More Than a Memory

by Amber Nation

  “Open it and see,” I urged, trying to calm my voice.

  She carefully peeled back the wrapping, trying her hardest not to tear it. That was just like Eden, savoring the entire process. She was always the slowest person to open a present; she loved building the excitement before she finally saw what was inside. I almost regretted wrapping it and not putting it in just a gift bag, but then I would have missed the focus and determination on her face from precisely opening it just right. Once she had the paper completely off the box, she peered up at me one last time before lifting off the lid. A gasp escaped her lips as she sent a hand flying to her chest, no doubt to calm her beating heart. If hers was anything like mine it was beating erratically without any sign of calming. “Baylor,” she cried, “You really shouldn’t have.”

  Her hand was trembling, so I took the liberty of taking the piece of jewelry out of the box it was nesting in and clasped it around her slender wrist. “I wanted to, so I did.” I went on explaining myself even further, “This heart symbolizes mine so wherever you are, you have my heart with you, always.” A sob escaped and she dropped the box to cover her mouth, leaving her hand in the palm of mine. Now adorning her wrist was a solid white gold dangle heart bracelet. “I was out at the mall today and came across it and it practically screamed out to me. I thought it would look beautiful on your wrist and as you can see I was right. Your beauty makes it absolutely shine. And when you go home tomorrow, I wanted you to have a piece of me with you.” My bashful side was making an appearance but I did nothing to try and cover it up. She needed all of me right now, the good and the bad, to know that I meant what I said. “Look on the heart.”

  She brought it closer to her face and held onto the dangling heart so she could get a better look at the inscription that simply read, ‘Edie.’ That’s all I needed it to say so she would always know it came from me.

  “Baylor, I absolutely love it, thank you,” she cried again, a few tears escaping down her face. She leaned forward, grabbing my cheeks and guiding me down to her lips where she captured mine in a loving kiss.

  Even though I didn’t come right out and say that four letter word, I knew deep in my soul that I did indeed love her. She had the most important part of me that she could always keep and hold close; my heart.

  We were still plenty early when we arrived at our alma mater but we went ahead inside to scope everything out. I knew Dean would already be there and by the looks of it he was already partaking in the open bar. Looking around at our surroundings I was a little disappointed that after fifteen years the gym still looked the same. No updating of any kind had been made and we all knew that it could sure use it. I almost wondered if they had the common decency to plug up the small peephole that led from the boys’ to the girls’ locker room. Norah would be attending the following year and I would definitely move that up on my list of things to find out about beforehand.

  There were several tables set up throughout the floor space and a stage was placed at one end of the room while the bar was placed at the other. Eden’s hand was tucked right into mine in a way that I had become used to over the past couple of days. Even though I only had eyes for her I was honest in saying that she was the most beautiful woman in the room.

  Eden leaned into me and said, “I’m kind of nervous to be here. At least you have seen most of these people within the past fifteen years, I really haven’t.” There was her reason for her impeccable dress choice, she wanted to not only feel a bit comfortable with herself and what she was wearing, she wanted to show everyone that she had been living a wonderful life.

  I placed my free hand over hers, “Don’t be nervous, you’re here with me,” I winked.

  Just then Marcie came rushing towards us in a frantic frenzy. “Eden! There you are! I’ve been looking all over for you.”

  Eden kind of looked around us then back at Marcie, “I’m still pretty early, what’s the problem?”

  “The problem is you agreed to be the announcer since it falls in line with your job, I thought you had decided to back out.” Her erratic behavior never wavered.

  “Shit!” Eden yelled while stomping one of her gold pumps. “I completely forgot all about it, Marcie.” She apologized profusely. Marcie’s eyes grew wide and it appeared that anger had set in. I was beginning to get a little worried for Eden’s safety, but fear not, Eden stepped in. She raised a hand towards Marcie, “Don’t worry about it, I’ve got this. Part of my job is also improvisation and rattling off things on the fly. Just get me the name of the band and all the members and I’ll be golden,” she assured her.

  Marcie’s eyes lost all sign of anger, “Ok, I’ll go gather that information now,” she turned on her heel and all but ran off in the other direction.

  “Dodged a bullet, huh?” I asked.

  “I can’t believe I forgot, but then again my mind has been otherwise occupied for the majority of the week,” she playfully winked. “She asked me while I was half drunk before we started singing karaoke the other night. I wasn’t very thrilled about it but I couldn’t turn her down. Besides did you see the look she was giving me? I’d hate to see what look she’d have waiting for me if I had refused,” she chuckled, but I just couldn’t seem to laugh about it. Marcie seemed pretty out there even for Marcie.

  “The only thing I know about the band is that one of the guitar players is Marcie’s cousin and she had to beg them to come up here and play.”

  Dean came up to us wielding a beer in his hand, leaned forward and gave Eden a kiss on the cheek and then shook my hand, “How are you guys doing? Still looking pretty cozy, eh?”

  I almost detected a bit of jealousy dripping from his mouth, but it just couldn’t be. Could it? I did recall the last time we were in here all dressed up it was prom, I went with Kristina and Dean and Eden went together as friends. Even back then I detected that Dean might have had a crush on Eden but he never came right out and confirmed it. I didn’t know if it was because he knew my feelings about her and knew her feelings about me, so he was kind of the middle man. He really needed a girl who could keep up with him but also knew how to put him in his place when he began to get a little out of line. Dean had a wild side to him and not the kind that just any ordinary girl could tame. Just ask his two ex-wives.

  “Things are great,” I assured him, then turned to look at Eden. “Hey, you never did tell me what time your flight leaves tomorrow?”

  She almost looked as if she was unsure if she wanted to answer my question, but quickly stated, “My flight leaves at ten, but I know my parents are taking me out for breakfast in the morning. You should come with us,” she said flatly. “Um, if you would please excuse me, I need to find Maisie and see what she wants me to do.”

  Dean and I both watched as she walked away, “You are in trouble, dude,” Dean expressed his concern to me and I couldn’t argue.

  “You’re telling me. What am I going to do when she leaves?” I rubbed a hand on the back of my neck and then spotted Dean’s beer again and pointed to it, “I really need one of those.” If my heart ached when she left before, now it’d be like it was damn near incinerated. I didn’t know exactly how I could recover a second time.

  Chapter 14

  Eden

  As I walked away from Dean and Baylor I couldn’t help the sadness that overcame me. It was my last official night in Cottage Grove and soon they would all be a memory once again. It was much harder leaving my hometown the second time since so much had changed. But really, was it all that much? I still had my home, job and friends in Nashville. But in Cottage Grove, I had Baylor, and that was a pretty big weight to compare to.

  My bracelet dangled against my wrist as I walked along looking for Marcie. I lifted it up to take another close look and couldn’t help the smile that formed on my face. I wasn’t ready to go back to reality just yet. But it seemed like reality was ready for me, and with a giant slap to my face, I might add. Turning the corner, I almost ran into Kristina and I gasped in shock.

  �
�Eden, so surprised to see you,” she raised her hand to her chest and bit out with every ounce of venom she possessed. There upon the ring finer of her left hand was a very large diamond. The gaudy piece almost drew me away from her face, but in order for that it’d need to be just a tad bit bigger. I seriously wished that I could say that time had been on her side, but I’d be lying through my teeth.

  “Kristina, it’s you…I think,” I replied with a bit of uncertainty. I had wanted to be ready with my plan of action if and when I finally was confronted by her, but she completely blindsided me, causing me to be off of my game.

  “Well, I have had a bit of work done,” she gloated, messing with her platinum blonde hair. “My husband Austin is a plastic surgeon.”

  Wow, was all I could think. She really should’ve rethought the extra collagen in her lips, because if she took up my habit of biting them I would be afraid that they would bust. And I felt my anger growing the longer she stuck around so I couldn’t contain the words that were about to pour from my mouth. Lord, forgive me in advance. “So you spend your free time getting lip implants and bad dye jobs instead of being a mother to your daughter?”

  “Why, of all the nerve,” she squealed through her shock.

  “I have the nerve? What about you, and I’m not just talking about now. Fifteen years ago on Baylor’s front porch after graduation when you outright lied to me about being pregnant with Baylor’s child?” My voice was rising and I kept stepping forward, getting closer to her. “I’m not the same quiet girl that I was in high school; now I’m not afraid to call you out on your bullshit.” A small crowd had gathered around us and I was expecting Baylor to come break us up at any time. Her husband stood behind her with a goofy look on his face; judging by the sleaziness that seemed to be surging from him, he was probably getting off on this confrontation.

  I moved a step closer, thinking she would back down but she still remained standing tall…for the moment. “You are a poor excuse for a mother,” I began pointing in the air at her, “You have a daughter, who despite having a pathetic bitch for a mother, is absolutely amazing. And guess who gets all the credit? It certainly isn’t you.”

  She looked back at her husband and turned back to me with a smirk on her face as she crossed her arms over her no doubt fake chest, “You’re just jealous because I bagged Baylor first. And really that was the only thing he was good at. My new husband gives me whatever I want whenever I want. He loves to travel the world and isn’t blinded by the small town community. Perhaps things would’ve turned out differently for us if he had become the architect he wanted to be, but sadly he’s only a plumber.”

  “You money hungry bitch,” I spat in her face and started to lunge for her until a pair of arms wrapped around my waist and Baylor’s mouth appeared at my ear.

  “It isn’t worth it, sweetheart,” he whispered to me. I instantly felt myself calm down but it still didn’t change the way I felt for both Baylor and Norah for being subjected to this vile, worthless woman.

  I wrangled free from his clutch and said the last thing I would ever say to Kristina McFake, “I’m glad you dropped him, otherwise I wouldn’t have ever had the opportunity to make sweet love to him for hours. You really must be the dumbest bitch in the world, leaving behind two amazing people like Baylor and Norah. But you know what they say,” I shrugged my shoulders, “Your loss is my gain.” I saw her purse her thick lips before I turned and walked away from Kristina and from every other single bystander including Baylor and went back to the open area behind the stage to find out what Marcie needed from me. I had a feeling Baylor may need some cooling down after what took place and truthfully I did too, but I couldn’t help feeling proud of myself because I finally stood up to the number one bully to enter my life. It was almost like I could breathe a bit better and finally relax. I didn’t have to ever worry about her lurking around the corner again just waiting for her next verbal blow to come. Jules would be completely proud of me.

  I took my cell phone out of my clutch and typed a quick text to Julia and hit send.

  Me: Hey Jules… Eden=1; Kristina McFake=0…BOOM!

  I shoved my phone back in place and walked over to Marcie, who was conversing with a tall, slender man with the most beautiful hair. I swear he used more product in it than Julia did at her shop during any given day.

  Marcie looked at me, “Eden, this is Toby Morgan, the lead singer of The Nation’s Capital. He said that he would actually like to introduce each individual member of the band. So if you would just like to go out and say a few words to get things started for the evening and then hand it over to Toby that would be great.”

  I nodded in response to Toby’s request and extended a hand in his direction, “Eden Richardt, it’s a pleasure to meet you.”

  He grasped my open hand and firmly shook before releasing, “Toby Morgan, likewise.” He took a minute to scope out my outfit and stopped abruptly at my new gold metallic pumps. He brought his hands to his face as he released a gasp, “Those heels are to die for! I absolutely adore them.”

  “Uh, thanks.” I took a moment to show off the different angles of the shoe. “I got them in Nashville, where I live, right before I flew here. My bestie actually coerced me into buying them, I wasn’t sold at first.”

  “Well your bff definitely deserves a pat on the back, they are exquisite.”

  We each talked about my shoes for a bit longer until Marcie instructed me that it was time to go on the stage and officially kick off this reunion.

  I never really got stage fright from speaking in person or being on air, but the thought of standing in front of my peers that I went to school with so long ago kind of terrified me. My palms began to sweat and I was extremely glad that I had decided to wear extra strength deodorant as my armpits were overly damp as well.

  Stepping up onto the platform and walking quickly, albeit a bit wobbly, to the microphone stand, I grabbed the mic and brought it to my lips. Everyone who wasn’t paying attention to me suddenly was once I cleared my throat, interrupting everyone in their conversations.

  “Good evening! And welcome to Class of 1999’s fifteen year reunion. I’m Eden Richardt, fellow graduate, and since I’m a radio personality in Nashville, Marcie has kindly asked me to be sort of like the MC for the evening.” I kept looking around throughout the crowd but my eyes always ended back on Baylor and Dean who were standing away from the majority of people, each holding a beer. “Now, since many of you may have seen the spat that occurred a few moments ago, I thank you.” I blew out a quick breath, “I cannot lie, it felt great to finally put that bitch in her place,” a round of hoots and hollers commenced as well as a brief applause. “I’m sorry, that was rude of me.” I turned to look at a very pissed off and unamused Kristina, “Unlike you I will be the bigger person here and apologize for my actions. We aren’t kids anymore and I’m sure you’ve changed. But then again, I really don’t think you have.” Bringing my hand to my forehead, “Wow, I’m on a roll. I apologize again, normally I’m just not so forward. Anyway, Marcie has brought in a really great cover band all the way from Brown County, Georgia. Her cousin Brock is one of the guitarists and he jumped on the chance to bring us some amazing music. So please, let’s give them a warm Cottage Grove welcome, The Nation’s Capital, everyone.” I lightly clapped along with everyone else while holding the microphone with one hand. Toby jumped up on stage, took the mic from me, and then grasped my hand so he could help me down off the stage.

  I quickly walked towards Baylor, who met me halfway, and flashed him a small smile and apologized for my actions.

  “Are you kidding me? You just did what a lot of people wouldn’t have had the courage to do. Now I’m not saying that it was right to call her out in front of most of our graduating class, but it was quite comical nonetheless.”

  We each took our seats about the time Toby should’ve begun speaking and introducing the band. All was so quiet that you couldn’t even hear a pin drop and it seemed he was building up his
speech because he just stood there with the microphone lifted to his mouth. Finally he started, “Good evening! I want to thank the lovely Miss Eden for introducing our band; as she said, we are The Nation’s Capital. We’re all from a fairly small town called Brown County, Georgia and we are thrilled to be here. I also wanted to commend Eden for actually standing up to her high school bully. I’m gay so I know all about what it’s like just going through the motions from day to day and not really living. Always wondering who was going to come shove me into my locker or attempt to push me down the stairs, it all happened. But now I’ve learned from it and have moved on, but my biggest bullies are my parents. If only I could get the chance to tell them what for.” He shrugged his shoulder, “Ah, enough about me, let’s introduce the band!! I’m, as you know, Toby Morgan and we’ve got Mike Jameson on the drums,” he paused for a second so Mike could do a little drum solo, “And Charlie Hennings on bass guitar,” Charlie followed up doing his own riff, “and last but certainly not least, the reason why we are actually here in Oregon this evening, Brock Monroe!”

  Toby continued to walk aimlessly around on stage, “Now I could stand up here and talk until I’m blue in the face!” He leaned back screaming the last part, “or I could shut the hell up and get onto playing some tunes!” Throwing an arm in the air, “Are y’all ready to get this party started?!” The room went from one extreme to the other, deafening silence to unrelenting screams. It was almost as if we were in a bar attending one of their shows.

  Mike, the drummer, began banging his drumsticks between the cymbals and the snare while Toby spoke again; I could tell that he was supremely longwinded. “Now, I know since y’all graduated in 1999, and by the way I was ten then,” he expressively winked, “your theme song was undoubtedly “1999” by Prince.” Cue my inward groan along with several audible ones. He pointed a finger out towards the tables, “I heard some of you groan, but you need to hear me out. What I was going to say was that I absolutely loathe that song. So instead, we are going to play “When Doves Cry” by Prince, which to me is a much better choice.” He turned to look at Charlie, who was wielding his bass guitar, “Let’s get started!”