Bury Me In Your Memory

Parkyr Harte And The Fortress Of Trust Issues

PART ONE

"The magic in new beginnings is truly the most powerful of them all."
— Josiyah Martin

Parkyr POV:

I tried to forget. I tried to forget the sandbox fights. Forget the school carnivals. Forget the first days of middle school and the lonely winter formals where we would end up together anyways. Forget the 13th birthdays and the barely there height differences. Forget the audition prep and the long bus rides that came with Chorus competitions. Forget my first love, if you could even call it that. Forget my best friend.

But alas it was all real. It was all real and I was back in Mrs. Byrne's classroom. I was never much of a rule-breaker. I was a good student. I wanted to escape the dumpster fire that was in my small town. I spent my days waiting for my music to start blaring in my head, for me and me only. If I could only save all my money from waitressing then maybe I could leave. Escape.

My thoughts usually didn't last long in the third period. They were usually interrupted by an eager Mrs. Byrnes pulling me back into reality.

"Miss Harte? Parkyr. Did you answer number 13? I can see you did. What do you have?"

Mrs. Byrnes. She knew me best. I had had her two years in a row and she was close with all of her students. But we had something special.

"Parkyr. Take your time. All you have to do is read what you have for 13."

I shuddered in a breath and met the caring eyes that were looking down on me. Careful not to stumble on my words so I wasn't further humiliated, I read out my answer.

" Three acts of defiance in history include the American revolution, the stonewall riots, and the French Revolution."

I heard a snicker coming from the rat child who we all wished we could ship off to Jamaica, Everett. He knew why he laughed. So did everyone else in the school.

When I glanced up at the clock 20 minutes later a baby pink sticky note had appeared on my desk.

See me after class

I knew what it was about. As I said. Special connection. I tried to escape but after two years, she knew my tricks and intercepted me before I could make it out the door. I was going to be late for lunch whether I liked to or not.

Narrowing her eyes, Mrs. Byrnes spoke up," We need to talk."

I didn't know how else to reply except with," Why? I have a 96%. What else could there be to talk about?"

Swiveling on the balls of my feet to leave she spoke once again, in a caring tone," I know it's hard. I've never gone through something like this but I can imagine. It's hard I know. I hate Valentine's Day too."

I promise this isn't some story about a stupid little girl who gets her heart hurt. It's also not a story about a girl who gets rescued by her night in shining armor. If anything she's doing the saving. Back to the narrative.

Seconds from losing my cool I sputtered out," It's not that I hate Valentine's Day. We broke up two weeks before he left. Neither of us heard our song. We were young and stupid. It was just my luck that he became a super celebrity and I was stuck here with people like Everett. People that don't know the whole story. We broke up last summer. I guess the whole love conversation gets people in the mood for drama."