Tears Beyond Measure

When I was twenty, I knitted my first scarf and gave it to the person I secretly loved. At Tommy Stark’s birthday party, he accepted the scarf, enduring everyone’s teasing looks. Three days after my brother’s death, I went to withdraw from college. I overheard people in the office, sorting through files, joking around. “Are you really going to throw away that scarf the country bumpkin, Audrey Reed, gave you?” “That thing? It’s nothing compared to the designer coat Elara Chase gave him, or even a hotel towel. Just throw it away.” “I knew Tommy wouldn’t care for something from his little shadow. Might as well give it to me as a foot rag; it’s a shame to throw it away, at least it was hand-stitched.” Elara Chase was the girl he’d grown up with, his childhood sweetheart. Tommy laughed, wadding the scarf in his hand and casually tossing it towards the guy. The guy deftly dodged, and the scarf landed beside a trash can, looking rather pathetic.