One pan of delicious but anxiety-inducing cheese and barbecue pizza later, Matty and I were laughing and reminiscing.
Outside, the rain was receding to a light shower but neither of us noticed because we were engaged in conversation.
“Do you remember that Halloween when you decided you wanted to go as Cruella?” Matty asked, nostalgia in his eyes.
I laughed at the memory. “Of course. I wanted you to dress up as a Dalmatian and I went crazy trying to find a wig that resembled Cruella’s hair.”
“Of course when that didn’t happen you went ahead to dye half of your hair white.”
“With whitewash,” we said simultaneously and burst out laughing.
“Took forever to get that damn paint out,” I shook my head at what I did when I was younger.
“I’m glad you’re back but you haven’t told me why yet,” Matty said when the laughing died down. He folded his hands on the table and eyed the half-eaten pizza on my plate with thinly veiled disgust.
“I’d rather not talk about it if you don’t mind,” I shifted around on my wooden seat suddenly uncomfortable.
There was no way I was giving my story this early.
“It’s fine, oh and before I forget, what are you doing tonight?”
A slight ruffle caught my attention and I turned to find Pete thumbing through a newspaper.
“Why are you asking?” I raised an eyebrow.
“A bunch of us are going down to the bowling alley tonight, if you’re free you’re welcome to join us.”
“A bunch of us?”
“Alright, it’s mostly me, Raj and Emily.”
“Raj and Emily are in town?” I brightened at the thought of seeing my high school best friends again.
“Yep. We were originally gonna hang out tonight but now you’re here we can get the band back together.”
“Count me in. Just as long as it’s only the four of us. I’m sorta avoiding people.”
“In a town where everyone knows you? I’m not so sure about the ingenuity of that plan.”
“Well, I can try. Elain Walters has already seen me so smart plan or not, I’m sticking to it.”
“Did she invite you to Stacey’s wedding?” Matty asked but his face showed he already knew what my answer was going to be.
“You know she did. Said something about Entertainment Weekly covering it. Like that would impress me,” I scoffed.
Matty groaned and shook his head. “Typical Elain. You know she came by the house with a bunch of supposedly expensive chocolates to thank us for fixing up her busted TV.”
“And what did she really want?”
“To ‘politely’ ask if I wouldn’t mind helping to set up for the engagement party tomorrow night.”
“And let me guess, you said yes.” It was a statement not a question because I knew Matty. He was a big old softie.
“It’s my weakness. You know I can’t resist a good pleading.”
“God Matty, how are you still so gullible after that time Raj convinced you there were no peanuts in his PB and J sandwich and you ate it and blew up like a threatened blowfish?”
“That was one time, and we agreed we wouldn’t talk about it ever again!” I could see Matty’s face had acquired a slight reddish tinge.
“Can you believe Stacey Walters is getting married?” I shook my head.
“I really can’t. Mostly because the last time I saw her we were stupid teenagers. Now we’re adults with responsibilities and everyone expects us to act maturely and all that jazz.”
“I know right. No one ever said adulting would be so hard. Sometimes I don’t blame my mom for taking the childish route. It’s so much easier.”
“Your mom isn’t childish. She’s one of the wisest women I’ve ever met.”
I looked at him like he just told me he was secretly a mermaid.
“Do I have another mother that I don’t know about?”
He was about to respond when Pete spoke up.
“Not that I haven’t enjoyed having you kids over but I think you should better be heading out, the rain’s stopped.”
It was then that I noticed that everywhere was a bit brighter.
“Wow! How long have we been here?” I asked.
Matty brought his phone out. “Apparently a good two hours,” he returned his phone and shot me a look. “So, we on for tonight?”
“Of course. I’ll be there.”
“Do you need a ride there? I could always stop by your house and pick you up. If that’s even where you’re staying.”
I followed his lead and stood up. “Of course that’s where I’m staying. I’m too broke right now to pass up free room and board.”
We left Pete thumping through a magazine.
I didn’t even know why he was still there. There were no customers, no employees and most importantly no smell of fresh baking pizza.
Outside, the sun had come out and the only sign there had been a pounding rain hours before were the small puddles of water on the floor.
The sun was warm on my head and neck and I was grateful for the warmth. It was a welcome relief from the cold.
Matty came to stand beside me, his tall imposing frame belied by the gentleness of his blue-green eyes.
He didn’t say anything, just stood drinking in the rays of the sun.
“You don’t have to drive me home you know,” I told him.
“Of course I do. You don’t have your car and I would feel horrible if I left you here.”
We fell into silence, neither of us making a move toward the car.
“Why are you doing this? I mean, the last time you saw me I was just shy of my nineteenth birthday still with pigtails, a somewhat unhealthy obsession with 5 Seconds of Summer and a dream of someday coding the one program that would solve the world’s digital problems that is coming along slower than I would like. But I left. For eight years. I’m not that girl anymore, for all you know I could be a serial killer who’s come back to avoid the police.”
“That’s great. Not the serial killer part though,” he added quickly. “I'm glad you're not the same person you used to be. Change was inevitable for the both of us, I'm just glad you found your way back home.”
I blinked and then Matty was right in front of me with his hands in his pockets, dishing one of his inspiring smiles. His sweater was still spotted with dark circles of water but his curls were now dry and back in their original positions. Unlike mine which I was sure was now a frizzy mess around my shoulders.
“Why are you being so nice to me?” I whispered, my voice was on the verge of breaking.
“Because that’s who I am. Because I honestly don’t care how long it’s been or if you’ve changed or grown up. You’ll always be my best friend.”
“But you said I hurt you when I left. You should hate me.”
“I also said we could talk about it later.”
He turned on his heel and started toward his car.
I couldn’t for the life of me figure out what just happened.
If it wasn’t clear before that Matty was different it was clear now. The Matty I left would’ve been too shy to say how he felt about something I did and he sure as hell wouldn’t pass up the chance to yell at me, especially when I was the one who initiated it.
I started the walk to the car.
Getting to it, I opened the door and entered.
I didn’t bother looking at Matty.
“I’m sorry,” I told him as I toyed with my fingers.
“So am I,” was his reply. “Friends?”
I turned to him. He had his hand out.
“Friends,” I shook his hand.
“Aw, what was that?” He exclaimed as I let go of his hand. “Don’t tell me you’ve forgotten our handshake already?”
“Pfft! Course not.”
After a series of handshakes and fist pounding, we laughed for a full five minutes at our ridiculousness and he started the car.
On the drive home I couldn’t help but thank my stars that Matty was still here.
Yeah, we still had a lot to smooth out but for the most part, I had my best friend back.
Even though my initial plan had been to hole myself in my room and come out only when a deadly plague had wiped everyone off the face of the earth, I was a little bit glad I ran into Elain. She led me to Matty and I found out that eight years had transformed him into a very good-looking good guy.
I rested my head on my hands on the open window and as we sped down the freeway towards home I began remembering the times when things were simpler.
I remembered the time when my biggest regret was asking my dad to make blueberry muffins instead of pancakes for breakfast. Suddenly I yearned for those moments before my illness when dad doted on me, his only child, and my mom wasn’t the unsympathetic, harsh woman she was now.
“Are you ok?” Matty’s voice cut through my daydream.
I sat up and tucked a strand of my hair behind my ear. “Yeah, I’m fine, why?”
“You were sniffling.” He shot me a concerned look.
“I’m fine,” I cleaned my nose. “It’s just been a rough couple of days for me. I’m not dealing with things well.”
“Clearly.”
I shot him a glare. “Don’t. Just do not.”
“Sorry. I’m sure tonight will make you feel better. And this time we can stay up as long as we want and not worry about our parents grounding us.”
I smiled. “That would be nice. I hated feeling like a fugitive.”
“Really? Cos you didn’t give off any of those vibes during your elaborate plans to sneak out at two in the morning.”
I punched his arm causing him to laugh.
He parked in front of the white picket surrounding my house and faced me with a smirk. “So I’ll pick you up by eight?”
“Yes, eight.”
“Don’t skip town, ok?”
“Damn. And I was just about to go in and apply for a guitarist position in that mariachi band in Mexico.”
“Oh, how I’ve missed you. Now, get out of my car.”
With a smile I obeyed and got out of the car, slamming the door.
“Hey.”
I turned at Matty’s voice and bent to look into the car.
“The mariachis wouldn’t hire you if you were the last creature with an opposable thumb on earth,” was all he said.
I gave a dramatic gasp. “How dare you!”
With another smirk, he started the engine again and in a few minutes, the tiny dot of his car faded down the street.
I turned back to my house with my face threatening to break in two from the weight of my grin.
My house was just like a regular two-story building but without the regular.
Picture Carl and Ellie’s house from the movie Up but with more greasy fingerprints on the outside.
The windows were red, the door blue and everywhere else yellow.
My family was allergic to normal.
Shuddering, I entered and shut the door behind me.
After changing from my damp, disgusting clothes and into a dry t-shirt and shorts, I entered the kitchen and found my mother.
I hadn’t expected her back but since she had no schedule it wasn’t so surprising.
Wordlessly, I opened the fridge and grabbed some milk. Taking a blue bowl from the chestnut cupboard I set them down on the kitchen island.
After getting some Cheerios I was ready to dig in when my mom’s fidgeting caught my eye.
She was eating some salad beside me but she constantly shot me little glances.
“What is it, mom? Don’t expect me to apologize for this morning,” I dropped the box of cereal in my hand.
“I was just wondering how to ask you where my car was and who was that you were just flirting with without setting you off.”
“Flirting? Hardly. That was Matty. And your stupid car broke down in the middle of the road.”
“Betty?” My mother dropped her fork and widened her eyes like I’d just said that I ran over her firstborn.
“Oh don’t look so surprised. You and I both know that rustbucket was on its last wheels. Matty’s going to get it back to the shop somehow so you can go check on it there.”
“Betty is my car,” she mumbled.
I rolled my eyes and refused to rise to the bait and start arguing about how it was my dad that got it for her.
She stayed quiet for a while after that so I continued preparing my food. As I was about to pour some cereal into the milk my mom asked a question that gave me pause.
“Has he called yet?”
I frowned. “Has who called?”
“You know,” my mother stabbed at her lunch, looking everywhere but directly at me. “The guy you were supposed to marry?”
I stopped. I was in no way expecting the question.
For some reason, my gut told me to tread lightly on this one. If I didn’t this conversation would end very badly. And by badly I meant it would turn into a screaming match.
“No, he hasn’t,” I answered slowly.
“You’re sure he hasn’t tried to communicate with you?”
“Yes, pretty sure. Even if he did I would block his ass to China and back.”
“Don’t say that, don’t act prematurely. He could regret what he did and try to make it up to you.” My mom started fidgeting with her straight hair.
“Oh no,” I laughed a bitter laugh. “Regret? Oh no. No, no, no, Antonio Fergus Xavier Vasolini the Third does not do regret. He’s like a lion stalking prey when it comes to decisions, always covers all his bases and predicts all the ways it could end before he goes in for the kill.” The bitter undertone in my voice was unmistakable.
“Unlike you,” I heard my mom whisper.
I suddenly regretted encouraging this. “Ok, what’s this sudden interest about? And don’t tell me you suddenly care because we both know that’s beneath you and I won’t believe it.”
“I don’t know why you keep saying these things, Denise. I don’t know why you won’t believe I care about you.”
“Because I have given you chance after chance to prove it and you fail every time. I’m done.”
She nodded and picked up her fork.
The yellow bandana around her neck reminded me of the red one Elain had in her hair.
Then it clicked.
Mom had been hanging out with Elain this morning and that meant . . .
I gave a listless laugh. “This is about Stacey’s wedding, isn’t it? God, you didn’t even try to be subtle.”
To my mom’s credit, she didn’t even bat an eyelid. “It is. Helping Elain this morning made me realize that I never asked. Plus I need to know what you would like me to tell people if they ask because something tells me you wouldn’t like me to tell them the truth.”
“You know what I’ve noticed? You’ve never asked how I am. You’ve blamed me, you’ve asked after that dirtbag I almost married, but not me. Never me.”
She stared up at me with a slightly open mouth and wide eyes.
Tears gathered in my eyes at the fact that she was shocked that she was supposed to ask how her daughter was faring.
“Congratulations, chance number one thousand and twenty-four, spectacularly blown.”
I gathered up my cereal and headed upstairs to bide my time till Matty came to get me and I could escape for a while.