Blast From the Past

Ch. 2: Surprise!

Ch. 2: Surprise!

The instant we got home, I let Cam inside while I stayed out on the porch to call my best friend Aaron. We’ve been friends since, well, I can’t even remember when. People used to think that we were dating because we were always so close, but you see, there were two problems with their facts. The first being, I was obviously with Derek; the second being that Aaron was gay.

“Hey Kels, what’s up?” He answered.

I was honestly surprised he picked up his phone. Normally he’s always busy or can’t talk because something is going on. He’s fickle like that, I guess. “You’ll never believe who I ran into today.”

“Oh no.” He sounded scared to know. “Who did you see?”

Maybe he should be scared of what I was about to say. “Umm…” I started, not sure how to go about this. “Do you remember the name Zachary Woods?” I asked.

The line was silent for a minute while he thought about it. “It sounds familiar, but it’s not coming to me.”

“Does eighth grade through summer before sophomore year ring a bell?” I liked to make things complicated and not come straight out with the answer. Especially things like this. Make them figure it out on their own.

“No.” He sounded dead serious. “Tell me you didn’t run into him again.”

“Yep.” I said, popping the ‘p’ at the end. “Guess where?”

“You got me.” Aaron didn’t even try to guess. Lame.

“Yeah, well, I took Cammie to a baseball game tonight and it turns out that Zach plays on the Ohio State baseball team. Cam was all excited to get his autograph and it wasn’t until I took their picture that I knew who he was.”

“What did you do?” He asked.

I groaned. “What do I ever do when things like that happen? I turned and walked away. When I did that, he came up and asked if he knew me from somewhere, and I told him he didn’t. I wouldn’t look at him again so that he couldn’t get a closer look. He insisted on trying to figure out how he knew me, but I walked away again and thankfully he didn’t come after me.”

“Maybe that’s for the best, I mean, he sort of broke your heart back then. I don’t want to see you like that again.” Aaron said, honestly.

It’s true, though. Even though my aunt and cousins helped me get through it while we were still at the beach, it didn’t stick with me when I got home. I would wait around and wait for Zach to call me and they never came. That’s also one of the reasons I met Derek. He saw me sulking around at school, asked if I was okay, and then we just sparked up the friendship that led to Cam.

“Yeah, I guess you’re right.” I sighed and looked up to the door when I heard it open. “Hang on.” I said into the phone and watched as my son climbed up onto the porch swing with me. “What’s up, baby boy?”

He curled into my side and laid his head on my shoulder. “I’m tired.”

I chuckled and ran my fingers through this hair and then started rubbing his back. “Okay, sweety. I’ll be inside in just a minute.”

He nodded, “Who is that?” He pointed to the phone.

“It’s Uncle Aaron.” Okay, technically he’s not Cam’s uncle, but I swore that since I had no siblings, my best friend would be considered uncle.

Cam’s face lit up with a grin as he came running back over to me and hopping up onto my lap. “Hi Uncle Aaron!” I put the phone on speaker while Cam continued talking. “Guess what! Mommy took me to a baseball game today and I got to get Zach Woods’ signature!”