But before, not so long ago - my own rose from prom still OK on the mirror, dried but not a corpse - you were just Ed Slater ton, rocky hero, handsome in the student newspaper and star of a million strands of gossip. Now Annette was a person to me, standing right there, and not just an oh-my-God-have-you-heard, and I tried to put it together in my head, the print and the negative, the boyfriend and the celebrity shadow, like Theodora Sire sat next to me in history, borrowing pencils, but was still a movie star above my bed. Because as you came out of the dark to me, you were the boy I was kissing and wanted to kiss more, back to find me at a party like anybody might do, but you were Ed Slater ton too, and not the cad you are now, but just Ed Slater ton, co-captain, with a beer in your hand and Jillian Beach on your arm.

Why We Broke Up