlighted passages. Lainey and I sat at separate tables near her. We had books open, too, but were spending more time on our phones. Tyson was kicked back on a sofa, watching a baseball game on the muted television.
We were the only four people in the room, and for a long time, nobody spoke or made eye contact. Summer was the first to break the ice, putting her book down, standing up from her table, and walking over to the sofa. She sat down beside Tyson and asked who he was rooting for.
“The Yankees,” he said.
I watched them out of the corner of my eye, admiring Tyson’s profile. With a strong jawline, high cheekbones, and flawless golden brown skin, he was decidedly handsome.
“Are you from New York?” she asked.
“No, D.C. But I hate the Orioles,” he replied matter-of-factly, not giving her much to work with.
“So you’re a Nats fan?”
