The next day I found out from her parents that she had been hit by a car at the crossing. The driver was drunk. She survived, but frankly, it would have been better not, because even if she had somehow miraculously stayed alive, she would have remained in a vegetative state for the rest of her life. She fell into a coma and died 2 weeks later in the hospital. Her boyfriend... well, he visited her only once, after which he disappeared forever. He didn't even come to her funeral. She was an only child in the family and her parents took it very terribly.
Perhaps to someone it will seem childish, a manifestation of weakness or snotty bullshit. But some time after she passed away I did my own memory lane. I felt that I needed to do this in order to remember and relive all the memories. I cried like a bitch for days. And even now, after so many years passed, when I think about her or some our moments, I feel a lump in my throat. It hurts so fucking much.
I can say with confidence (including from personal experience) that the loss of a true and best friend is just as hard as the loss of true love. Whatever the reason.
Sorry for your loss.
And of course friendship can cause similar reactions. For you it's like losing a sibling. This sort of intimacy is just as deep as a romantic one, from what you recount, difference is you never crossed that line with your friend. But even if that 'love' wasn't intimate. The point is, 'love' will make you do things that are 'out of character'. Also, it's nothing to do with 'weakness', it's how we 'cope' with tragedy.
To be honest, I don't see how that invalidates the MC's behavior for doing it as well. You sort of make my point for me there as well. Anyhow, I'm not going to rehash the reasons why the MC does it himself.
Think about how it would turn, if Zoey wouldn't listen to Bret's advice to "ghost" her friend. And they would continue to communicate the same way as at the very beginning after her departure. First of all, the source of the drama here is that she stopped writing and calling him.
Zoey's feelings are in their infancy, just like MC's. She realized that she did not like all that surfing and she leaved in vain. That she was homesick. And only after that - misses MC.
Well, to me, this sounds like her last attempt at closing a door on her past so she could move forward with her life, trying to convince herself she made the correct choice. And it fails because as you mention she slowly realizes she had not listened to her own feelings.
I suppose, when you really miss somebody and more important, felt something - you will probably mention it first. She said she missed him in last turn. Then she said she want to hang-out like it was before. And she hoped that he still considered her his friend, or would be able to consider her one again.
I can't can't really agree or disagree, but I can challenge that idea with this.
You return home, and see the MC, he just finishes telling you why he blocked you and changed numbers. And you realize the MC made a choice to move ahead with his life and stop waiting. I'm pretty sure you'd hold off on the shouting you love admission back to him as a first item for discussion. That's just how I understand that bit.
Despite the fact that they started fucking, it was more of a mutual interest, as it happens at their age (well, hell, actually in recent decades it usually happens much earlier, but nevertheless). For them, it was mostly a fun pastime, like hanging out, etc. It was not a manifestation of any feelings, but only a fun adventure. We know how a DPC can convey the right mood or make a message with just a couple of renders. Well, fucking for them was just "fun" and a kind of forbidden fruit, we see that the idea to do it from time to time comes to them spontaneously. Like, let's have a beer? No? When can we fuck instead? parents are away for the weekend.
Yes because as the MC points out, the first couple times they did it was under the influence of alcohol. But after a few times, Alcohol was no longer needed, probably because they're weren't so nervous to do this with eachother.
And for a young teenager, that exploration can quickly turn into something more, which is pretty much what happens in the story.
DPC even showed us a scene with a spontaneous kiss, and the MC's reaction to it. Like, "What are you doing?" Scene in train station shows us that they probably never even hugged. So, it's like, you can think anything in your head, you can feel anything with your heart, but if you don't tell a girl about it, it will stay with you. You'll never know if these feelings are mutual, if your views coincide or if it's just an innocent infatuation.
Can't really contest that, Except for saying again, young teenagers, who know next to nothing about intimate relationships and what they consist of. Just discovering it on their own.
They parted as friends, they never discussed their feelings and did not behave like a couple.
Don't forget Zoey asked the MC to go with her.. And of course they'd depart as just friends. Neither of them wanted to admit openly their feelings at that moment because it would only make that scene even harder and worse to deal with. They might have been teens, but they're not 'Dawe' level idiots. lol
I don't want to say that he doesn't or can't have feelings for Zoey, but, according to the game logic, we need to reject all LI and stay alone for a while. And that's when we have a chance to try to go back and press "play" button and explore their feelings. In AL, we had Ana. We had to reject the girls who, according to the plot, liked MC and for whom he began to have feelings, cheat on them to back to his ex. This is an alternate ending and Ana is SG. It's the same here, I have nothing against Zoey, it's a great and touching story that most likely leads to an alternative ending. But we need to literally reject all MGs, although we have seen and know that the MC had real feelings and affection for them and that by the 8th episode these feelings are finally formed. I.e. in some way we have to go against the canon.
I completely agree with everything here. But in all of that you kinda elaborated on much of what I meant. Sure I might not agree 100% with the causalities of how it got to that point, but the bottom line is there was something between them from the moment Zoey left. Even if they couldn't admit it to themselves.
But good post. It was interesting to see what your point of view was on that and have left me with a few things to think about and consider.