A Butterfly in Maple Grove

by Bella Emy

  He leaned in closer to me then and whispered in my ear, “Damn, baby. You look so stunningly beautiful. I can’t get over how gorgeous you look. Later… just me and you,” he said suggestively, as he placed a gentle kiss on my cheek.

  As I was about to revel in the lovely compliment my man had just given me, I turned my head to the right and saw the sluttiest version of a nurse twerking her ass. It was Sarah Michaels and she was grinding on Anthony Newman. I figured that he was her date to the dance, but as she was dancing with him, her stare was definitely fixated on my boyfriend.

  Stupid slut. Of course, it was. I knew she still wanted Ryan. Girls like her never let go of something they wanted so easily. They’d typically claw you with all they had till they won.

  “Pay her no mind, butterfly,” Ryan said, reassuring me with another kiss on my cheek. Then he spun me around and we were face-to-face. He wrapped his arms around my waist, and mine immediately wrapped around his neck. We were so close that our noses touched. Our little eskimo kiss was followed by an intense French kiss.

  He pulled away, and mouthed the words, “You’re mine,” while smiling at me. I felt my insides melting all over. That statement had more power in it than I had ever realized. Holy fuck!

  Bobby walked over to us then holding a cup of punch in each hand and one in his mouth, with Charlene Playton on his arm. They both embraced the 1920’s era with him as a gangster and Charlene as a flapper. They complimented each other nicely.

  Charlene was a pretty girl, but unlike the Silicone Barbies, she was nice. We had spoken a few times during gym class.

  She smiled at me in a way of greeting, and I returned the gesture. Ryan grabbed the cups out of Bobby’s hands freeing him to grab the one out of his mouth. As he did, he said, “Hey, Lacey,” at me and, “Wassup, assmuncher,” at Ryan. Men and their lovely way of saying hello to one another…

  “Hi, Bobby,” I replied, chuckling.

  Ryan handed me a cup, and I automatically took a sip. He swallowed a big gulp and said, “Let’s see how quickly I can get drunk off this shit.”

  “Oh, don’t count on it. Every chaperone you see over at that table has not moved an inch since the dance started. No one has been able to spike the punch,” Charlene responded.

  “That’s okay, I’d much rather get drunk off of my beautiful butterfly,” he said, smiling at me. If I didn’t have any blush on, I knew I would be blushing right now.

  He then grabbed the cup out of my hand, handing it to Bobby.

  “Come on, baby, let’s dance,” he said as he grabbed both of my hands and led me to the middle of the dance floor. We passed by Jen and Luis, and began dancing just a few feet away. Bobby and Charlene followed and started dancing next to us. It was the perfect night that seemed to just keep getting better and better. Song after song, we just remained on the dance floor, moving our hips and swaying to the music.

  “Hey, Lace!” Jen exclaimed, coming over to finally greet me.

  “Hey, girlie!” I replied just as excitedly.

  We hugged and talked for a bit. Jen was dressed up as a sorceress; a black and dark red pattern displayed all over her ensemble.

  We linked arms, and I quickly turned to look at Ryan. He just smiled lovingly at me in approval while he hung around Bobby and Charlene.

  “So, how’s it going with your dead zombified football hunk?” Jen questioned.

  “All good,” I responded looking over to the original Queen Bee of Maple Grove High. Her gaze was still stuck on my man, till it wasn’t. She caught me looking, and started laughing, evilly, I supposed.

  Whore! My nerves were flaring and I could feel my hands ball up into fists as a response to whatever game she thought she was playing.

  “Listen, don’t even sweat her! She’s just mad Ryan is with you now, and she’s trying to make you feel uncomfortable and intimidated. Don’t let her get to you and win. I’ve been watching Ryan all night, and he has not been paying her any mind. You shouldn’t, either.” My best friend knew me so well, I began to calm down a bit.

  “I know, Jen. But look at her. Seriously? She’s trying so desperately to get Ryan to notice her, and I know she wants him back.”

  She nodded in agreement. “Yeah, I suppose she does. But do you really think Ryan would run back to her? She played him, remember? And by the way, Ryan is here with you because he wants to be here with you. Not her.”

  Before she went back to dancing with Luis, she shook her head with pity and said, “Jealousy is a serious disease. I hope she doesn’t get well soon!”

  I couldn’t help but chuckle at her comment. Then looking back at Ryan, I noticed him joking and laughing with his good friend. I decided I was not going to let Little Miss Twatwaffle ruin my evening. It had been pretty perfect so far. The only other thing I wanted more than anything tonight, would have been to end up wrapped up in Ryan’s embrace, laid up somewhere, just the two of us.

  Charlene walked up to me then. “I need to use the ladies’ room. Wanna come with?” she asked me. I nodded and went up to Jen to see if she needed to go as well.

  The three of us all walked together to the bathroom. We passed by flocks of demons, ghosts, and all types of zombie costumes. Streamers and flashing disco lights lined the walls and ceiling of the gymnasium. Posters of black cats and witches on broomsticks were pinned up all around us.

  Charlene went into one of the stalls, while Jen and I admired our appearances in the mirrors above the sinks. “So, what’s Bobby like in bed?” Jen asked Charlene innocently through the bathroom stall. I laughed, bringing a hand up to my mouth to stifle it, as I punched her in the arm with my other one. That was a pretty forward question.

  Charlene didn’t seem to mind the inquiry. “He’s fantastic,” she said, smiling from ear-to-ear, as she walked out of the stall adjusting her costume.

  “I’ve heard he’s pretty large,” Jen continued, a smirk graced her face.

  “Ha ha! Yeah, I’m not complaining,” Charlene added. She washed her hands, and as she finished drying them off, she turned to me and asked, “What about you and Ryan? Have you guys gone down that route yet?”

  I shrugged. “Not yet, but I want to.”

  She nodded. “Good. If I were you, I’d tie him up to a bed tonight, and have my way with him. I saw those glances Sarah’s been giving him.”

  Immediately, Jen jumped in. “She wants him back, but he’s too taken with Lacey. He won’t go back to that piece of trash. She’s been making her rounds with the football team. You’d better watch Bobby.”

  Charlene furrowed her eyebrows. “Bobby is just fine with me. Plus, he wouldn’t mess with Sarah because of her past with Ryan. There is such a thing as ‘guy code,’ ya know.”

  “Yeah… take one down, and pass her around,” Jen laughed to herself. I looked down, not finding it too funny. Charlene certainly wasn’t pleased. I knew Jen’s sense of humor was pretty blunt, and many people did not like her bluntness.

  Realizing she had maybe gone too far, she quickly rephrased her statement. “Look, all I meant is that I know how Sarah can be. Most guys find her hard to resist. I wasn’t insinuating that Bobby would definitely go for it.”

  “I know,” was all Charlene said before heading out the bathroom door and walking into the hallway. Jen quickly followed her out, and I made my way toward them as well.

  Jen and Charlene led the way. I was a few steps behind them, adjusting my shoe. The strap on it suddenly felt tighter than it had all night, and I needed to loosen it up a bit so that they wouldn’t be any more uncomfortable than they already were. I had borrowed Mom’s shoes. I didn’t own too many fancy pairs, but Mom’s closet was like a damn shoe store. It was nice that we also wore the same size.

  Catching up quickly to my friends and entering the gymnasium, I smiled, but suddenly noticing their gawking expression, I looked onto the dance floor to see what all the fuss was about.

  Right there, smack in the middle of the floor, stood Sarah with her arms around my man’s
neck. Her ginormous watermelon boobs were pressed so tightly against his chest that it looked as if she were going to crush him with them. Her lips were firmly planted onto his.

  My heart felt like it had stopped beating. Time seemed to stand still as the world around me quickly became a blur. I took in the whole scene at once. Immediately I ran the other way, as I saw Ryan pushing Sarah away, running toward me, screaming my name.

  “Lacey, wait!” he yelled. I kept running, not bothering to turn around. I was mortified, devastated. I had to get out of there before everyone would start laughing at me, thinking I could ever have Ryan when Sarah was always there pining for him.

  I exited the school’s double doors and ran underneath the maple tree; the same tree that Ryan and I had spent under that wonderful afternoon.

  What a joke that had been! As a matter of fact, everything he had told me, every moment that we had shared since then, had been a lie.

  How could he, was the only thought that ran through my mind. I gripped onto the tree for support; I felt that if I didn’t hold on, I would surely lose my balance and fall to the ground. This could not be happening.

  Hot tears streamed down my face, gushing rapidly. Images of the bitter kiss they shared racked my brain. My heart began to shatter; I could feel it crumple into a million, gazillion pieces. How stupid I had been, thinking I was lucky to have Ryan want me.

  “Lacey, I’m sorry. It’s not what you–” Ryan begged, as he finally caught up to me. I had cut him off. I didn’t want to hear any of what he had to say. He had kissed her. No explanation could change that fact. He kissed her. Whether he had started it or simply responded to hers, he kissed her. I was gone only a few minutes, and look at what had happened. I couldn’t trust him.

  “No! Stop! You don’t get to say anything! There’s nothing you can say to justify your actions. You kissed her, in front of everyone, while I was in the ladies’ room for a matter of five minutes, maybe ten. I can’t believe you!” I shouted in angst.

  “I know what it looked like,” Ryan began, holding up both palms toward me, “but you’ve got to believe me,” he continued, placing them to his chest.

  As the tears continued to fall from my eyes, I shook my head. “Ryan, I trusted you. I believed in everything you told me. I really thought you liked me and were starting to fall in love with me. But now I know I was mistaken. I have been so foolish to think you could fall for me as I did you.”

  He seemed shocked at my realization. I had never told him I was in love with him before, but now, he knew. Now he knew, and it was too late to take it back. But I didn’t care. It didn’t matter because we were over.

  “Butterfly, I’m sorry. I didn’t know you felt that way about me.”

  “Of course, you didn’t. But now I know where we stand and what I need to do.”

  “Lacey, baby. Please don’t do something we’ll both regret, butterfly,” he urged.

  “I’m sorry, I have to go. And this,” I said, pointing to us, “is done. Good bye, Ryan Acosta.” I turned and walked away. Jen and Charlene stood with Bobby and Luis right outside the school’s doors, waiting to see what was going on. As I walked up to Jen, she quickly took me under her wing, and I begged her to take me home.

  Ryan stood in that very spot for a while, as Bobby and Charlene walked over to him. I never spoke to him again.

  Part Two

  Eight Years Later…

  Chapter Eight

  “Sweetheart, are you sure you’re eating enough? You look so thin… thinner than I remember.” Aunt Theresa had come up to me as soon as she’d seen me. We had gathered around Mom’s house to pay our respects to Aunt Karen. Thankfully, since two days had passed since the funeral, the depressing mood had been replaced with a semi-happy one.

  “Yes, Aunt Terry,” I responded with a kind smile. Her sixty-seven years sat well with her.

  “Don’t worry, Aunt T, we’ll fatten her up while she’s here,” Charlie stated. My little brother, always the jokester.

  I gently nudged him in the arm. “Luckily, I’m not here for long,” I replied, chuckling.

  Aunt Theresa’s attention was quickly drawn to the opening at the front door.

  “Hey, family,” a soft voice came from the stocky, jovial woman with Ariel-the-Little-Mermaid colored-hair. My best friend from so long ago came walking through the door with her husband and little girl sitting on her left hip. Jen and I hugged and talked for a bit. Being away from everyone and the town that I had grown up in for eight years was a long time. Of course, I had come to visit around the holidays, but my trips here were always no more than four to five days at a time.

  Two days ago, I had raced out of my apartment. Logan, unintentionally, had started making me feel guilty. Although he was away on a business trip and wouldn’t get back home till the morning that I was set to return back, he had been calling me while at Mom’s, still hounding me over the phone.

  Logan had proposed to me five months ago, and I still hadn’t given him an answer. He claimed to understand that I needed time to think over a decision he had seemed to have been able to make so hastily. I wore the ring, but so it wouldn’t be weird since I had yet to accept, I donned it on my right hand instead of my left. I knew he wasn’t thrilled about not knowing if I would be his wife, but he kept repeating that I could take my time.

  As soon as I got the chance, I raced out of Virginia, heading back to Maple Grove where the funeral was about to take place. Aunt Karen had been sick for quite a while. She was eighty-six and had been fighting ovarian cancer for a few months now. The doctors had given her six months to live back then, but somehow, her luck turned for the worse, and off she went toward those golden gates of Heaven after just three. Personally, I thought she was happier this way. She had been complaining about how much pain she had been in when I had visited her in the hospital two weeks ago with Logan. I had flipped my ring around so that it wouldn’t be so noticeable.

  Logan and I had been dating for two years now. I had met him one night at a bar while I was out with some co-workers. We hit it off right away, and after only eight months of dating, I moved into his place. I loved him… at least I was pretty sure I did.

  Anyway, I was a well-paid manager at Sleek Cover Designs–a big company known for creating high-quality magazine covers. I had to oversee all the final proofs before they were sent out for publishing. I loved my job; though it could be stressful at times, it was definitely worth the pay, and I loved what I did.

  I had moved out of Maple Grove right after graduation. I wanted to forget about high school as much as I possibly could. The thought of my years spent there still stung.

  After heading out of good ol’ MG, I headed for Bloomshine, Virginia, and began my new life as an adult. I attended the university in town there, and received my bachelor’s degree. I was lucky to find a good job and become a manager after only two years; it helped knowing the owners of the company. Jack and Jill–yes, like the nursery rhyme–were the owners of Sleek Cover Designs. I took a photography class my freshmen year, and one day as I was walking around the city, obviously not paying attention, I bumped into them, and my portfolio dropped to the floor, showcasing every image I had ever taken. They were immediately impressed and asked if I’d be interested in interning. Well, that lasted just three short months, and I was hired as a full-time employee.

  So now that brought me back to today. I sat in my mother’s backyard with Jen as we caught up a bit before I had to go back home.

  “How’s your hubby?” I asked, looking away, sipping on my rum and coke.

  “He’s great. He took Katey to Chuck E. Cheese so that I could spend a couple hours with you before you head back.”

  I nodded looking into her eyes. Never in a million years had I thought she’d marry and settle down with Luis, but lo and behold, they had been high school sweethearts through and through.

  “What about Logan? You finally gonna give him the answer he’s been longing to hear?” She smirked at me.

>   I dropped her gaze, taking a huge gulp of my drink, draining the glass. I would need a refill if this was where the conversation were heading.

  She gaped at me and said, “You can’t be f’in serious, girl! How long are you gonna make the poor guy wait? I want to be your matron of honor already!”

  She stopped for a moment and then added, “Well, hopefully you haven’t made him wait in any other department.” She laughed, and I just shook my head at her with a smirk.

  Ignoring her smart remark, I shrugged my shoulders finally meeting her stare again.

  “I don’t know, Jen. I love him and all, but marrying him? I don’t know why, but I just can’t bring myself to say ‘yes,’ ya know?”

  She gave me a crooked smile like she knew something.

  “What?” I asked.

  Bringing her cup right up to her lips, she said, still smiling, “I saw Ryan Acosta a few days ago at the grocery store.” She then finally took a sip.

  “So?” I quickly answered in defense.

  “So? So, I think you should go see him. He lives right down the block from The Millers these days; has a nice little one-family house that he built from the ground up. Those long hours of practice paid off. You should see the muscles on him. If he wasn’t your ex, and I weren’t married… well, let’s just not go there, but, I think you should!”

  I shook my head. “Girl, what are you talking about? I haven’t spoken to that asshole in ages. Why would I go see him now?”

  She took a long sip from her cup. “I think after all these years of knowing you, I know you best… probably even better than you know yourself.”

  “Maybe, but what does he have to do with anything right now?”

  She straightened herself and said, “Lacey, why do you think you haven’t been able to give Logan an answer yet?”

  I shrugged again and said, “Because I’m not ready. Marriage is a big deal.”

  Jen nodded. “That may be so, but I think the real reason lies right here in Maple Grove, where it’s always been.”