At the counter, she orders a vanilla cone and I get mint chocolate chip in a bowl. Circular tables are set up on the far side of the building, and I lead Sydney to one of the unoccupied ones. We sit side by side eating in silence. Her hair is pulled back in a ponytail, but the wind blows the blonde strands into my face.

“Sorry,” she says as she takes the end and twirls it around in her fist and holding it to the other side as she continues to lick the sweet dessert in her other hand.

The number of times I’ve thought about fisting her hair just like that are far too many to count. I’d like to kick myself for not doing it years ago. How different might the last two years have been if I had?

“What?” Sydney asks.

I realize I’m staring at her while lost in my thoughts. I don’t want to bring the night down with talk of the past, though.

“What are your plans for after graduation?”

“I don’t know. I’d like to do something with volleyball, maybe coach a youth team or even just volunteer. The volleyball coach at my old high school is retiring after this year. They’ve all but offered me the job, but I can’t see myself there.”

I can’t picture her there either. I can’t picture her anywhere but with me, wherever I am.

“Where do you see yourself?” I ask.

“I’m not sure. I like the city but being close to the beach would be nice. Maybe traveling. I like the idea of jumping around a bit, seeing the world.”

“I can picture you doing that.”

She lifts one shoulder in a small shrug. “Well, it isn’t exactly a plan, but I’ll have a degree in graphic design and I can do that almost anywhere. There are a lot of contract and remote jobs so I could live wherever I want. What about you? Have you decided yet?”

“No. I promised myself I wouldn’t spend the summer obsessing about it and that’s been pretty easy with you here. Am I crazy if I want to continue to do both sports?” She’s the only person I’ve really asked their opinion. Everyone else has asked mine, given me advice, but not Sydney, she’s made it clear that she’ll support me no matter what, but she’s never told me what she thinks I should do.

“Is that what you want?”

“Yeah, of course. That’s always been my dream, but actually pulling it off?” I push my ice cream around with the spoon.

“If anyone can do it, it’s you. You’re incredible.”