Forever Us (Chapter One.) (2) “Coming!” I heard her light footsteps grow louder as she approached the door. It groaned to life, an immense noise shuddering out of the entrance. “Oh!” she gasped, startled. “It’s been so long since I last used this thing. Usually I come in and out through the garage,” she explained. “I think it needs some good TLC.” Her lips curved into a smile. “It’s about time Carter got some chores to do around the house,” I chuckled sarcastically. “Did you know Leah had me shoveling snow all morning today?” “Ha, ha, ha… Hear that, Carter?” she called across her shoulder. “Looks like Ashlyn’s suggesting chores for you to do!” There was a scrambling noise from behind the wall that separated us from him. “Wait, what?” he half-shouted, and in the corner of my eye I saw Carter glide around the corner from the kitchen. He had a half-eaten peanut butter and jelly sandwich in his right hand. “Oh, Ash, I wouldn’t do that if I were you.” He shook his head in fake warning, a little bit of the jelly spilling onto the floor. “If I remember right, you still have some chores to finish at home. Wouldn’t it be…” he paused to add to the mirage of tension that lingered in the entryway. “Unfortunate, for Leah to find out that you haven’t finished yet?” he smirked. I rolled my eyes at him. “I already told her I wasn’t finished, you spaz,” I laughed, leaving out the fact that I had actually lied about it. “And besides, we both know you’d never go through with it.” “Nah, you’re right,” he half-smiled, “I wouldn’t have the guts.” “Don’t feel bad,” I chuckled, “I don’t think I would either.” “Yeah, no offense, but Leah’s ‘kinda crazy…” he teased, Mrs. Callaghan scowling in his direction, and I smiled in response. I knew all about crazy. His face lit up then again, and I wondered what he was thinking. “Hey, did I tell you I got you a Christmas present?” he grinned, and I couldn’t help but smile back. “You did?” I faked surprise – his sister Rachael had already spilled the beans to me weeks ago, leaving what exactly it was, of course. “You didn’t have to do that, Carter.” “I wanted to. Here, follow me into the dining room. I think I left it on the table.” He led me across his house and through multiple rooms before we found the kitchen table that was big enough to seat twelve. He handed me a red and green wrapped present, with a bow tied across the center. It was small, somewhat light; I heard it thumping around as I shook it gently. “Open it,” he grinned again. I carefully tore the paper around the edges, trying to preserve as much of its beauty as possible. Finally, the last piece was ready to be torn away. “Oh my gosh… Carter!” I squealed. “Do you like it?” “Um, yeah!” “Ha ha, take it out of the box, Ash. It’s even cooler outside of the wrapping.” He took the brand new iPod Touch he had bought for me out of its box, and set the remaining plastic and paper trash on the table. “You didn’t have to do this for me!” “Man, I wanted to. No, I needed to. Your old iPod sucked, Ash. Consider it a favor to everyone who had to listen to it.” “I love it…” I breathed, ignoring his sarcastic jokes. “Thank you so much!” I gave him a hug impulsively, practically tackling him, holding him tightly against my body. He held me close, and I was ignoring the awkwardness that was creeping up inside me. It felt nice, being with him like that; standing there in his arms, breathing in the sweet smell of his cologne – I never wanted it to end. The emotion I felt right then… it was something I’d experienced so many times before. I hated it. I mean, I wanted to kiss him. To kiss Carter, my best friend for so long! Carter. Why did it have to be Carter? I stared into his eyes, still held in his stable arms, and he stared back. It felt like we were quiet for a lifetime, just staring. Watching, waiting for when the right moment would have been to… “Oh, would you just kiss her already, Carter? Seriously, it’s not that hard.” The silence was broken, at possibly the worst moment in time. Ever. “Rachael?” Carter half-shouted, as surprised as I was by his sister’s voice appearing out of nowhere. He spun around the room, looking for his nearly sixteen year old sister who could sometimes act like she was twelve. “Well, it wasn’t like I was interrupting anything…. or was I?” she asked slyly as she glided out from the kitchen, shutting the door behind her. The room suddenly felt very full. “No… of course not,” I lied, wishing that I didn’t have to. “Look what he got me,” I whispered, trying to take the focus away from Carter as he released me, still breathless from the encounter that left me stunned. “I know, I helped him pick it out,” she beamed. “Thanks. I mean, both of you. I didn’t think it was going to be something this big.” “You’re practically already family, Ashlyn. Of course we’re ‘gonna give you something amazing.” “Well, still, I wouldn’t have guessed an iPod. An iPod, Carter? How long have you been planning this?” “A while.” He wasn’t smiling anymore. He looked like he’d just taken a blow to the gut. “Wow. Just… wow. Thank you so much.” “Yeah,” he replied stiffly, angry almost. “Really, it’s so great.” I tried to keep my tone level, painfully ignoring Carter’s sudden shift in mood. “So do you guys want to watch the movie yet?” I asked, putting the uncomfortable feeling in my stomach – was it butterflies? – away to be ignored. “Yeah. The DVDs are on the counter. Go get it,” he commanded Rachael as he nodded in the direction of the kitchen, and she responded indignantly, put off by his demand. “Okay… I guess I’ll just meet you there, Ash.” She sourly waved goodbye and left through the kitchen doors where she came from. “Come on. We can get some popcorn and then head to the movie room,” he said after Rachael had left; leading me out of the dining room, through the hall, down the stairs, and past a gigantic archway into an enormous library room. His anger faded with every step we took. It was his mother’s office, I remembered him telling me about it sometime before, but he never did describe exactly how incredible that place truly was. Usually we took a different route into the room in the basement used for watching movies – there were two doors that led into it – so I never really got to see it for all that it was. Leather bound books lined the shelves, coming full circle around the entire space, making me feel tiny again. There was a small ladder that was harnessed to the wall resting in the corner, and less than a yard away, sat a large, oak framed desk. On its top was an advanced computer. Near the edge, on the hardwood floor, a set of file cabinets and a trash bin relaxed with ease, leaning against the massive desk for balance and support. “Phew,” I whistled through my teeth. This place was HUGE. So huge, that I felt claustrophobic. Could that make sense? Carter thought my exasperation was funny. I was glad that he was acting like himself again, even if he was laughing at me. I missed that Carter. The fun one. The one that I absolutely could not like more than a friend, no matter how much I wanted to... even if it felt right… I made myself think those unbearable words. He doesn't love you. He can't love you. He never will. Suck it up and move on. I laughed bitterly in a hushed tone, fighting back tears. I forced myself to listen to Carter's explanation, to be happy, and ignore those raging emotions inside of me. And for a while, it worked. “Yeah, she spends most of her time in here,” he replied after a few agonizing seconds. “Every few weeks she adds another book, and after a while, you get this,” he waved his arm widely through the vastness of the library. It made me wonder how he could talk so normally about his mother. She was amazing, having such bad things happen to her, and then getting back on her feet so quickly… Mrs. Callaghan worked from home as a stockbroker. You’d be amazed at how much people will pay to have someone manage their investments. It was enough to pay for three people, two sets of braces, a number of health costs, and even costs for funerals. That was how they could afford to keep the colossal, expensive house on a single income. Of course, she had help in the beginning. After her parents died, they left her this house, along with thousands of bonds and savings they’d stowed away, never ending up using them. I guess being an only child had its benefits. “How long has this place been here?” I wondered aloud, completely baffled. I’d been to his house plenty of times before, but not once did I see the room I was standing in at that second. How could I have missed it in all those hours I’d spent there? It reminded me how unobservant I actually was. “Since the house was built, probably,” he smirked, pointing out the obvious. “Wow.” “I know… even though I’ve lived here since I was three, it still gets to me.” “I can see why.” We stood in awe for a few minutes, just taking in the largeness of the room. “How are these organized?” My hands brushed the spines of the books on the shelf closest to me. They felt… old. Like, by touching their aged backs, I could suddenly know all the knowledge from centuries before. Like they weren’t books, but stories from long ago. Not stories, but somebody’s life, compressed to fit into two hundred pages. “By author, then by title. Alphabetical, I think.” “That must have been fun to sort,” my eyes widened sarcastically. “It actually wasn’t that bad. We only started out with three hundred or so, and we sorted them as we bought a new book. But we moved here when I was just as kid, so I might not—” “Three hundred?” I gasped, interrupting his sentence. “Only three hundred…” I shook my head in disbelief. “Yup, but that’s not even the coolest part.” “What is?” He paused, to add dramatic effect, I supposed. “She’s read every single one of them at least once, maybe twice. Sometimes even three times,” he was now in disbelief, too. I resisted the urge to say, “She needs a life,” because I knew Carter wouldn’t think it was as funny as I would have. I settled on repeating the word, “Wow,” wishing that, among the layers and layers of books that surrounded me, a thesaurus was hiding. I needed a better word to describe the admiration I was feeling than “wow.” “Yeah.” He let out a gust of air from his lungs. “Well, we better head out. Rachael’s probably already made the popcorn and got the DVD set up. We should beat her there if we want the good seats,” he smiled, leading me through another doorway, into a high ceilinged room with a large television in the center. Rachael wasn’t there yet. This was a room that I recognized. There were three rectangular windows on each wall, with light tan curtains to block the sun’s intense rays from shining into the house. In the back corner, a small refrigerator was hidden underneath a counter. On top of the counter was a shiny silver soda fountain. It beckoned me. “Hey,” I pointed to the machine that spewed out delicious tasting liquid. “Do you mind?” “Take whatever you want. There’s food in the cabinets if you want some,” he smiled distractedly. I wandered to the cupboard with a glass cover. Inside were large glasses specifically designed for luscious flavored drinks. Carefully, I reached for the glass cup in the first row, being extra sure not to let it slip out of my easily loosened grip. Then, in the cupboard next to it, I grabbed a bag of chips. I gingerly placed the cup and chips on the countertop, and looked over at all the different brands of liquid happiness in the soda fountain. There were several names I didn’t recognize. I chose to fill my glass with Sprite. Pure, lemon-lime goodness to drown away my insecurities with. God. I sounded like an alcoholic. “Do you want me to get you something?” I asked awkwardly, instantly regretting it. There was no way I could carry more than one cup and a snack at a time without dropping something. I think that he knew that too, and, not wanting to clean up after me, replied with a polite, “No thanks,” and I was able to walk back to the couch without fear of breaking anything valuable. “It’s amazing you stay so thin, with all this crap food lying around,” I teased lightly, sitting down as I spoke. “Fast metabolism,” he patted his stomach with a grin. “I wonder where Rachael is. The kitchen isn’t that far away.” “Maybe she got lost?” I chuckled. “Ha ha, probably. She’s directionally challenged.” “Hmph. I’m not that bad!” Rachael retaliated from the other room. “Woah, guess she didn’t get lost! What a surprise!” His voice now sounded like leather as he taunted her, stretching out the second sentence to last for three. I guessed that he was getting his revenge for interrupting what might have happened if… She rolled her eyes and glared at him playfully. There was a short pause before I interrupted the staring contest between brother and sister. “Well, what are we waiting for? Let’s pop that sucker in!” Um, I thought awkwardly. That really wasn’t how I wanted it to come out. But I was anxious to start the movie, not wanting to have to cut it short due to the rapidly approaching darkness, or the exhaustion that reigned over me. I was still tired from the toll shoveling had done to me. Rachael very much took her time — or maybe it just felt like she was moving so slowly because of my impatience — and, after much anticipation, reached the sleek looking DVD player. It had so many different colored buttons and lights; it would put a flight deck to shame. I stared in awe at how easy it was for her, pressing one key to open the disc tray, pushing it again to close it, adjusting the TV so that it would show the DVD screen — that took many more different maneuvers. It all seemed so complicated, but she did it with ease. “Alrighty then,” she strode back to the couch to sit down, careful not to choose the seat in between me and her brother. She squeezed into the side with the armrest, pushing him closer to me in the process. I wished that I didn’t like every little thing she was doing to make him touch me. But I couldn’t. I did. “Would you pass me the remote?” she pointed to the longest of the three remotes, the most complex. I gladly handed it to Carter, who handed it to her, relieved that she hadn’t asked me to start the movie. I didn’t need another opportunity to look even dumber. I watched as she, still with such ease it amazed me, pressed the buttons gently. The TV screen turned a light shade of blue; it was the main DVD display now. I was still so dumbfounded at the complexity of their home theater system that I didn’t notice Carter reach over me to set the remote back on the end table. It was because I wasn’t rich, I realized then, that I didn’t understand how to work any of their electronics. But that didn’t really matter, most of the time. They were usually the ones to set up whatever it was we were doing, and my job was to get the food. Easy enough, right? Unless I tripped, making a complete fool of myself… At least I made life interesting for them. Even if it was at my own expense, I was still happy that they laughed. We all need something to laugh about. Leah and I never had that much spare cash lying around the house. She kept a steady job at the hospital, working as a nurse that specialized in neonatal care. Sure, it wasn’t the fanciest job out there, I could admit that, but it paid the bills, and she was happy just to keep us going strong. We lived in an average middle-class house in one of the ‘normal’ neighborhoods in Selmer. There weren’t really any ‘poor’ neighborhoods there. Just less rich. The only difference between my neighborhood and Carter’s neighborhood was that his was fancier, and ours was simple. We lived in a regular, two story house. Except that we were one of the only houses to have two decks. There was one tacked on at the end of my room, looking out at the mountains. You could get to it through a glass door across from my bathroom, which was also connected to my room. I loved the family that had owned the house before us, because they had added it on for a better view. Originally our house didn’t have very many windows. I don’t know why I was so proud of that deck. Maybe I just had a thing for houses – and people – that were different. Leah had a busy life, working at the hospital and also taking care of two kids. It seemed like she spent half of her time taking care of Todd, my still quite young little brother. He was nine… and a half. He constantly reminded us about the half, thinking that as long as that additional part of a year was tacked on, he was more of an adult. Right. It’s odd, Leah and Mrs. Callaghan’s relationship. Even though they were best friends, Leah wasn’t as sensitive as Mrs. Callaghan was. Most of the time, their differences were quite obvious — I could tell after coming home from spending a day with them — but, like Carter’s mom, Leah once had a husband, who was actually Todd’s real father. His name was Mike. But he left some time ago too, when I was thirteen, before Todd could remember. I never liked him anyways. To me, it was a good thing he left. Mike’s parting was probably one of the best things that had ever happened in my life. Leah’s… maybe not. But it made mine much more amazing. I’m by no means encouraging abandonment, not all, but if it weren’t for Mike’s fear of commitment, I would never have met my best friend. See, there’s a support group just outside of Selmer for single parents, adoptive parents, and widows. They all meet at the same time. When Mike first left, Leah was having a rough time. So she joined that group, and met Mrs. Callaghan, Carter’s mother, and they’d been friends ever since. Despite the polar oppositeness of their personalities, they were inseparable. Just like me and Carter. By the time Todd was old enough to make actual friends, opposed to the common play dates a child has when they’re two and unable to talk well or use a flushing toilet on their own, Carter and him had bonded. Carter was Todd’s most favorite ‘big kid.’ And Carter was good with him, too. I loved that about him. Rachael pressed a round button in the center of a remote — I once again wasn’t paying enough attention to notice Carter hand it to her another time — and the first sound I heard was the deafening subwoofer behind us powering up. The previews were starting, and I tried to wait patiently for the opening credits. They always took the longest to appear. For me it was the most tedious and annoying part of a movie; like you have to sit through ten billion or so new shorts before the movie even starts. “Can you fast forward through the previews?” I begged. There wasn’t much time left for me to stay, and I was going to see that movie with them. Even if it killed me. “Sure,” she lightly tapped the remote, and suddenly the people on the screen were moving at light speed, their faces just a blur, their voices only indistinct hums. “Thanks,” I said as she pressed another button, causing the actors to slow down to normal pace again. She touched the controller once more, and to my shock, the lights began to dim. And as the lights faded, so did my consciousness… I knew I should have stopped her from turning down the brightness then and there. The dull lights, my lack of sleep the night before, a spongy and comfy pillow to snuggle up against… it’s not a good combination if you’re already exhausted from shoveling snow all day. I was like driftwood, letting my peaceful thoughts carry me away, wishing that someone else was there with me. Someone who I could laugh with, and play with; someone who could share my dreams. I put forth an effort to stay awake for the movie, I really did. But it was just so warm, so impossibly comfortable in that room — I wasn’t going to last. I knew I couldn’t keep my eyelids from gently falling to block the light, but it was all okay, because I was there with my two favorite friends – one of them maybe even more than friend…– in the world, and everything was perfect for that moment. But only for that moment. “Ashlyn Marie!” I woke to the sound of Leah’s pissed-off voice. I could tell she was possibly the angriest she’d ever been… she only used my middle name when she was about ready to kill me. Or worse, ground me for life. “Do you have any idea what time it is?! You didn’t answer your phone. I thought you were stranded in a ditch!” she spat at me angrily, and it was like I could feel her eyes burning holes into my back. But how could she see my back? Wasn’t I leaning against the pillow on the edge of the couch? My eyes unwillingly opened, and my face flushed to a deep shade of red the moment I realized what position I was in. My head was resting on Carter’s broad chest, just inches from his beautiful face, my fingers laced together. His hand was wrapped around my shoulder tightly, just like the hug we shared a few short hours ago. I knew there was a problem with my position before I had even fallen asleep. My pillow had grown an arm. I jolted upright, pressing my hands against his chest. “Oh crap... Leah, I am SO sorry... I fell asleep in the middle of the movie….” I bellowed apologetically, waking Carter up. I grimaced as his angelic face transformed into a look of fear. “Come on. We’ll talk about this when we get home,” she replied bitterly. I was hesitant to leave Carter’s comforting embrace, but I didn’t have a choice. Leah was tapping her foot impatiently, annoyingly. “Alright, I’m coming.” I left him, lying there, still wearing that shocked expression. I turned back to face him for a split second, mouthing “I’m sorry,” as my own personal warden escorted me out of the now crowded media room.
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