“So, anything interesting happen?” She was grinning from ear to ear.
“No.”
“Nothing?”
I shook my head again.
“How disappointing,” she replied, sitting down on the bed. “So you need something that looks great without looking like you’re trying to look great, right?”
“Exactly.” She shuffled through the pile of clothes again.
“I’d go with this.” She held up a pair of jeans with a hole in one knee, a teal sweatshirt that zipped up the front, and a dark blue tank top that matched the lettering in the sweatshirt.
“You sure?” Jenna knew style better than anyone I knew, but it looked really casual.
“Of course. The jeans fit perfectly, tight but not too tight. Zip the jacket about halfway up and roll up the sleeves. Trust me.” She tossed them at me.
“Okay.” I slipped into the clothes.
“You want to look casual and comfortable. After all, you’re just studying, not going on a date.”
I spun around in front of my full-length mirror before turning to her. “How do I look?
“Fabulous. But you might want to work on your hair and makeup.” She laughed.
I hadn’t as much as run a brush through my hair and had only washed my face and brushed my teeth.
“Just a little.” I couldn’t help but laugh at my reflection. “Hey, thanks.”
“No problem. What are you doing tonight?” Jenna fell back on the pile of pillows on my bed. She looked as if she could have fallen asleep at any second.
“Who knows?” I sat down at the vanity and started brushing my hair.
“Want to have everyone over?”
“Seriously? I hate always hanging out here.”
“It’ll be fun. Besides, Cody’s parents are back in town for the next couple weeks, so his place is out.” She tossed one of my pillows at me and laughed when it hit me from behind while I was fussing with my hair.
“All right.” I threw it back, but she ducked out of the way.
Jenna climbed off my bed and stood beside me in the mirror. “Well, I’ve got to go. I’m going shopping with Kyle for your birthday.”
“Ah, Jenna! Don’t!”
“Too bad.” She laughed as she waltzed out of my room.
My eighteenth birthday was coming up on Wednesday and Jenna always made a big production out of birthdays, as did my family. Every year, she did something to horribly embarrass me.
***
When Jackson rang the bell shortly before noon, I had already placed all my notes and study materials on the dining room table. My parents were out playing golf so the house was empty except Ethan. When the bell rang, he beat me to the door.
I snuck back into the dining room so I didn’t appear overly eager to see him. I heard the two of them chatting in the kitchen while I pretended to be reading about psychological disorders and their classification in the DSM-IV. I could hear them discussing the upcoming game on Friday. I was doing my best to block them out and concentrate on my textbook when Jackson finally entered the room.
He placed his study materials down on the table, taking a seat in a chair at the other end. As usual, all the symptoms flooded over me as soon as he entered the room. I rested my head on top of my book, waiting for the feeling to pass. Jackson remained silent but looked at me rather curiously.
Slowly, he got up and walked very slowly to my end. As he approached me, I could feel darkness coming closer and felt his hand touch my shoulder. Then, as if in a distant fog, I swear I could hear myself laughing; only it couldn’t have been me. But it was, and I was in this house, running toward someone — a boy who was a little older than me and very strangely dressed in old Victorian-style clothes.
“William, wait up, I want to go too!” I cried after him. The boy slowed down for a moment. “Jocelyn, go back and play with your dolls. Girls do not fish.” I felt myself start crying from his rejection. “William, please,” I begged him but he only smiled sweetly at me. “Why don’t you go ask Olivia if she wants to play?” His sandy blonde hair was a mess and he had a little bit of dirt smeared across his cheek. He shifted his fishing pole to his other shoulder and gently put his hand on my arm. “We will be back soon and bring lots of fish for Sarah to cook for dinner.” And with a gentle squeeze of my arm he grinned and took off running to catch up with the other boys down the pathway. I was left standing there, crying on the porch of the house, this house, my house!
Slowly, I opened my eyes and lifted my head off the table. I was confused, terrified, extremely nauseous, and very sweaty; and my head was suddenly killing me. Jackson’s hand was inches from my shoulder, and he was looking down at me with a puzzled expression on his face.
I slid out of the chair and backed away from him. What in the hell just happened? My mind was racing. Nothing made sense. How can I be seeing a memory of a past that doesn’t belong to me? I heard my own voice as a child speaking to someone I could feel was important to me, but whom I was positive I didn’t know. I stared at Jackson as I backed myself against the dining room wall.
“Jocelyn, are you all right? You look as if you have seen a ghost.”
I held my hand out to keep him from approaching me. “I’m fine. Just keep away from me.” I couldn’t shake the feeling of loss left by the memory.
“Are you going to pass out again?”
I shook my head profusely.
“Please sit down. You do not look well.” He politely pulled the chair out in offering.
“No, I, I need some water.”
I covered my mouth with my hand and fought the urge to vomit. I stammered and stumbled over my own feet through the doorframe and fell into the kitchen.
I quickly got myself a glass of water from the fridge door, knowing Jackson would soon join me in the kitchen. I needed a moment alone to collect my thoughts and clear my head. None of this made any sense at all. Jackson walked into the kitchen, pausing in the doorway. His bright, green eyes were filled with concern.
“Jocelyn, are you sure you are all right?”
“I am fine. Really.” I took a deep breath and refilled my glass. “We should get to work.” I smiled at him, desperately trying to convince myself that everything I had just witnessed had to be a product of my overactive imagination and nothing more.
“All right, but only on one condition, you join my parent’s and me for dinner this evening. They have heard me speak of you and would like to meet you.” He smiled real wide.
“Dinner with your parents? Are you serious?” I looked at him as if he’d lost his mind. “You want me to have dinner at your house with you and your parents?” There was no way I was eating dinner with his parents.
“Why not? You are going to me them eventually anyway. They do live across the street, you know.”
“I know, but why now?” I wondered if they would affect me the same way as their son.
“Now is as good a time as any.” He shrugged his broad muscular shoulders a bit.
I could think of several reasons but was too afraid to voice them. I was already terrified that he thought I was crazy. “For the obvious reason.” Like the fact that I don’t want to black out and then vomit all over your parents dinner table.
“Nonsense. Trust me. You will love them. They are great people”
That’s a change. I don’t believe I’ve ever heard any of my friends refer to their parents as great. Even if they personally thought it, they would never voice it to their peers.
“Okay, deal.” I set my glass down on the island. “Now let’s get some studying done.” I did my best to put my apprehensions behind me.
We returned to our respective places at the table and opened our textbooks.
“So you missed chapters four, five and most of six, right?” I confirmed.
“Yes.” Jackson flipped his book open to chapter four.
“Have you read them?”
“I have read four and five, but I have not started on six.”
We studied for the rest of the afternoon. I’m not sure how much he benefited from it, but I felt much better about the exam then I had previously. I had never studied for an exam using these types of techniques, but I had to admit it was quite effective.
Before I realized it, the time had quickly come when we had to leave for dinner at Jackson’s. Strangely my parents hadn’t returned from their day on the golf course; so I left word with Ethan to tell them where I was.
***
As uncomfortable as I now felt with him, I wanted him to walk a ways from me just to be sure the symptoms did not become worse again. I seemed to be all right as long as he was at least an arm’s length from me, which was, in reality, progress. There was simply no explanation for it.
We crossed the street into his front lawn. How strange the house looked after spending months in darkness. There were curtains hanging once again in the windows, chairs on the porch, and wind chimes singing from the flowerbeds. The house was alive once again.
Jackson’s house was a large, two-story mansion covered in faded, red brick with a blanket of greenery climbing up part of the front porch and covering all of the east side. The shutters were a forest green, and the brick archway leading to the front door now held a welcome sign on a post. Two ancient looking lanterns stood on either side, lighting our way.
The inside of his home was gorgeous. It was decorated in earth tones and brick reds and held an old-fashioned feel to it. His mother, I assumed, collected antiques and oil paintings. There were flowers everywhere in a colorful vases and jars. It instantly gave me a feeling of warmth and comfort. It was impossible to tell that they had lived here barely over a week. There were no scattered empty boxes or stacks of things lying about. Instead, the home was neatly organized and beautifully decorated.
We walked into the kitchen unnoticed, finding his mother standing at the counter range, stirring a sizzling skillet while his father was chopping an onion on a chopping block beside her. The aroma flowing from the steamy pots was enticing.
Their kitchen was beyond anything I had ever imagined. I only hoped my mother would not see it; I knew if she did we’d be redecorating immediately. The cabinets were a dark cherry with a glass front that would never have worked at our home. We were much too messy and unorganized. Their counters were a dark green marble and all the appliances were stainless steel. Even the floor was slate, old, colonial style, which added just the right character to the room.
His mother realized we were standing there when his father playfully kissed her on the cheek.
“Oh. Excuse me.” She walked forward with her hand stretched toward mine. “I am sorry. We forget sometimes that we are not alone.” She had a very warm, motherly smile. I liked her immediately. “I am Emily and this is my husband, Robert. Welcome to our home.”
She was about my height and very beautiful with dark brown eyes that were soft and warm. Her brown hair hung loosely over her shoulders and a little ways down her back. I couldn’t believe how youthful she looked for someone who had three grown children.
“Thank you.” I shook her delicate hand.
“It is nice to meet you finally, Jocelyn.” Robert smiled and approached us to shake my hand also before placing his arm back around his wife. Jackson was obviously an exact copy of his father, with the same black hair and sparkling, green eyes. Although he definitely got the waves in his hair from Emily, his stature was all Robert.
It was wonderful to see two parents who seemed happy together. My parents hardly ever showed affection in front of us children.
“You too.” I couldn’t stop grinning.
“We have heard so much about you and your family. I must apologize, but we have been so busy trying to get the house in order that we have not had the time to come over and introduce ourselves to your parents,” Robert explained.
“That’s okay. They understand.”
I wasn’t sure why they would even do that. No one who moved in ever did. People in our neighborhood usually met when they bumped into each other outside or one of the guys needed to borrow a tool or something. The welcome wagon was a thing of the past.
“Please, make yourself at home. Would you like some apple cider? I just picked some up this morning at this little farmer’s market outside of town. It is fresh and very delicious,” Emily offered.
“Wonderful. Thank you.” I followed them into the heart of the kitchen. “It smells amazing in here. Is there anything I can do to help?”
“Just have a seat and relax.”
Robert poured Jackson and me a glass of apple cider as we sat down across from them at the bar side of the island. His parents resumed cooking dinner, asking me all kinds of questions about the neighborhood and school.
The food was outstanding. I couldn’t get over how well it tasted. My own mother was a horrible cook. Nothing she had ever created came close to this. Emily even topped off the meal with an apple pie that she’d made totally from scratch that afternoon while we were studying.
I had to admit it. Jackson was right. His parents were fabulous – not at all like my other friends’ parents, who were nosey and always trying to act like they were still cool or something.
By eight o’clock, Jackson suggested that we all go over to my place so we could introduce my parents to his and I suddenly remembered that Jenna was going to have our friends over. I hadn’t talked to her since before noon. Normally, she would have called sometime throughout the day to confirm plans. Since I hadn’t heard anything from her, I assumed her plans had changed.
However, when the four of us walked outside, there was a line of cars parked up and down our street, and my driveway was completely full. I was trying to recall if my parents had mentioned having company over for a dinner party or something, but I was drawing a blank.
We entered the house, and it was unusually silent. We found my mother in the kitchen, making popcorn and looking annoyed.
“Jocelyn Alyssa, where have you been? Do you think that it’s all right for you to invite your friends over for the evening and then leave? Your brother has been downstairs, entertaining your friends for you instead of going on his date with Mariah!”
“I’m sorry. I lost track of time and Jenna didn’t confirm anything, so I wasn’t sure if anyone was coming over.” I felt baffled. Why is she angry? Surely Ethan doesn’t really care. He is always hanging around my friends.
She dumped another bag of microwave popcorn into the large bowl. “Well, you’d better get downstairs and apologize to your friends, not me.”
“But, Mom, I wanted to introduce you to Jackson’s parents, our new neighbors across the street. This is Robert and Emily Chandler.”
They exchanged hellos and shook hands.
I excused myself to retreat to the basement and beg forgiveness, but the four of them followed me.
When I reached the bottom of the stairs, the basement that had appeared empty seconds before sprang to life in and instant.
“Happy birthday!”
I turned to the four guilty people standing behind me, before scanning the room for the other guilty culprits: my dad, Jenna, Ethan, and probably Kyle. This was so typical of them.
“You planned this all along, didn’t you?” I eyed my mother.
“I had some help.” She looked at the three standing beside her. “And Jenna, Ethan, and Kyle were in on it also.”
Everyone was all smiles and excited. Even my older sister, Sidney, had returned from Northwestern. She and my father were hiding amongst the crowd in the basement. The basement was filled with balloons, streamers, and there was a table in the corner covered with cake, food, beverages, and dozens of gifts. It was a ridiculous scene, and I happily drifted off into the crowd to mingle amongst the guests. The music was blaring, making it difficult for anyone to carry on a conversation in a normal tone.
Pretty soon, people began moving the furniture against the walls and started dancing. With so many people, no one was really coupled off, making it possible for ever
yone to have a great time without leaving anyone on the sidelines.
I finally made my way over to the guilty culprits in this little scheme, giving each of them a playful tongue lashing for their troubles.
The party continued right up until curfew for most of my friends. However, I was surprised when people began leaving that Hilary, Caitlyn, and Jenna stayed behind. Apparently, they had stashed their overnight bags in my room while I was gone, having planned a genuine grade-school slumber party.
We all pitched in and helped my parents clean up the mess before we retreated upstairs to my room for the remainder of the evening.
Jenna flopped down across my bed while Hilary immediately started rummaging through my wardrobe and Caitlyn began riffling around in my accessories. I flipped on some music before taking a seat in my desk chair. “You guys are the best! Thanks so much for the party.”
Caitlyn spun around, sporting a black fedora and hot pink scarf. “You’re welcome. Now I want to hear what’s going on between you and Jackson.”
“What? It’s nothing. We’re just friends.” I tried to sound convincing.
“Yeah right. I saw how he was looking at you tonight, and that’s not how you look at a friend.” Hilary held up one of my outfits in front of her in front of my full-length mirror with a wide grin across her face.
“I noticed that too,” Jenna joined in. “He’s very interested in being more than just your friend.”
“His folks are great. And their house is simply gorgeous.” I paused, looking directly at Jenna. “Hey, how were they in on the party?”
“Oh, that. Apparently, they came over and met both our parents while we were at volleyball practice. The guys didn’t even know about it until tonight.” Jenna smirked, completely proud of her deception.
“Oh, come on. You are not going to sit there an act like you’re not interested in Jackson. I have known you since kindergarten, Jocelyn Timmons, and you are not that good of an actress. I saw the way you were looking at him tonight and the fact that you were purposely avoiding him all evening!” Caitlyn pointed her finger at me, now modeling my old lace gloves that I’d worn for Halloween a couple years back along with an old pair of purple sunglasses.
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