Perspectives IX:
Those Wedding Bells Are Breaking Up That Old Gang of Mine
Part 1 – You Are Cordially Invited…
by Jason Bertovich
©2002 by Jason Bertovich and Matthew Atanian
Boy Scouts ½ created by Matthew Atanian
Perspectives created by Jason Bertovich
Those Wedding Bells Are Breaking Up That Old Gang of Mine
Part 1 – You Are Cordially Invited…
by Jason Bertovich
©2002 by Jason Bertovich and Matthew Atanian
Boy Scouts ½ created by Matthew Atanian
Perspectives created by Jason Bertovich
The sun slowly made its way across the mid-morning sky in the quiet suburb of Holyoke. A gentle breeze blew and flowers were gently swaying and enjoying the warm summer sun. The main entrance of the Blue Creek Apartment building opened. From out of building walked twenty year-old Jason
Bertovich.
As soon as he had made his way outside, he immediately paused and squinted his eyes. From out of his shirt pocket, he pulled out his sunglasses and slipped them on. Jason deeply inhaled and sighed in contentment. Yes sir, the winters were brutal, but there was nothing like May in New England. Another breeze wafted past Jason and he ran his hand through his now short-again hair.
Over the winter, Jason had experimented with growing his hair out and even wore it in a small ponytail for a time, much to the chagrin and constant teasing of his friends. However, the infatuation with the lengthy locks was short-lived and the irritating way they got in his face and eyes drove him to a hair stylist. He emerged with a shorter, and much more manageable mane upon his skull.
However, for what hair he had exorcised from his dome, he was content to relocate onto his face. Jason was now sporting a reddish, short chinstrap beard, which was an even greater source of teasing from his seventeen-year old girlfriend, Nicole.
Scratching his face for a moment, Jason walked over to the mailboxes and opened his designated box. He pulled out a small bundle of envelopes. He quickly shuffled through the collection of bills and junk mail, but paused when he came to small embroidered enveloped with his name and address handwritten on the front.
Opening it, it looked that there was a card inside. “To Jason Bertovich and Guest” was written on the front. Having looked the front over, Jason quickly opened it and scanned the handwritten message inside. As he scanned, he read out loud. “You are cordially invited,” He mumbled and then paused. A moment and another breeze wafted by and Jason let out an amused chuckle.
“Well, I’ll be damned. He finally did it! That son of a bitch finally did it!” Jason exclaimed loudly and reread the card to make sure he had not simply imagined the message the first time:
Bertovich.
As soon as he had made his way outside, he immediately paused and squinted his eyes. From out of his shirt pocket, he pulled out his sunglasses and slipped them on. Jason deeply inhaled and sighed in contentment. Yes sir, the winters were brutal, but there was nothing like May in New England. Another breeze wafted past Jason and he ran his hand through his now short-again hair.
Over the winter, Jason had experimented with growing his hair out and even wore it in a small ponytail for a time, much to the chagrin and constant teasing of his friends. However, the infatuation with the lengthy locks was short-lived and the irritating way they got in his face and eyes drove him to a hair stylist. He emerged with a shorter, and much more manageable mane upon his skull.
However, for what hair he had exorcised from his dome, he was content to relocate onto his face. Jason was now sporting a reddish, short chinstrap beard, which was an even greater source of teasing from his seventeen-year old girlfriend, Nicole.
Scratching his face for a moment, Jason walked over to the mailboxes and opened his designated box. He pulled out a small bundle of envelopes. He quickly shuffled through the collection of bills and junk mail, but paused when he came to small embroidered enveloped with his name and address handwritten on the front.
Opening it, it looked that there was a card inside. “To Jason Bertovich and Guest” was written on the front. Having looked the front over, Jason quickly opened it and scanned the handwritten message inside. As he scanned, he read out loud. “You are cordially invited,” He mumbled and then paused. A moment and another breeze wafted by and Jason let out an amused chuckle.
“Well, I’ll be damned. He finally did it! That son of a bitch finally did it!” Jason exclaimed loudly and reread the card to make sure he had not simply imagined the message the first time:
You are cordially invited
To the wedding of
Charlotte Firestone and Travis Evans.
On June 27, 1998
At the home of Mr. And Mrs. Evans
Please call (724)555-1221 to RSVP by the 1st of June
Jason, We would love you to come down a
few days early and see us all.
We miss you too, you know!
^_^
Love,
Trav and Charl
To the wedding of
Charlotte Firestone and Travis Evans.
On June 27, 1998
At the home of Mr. And Mrs. Evans
Please call (724)555-1221 to RSVP by the 1st of June
Jason, We would love you to come down a
few days early and see us all.
We miss you too, you know!
^_^
Love,
Trav and Charl
Jason chuckled again and put the card back into the envelope and proceeded to place it inside his shirt pocket. As he placed it there, he felt a small something, which immediately triggered a memory of why he was out and about so early in the day on his day off. He had things to do and places to go before he was scheduled to meet Nicole after her school day ended.
He walked into the lot where his car was parked and dumped the other mail unceremoniously onto his passenger seat. He started his car and pulled out of the lot and headed straight toward the Holyoke Mall. He had a date with the engravers…
A few hours later, outside the building that housed Springfield Central High School, seventeen year old Nicole Porter found herself waiting outside the building with her twin sister Kirstin. A breeze wafted between them and both Kirstin and Nicole couldn’t hide the smiles on their youthful feminine faces. It was just something about the last day of the school year. No matter how old you got, from kindergarten all the way to high school, the last day was about celebrating the privilege of summer freedom, a concept that many adults seem to have forgotten.
This was a particularly special last day. For Nicole and Kirstin, it symbolized not the end but rather a beginning. This day would officially mark the beginning of their reign as the seniors of Springfield Central High, a title they gained when the previous seniors abdicated the throne on the last day.
Oh sure, there were the perks along with its own responsibilities. There were college plans to be made, but those could wait for the moment. The summer before the senior year was a time to truly enjoy the benefits of being young, often one of the last chances before a world of college and work ate away that precious freedom.
After a moment of savoring that freedom, Nicole glanced and her watch and grew an annoyed look. Kirstin noticed it and before she could ask, Nicole answered the unasked question. “He’s late.” The ‘he’ was Jason, and he was, in fact, late. However, before Nicole could glance at her watch again, the pair heard the tinny beep of a car horn and noticed Jason’s cream-colored coupe pulling up along the school.
Nicole and Kirstin walked up to the car and the passenger side window rolled down. Jason looked out it and greeted the pair. “I know. I’m late. Sorry. I got caught in the traffic of graduating seniors fleeing for their lives.” A moment later, the lock on the passenger side door popped up and Nicole let herself into the car. Kirstin stood there on the sidewalk. Jason looked across Nicole at Kirstin. “Hey, can we give you a lift home?”
Kirstin shook her head and smiled. “It’s okay. I’m catching up with some friends in town. We’re gonna celebrate a little too, then I’m gonna meet with Aaron tonight. You two have a good time and I’ll see you tonight sister.” Kirstin said. She then stepped away from the car and waved Nicole and Jason goodbye. The cream coupe then pulled away.
As the car made its away from the school, Jason looked at Nicole and smiled. “I guess congratulations are in order, Ms. ‘Officially a Senior Now.’”
“Oh, they are? Well, in that case, thank you Mr. Bertovich. What do I win?” Nicole said with a sly grin.
Jason feigned deep thought. He rolled his eyes upward and pondered the question. “Well, I guess I could be persuaded to take you out for a day of fun and dinner tonight at the Rising Sun. Of course, I’m sure you much rather go to the library and start studying for next year.”
Nicole feigned considering the second option. “Yes, that did seem like a good idea, but I’m not one to stand in the way of such well laid plans. I concede to your idea of treating me to a day and evening of fun.”
“I’m so glad you decided to be persuaded, “Jason deadpanned.
“So then, where is our first destination?” Nicole asked.
“Well, I figure you wouldn’t be opposed to some shopping and a light snack at the mall,” Jason answered.
“The mall?”
Jason arched an eyebrow. “You don’t like?”
Nicole shook her head. “No, it’s not that. I just figure that ever since you started working there again, that would be one of the last places you wish to spend your free time.”
Jason nodded at the assessment. “True. It is a pity that my internship at the station had to end, but I was lucky enough to get the job at the book store. You know what? It’s really not that bad, though. Since the biggest jerks at the E.B. don’t read anyway, it saves me a lot of aggravation. Besides, even if the mall was still a source of annoyance to me, having a good time with you is more that worth it.”
“Such a sweet sentiment,” Nicole said with a giggle.
“I’m a sweet guy. I also am a guy who happened to put away a small bit of funds for you to enjoy this day.”
“Oh, is that so? And what are those funds for?”
Jason looked at Nicole as he slowed the car down to pull into the mall parking lot. “My dear. Those funds are for whatever your heart desires today.” Having said that, Jason parked the car into a space.
A few hours and a light snack later…
Jason and Nicole made their way along the second floor. Nicole carried a few small shopping bags in her hands, leaving a few rather large ones for Jason to carry. The pair made their way through the stores making small purchases here and there. Jason even managed to take advantage of his employee’s discount when Nicole purchased a few financial planning books at the local Waldenbooks.
They had made their way through the mall together looking through each store, with Nicole even managing to negotiate a few discounts with the more liberal store clerks. It was obvious that this was Nicole’s day as whenever she entered a new store, Jason was a step behind her.
Well, all but one store. As they approached the Victoria’s Secret, Nicole stopped Jason in his tracks, told him to hand over his wallet and wait outside with her bags. Jason slowly pulled out his wallet to hand over to her, but not before removing his credit card, then giving it to her. She smiled at his shrewdness and entered the store, leaving Jason to sulk with her bags by a large pillar.
Now, as the pair walked along, Jason could no longer keep it inside himself. “So, are you going to show me what you got?”
“Nope,” Nicole said nonchalantly.
Jason sighed. “You know, if someone is going to pay for something, it is traditional to at least tell him where his money went.”
Nicole grinned broadly and shook her head defiantly. “Sorry. I don’t remember signing a full-disclosure agreement.”
“Not even a hint?” Jason pleaded.
Nicole considered the request and then nodded. “I just bought myself something new to sleep in.”
“Oh,” Jason said. “I guess I won’t be seeing it then.”
Nicole shrugged her shoulders. “Not for awhile, at least… and ONLY if you’re very good.”
Jason almost tripped over his own feet at hearing this. Nicole tried to stop herself from laughing loudly, but was only partially successful. This brought a few odd glances from passer-bys and a bright red glow from Jason’s face.
“I think I broke him,” Nicole smirked. Jason tried to regain his composure and kept looking straight ahead. The pair continued on through the mall and began to walk past the video arcade. Jason kept walking, but Nicole stopped and looked at it.
Jason stopped and looked back. “Nicole?”
“How about a few games?” Nicole asked.
“I thought you didn’t care much for videogames?”
“I don’t really. But I know you like them. I don’t recall their being a rule saying that we couldn’t do anything you enjoy. Come’on, let’s go in,” Nicole said with a smile.
Jason shook off the embarrassment of a few moments ago and followed her with much enthusiasm.
The pair entered the arcade and they were immediately assaulted by loud noises. Everything from car crashes to full blown explosions. However, above all the chaos, Jason could swear he heard something else. Nicole detected it as well. The pair looked at each other and asked the same question. “Dance music?”
The pair decided to inspect further and moved toward the back of the arcade. Upon reaching the back, Jason and Nicole saw several people crowding around a rather large machine. Two people were currently jumping around on a steel platform in front of the screen while loud music blared out of the side speakers. The pair on the machine proceeded to touch several lit panels at their feet. Each had an arrow on it and there were two such panels to the front and back of the player and also to the left and right, while the other player had the exact same set-up on their side of the machine.
Jason’s smile broadened. “Sweet!”
Nicole looked at him and simply arched a confused eyebrow.
Jason continued his thought. “I’ve seen this before. That convention I went to a few months back had a demonstration of this game. It’s called Dance Dance Revolution. It’s a sort of dancing game from Japan. You have to hit the panels on the floor with your feet in time to the music while matching the arrows that scroll by on the screen.”
“Interesting,” was all Nicole could manage.
“It looks like one of the new 2nd Mix machines. I heard about these. They supposedly got a whole bunch of new music and stuff.” Jason then looked at Nicole like a tike on Christmas. “Wanna give it a try?”
Nicole just couldn’t say no to that face. She nodded and Jason ran over to the change machine and took out a handful of quarters. He ran back to the machine, grabbed Nicole and the pair stood in line with the others who were waiting their chance to play this rather quirky game from the other side of the Pacific.
Soon it was their turn and Jason and Nicole stepped up onto the steel platform. Jason inserted some change and hit the start button. Soon a menu of options popped up. Jason pushed a couple buttons and a menu of songs appeared. Nicole only recognized a few of the artists, but noticed an eclectic mix of music styles blasting out as samples of the music played. Finally Jason selected a song that seemed like a suitable pop-style dance song.
“Show me your performance!” the machine shouted at the pair. Arrows began to scroll up the screen and the pair tried to time their stepping on the panels with the beat, however they both almost stumbled over their own feet. Eventually the song came to an end, and a grade appeared. They had both scored ‘D’s.’ “That wasn’t your real dance. You can do better!” the machine chided.
“Maybe we should try an easier one this next song,” Jason suggested. Nicole nodded her head and agreement. Jason cycled through the music choices and selected another one. The second and third time through, the pair seemed to find it much easier to hit their panels and by the time their game had ended, they had both managed to score a ‘C’ at least once.
The pair stepped off the machine. Nicole found her breathing was slightly heavy and she was sure her face was just as flushed as Jason’s. Jason looked at her and smiled. “Kinda fun, eh?”
Nicole nodded. It WAS fun. It was so different. This wasn’t some pointless violence that didn’t require any thinking. This was matter of coordination and actual physical exertion. She was intrigued. She also noticed how people were lining up to dump quarters into it and she would be lying to herself if she told herself she wasn’t intrigued by that aspect of it. She wanted to learn more about it. Finally she looked at Jason. “Wanna play again?”
Jason was taken by surprise by the question, but then again, today seemed to be a day full of surprises. “Um… Sure!” Jason replied enthusiastically. The pair then stepped into the line again.
The pair found themselves coming up to the machine a few more times in the next couple hours. Each time, they found themselves getting more comfortable with their movements and both seemed to moving more fluidly in time with the music.
Finally, as they came up to use the last of their quarters, Nicole asked Jason, “Hey, what is that option called ‘Couple?’”
Jason looked at the option for a moment and slightly shrugged his shoulders. “From my understanding of it, I think it means that two players play at the same time, but instead of against each other, they perform a joint routine each with their own unique set of steps.”
“Let’s try it!” Nicole said enthusiastically.
Jason nodded and selected the option. Nicole then picked a song and the routine began. After a few moments of awkwardness, the pair began to make sense of the new style.
By the time their third song had ended, Nicole found herself finishing the last step and almost tripping. She ended up falling into Jason’s chest. He, in turn, caught her and kept her from knocking them both down.
“Sorry,” she said tiredly. A moment later the small crowd who had gathered began clapping. This caught Nicole by surprise. She looked up at the grinning Jason.
“I think they think we did that on purpose.”
Nicole smiled herself. “Maybe next time, we should.” She then took Jason’s hand and proceeded to bow in appreciation and then took him by the hand and stepped off the machine with Jason in tow.
The pair exited the arcade and the blast of fresher air hit them. Nicole’s legs felt slightly weak and she was sure she would regret this game in the morning, but right now another dull ache was making itself known.
As if by some telepathic bond, Jason asked, “Hungry?”
“Famished!” Nicole said. The pair proceeded to leave the mall and go to their favorite restaurant. The Rising Sun Sushi Bar.
The pair found themselves walking into the restaurant and greeted by Angela Manors before they had both fully walked in the door. “Kobanwa, my two favorite customers!”
“Kobanwa Anako-chan!” Jason and Nicole responded in chorus.
Angela turned around and motioned for them to follow. “At the behest of Jay-chan, I have secured your favorite table near the main stage, the rather comfortable booth you both seem to favor. A fresh pot of tea and a fresh tempura appetizer have just been set out, along with our rather extensive karaoke songbook for you while you decide your order,” Angela said happily, thinking back to the rather large tip Jason had given her and Mr. Segawa to ensure everything would be ready for their arrival.
As Nicole seated herself, Angela brought out menus and a tray with Nicole’s favorite beverage. Angela then excused herself and returned to the kitchen. Nicole thoughtfully sipped the drink and looked at Jason. “You’ve been very busy the last few days haven’t you?”
“Well, it is an important day. This is the beginning of what should be the best year of your life,” Jason said.
“That’s an interesting way to put it. Your senior year must have been incredible,” Nicole stated. For a brief moment, she could swear she could read discomfort on Jason’s face, but it was gone the second it appeared.
“It was something I will never forget,” he managed after a moment. Then he smiled and took a piece of the fried tempura off the appetizer plate. He then pushed the plate over to Nicole. “We should really eat this before it gets cold.”
Nicole picked up her chopsticks and proceeded to pick a piece of broccoli off the plate, but stopped. She could swear she noticed something glinting in the light. She inspected closer and picked a few pieces of tempura off the plate. As she poked through the plate, she finally got a better view and noticed a small chain sitting near the bottom of the plate. Confused, she snagged the chain with her chopsticks and proceeded to lift the offending object out.
When she pulled it out, she finally noticed a small silver pendant. She then took the object in her hand and inspected it fully.
“My my! Maybe we should tell the health inspector! This is a most unusual thing to find in food,” Jason said trying to keep a straight face.
Nicole inspected the pendant. It was Japanese katakana engraved on a small circular pendant. Nicole recognized the symbols. It was Japanese for “Success.” On the back was a small inscription: May success always be your companion – Jason
“Oh….Jason! Its lovely,” Nicole said in quiet amazement. Jason then proceeded to step around the table to put it around her neck. He sat back down and Nicole felt the pendant with her fingers as it hung around her neck. “Its beautiful.”
“I’m glad you like it. I really wanted to put the right words on it. This seemed appropriate,” Jason said quietly. Nicole stood up and walked over and gave Jason a kiss on the cheek. As she say down, before she could another word, a pair of familiar faces stepped up to the table.
“I take it that you gave her your gift?” John Hoelscher said with a smirk.
“Looks like we gave him just the right amount of time,” Lina Wells, John’s girlfriend and ex-goddess, said with a nod.
Nicole looked up in surprise. John and Lina proceeded to sit down at the booth, John next to Jason and Lina next to Nicole. Nicole looked at the new couple and shook her head. “Jason planned all of this didn’t he?”
“Well, he’s a sucker for surprises. Congratulations on another year done. Just don’t get lazy this last one,” John said mock-sternly. He then handed Nicole a card from both himself and Lina. Nicole read the card and thanked the pair for the gift certificate inside.
Angela returned and took the two couple’s orders. After she was finished, the four were alone again. Nicole proceeded to open the large the tome and peruse the song list. Jason then reached into his shirt pocket and pulled out a small white envelope.
“This being a day of happy surprises, I would like to tell about another one I received this morning,” Jason said happily, holding up the envelope.
John pulled out his own envelope and smiled. “We already know.”
“You too? I didn’t realize that you were that good of friends with Trav and Charl,’ Jason said, confused.
“Well, after I met him at the convention we went to in February, I kept in touch with him. We’ve become pretty good friends. He said that they wanted me to come down and see them again,” John explained.
Nicole took her lips off her straw and decided to clarify some details for her own benefit. “What’s going on Jay?”
“Oh!” Jason said, embarrassed because he forgot that she was the only person at the table not in on the news yet. “This morning I got an invitation. My best friends back home are getting married next month. So I will be going back home soon to see my family and friends.”
“That’s wonderful, Jay,” Nicole said.
“Well, that’s only part of the good news. I really want you to come with me and meet my family and friends,” Jason said enthusiastically.
Nicole stopped in mid-sip. She put down her glass and looked at him with an expression that could be both called happy and sad. “Jay honey, it’s a lovely sentiment, but I don’t know if Sarah would ever consider letting me leave the state with you alone.”
The impact was immediate. Nicole could read the crashing waves of disappointment on his face. At that moment she decided to throw the odds to the wind for once. She smiled sympathetically. “But I’ll try to convince her.”
The impact of that statement was also immediate as Jason’s face brightened instantly. “Then I’ll put you down as a yes because when it comes to negotiations, I know no one who can say no to you.”
“We’ll see if that reputation holds strong then,” Nicole said with a weak smile.
Soon orders were taken and food was brought out. Dinner conversation focused on the wedding trip and it was decided all four would drive down to Pennsylvania as a group in Lina’s rather spacious minivan. They would all stay at Jason’s parents house during the trip and would return the day after the wedding. Nicole could tell how important this wedding was to Jason as she listened to him recant tales of him and his best friend’s misadventures.
Shortly after Jason had finished his last rice ball, Angela came to their table for karaoke sign-up. Angela pulled out her pencil and started writing on the clipboard in her hands. “I’m sure I can count all four of you in for tonight’s competition.”
“Actually, You can scratch me off for tonight,” Jason said. This drew a look of surprise from Nicole.
“Me too,” John added, which drew a look of surprise from Lina.
“Aw guys! Why not?” Angela asked.
“Yeah, I want to know that as well!” Nicole asked sternly.
“Me too!” Lina added.
“Well girls, every time we come here, either one of you two always wins. Our fragile egos need a reprieve from this savage beating,” Jason said with John nodding in agreement the whole time.
“Of course, I’ve always been interested to see the two of you join forces and sing a duet,” John added.
Jason nodded in agreement with the statement.
Nicole and Lina looked at each other and then to their boyfriends. They both sighed. Nicole decided to speak. “Alright boys, your male egos are spared this week. But you now owe us a nice desert!” Lina nodded in agreement.
“Does that mean we get to hear two angels sing in harmony?” Jason asked, hopeful.
“Anako-chan, please put me and Lina down as a team,” Nicole said.
“YAY!” John and Jason said at the same time.
“They’re such children sometimes,” Lina whispered into Nicole’s ear. Nicole nodded and then opened the songbook to pick a ‘proper’ song for their two fans…
A short while later, the contest began in earnest, bringing forth a cavalcade of would-be pop divas and rock icons, in their own minds at least. Finally, Mr. Segawa introduced Lina and Nicole and if expectations weren’t high already, they had just passed by the summit of Mt. Kilimanjaro. There was quiet hush from those who had heard either of these two sing before. Nicole signaled that they were ready.
From the speakers a sound emerged that immediately brought forth memories of John Travolta and white polyester. A retro-style disco beat filled the room and Nicole and Lina began to sway seductively to the rhythm.
He walked into the lot where his car was parked and dumped the other mail unceremoniously onto his passenger seat. He started his car and pulled out of the lot and headed straight toward the Holyoke Mall. He had a date with the engravers…
A few hours later, outside the building that housed Springfield Central High School, seventeen year old Nicole Porter found herself waiting outside the building with her twin sister Kirstin. A breeze wafted between them and both Kirstin and Nicole couldn’t hide the smiles on their youthful feminine faces. It was just something about the last day of the school year. No matter how old you got, from kindergarten all the way to high school, the last day was about celebrating the privilege of summer freedom, a concept that many adults seem to have forgotten.
This was a particularly special last day. For Nicole and Kirstin, it symbolized not the end but rather a beginning. This day would officially mark the beginning of their reign as the seniors of Springfield Central High, a title they gained when the previous seniors abdicated the throne on the last day.
Oh sure, there were the perks along with its own responsibilities. There were college plans to be made, but those could wait for the moment. The summer before the senior year was a time to truly enjoy the benefits of being young, often one of the last chances before a world of college and work ate away that precious freedom.
After a moment of savoring that freedom, Nicole glanced and her watch and grew an annoyed look. Kirstin noticed it and before she could ask, Nicole answered the unasked question. “He’s late.” The ‘he’ was Jason, and he was, in fact, late. However, before Nicole could glance at her watch again, the pair heard the tinny beep of a car horn and noticed Jason’s cream-colored coupe pulling up along the school.
Nicole and Kirstin walked up to the car and the passenger side window rolled down. Jason looked out it and greeted the pair. “I know. I’m late. Sorry. I got caught in the traffic of graduating seniors fleeing for their lives.” A moment later, the lock on the passenger side door popped up and Nicole let herself into the car. Kirstin stood there on the sidewalk. Jason looked across Nicole at Kirstin. “Hey, can we give you a lift home?”
Kirstin shook her head and smiled. “It’s okay. I’m catching up with some friends in town. We’re gonna celebrate a little too, then I’m gonna meet with Aaron tonight. You two have a good time and I’ll see you tonight sister.” Kirstin said. She then stepped away from the car and waved Nicole and Jason goodbye. The cream coupe then pulled away.
As the car made its away from the school, Jason looked at Nicole and smiled. “I guess congratulations are in order, Ms. ‘Officially a Senior Now.’”
“Oh, they are? Well, in that case, thank you Mr. Bertovich. What do I win?” Nicole said with a sly grin.
Jason feigned deep thought. He rolled his eyes upward and pondered the question. “Well, I guess I could be persuaded to take you out for a day of fun and dinner tonight at the Rising Sun. Of course, I’m sure you much rather go to the library and start studying for next year.”
Nicole feigned considering the second option. “Yes, that did seem like a good idea, but I’m not one to stand in the way of such well laid plans. I concede to your idea of treating me to a day and evening of fun.”
“I’m so glad you decided to be persuaded, “Jason deadpanned.
“So then, where is our first destination?” Nicole asked.
“Well, I figure you wouldn’t be opposed to some shopping and a light snack at the mall,” Jason answered.
“The mall?”
Jason arched an eyebrow. “You don’t like?”
Nicole shook her head. “No, it’s not that. I just figure that ever since you started working there again, that would be one of the last places you wish to spend your free time.”
Jason nodded at the assessment. “True. It is a pity that my internship at the station had to end, but I was lucky enough to get the job at the book store. You know what? It’s really not that bad, though. Since the biggest jerks at the E.B. don’t read anyway, it saves me a lot of aggravation. Besides, even if the mall was still a source of annoyance to me, having a good time with you is more that worth it.”
“Such a sweet sentiment,” Nicole said with a giggle.
“I’m a sweet guy. I also am a guy who happened to put away a small bit of funds for you to enjoy this day.”
“Oh, is that so? And what are those funds for?”
Jason looked at Nicole as he slowed the car down to pull into the mall parking lot. “My dear. Those funds are for whatever your heart desires today.” Having said that, Jason parked the car into a space.
A few hours and a light snack later…
Jason and Nicole made their way along the second floor. Nicole carried a few small shopping bags in her hands, leaving a few rather large ones for Jason to carry. The pair made their way through the stores making small purchases here and there. Jason even managed to take advantage of his employee’s discount when Nicole purchased a few financial planning books at the local Waldenbooks.
They had made their way through the mall together looking through each store, with Nicole even managing to negotiate a few discounts with the more liberal store clerks. It was obvious that this was Nicole’s day as whenever she entered a new store, Jason was a step behind her.
Well, all but one store. As they approached the Victoria’s Secret, Nicole stopped Jason in his tracks, told him to hand over his wallet and wait outside with her bags. Jason slowly pulled out his wallet to hand over to her, but not before removing his credit card, then giving it to her. She smiled at his shrewdness and entered the store, leaving Jason to sulk with her bags by a large pillar.
Now, as the pair walked along, Jason could no longer keep it inside himself. “So, are you going to show me what you got?”
“Nope,” Nicole said nonchalantly.
Jason sighed. “You know, if someone is going to pay for something, it is traditional to at least tell him where his money went.”
Nicole grinned broadly and shook her head defiantly. “Sorry. I don’t remember signing a full-disclosure agreement.”
“Not even a hint?” Jason pleaded.
Nicole considered the request and then nodded. “I just bought myself something new to sleep in.”
“Oh,” Jason said. “I guess I won’t be seeing it then.”
Nicole shrugged her shoulders. “Not for awhile, at least… and ONLY if you’re very good.”
Jason almost tripped over his own feet at hearing this. Nicole tried to stop herself from laughing loudly, but was only partially successful. This brought a few odd glances from passer-bys and a bright red glow from Jason’s face.
“I think I broke him,” Nicole smirked. Jason tried to regain his composure and kept looking straight ahead. The pair continued on through the mall and began to walk past the video arcade. Jason kept walking, but Nicole stopped and looked at it.
Jason stopped and looked back. “Nicole?”
“How about a few games?” Nicole asked.
“I thought you didn’t care much for videogames?”
“I don’t really. But I know you like them. I don’t recall their being a rule saying that we couldn’t do anything you enjoy. Come’on, let’s go in,” Nicole said with a smile.
Jason shook off the embarrassment of a few moments ago and followed her with much enthusiasm.
The pair entered the arcade and they were immediately assaulted by loud noises. Everything from car crashes to full blown explosions. However, above all the chaos, Jason could swear he heard something else. Nicole detected it as well. The pair looked at each other and asked the same question. “Dance music?”
The pair decided to inspect further and moved toward the back of the arcade. Upon reaching the back, Jason and Nicole saw several people crowding around a rather large machine. Two people were currently jumping around on a steel platform in front of the screen while loud music blared out of the side speakers. The pair on the machine proceeded to touch several lit panels at their feet. Each had an arrow on it and there were two such panels to the front and back of the player and also to the left and right, while the other player had the exact same set-up on their side of the machine.
Jason’s smile broadened. “Sweet!”
Nicole looked at him and simply arched a confused eyebrow.
Jason continued his thought. “I’ve seen this before. That convention I went to a few months back had a demonstration of this game. It’s called Dance Dance Revolution. It’s a sort of dancing game from Japan. You have to hit the panels on the floor with your feet in time to the music while matching the arrows that scroll by on the screen.”
“Interesting,” was all Nicole could manage.
“It looks like one of the new 2nd Mix machines. I heard about these. They supposedly got a whole bunch of new music and stuff.” Jason then looked at Nicole like a tike on Christmas. “Wanna give it a try?”
Nicole just couldn’t say no to that face. She nodded and Jason ran over to the change machine and took out a handful of quarters. He ran back to the machine, grabbed Nicole and the pair stood in line with the others who were waiting their chance to play this rather quirky game from the other side of the Pacific.
Soon it was their turn and Jason and Nicole stepped up onto the steel platform. Jason inserted some change and hit the start button. Soon a menu of options popped up. Jason pushed a couple buttons and a menu of songs appeared. Nicole only recognized a few of the artists, but noticed an eclectic mix of music styles blasting out as samples of the music played. Finally Jason selected a song that seemed like a suitable pop-style dance song.
“Show me your performance!” the machine shouted at the pair. Arrows began to scroll up the screen and the pair tried to time their stepping on the panels with the beat, however they both almost stumbled over their own feet. Eventually the song came to an end, and a grade appeared. They had both scored ‘D’s.’ “That wasn’t your real dance. You can do better!” the machine chided.
“Maybe we should try an easier one this next song,” Jason suggested. Nicole nodded her head and agreement. Jason cycled through the music choices and selected another one. The second and third time through, the pair seemed to find it much easier to hit their panels and by the time their game had ended, they had both managed to score a ‘C’ at least once.
The pair stepped off the machine. Nicole found her breathing was slightly heavy and she was sure her face was just as flushed as Jason’s. Jason looked at her and smiled. “Kinda fun, eh?”
Nicole nodded. It WAS fun. It was so different. This wasn’t some pointless violence that didn’t require any thinking. This was matter of coordination and actual physical exertion. She was intrigued. She also noticed how people were lining up to dump quarters into it and she would be lying to herself if she told herself she wasn’t intrigued by that aspect of it. She wanted to learn more about it. Finally she looked at Jason. “Wanna play again?”
Jason was taken by surprise by the question, but then again, today seemed to be a day full of surprises. “Um… Sure!” Jason replied enthusiastically. The pair then stepped into the line again.
The pair found themselves coming up to the machine a few more times in the next couple hours. Each time, they found themselves getting more comfortable with their movements and both seemed to moving more fluidly in time with the music.
Finally, as they came up to use the last of their quarters, Nicole asked Jason, “Hey, what is that option called ‘Couple?’”
Jason looked at the option for a moment and slightly shrugged his shoulders. “From my understanding of it, I think it means that two players play at the same time, but instead of against each other, they perform a joint routine each with their own unique set of steps.”
“Let’s try it!” Nicole said enthusiastically.
Jason nodded and selected the option. Nicole then picked a song and the routine began. After a few moments of awkwardness, the pair began to make sense of the new style.
By the time their third song had ended, Nicole found herself finishing the last step and almost tripping. She ended up falling into Jason’s chest. He, in turn, caught her and kept her from knocking them both down.
“Sorry,” she said tiredly. A moment later the small crowd who had gathered began clapping. This caught Nicole by surprise. She looked up at the grinning Jason.
“I think they think we did that on purpose.”
Nicole smiled herself. “Maybe next time, we should.” She then took Jason’s hand and proceeded to bow in appreciation and then took him by the hand and stepped off the machine with Jason in tow.
The pair exited the arcade and the blast of fresher air hit them. Nicole’s legs felt slightly weak and she was sure she would regret this game in the morning, but right now another dull ache was making itself known.
As if by some telepathic bond, Jason asked, “Hungry?”
“Famished!” Nicole said. The pair proceeded to leave the mall and go to their favorite restaurant. The Rising Sun Sushi Bar.
The pair found themselves walking into the restaurant and greeted by Angela Manors before they had both fully walked in the door. “Kobanwa, my two favorite customers!”
“Kobanwa Anako-chan!” Jason and Nicole responded in chorus.
Angela turned around and motioned for them to follow. “At the behest of Jay-chan, I have secured your favorite table near the main stage, the rather comfortable booth you both seem to favor. A fresh pot of tea and a fresh tempura appetizer have just been set out, along with our rather extensive karaoke songbook for you while you decide your order,” Angela said happily, thinking back to the rather large tip Jason had given her and Mr. Segawa to ensure everything would be ready for their arrival.
As Nicole seated herself, Angela brought out menus and a tray with Nicole’s favorite beverage. Angela then excused herself and returned to the kitchen. Nicole thoughtfully sipped the drink and looked at Jason. “You’ve been very busy the last few days haven’t you?”
“Well, it is an important day. This is the beginning of what should be the best year of your life,” Jason said.
“That’s an interesting way to put it. Your senior year must have been incredible,” Nicole stated. For a brief moment, she could swear she could read discomfort on Jason’s face, but it was gone the second it appeared.
“It was something I will never forget,” he managed after a moment. Then he smiled and took a piece of the fried tempura off the appetizer plate. He then pushed the plate over to Nicole. “We should really eat this before it gets cold.”
Nicole picked up her chopsticks and proceeded to pick a piece of broccoli off the plate, but stopped. She could swear she noticed something glinting in the light. She inspected closer and picked a few pieces of tempura off the plate. As she poked through the plate, she finally got a better view and noticed a small chain sitting near the bottom of the plate. Confused, she snagged the chain with her chopsticks and proceeded to lift the offending object out.
When she pulled it out, she finally noticed a small silver pendant. She then took the object in her hand and inspected it fully.
“My my! Maybe we should tell the health inspector! This is a most unusual thing to find in food,” Jason said trying to keep a straight face.
Nicole inspected the pendant. It was Japanese katakana engraved on a small circular pendant. Nicole recognized the symbols. It was Japanese for “Success.” On the back was a small inscription: May success always be your companion – Jason
“Oh….Jason! Its lovely,” Nicole said in quiet amazement. Jason then proceeded to step around the table to put it around her neck. He sat back down and Nicole felt the pendant with her fingers as it hung around her neck. “Its beautiful.”
“I’m glad you like it. I really wanted to put the right words on it. This seemed appropriate,” Jason said quietly. Nicole stood up and walked over and gave Jason a kiss on the cheek. As she say down, before she could another word, a pair of familiar faces stepped up to the table.
“I take it that you gave her your gift?” John Hoelscher said with a smirk.
“Looks like we gave him just the right amount of time,” Lina Wells, John’s girlfriend and ex-goddess, said with a nod.
Nicole looked up in surprise. John and Lina proceeded to sit down at the booth, John next to Jason and Lina next to Nicole. Nicole looked at the new couple and shook her head. “Jason planned all of this didn’t he?”
“Well, he’s a sucker for surprises. Congratulations on another year done. Just don’t get lazy this last one,” John said mock-sternly. He then handed Nicole a card from both himself and Lina. Nicole read the card and thanked the pair for the gift certificate inside.
Angela returned and took the two couple’s orders. After she was finished, the four were alone again. Nicole proceeded to open the large the tome and peruse the song list. Jason then reached into his shirt pocket and pulled out a small white envelope.
“This being a day of happy surprises, I would like to tell about another one I received this morning,” Jason said happily, holding up the envelope.
John pulled out his own envelope and smiled. “We already know.”
“You too? I didn’t realize that you were that good of friends with Trav and Charl,’ Jason said, confused.
“Well, after I met him at the convention we went to in February, I kept in touch with him. We’ve become pretty good friends. He said that they wanted me to come down and see them again,” John explained.
Nicole took her lips off her straw and decided to clarify some details for her own benefit. “What’s going on Jay?”
“Oh!” Jason said, embarrassed because he forgot that she was the only person at the table not in on the news yet. “This morning I got an invitation. My best friends back home are getting married next month. So I will be going back home soon to see my family and friends.”
“That’s wonderful, Jay,” Nicole said.
“Well, that’s only part of the good news. I really want you to come with me and meet my family and friends,” Jason said enthusiastically.
Nicole stopped in mid-sip. She put down her glass and looked at him with an expression that could be both called happy and sad. “Jay honey, it’s a lovely sentiment, but I don’t know if Sarah would ever consider letting me leave the state with you alone.”
The impact was immediate. Nicole could read the crashing waves of disappointment on his face. At that moment she decided to throw the odds to the wind for once. She smiled sympathetically. “But I’ll try to convince her.”
The impact of that statement was also immediate as Jason’s face brightened instantly. “Then I’ll put you down as a yes because when it comes to negotiations, I know no one who can say no to you.”
“We’ll see if that reputation holds strong then,” Nicole said with a weak smile.
Soon orders were taken and food was brought out. Dinner conversation focused on the wedding trip and it was decided all four would drive down to Pennsylvania as a group in Lina’s rather spacious minivan. They would all stay at Jason’s parents house during the trip and would return the day after the wedding. Nicole could tell how important this wedding was to Jason as she listened to him recant tales of him and his best friend’s misadventures.
Shortly after Jason had finished his last rice ball, Angela came to their table for karaoke sign-up. Angela pulled out her pencil and started writing on the clipboard in her hands. “I’m sure I can count all four of you in for tonight’s competition.”
“Actually, You can scratch me off for tonight,” Jason said. This drew a look of surprise from Nicole.
“Me too,” John added, which drew a look of surprise from Lina.
“Aw guys! Why not?” Angela asked.
“Yeah, I want to know that as well!” Nicole asked sternly.
“Me too!” Lina added.
“Well girls, every time we come here, either one of you two always wins. Our fragile egos need a reprieve from this savage beating,” Jason said with John nodding in agreement the whole time.
“Of course, I’ve always been interested to see the two of you join forces and sing a duet,” John added.
Jason nodded in agreement with the statement.
Nicole and Lina looked at each other and then to their boyfriends. They both sighed. Nicole decided to speak. “Alright boys, your male egos are spared this week. But you now owe us a nice desert!” Lina nodded in agreement.
“Does that mean we get to hear two angels sing in harmony?” Jason asked, hopeful.
“Anako-chan, please put me and Lina down as a team,” Nicole said.
“YAY!” John and Jason said at the same time.
“They’re such children sometimes,” Lina whispered into Nicole’s ear. Nicole nodded and then opened the songbook to pick a ‘proper’ song for their two fans…
A short while later, the contest began in earnest, bringing forth a cavalcade of would-be pop divas and rock icons, in their own minds at least. Finally, Mr. Segawa introduced Lina and Nicole and if expectations weren’t high already, they had just passed by the summit of Mt. Kilimanjaro. There was quiet hush from those who had heard either of these two sing before. Nicole signaled that they were ready.
From the speakers a sound emerged that immediately brought forth memories of John Travolta and white polyester. A retro-style disco beat filled the room and Nicole and Lina began to sway seductively to the rhythm.
Nicole:
Makin' me feel that I want it
Is makin' you see that you know what I need
You’re breakin' the rules cos you want it
There's so much you can do that will make me see that
Lina:
Makin' me love and adore you baby
Is makin' the most of the way that I feel
I'm takin’ a chance, movin' for ya
Cos when you touch me I just can't believe that it's real
Both:
So come on baby, do it to me good now
Do it to me slowly (Nicole: oh yeah)
Be the one and only (Lina: uh’huh yeah)
And do it to me right now (Nicole: baby, baby)
Nicole:
Make me believe that you want it
And make me believe that you'll always be true
You better not lie or deceive me
If you do, then we're through, so it's up to you
Lina:
So take me to places I'd never ever
Never been able to go
You've taken it higher and higher
But baby you know, that it's so, get it on lets go!
Both:
So come on baby, do it to me good now
Do it to me slowly (Nicole: oh yeah)
Be the one and only (Lina: uh'huh yeah)
And do it to me right now (Nicole: do it oh yeah yeah yeah yeah!)
So come on baby do it to me good
Do it like you should (Nicole: oh yeah)
Like you said you would (Lina: uh’huh yeah)
And do it to me right now (Nicole: ri-ight now)
Nicole:
There's a party in my head
But you should have been there with me now
(Lina: what you say, what you say)
Lina:
Well you started on my head
Better finish what you said to me now
(Nicole: what you say, what you say)
Makin' me feel that I want it
Is makin' you see that you know what I need
You’re breakin' the rules cos you want it
There's so much you can do that will make me see that
Lina:
Makin' me love and adore you baby
Is makin' the most of the way that I feel
I'm takin’ a chance, movin' for ya
Cos when you touch me I just can't believe that it's real
Both:
So come on baby, do it to me good now
Do it to me slowly (Nicole: oh yeah)
Be the one and only (Lina: uh’huh yeah)
And do it to me right now (Nicole: baby, baby)
Nicole:
Make me believe that you want it
And make me believe that you'll always be true
You better not lie or deceive me
If you do, then we're through, so it's up to you
Lina:
So take me to places I'd never ever
Never been able to go
You've taken it higher and higher
But baby you know, that it's so, get it on lets go!
Both:
So come on baby, do it to me good now
Do it to me slowly (Nicole: oh yeah)
Be the one and only (Lina: uh'huh yeah)
And do it to me right now (Nicole: do it oh yeah yeah yeah yeah!)
So come on baby do it to me good
Do it like you should (Nicole: oh yeah)
Like you said you would (Lina: uh’huh yeah)
And do it to me right now (Nicole: ri-ight now)
Nicole:
There's a party in my head
But you should have been there with me now
(Lina: what you say, what you say)
Lina:
Well you started on my head
Better finish what you said to me now
(Nicole: what you say, what you say)
Suddenly the music began to build up in crescendo of disco fever. Nicole and Lina left the stage and walked over to their table and each grabbed the hands of their respective boyfriends. In an instant, Lina and Nicole had John and Jason swinging them and spinning them in such a way that one could swear he or she could see a mirrored ball hanging on the ceiling. Suddenly and fast and fevered the music began, it stopped and Nicole and Lina placed their left hands on their male partner’s chest to stop him. They raised their microphones to their lips and the music began again.
Both:
So come on baby, do it to me good now
Do it to me slowly (Nicole: Come on baby!)
Be the one and only (Lina: uh'huh yeah)
And do it to me right now (Nicole: and be the one and only!)
So come on baby do it to me good
Do it like you should (Nicole: oh yeah)
Like you said you would (Lina: uh'huh yeah)
And do it to me right now (Lina: do it to me ri-ight now)
So come on baby do it to me good now
Do it to me slowly (Nicole: slowly)
Be the one and only (Lina: oh yeah)
And do it to me right now
So come on baby, do it to me good now
Do it to me slowly (Nicole: Come on baby!)
Be the one and only (Lina: uh'huh yeah)
And do it to me right now (Nicole: and be the one and only!)
So come on baby do it to me good
Do it like you should (Nicole: oh yeah)
Like you said you would (Lina: uh'huh yeah)
And do it to me right now (Lina: do it to me ri-ight now)
So come on baby do it to me good now
Do it to me slowly (Nicole: slowly)
Be the one and only (Lina: oh yeah)
And do it to me right now
The music came to a final stop and Nicole could feel the rapid nervous pounding of Jason’s heart with her left hand. The crowd clapped loudly in approval and Nicole and Lina took their much-deserved bows while their boyfriends clapped in the wings. The four walked back to their table.
“Looks like that game didn’t take all your natural rhythm,” Nicole said with a cat-like grin on her face.
“Let’s just say I had some motivation,” Jason said.
The evening continued as one would expect. It came as no surprise that the team of Lina and Nicole claimed the trophy once again from the mob of vocal hopefuls. Shortly before Nicole’s curfew, Jason had brought her to her doorstep. A brief moment of hesitation set in. Nicole was positive her sister Sarah was waiting to pounce on her and Jason if there was any improprieties. A moment passed and Nicole gently kissed Jason on the lips and went into her apartment. She watched from the window as Jason walked to his car with a happy swing in his step and waved him off as he drove away.
The apartment was quiet. It looked as if she was the first to arrive home Nicole decided that she had had a long enough day and decided to retire for the night. Setting her shopping bags down in the living room, she took her Victoria’s Secret bag into the bathroom with her.
A few moments later she emerged wearing a solid white baby doll gown that reached down to just slightly above mid-thigh. She smoothed out the materials and seemed pleased with the frilled edges and how comfortable it felt. She then slipped on the sheer white robe that went with it. She then paused as she passed the full-length hall mirror to admire herself.
She smiled at her reflection. This was a big day in all sorts of way. She felt that this put a perfect cap on it. It was sexy, but still held that clean purity. She felt like a real adult this night. This was an adult purchase, but it reflected a sweet naivety that made it not TOO adult. She then walked to her bedroom and opened the door.
Upon entering the room, she saw her twin sister lying on top of her bed on her stomach, clad in her purple flannel pajamas, reading a lengthy novel. Kirstin looked up and gaped in awe. “Wow! Nicole, that is so pretty!”
Nicole blushed slightly. “You like it? I just got it today on my shopping trip with Jay.”
Kirstin gasped. “You mean, he bought that for you?! Oh my! You might not want to tell Sarah that.”
Nicole shrugged. “He hasn’t seen me in it. Actually, he hasn’t even seen it period. I made him wait outside the store as I took his wallet into the store with me.”
“Nicole!” Kirstin said disapprovingly. “That’s not very considerate! You shouldn’t have taken his money like that.”
Nicole grinned. “Actually, he only thinks he paid for it. I actually bought this with some of the spare liquid assets I had at my disposal. Jason means well, but if I didn’t watch him, he’d spend all his money on me until he was in the poorhouse. I simply decided to spare his ego a small bruise. I don’t think he even realized that I actually slipped a few dollars into his wallet to help with the dinner bill.” Nicole then giggled.
Kirstin narrowed her gaze at her twin. Nicole was sometimes so irrepressible. Though Kirstin had to admit that she also envied that very trait of her twin’s. Nicole pulled the covers of her bed back and slipped the robe off. She then sat on the edge of her bed for a moment. “Sis, can I tell you something?”
“What is it, Nicole?” Kirstin asked noticing the more serious look on her face.
“Jason’s best friends from Pennsylvania are getting married. He’s going home next month for a few days. He wants me to come with him.”
“Oh my,” Kirstin replied.
“I really want to go. I think it’s really important to him, but I don’t think Sarah can understand that.”
“I know,” Kirstin said, understandingly.
“I’m going to ask her tomorrow. I was wondering… Um…” Nicole paused and placed her two index fingers together a few times.
“Yes?”
“I was hoping if tomorrow morning if you could make your special ‘Happy sunshine banana pancakes’ for breakfast. They’re Sarah’s favorites.”
“I see. You want me to help you get her in a good mood and butter her up,” Kirstin said with a comprehending nod.
“Well… Yeah,” Nicole finally said.
“Okay sister. I will help you,” Kirstin said.
Nicole walked over to her sister’s bed and hugged her tightly. “Thank you Kirstin!”
Kirstin looked at her sister and then grinned. Nicole recognized that grin all too well. Nicole should recognize it as she had spent several hours perfecting it in the mirror. Kirstin then spoke. “Of course, my aid doesn’t come cheap. I seem to also be in need some new sleeping attire, maybe something more fitting a woman of my age. I’m sure you could easily arrange that dear sister.”
Nicole looked at her sister and gave the most scrutinizing look she could muster. “Kirstin, we’ve definitely shared a room way too long.” However the pact was made and Nicole decided to turn in. She needed her energy for the battle that was sure to ensue the next day.
Nicole awoke to the smell of a certain breakfast confection promised by her twin. God bless her, she even sacrifices a chance to sleep in so she can help me, Nicole thought to herself. Then her thoughts went to her promise last night and what she should buy her sister.
Her first thought was to be evil. Nicole could already imagine the horrified expression on Kirstin’s face when she opened up her package to find a black see-through teddy with matching garters and stockings. Of course, Aaron would probably appreciate the gesture greatly a couple of years down the road.
Alas however, the small Angel version of Nicole had kicked the evil version right off Nicole’s shoulder and out of her mind. Nicole was resolved to find something a little more conservative for her sweet twin. After all, Kirstin would have plenty of time for black lingerie in college. Nicole giggled at her own evil mental lapse. Nicole set about changing into something more suitable for breakfast.
A few minutes later, Nicole entered the kitchen and saw Sarah at the table already relishing a mouthful of banana pancakes. Kirstin was presently pouring another batch onto the griddle. She looked over her shoulder and greeted her sister.
Sarah broke from her reverie and noticed Nicole. “Good morning, sleepy. We were wondering when you were going to wake up. I hope you weren’t planning to make a habit of this all summer.”
“Its only the first day of vacation and Saturday to boot. I do feel I am owed my beauty rest once every few months,” Nicole replied in turn and then sat down to a plate with pancakes stacked on it. She inhaled deeply and sighed. That smell of banana always made her feel content and happy.
However, behind the contentment, Nicole’s mind was working overtime in preparing her dissertation. Sometimes battling Sarah in a contest of wills was like trying to defeat Perry Mason in court. However, now was not the time to begin, but soon it would be.
Kirstin sat down at the table with her own plate and all three lightly chatted about their nights. Sarah had ended up seeing a double-feature with Matty Hayes. Kirstin and Aaron had joined a group of scouts and had dinner at Perfume’s Pizza. Soon, the last bit of syrup had been sopped with pancake and Kirstin got up to clear the table.
“Hey Kirstin, why don’t you let Sarah and me take care of that,” Nicole said, throwing a knowing look to her twin.
Kirstin understood and nodded. Sarah felt an odd feeling. This was certainly new. Kirstin almost always put up a fight when it came to things like that. It was also very rare for Nicole to openly volunteer for the domestic duties. Then there was the matter that Kirstin happened to have Sarah’s favorite breakfast waiting for her as she awoke. If she didn’t know better, Sarah could swear they were up to something.
Kirstin exited the kitchen and Nicole grabbed a pair of plates and placed them in the sink. Sarah took the syrup and butter and placed them in the refrigerator. Sarah then went for the juice and milk. Nicole placed the last of the plates in the sink and started to fill the sink with soapy water.
“Well, I’m waiting,” Sarah said crossing her arms.
Nicole turned around and noticed the stoic expression of her sister. “I guess I can’t slip one by you.”
“Well, after this long, I can tell when I’m being buttered up. So what do you two want?” Sarah asked seriously.
“Actually, it’s just me. Kirstin was doing me a favor,” Nicole admitted.
“I see. Then I’ll rephrase my question. What do you want?”
Nicole hated it when Sarah gave her that stern look. She felt as if she were being given the bright light treatment at a police questioning room except there was no good cop or bad cop, just sister cop. “Fine, I’ll come right out and tell you. Jason is attending a wedding next month and he wants me to come with him to Pennsylvania.”
Sarah narrowed her gaze. “Oh. Is that all?”
Nicole felt her chest tighten. This did not feel like a good sign. Sarah had only uttered four words so far when Nicole was expecting a tirade. She braced herself for more.
“Well, let’s have some details,” Sarah said. “How long?”
Nicole’s mind snapped at attention. “Four days.”
“Is it just you two?” Sarah questioned.
“No. It will be Jason and I, along with his friend John and John’s girlfriend Lina. We’ll be taking Lina’s van down as a group.”
Sarah cocked her head and considered that. Then she fired her next question. “And where will you be staying?”
Nicole felt herself grow more relaxed. She was prepared for these questions. “At Jason’s parent’s house. Jason will be sleeping in his old bedroom on the ground floor. I’ll be sleeping in the guestroom on the second floor. John and Lina will have the guestroom on the first floor.”
“I see,” Sarah said nodding. She then appeared to weigh Nicole’s answers and cocked her head from left to right. Finally she closed her eyes. “I’m sorry Nicole, but the answer is no.”
Despite all her preparations, Nicole still didn’t feel prepared for the immediate rejection. “But Sarah…”
Sarah held her hand up to stop the plea. “I’m sorry Nicole, but you’re only seventeen. I just don’t feel comfortable with you going so far with a boy without my supervision.” Sarah then picked up her glass of juice and took a sip.
Nicole could feel the anger rising within her. She wanted to control it, but she just felt so angry at Sarah’s overprotectiveness. She unleashed all that anger with a single comment that just seemed to slide up her throat, past her tongue and out her mouth. “Sarah, I just told you that he and I would be sleeping on different floors. Frankly, I think if his penis could reach that far, then he’d have trouble walking.”
“Sarah’s eyes bugged at hearing this and she choked on her juice. She then shouted between coughs, “WHAT did you just say?!?”
Nicole felt herself spine hardening. She straightened herself up and realized that this had turned from a battle of wills to a proverbial all out war. She hardened her gaze and matched her sisters angered face. “Let’s not mince words shall we? I’m not eleven years old. You’re afraid that if I go off with him, what? I’ll screw him at the first opportunity I get? Hate to break it to you sister, but I’m not that easily seduced. My hormones rank pretty low on my priorities pyramid right now.
“I have a lot of bigger plans in mind, the first being finishing high school and then college. I’m not going to ruin that with fifteen minutes of primal behavior.”
Sarah slammed her hand on the table, causing the other juice glasses to shake. “You know damn well, that it’s not you I’m worried about!”
Nicole crossed her arms. “Oh that’s right, Jason will rape me with this opportunity. He’ll introduce me to his parents, then his friends, and then he’ll have his way with me. Right? Dammit, Sarah! Not every guy is some sex-crazed rapist! I thought you knew him well enough by now to know him better! Jason is not Rodney!”
Sarah was about to respond just as loudly but then grew quiet. Nicole knew it. She had said the one thing that might have been too much. Nicole and Kirstin weren’t quite sure why Sarah broke up with Rodney at first, but they had their guesses. Nicole was positive that Rodney had tried to pressure Sarah and Nicole knew that her older sister was way too strong-willed to succumb to the clumsy charms of that oaf. It seemed that it was then that all his real stripes were visible. They broke up shortly afterward, but Sarah never fully disclosed what happened, but one thing was clear. After that experience, Sarah was a lot less trusting of men.
Sarah sighed and closed her eyes. She sat down and hung her head. Nicole walked over to her sister and placed her hand on Sarah’s shoulder. “I’m sorry Sarah, but it had to be said.”
“No. I’m sorry. You’re right. You and Kirstin aren’t eleven anymore. I’m your legal guardian, but I’ve been more like a gargoyle trying to scare away anything I think is threatening. You’re a senior in high school now. Soon you’ll be recognized by the law as an adult. I should be the one to recognize it first,” Sarah said quietly.
“Sarah…”
Sarah raised her hand to silence Nicole. “You can go.”
Nicole suddenly felt a surge of adrenaline rush through her. “Really?!”
“Really,” Sarah confirmed.
Nicole latched onto her sister and hugged tightly, thanking her more than once. Sarah patted Nicole on the back. “But don’t think I’ve gone soft. Before you go, all three of us are going to have a long talk. We’ll probably have a few more long talks when you come back too. It’s time I’ve started treating you like the adults you are. I can’t shelter you anymore, but now I’ve got to teach you.”
“I can’t think of a better teacher,” Nicole said and hugged her sister again.
“This is so beautiful!” a voice from the doorway mumbled. Nicole and Sarah looked up to see Kirstin standing in the doorway with a few tears running down her cheeks. She then ran in and joined the pair in their hug.
It was a touching scene indeed. And indeed there were a couple long talks between the three sisters. However, after it was all said and done, life had pretty much returned to semi-normalcy in the town of Springfield, MA (Save for a few misadventures the author wishes not to mention for they are, quite frankly, best left to another author [or rather The Other Author.])
May had turned to June and June seemed to blur by like one hot, long summer afternoon. Before he had even realized it, the time had come for him and his band of friends and lovers to make their way south. Things didn’t blur by as fast for Nicole, but for her life was always one new experience after another, however it did catch her just a little bit by surprise when she looked at the calendar and realized that she would be leaving the next day.
It even caught her by surprise that she was standing in her apartment’s living room with her luggage waiting for Jason to arrive. It had just seemed like yesterday that she had managed to convince her sister Sarah to allow her to make the trek with Jason (or rather, if life could be compared to a story, she felt as if a whole month had simply been summarized into a couple short paragraphs.)
She laughed at her own thought. No, that was just too ridiculous to consider. She picked up her two bags and proceeded to leave the apartment so she could wait for Jason outside in the cool breeze of the early morning. As she stepped outside, her sister Sarah called out to her. Nicole turned around.
“Have a safe trip. Remember what we talked about,’ Sarah said as she gave Nicole a hug.
“I will sis. I’ll try to bring you guys back a souvenir,” Nicole said, though she couldn’t think of anything worth bringing back from southwestern Pennsylvania farm country.
Sarah then released Nicole from her hug and held out a pair of envelopes. “Have a good time. Oh, since you’re going outside, could you drop these into the mail for me?”
Nicole nodded and took the envelopes. She then stepped outside again and took her bags down the small flight of stairs. Upon reaching the bottom, Sarah closed the door and returned to her own morning rituals. Nicole couldn’t blame her. While Sarah had changed a little bit, it still must have been difficult for her to watch her little sister go off on a trip like this. Nicole set down her bags and stretched a bit. She then remembered the envelopes and walked over to the outgoing mailbox.
She opened the lid of the large blue box but then paused. She frowned slightly. She looked at the two envelopes. The first had Kirstin’s name on the return address. The other had her own. She dropped her sister’s envelopes into the box, but hesitated afterward. She stared at the envelope that bore her name on the upper left hand corner.
Nicole still wasn’t entirely comfortable with it, but her sisters seemed so up for the idea that Nicole found herself getting swept up in the moment. However, in a more rational moment, she found herself not as eager.
But her sisters knew Nicole much too well. They had used that dreaded word: “Opportunity.” If there was one thing Nicole couldn’t pass on, it was an opportunity. This could really open a lot of doors for her.
However, she kept thinking back to Jason. She did feel for him greatly, she’d maybe even go to the extent of saying the word love. But even if it wasn’t true love, there was something keeping her from putting that envelope in the mailbox.
She closed her eyes and slid it in the box quickly before she could stop her hand from gripping it again. She sighed heavily and hoped Jason would understand.
As if fate had timed it, Nicole heard a van horn honking nearby. She ran over to her bags and walked to the sidewalk where Lina’s van pulled up to. The back hatch popped open and the window rolled down. Lina slid her sunglasses down her nose slightly.
“Toss your bags in the back. Sorry we’re late, but John packs way too much. He might as well be packing for three people.”
John coughed loudly from the passenger side. Jason waved from his seat behind and opened the door to climb out and help Nicole stow her bags. Jason closed the hatch and Nicole and Jason took their seats on the short bench seat behind Lina.
Lina pushed up her sunglasses. “We’re burning daylight! Let’s roll!” The van then pulled away from the curb and sped toward the highway. Destination: Smithfield, Pennsylvania.
The highways of America’s northeast stretched on for quite a while as the maroon minivan sped onward toward Pennsylvania. Jason played the part of tour guide as they passed local points of interest. Which included anything and everything from the Little League Hall of Fame in Williamsport to the state capital in Harrisburg. Jason had an even more vocal diatribe prepared as the van entered the Pennsylvania turnpike for the final leg of the trip.
After driving the road for two hours, Lina and John had agreed that, yes, a blind chimpanzee could in fact design a better highway system and, yes, that the roads were probably better in downtown Beirut. One thing that was definitely agreed upon. After driving some two hundred miles on the road, and after having seen that about one hundred and ninety-seven miles of it were limited to one lane and lined with orange barrels, and after not seeing one SINGLE person actually doing any said work on said road, it was agreed that PENNDOT did, in fact, stand for: Permanently Ensuring No Normal Driving Occurs Today.
As the van entered the town limits of Smithfield, Jason guided them toward the bottom of what he called ‘The Pit.’ A rather quirky design feature of the town of Smithfield, in which the entire town was located on several hills, creating a giant concave valley. Jason’s family's house just conveniently happened to be at the bottom of that concave.
The van pulled into a long gravel driveway and pulled up into a gravel lot that was surrounded by a green lawn, trees, and stone flowerbeds which led up to the centerpiece, the two-storied house of red brick and gray siding.
The van came to a stop. Everyone piled out to stretch their legs and arms. Nicole looked across the large hay field at the setting sun, which blazed a bright red. Jason walked up to her and put his arm around her.
“It’s beautiful,” Nicole said.
“Yeah, its nice. The real treat is to go up on Jumunville summit and watch it set. The horizon just stretches on forever.”
Nicole pointed to the field in front of them. “Is this your family’s property too?”
“That’s my grandfather’s. He cuts the field about twice a summer for hay to feed his cows. However, a large chunk of this area was once all my grandfathers and its been split up to my various relatives or sold off.”
“I see,” Nicole said nodding. She then leaned her head on his shoulder. “Can I ask you one more question?”
“Sure.”
“Well… that house we passed. The one over there,” Nicole said pointing to a pink house on the edge of Jason’s driveway. “Were those geese in that makeshift chicken coop?”
“Yeah. Geese right now. That structure has also housed pigs, chickens, goats, sheep, swans, and dogs. Not necessarily in that order,” Jason replied nodding his head. “Of course, seeing as I’ve been gone awhile, I’m sure there been some new experiments in my absence.”
Nicole looked up at her boyfriend’s face. “One last question. Why?”
“Welcome to Smithfield, dear. Population: Mostly nuts.”
In the absence of a sane reason, Nicole accepted the answer. Nicole was beginning to believe Jason’s horror stories, though was still positive that it can’t all be that bad. Nicole decided to get her bags and help unload the van.
Turning around, Nicole saw a couple standing on the front stoop of the house. A man and a woman, both appeared to be aged in their mid to late forties, possibly early fifties. The woman was small, not measuring more than five feet. Her hair was red and wavy and she wore a brightly colored sweatshirt and blue jeans.
The man was very similar to Jason in that he had a stocky frame and very broad shoulders. He wore khaki pants and a white dress shirt, unbuttoned at the top. The couple waved.
Jason smiled and waved back. “Hey mom! Hey dad! Guess who decided to drop by?”
The two couples brought their things into the house and were given the dime tour. Jason introduced John and Lina to his parents as he did with Nicole. Everyone was showed to their respective rooms to take their luggage. Nicole simply placed her bags in the guest room and made her way downstairs. She walked down the hall to the door that Jason pointed out as his.
She slowly opened the door and looked inside. The walls were covered with various posters and action figures were on various shelves and cupboards. There was thick layer of dust covering all the toys and mementos. Nicole ran her finger along the bookshelf and it came back positively gray.
“Sorry bout the mess. I basically left an ultimatum for my mother to not enter my room nor touch my stuff until I eventually came back to reclaim them,” Jason said leaning on the door frame with his arms crossed.
Nicole eeped and spun around. “Sorry. I didn’t mean to snoop.”
“You are a curious individual. Curiosity can have repercussions. It can also have rewards,” Jason said, still leaning with his arms crossed.
“What kind of repercussions?”
Jason shrugged his shoulders. “I could feed you to the geese, but that would just put a damper on the whole trip. I was thinking of taking you to a party tonight.”
“A party?” Nicole asked.
“If you guys wanna go. I just called Trav to let him know we’re in. Trav and Charl are holding a pre-wedding get together at his parent’s house. If you guys are up to it, I’m sure there’ll be good food. I was figuring maybe to take a few moments to stretch out our legs and then head over,” Jason explained.
“I’m up for it. I want to meet this mystery couple whose wedding I’ll be attending,” Nicole said.
“Count us in too!” John and Lina said from behind Jason in the hall.
"Then I guess we’re going to a party,” Jason said.
Jason yawned lightly as the van pulled into the driveway of the Evans residence. He hated to admit it, but he was starting to feel wiped, but he missed his friends too much not too attend. The quartet parked the van next to several other cars and they all piled out.
As Jason and Nicole made their way across the lawn to the back of the house where the party was surely being held, the front door opened unexpectantly. A young man with a thick, long mane of dark brown hair and a bushy goatee, followed by a small petite girl with cropped black hair both came rushing out.
“Trav! Charl!” Jason shouted to the pair!
“Jason!” They both shouted back and ran over to greet the whole group. Jason quickly exchanged quick embraces with his two friends. The engaged couple then walked over to John and gave him a quick embrace as well.
“Glad you could make it!” Trav said to John.
“Glad I could too,” John replied and then introduced Lina to the pair. Lina greeted them and gave them her best wishes for their upcoming nuptials. Trav and Charl then turned their attention to Jason and Nicole.
“I assume that this is the Nicole you’ve talked so much about in all your e-mails,” Trav said looking Nicole up and down.
“You assume correctly, Trav, Charl, this is Nicole Porter,” Jason said gesturing his hands over to Nicole. Nicole in turn greeted the couple and also wished them well on their wedding in two days’ time.
Trav then slapped Jason on the back and motioned him to follow. Come on. Everyone’s around back. Everyone was wondering if you were going to make it to the party.
“Great! I’m pretty sure everyone is famished. I’m assuming that there is, in fact, food waiting for us,” Jason said as all six made their way around the house.
“You assume correctly,” Charl said as they first started seeing various people milling around in the back yard.
As John and Lina set out to meet and greet, Jason took Nicole around to meet his friends. The first stop was Trav’s sixteen year old sister Staycie. She enthusiastically shook Nicole’s hand and then zoomed off to greet John and Lina.
Shortly afterward, a rather tall and broad man with a slightly thinning hairline and thick glasses introduced himself to Nicole. His name was Jason Burchianti and Jason told Nicole how he was the oldest member of their tiny clique at the ripe age of 24. Burchianti told Nicole how he was a chemist for a chemical company in Pittsburgh.
“So, I hear that Trav got you penciled in for Best Man duties, eh Jay?” Jason said, throwing an elbow lightly into Jay Burchianti.
“Yeah. I know he would’ve asked you, but…”
“No need to apologize. He couldn’t have picked a better guy for the job, though…” Jason then took Jay aside briefly and starting whispering into his ear, “Is there gonna be a celebration of the end of Trav’s bachelorhood?”
Jay looked around quickly and then whispered to Jason, “Aye, there will be. Tomorrow night. I’ve reserved the top room at Meloni’s for the occasion. Be there at seven-ish and be prepared to give Trav your two cents,” Jay confirmed.
Jason then smiled. “Beautiful. Good work my friend. I won’t miss it.” Jason then came back to the waiting Nicole, who crossed her arms at the stupid grin on Jason’s face.
“What was all that about?”
“Male bonding my dear,” Jason replied holding his hands up in innocence. Nicole continued her scrutinizing glare as to indicate that he would never get away with a secret. A moment later she relented. Jason took Nicole’s hand and the pair continued their trek into Jason’s past.
A moment later, a female voice spoke out. “Jason?”
Nicole looked at her boyfriend and was assaulted with a barrage of new faces. At first, she could read pain, then maybe anger, then simply discomfort. Jason slowly turned around and faced the girl, not realizing that he had started to squeeze Nicole’s hand.
Nicole tried to read Jason’s face, but now it had gone to a neutral expression. “Shelly.”
The girl, who had a long mane of chestnut hair, a slightly stocky build and very thick glasses also wore a slightly neutral expression. “Its been a while, hasn’t it?”
Jason nodded. “Time does fly. I see that you managed to get away from Michigan.”
Shelly nodded. “I wasn’t going to miss Trav’s wedding for anything.”
“No, you certainly don’t ever seem to miss things,” Jason said. Nicole could definitely read a hint of anger in his voice.
Shelly appeared to be taken slightly off guard by the statement. She then looked around as if trying to find something. Jason turned to Nicole. “I’m going inside for a coke. You want one?” Nicole nodded and Jason turned around to open the door. Nicole noticed that he had entered the kitchen and then opened another door and proceeded to walk down a set of steps.
Nicole stood there for a moment with Shelly. Shelly shifted nervously and then coughed. She then turned toward Nicole. “If you excuse me, I have to freshen up.” Shelly then opened the same door and walked down the same stairs.
Nicole was quite good at reading a situation and decided that this was worth investigating. She quietly opened the back door into the Evans’ kitchen and then began to make her own way down the stairs stealthily.
About three steps down, she heard voices. Nicole halted and kept her position. She could see shadows looming, presumably formed by the light of a refrigerator. Nicole could hear her own heart beating within her chest. She could hear Shelly’s voice and she assumed that meant Jason was also there.
Shelly’s voice crept its way up the stairway first. “Jason, Will you please at least talk to me?”
Jason’s voice floated up next. Nicole detected a very angry tone to it which seemed so inconsistent with the Jason she knew. “What part of ‘I want nothing to do with you again’ don’t you understand? I made it clear: you and me are done. I came here to see my best friend, not you.”
Nicole tried to keep her breathing quiet. She listened intently as Shelly’s voice came next, this time quavering.
“Why are you being so mean to me? What did I do?!”
Jason’s voice came next. It was filled with intense anger. “You know, I would expect that you still wouldn’t even realize how you hurt me after all this time. But then again that was always consistent with our relationship wasn’t it? As long as Shelly was fine, who cares about everyone else? I did love you Shell. More than you could’ve ever known, but you threw that away. Now I see that you are a selfish woman and I want nothing to do with you again. I am glad you are well, but beyond that you are a stranger to me.”
Nicole watched as the shadows disappeared and she heard the sound of a refrigerator door closing. She started backing up the stairs slowly to avoid being seen, but the oncoming footsteps stopped.
“Just tell me what I did! You owe me that much!” Shelly hissed angrily.
“Owe?! I owe you?! Everything I ever did, I did for you! Goddammit, stop thinking about yourself for once!!! This is not Shelly’s World with everyone else is just living in it!”
Nicole then heard footsteps coming her way. Nicole quickly backed up the stairs and hid behind a kitchen counter. A moment later, Jason emerged from the steps and quickly walked outside. Nicole waited a few moments and then proceeded to follow his out.
Upon reaching outside again however, she couldn’t detect Jason anywhere. Nicole saw John and Lina and walked over to them. John and Lina were talking to Trav and Charl, who wore worried expressions.
“Have you seen Jason?” Nicole asked.
Trav pointed to an area past the house, over the eastern horizon. “He said he needed a walk to clear his head.” Nicole then nodded and proceeded in that direction. Trav placed his hand on her shoulder. “You might want to just leave him be for a bit.”
“What happened between him and that Shelly woman?” Nicole asked.
Charl frowned. “They used to be pretty serious. It didn’t end well, for anyone.”
Nicole then continued her way toward the eastern horizon where the stars were already visible. As she walked the party became less audible and she could hear the crickets chirping. As she passed over the top of the slight slope, she saw the land started to slope downward again. At the bottom, she saw Jason sitting alone.
Nicole carefully made her way down. Jason’s head perked slightly as she approached. “Whoever it is, I don’t want to talk about it!”
Nicole stopped her advance and crossed her arms. “Congratulations. It takes a lot of effort to hide something from me, but you managed to succeed. An ex-girlfriend no less. I am thoroughly impressed by your skills.”
Jason whipped his head around toward her in surprise. “ Nicole! Wha… ?”
Nicole uncrossed her arms and walked over to and ended up sitting next to him on the grassy slope. “You know, I don’t think I’ve ever seen, or rather heard you, so angry before. Oh, I’ve seen you when you were annoyed, but never so genuinely angry.”
Jason turned his head away in shame. “I wasn’t trying to hide it from you on purpose. I just wanted to forget it ever happened.”
“Was it that bad?” Nicole asked.
Jason nodded his head slightly. “Yes. It was an time of my life that I want to never revisit.”
“Because of what she did to you?”
Jason shook his head violently. “No. It wasn’t what she did to me, it was the person I became because of it.”
“I don’t understand,” Nicole said taking Jason’s hands into her own.
Jason sighed heavily. “I had met her in my senior year of high school. Immediately, I was intrigued by her. It didn’t long for me to ask her out.
“That was the start of a eight month relationship, my first truly serious one at that. I loved showering her with gifts. I was only making maybe forty dollars a week at the time, but I would’ve gladly spent it all on her.
“Sure, she wasn’t perfect, but neither was I, so how could I criticize? What did it matter that she wasn’t very open to some of my unique interests, while I experimented with hers? I didn’t matter, I loved her and was willing to see past even annoying habits.
“Did it bother me when she constantly went on about her last relationship and how much she missed him? Sure, but what right did I have to complain? I was just grateful to be in her company.
“When she told me that she was moving to Michigan and leaving pretty much forever, I immediately offered to drive her and her things there. After all, I had to make use of the last bit of time I had with her.
“And after she was gone, I’m sure she would miss me and let me know how important I was to her. A validation that my time with her was important.” Jason then snorted in contempt.
“Of course after she was gone, I heard from her less than a handful of times in the months that followed. She never wanted to discuss our relationship. She just wanted to make idle chatter. After all, why should she need to validate my value to her? She was where she wanted to be. She had all she wanted and she even found someone to give her a ride there.
“Every time she called, I was there with a shoulder to cry on. For every hurtful act her exes did, I was there to comfort her. But now she was done with me. She didn’t need me anymore. I felt used, like a disposable boyfriend. I had tided her over until she could be where she really wanted to be. She did to me what she always weeped over having had done to her.”
Jason stopped and looked to Nicole. She noticed a fresh trail of tears running down his cheeks. “What had I done to deserve that? I gave her everything I had. Even a thing I could never give anyone else. Now I was tossed aside? Didn’t she know that hurt me?!”
Nicole put her arms around Jason. Soon his breathing calmed. He wiped the tears away with his arm. “But what she did to me was worse than simply throwing me away. I felt as if I deserved it, like I was a bad boyfriend and I deserved to be thrown away for a better model. Then I got angry. Very angry. I wanted nothing more to let everyone know how mad I was. It almost ended up costing me all my friends.
“But the worst thing was after it was all over, I felt like I could never trust women again. I hated that about me! I liked being nice to women! All I ever wanted was to make someone happy, but now I was afraid to ever give anyone that much of me again.”
Nicole felt her grip loosening on her boyfriend. “You mean, you don’t trust me?”
Jason looked at her and frowned. “At first, I was afraid to trust too much. Then something changed a few months ago.”
“What changed?” Nicole asked, her voice quavered slightly.
“I realized that I loved you. I truly loved you and that loving you was worth putting myself out to a risk like that.” Jason then took her face into his hands and gave her a kiss on her lips. Not a passionate kiss but instead a tender kiss of gentleness and trust.
Nicole opened her eyes and felt the need to breathe again. A moment later she turned away. “Jason, I love you too.”
“You do?”
“I really do. You are the first man to ever open his heart to me. Everyone except my sisters always try to keep a safe distance from me. I don’t blame them. If I were them, I’d be afraid of me too. After all, I’m Nicole, Financial Warrior,” Nicole said with slight sadness.
“Nicole…”
Nicole shook her head and continued, “Jason, lets explore this new territory together. Let’s not have any more secrets. From now on, we go through this adventure together.”
“I promise,” Jason said as he took Nicole’s hand in his. “We’re in this together and wherever it takes us, we go together.”
“Hey Jason!” A voice called up from the top of the hill. Nicole and Jason looked behind them to see John and Trav walking down the hill.
Jason quickly wiped away any traces of his previous tears and got up from his seated position. He helped Nicole up. By that time, Trav and John had made it to the bottom of the hill.
“She left Jason, It’s safe for you to come back,’ Trav said.
Jason hung his head slightly. “Sorry bout that. I didn’t want to cause a scene, but I had to get away from her.”
“She went home. She’ll be at the wedding, you know,” Trav said with a cautioned tone.
Jason squeezed Nicole’s hand. “I know. But it’s time I moved on.”
John spoke. “The party’s dying down pretty much. Trav and Charl offered to take all of us out to a coffee bar they like to frequent. You up for it?”
Jason shook his head. “Not tonight. I am really spent. I want to have some energy for tomorrow. Can you guys drive me home before going out?”
“Why don’t you just take Lina’s van? I’m sure Trav can drive the rest of us in his car, right?” John asked.
Trav nodded. The four then made their way back up the hill. Lina and Charl met them at the top. Soon the groups split up. Lina handed Jason her keys and Jason and Nicole ended up going back to his home together. John, Lina, Trav, Charl and Jay all squeezed into Trav’s car and departed for nearby Uniontown.
At Jason’s house, Jason and Nicole found themselves on his couch watching a video from the collection of tapes he hadn’t been able to take with him to Massachusetts. She sat upright while he had laid his head on her lap. She played with his hair occasionally. Jason sighed slightly. He was finally
beginning to move on. A new chapter was opening up before him and her. Now, they had to write it.
Meanwhile, Trav, Charl and Jay led John and Lina down a set of stone steps, which were located under a hanging wooden sign. On that sign, written in beautiful calligraphy was the name of the establishment: The Three Sisters’ Coffee Bar.
Entering the basement locale, John and Lina were stunned to see that it was not a musty basement dive, but rather a slice of New York located in the most unlikely spot. Trav and Charl spotted a table able to fit them all and sped toward it before it was taken.
As the five took their seats, they chatted about the wedding, which was only two days away now. A short while later, a woman walked over to take their drink orders.
“Hiya! Welcome to the Three Sisters’! What can I get ya this evening?”
John’s ears perked and he whipped his head up at the source of the voice. That voice! It was too familiar. He couldn’t believe it, but his eyes didn’t deceive them…
“Fenny?!?” John shouted in shock.
Lina whipped her head at the direction of his comment. “Fenira?!?!?!?”
Fenny found herself dropping her pad and pen. She stared at John in a stupefied shock. Life was about to get very interesting again.
“Looks like that game didn’t take all your natural rhythm,” Nicole said with a cat-like grin on her face.
“Let’s just say I had some motivation,” Jason said.
The evening continued as one would expect. It came as no surprise that the team of Lina and Nicole claimed the trophy once again from the mob of vocal hopefuls. Shortly before Nicole’s curfew, Jason had brought her to her doorstep. A brief moment of hesitation set in. Nicole was positive her sister Sarah was waiting to pounce on her and Jason if there was any improprieties. A moment passed and Nicole gently kissed Jason on the lips and went into her apartment. She watched from the window as Jason walked to his car with a happy swing in his step and waved him off as he drove away.
The apartment was quiet. It looked as if she was the first to arrive home Nicole decided that she had had a long enough day and decided to retire for the night. Setting her shopping bags down in the living room, she took her Victoria’s Secret bag into the bathroom with her.
A few moments later she emerged wearing a solid white baby doll gown that reached down to just slightly above mid-thigh. She smoothed out the materials and seemed pleased with the frilled edges and how comfortable it felt. She then slipped on the sheer white robe that went with it. She then paused as she passed the full-length hall mirror to admire herself.
She smiled at her reflection. This was a big day in all sorts of way. She felt that this put a perfect cap on it. It was sexy, but still held that clean purity. She felt like a real adult this night. This was an adult purchase, but it reflected a sweet naivety that made it not TOO adult. She then walked to her bedroom and opened the door.
Upon entering the room, she saw her twin sister lying on top of her bed on her stomach, clad in her purple flannel pajamas, reading a lengthy novel. Kirstin looked up and gaped in awe. “Wow! Nicole, that is so pretty!”
Nicole blushed slightly. “You like it? I just got it today on my shopping trip with Jay.”
Kirstin gasped. “You mean, he bought that for you?! Oh my! You might not want to tell Sarah that.”
Nicole shrugged. “He hasn’t seen me in it. Actually, he hasn’t even seen it period. I made him wait outside the store as I took his wallet into the store with me.”
“Nicole!” Kirstin said disapprovingly. “That’s not very considerate! You shouldn’t have taken his money like that.”
Nicole grinned. “Actually, he only thinks he paid for it. I actually bought this with some of the spare liquid assets I had at my disposal. Jason means well, but if I didn’t watch him, he’d spend all his money on me until he was in the poorhouse. I simply decided to spare his ego a small bruise. I don’t think he even realized that I actually slipped a few dollars into his wallet to help with the dinner bill.” Nicole then giggled.
Kirstin narrowed her gaze at her twin. Nicole was sometimes so irrepressible. Though Kirstin had to admit that she also envied that very trait of her twin’s. Nicole pulled the covers of her bed back and slipped the robe off. She then sat on the edge of her bed for a moment. “Sis, can I tell you something?”
“What is it, Nicole?” Kirstin asked noticing the more serious look on her face.
“Jason’s best friends from Pennsylvania are getting married. He’s going home next month for a few days. He wants me to come with him.”
“Oh my,” Kirstin replied.
“I really want to go. I think it’s really important to him, but I don’t think Sarah can understand that.”
“I know,” Kirstin said, understandingly.
“I’m going to ask her tomorrow. I was wondering… Um…” Nicole paused and placed her two index fingers together a few times.
“Yes?”
“I was hoping if tomorrow morning if you could make your special ‘Happy sunshine banana pancakes’ for breakfast. They’re Sarah’s favorites.”
“I see. You want me to help you get her in a good mood and butter her up,” Kirstin said with a comprehending nod.
“Well… Yeah,” Nicole finally said.
“Okay sister. I will help you,” Kirstin said.
Nicole walked over to her sister’s bed and hugged her tightly. “Thank you Kirstin!”
Kirstin looked at her sister and then grinned. Nicole recognized that grin all too well. Nicole should recognize it as she had spent several hours perfecting it in the mirror. Kirstin then spoke. “Of course, my aid doesn’t come cheap. I seem to also be in need some new sleeping attire, maybe something more fitting a woman of my age. I’m sure you could easily arrange that dear sister.”
Nicole looked at her sister and gave the most scrutinizing look she could muster. “Kirstin, we’ve definitely shared a room way too long.” However the pact was made and Nicole decided to turn in. She needed her energy for the battle that was sure to ensue the next day.
Nicole awoke to the smell of a certain breakfast confection promised by her twin. God bless her, she even sacrifices a chance to sleep in so she can help me, Nicole thought to herself. Then her thoughts went to her promise last night and what she should buy her sister.
Her first thought was to be evil. Nicole could already imagine the horrified expression on Kirstin’s face when she opened up her package to find a black see-through teddy with matching garters and stockings. Of course, Aaron would probably appreciate the gesture greatly a couple of years down the road.
Alas however, the small Angel version of Nicole had kicked the evil version right off Nicole’s shoulder and out of her mind. Nicole was resolved to find something a little more conservative for her sweet twin. After all, Kirstin would have plenty of time for black lingerie in college. Nicole giggled at her own evil mental lapse. Nicole set about changing into something more suitable for breakfast.
A few minutes later, Nicole entered the kitchen and saw Sarah at the table already relishing a mouthful of banana pancakes. Kirstin was presently pouring another batch onto the griddle. She looked over her shoulder and greeted her sister.
Sarah broke from her reverie and noticed Nicole. “Good morning, sleepy. We were wondering when you were going to wake up. I hope you weren’t planning to make a habit of this all summer.”
“Its only the first day of vacation and Saturday to boot. I do feel I am owed my beauty rest once every few months,” Nicole replied in turn and then sat down to a plate with pancakes stacked on it. She inhaled deeply and sighed. That smell of banana always made her feel content and happy.
However, behind the contentment, Nicole’s mind was working overtime in preparing her dissertation. Sometimes battling Sarah in a contest of wills was like trying to defeat Perry Mason in court. However, now was not the time to begin, but soon it would be.
Kirstin sat down at the table with her own plate and all three lightly chatted about their nights. Sarah had ended up seeing a double-feature with Matty Hayes. Kirstin and Aaron had joined a group of scouts and had dinner at Perfume’s Pizza. Soon, the last bit of syrup had been sopped with pancake and Kirstin got up to clear the table.
“Hey Kirstin, why don’t you let Sarah and me take care of that,” Nicole said, throwing a knowing look to her twin.
Kirstin understood and nodded. Sarah felt an odd feeling. This was certainly new. Kirstin almost always put up a fight when it came to things like that. It was also very rare for Nicole to openly volunteer for the domestic duties. Then there was the matter that Kirstin happened to have Sarah’s favorite breakfast waiting for her as she awoke. If she didn’t know better, Sarah could swear they were up to something.
Kirstin exited the kitchen and Nicole grabbed a pair of plates and placed them in the sink. Sarah took the syrup and butter and placed them in the refrigerator. Sarah then went for the juice and milk. Nicole placed the last of the plates in the sink and started to fill the sink with soapy water.
“Well, I’m waiting,” Sarah said crossing her arms.
Nicole turned around and noticed the stoic expression of her sister. “I guess I can’t slip one by you.”
“Well, after this long, I can tell when I’m being buttered up. So what do you two want?” Sarah asked seriously.
“Actually, it’s just me. Kirstin was doing me a favor,” Nicole admitted.
“I see. Then I’ll rephrase my question. What do you want?”
Nicole hated it when Sarah gave her that stern look. She felt as if she were being given the bright light treatment at a police questioning room except there was no good cop or bad cop, just sister cop. “Fine, I’ll come right out and tell you. Jason is attending a wedding next month and he wants me to come with him to Pennsylvania.”
Sarah narrowed her gaze. “Oh. Is that all?”
Nicole felt her chest tighten. This did not feel like a good sign. Sarah had only uttered four words so far when Nicole was expecting a tirade. She braced herself for more.
“Well, let’s have some details,” Sarah said. “How long?”
Nicole’s mind snapped at attention. “Four days.”
“Is it just you two?” Sarah questioned.
“No. It will be Jason and I, along with his friend John and John’s girlfriend Lina. We’ll be taking Lina’s van down as a group.”
Sarah cocked her head and considered that. Then she fired her next question. “And where will you be staying?”
Nicole felt herself grow more relaxed. She was prepared for these questions. “At Jason’s parent’s house. Jason will be sleeping in his old bedroom on the ground floor. I’ll be sleeping in the guestroom on the second floor. John and Lina will have the guestroom on the first floor.”
“I see,” Sarah said nodding. She then appeared to weigh Nicole’s answers and cocked her head from left to right. Finally she closed her eyes. “I’m sorry Nicole, but the answer is no.”
Despite all her preparations, Nicole still didn’t feel prepared for the immediate rejection. “But Sarah…”
Sarah held her hand up to stop the plea. “I’m sorry Nicole, but you’re only seventeen. I just don’t feel comfortable with you going so far with a boy without my supervision.” Sarah then picked up her glass of juice and took a sip.
Nicole could feel the anger rising within her. She wanted to control it, but she just felt so angry at Sarah’s overprotectiveness. She unleashed all that anger with a single comment that just seemed to slide up her throat, past her tongue and out her mouth. “Sarah, I just told you that he and I would be sleeping on different floors. Frankly, I think if his penis could reach that far, then he’d have trouble walking.”
“Sarah’s eyes bugged at hearing this and she choked on her juice. She then shouted between coughs, “WHAT did you just say?!?”
Nicole felt herself spine hardening. She straightened herself up and realized that this had turned from a battle of wills to a proverbial all out war. She hardened her gaze and matched her sisters angered face. “Let’s not mince words shall we? I’m not eleven years old. You’re afraid that if I go off with him, what? I’ll screw him at the first opportunity I get? Hate to break it to you sister, but I’m not that easily seduced. My hormones rank pretty low on my priorities pyramid right now.
“I have a lot of bigger plans in mind, the first being finishing high school and then college. I’m not going to ruin that with fifteen minutes of primal behavior.”
Sarah slammed her hand on the table, causing the other juice glasses to shake. “You know damn well, that it’s not you I’m worried about!”
Nicole crossed her arms. “Oh that’s right, Jason will rape me with this opportunity. He’ll introduce me to his parents, then his friends, and then he’ll have his way with me. Right? Dammit, Sarah! Not every guy is some sex-crazed rapist! I thought you knew him well enough by now to know him better! Jason is not Rodney!”
Sarah was about to respond just as loudly but then grew quiet. Nicole knew it. She had said the one thing that might have been too much. Nicole and Kirstin weren’t quite sure why Sarah broke up with Rodney at first, but they had their guesses. Nicole was positive that Rodney had tried to pressure Sarah and Nicole knew that her older sister was way too strong-willed to succumb to the clumsy charms of that oaf. It seemed that it was then that all his real stripes were visible. They broke up shortly afterward, but Sarah never fully disclosed what happened, but one thing was clear. After that experience, Sarah was a lot less trusting of men.
Sarah sighed and closed her eyes. She sat down and hung her head. Nicole walked over to her sister and placed her hand on Sarah’s shoulder. “I’m sorry Sarah, but it had to be said.”
“No. I’m sorry. You’re right. You and Kirstin aren’t eleven anymore. I’m your legal guardian, but I’ve been more like a gargoyle trying to scare away anything I think is threatening. You’re a senior in high school now. Soon you’ll be recognized by the law as an adult. I should be the one to recognize it first,” Sarah said quietly.
“Sarah…”
Sarah raised her hand to silence Nicole. “You can go.”
Nicole suddenly felt a surge of adrenaline rush through her. “Really?!”
“Really,” Sarah confirmed.
Nicole latched onto her sister and hugged tightly, thanking her more than once. Sarah patted Nicole on the back. “But don’t think I’ve gone soft. Before you go, all three of us are going to have a long talk. We’ll probably have a few more long talks when you come back too. It’s time I’ve started treating you like the adults you are. I can’t shelter you anymore, but now I’ve got to teach you.”
“I can’t think of a better teacher,” Nicole said and hugged her sister again.
“This is so beautiful!” a voice from the doorway mumbled. Nicole and Sarah looked up to see Kirstin standing in the doorway with a few tears running down her cheeks. She then ran in and joined the pair in their hug.
It was a touching scene indeed. And indeed there were a couple long talks between the three sisters. However, after it was all said and done, life had pretty much returned to semi-normalcy in the town of Springfield, MA (Save for a few misadventures the author wishes not to mention for they are, quite frankly, best left to another author [or rather The Other Author.])
May had turned to June and June seemed to blur by like one hot, long summer afternoon. Before he had even realized it, the time had come for him and his band of friends and lovers to make their way south. Things didn’t blur by as fast for Nicole, but for her life was always one new experience after another, however it did catch her just a little bit by surprise when she looked at the calendar and realized that she would be leaving the next day.
It even caught her by surprise that she was standing in her apartment’s living room with her luggage waiting for Jason to arrive. It had just seemed like yesterday that she had managed to convince her sister Sarah to allow her to make the trek with Jason (or rather, if life could be compared to a story, she felt as if a whole month had simply been summarized into a couple short paragraphs.)
She laughed at her own thought. No, that was just too ridiculous to consider. She picked up her two bags and proceeded to leave the apartment so she could wait for Jason outside in the cool breeze of the early morning. As she stepped outside, her sister Sarah called out to her. Nicole turned around.
“Have a safe trip. Remember what we talked about,’ Sarah said as she gave Nicole a hug.
“I will sis. I’ll try to bring you guys back a souvenir,” Nicole said, though she couldn’t think of anything worth bringing back from southwestern Pennsylvania farm country.
Sarah then released Nicole from her hug and held out a pair of envelopes. “Have a good time. Oh, since you’re going outside, could you drop these into the mail for me?”
Nicole nodded and took the envelopes. She then stepped outside again and took her bags down the small flight of stairs. Upon reaching the bottom, Sarah closed the door and returned to her own morning rituals. Nicole couldn’t blame her. While Sarah had changed a little bit, it still must have been difficult for her to watch her little sister go off on a trip like this. Nicole set down her bags and stretched a bit. She then remembered the envelopes and walked over to the outgoing mailbox.
She opened the lid of the large blue box but then paused. She frowned slightly. She looked at the two envelopes. The first had Kirstin’s name on the return address. The other had her own. She dropped her sister’s envelopes into the box, but hesitated afterward. She stared at the envelope that bore her name on the upper left hand corner.
Nicole still wasn’t entirely comfortable with it, but her sisters seemed so up for the idea that Nicole found herself getting swept up in the moment. However, in a more rational moment, she found herself not as eager.
But her sisters knew Nicole much too well. They had used that dreaded word: “Opportunity.” If there was one thing Nicole couldn’t pass on, it was an opportunity. This could really open a lot of doors for her.
However, she kept thinking back to Jason. She did feel for him greatly, she’d maybe even go to the extent of saying the word love. But even if it wasn’t true love, there was something keeping her from putting that envelope in the mailbox.
She closed her eyes and slid it in the box quickly before she could stop her hand from gripping it again. She sighed heavily and hoped Jason would understand.
As if fate had timed it, Nicole heard a van horn honking nearby. She ran over to her bags and walked to the sidewalk where Lina’s van pulled up to. The back hatch popped open and the window rolled down. Lina slid her sunglasses down her nose slightly.
“Toss your bags in the back. Sorry we’re late, but John packs way too much. He might as well be packing for three people.”
John coughed loudly from the passenger side. Jason waved from his seat behind and opened the door to climb out and help Nicole stow her bags. Jason closed the hatch and Nicole and Jason took their seats on the short bench seat behind Lina.
Lina pushed up her sunglasses. “We’re burning daylight! Let’s roll!” The van then pulled away from the curb and sped toward the highway. Destination: Smithfield, Pennsylvania.
The highways of America’s northeast stretched on for quite a while as the maroon minivan sped onward toward Pennsylvania. Jason played the part of tour guide as they passed local points of interest. Which included anything and everything from the Little League Hall of Fame in Williamsport to the state capital in Harrisburg. Jason had an even more vocal diatribe prepared as the van entered the Pennsylvania turnpike for the final leg of the trip.
After driving the road for two hours, Lina and John had agreed that, yes, a blind chimpanzee could in fact design a better highway system and, yes, that the roads were probably better in downtown Beirut. One thing that was definitely agreed upon. After driving some two hundred miles on the road, and after having seen that about one hundred and ninety-seven miles of it were limited to one lane and lined with orange barrels, and after not seeing one SINGLE person actually doing any said work on said road, it was agreed that PENNDOT did, in fact, stand for: Permanently Ensuring No Normal Driving Occurs Today.
As the van entered the town limits of Smithfield, Jason guided them toward the bottom of what he called ‘The Pit.’ A rather quirky design feature of the town of Smithfield, in which the entire town was located on several hills, creating a giant concave valley. Jason’s family's house just conveniently happened to be at the bottom of that concave.
The van pulled into a long gravel driveway and pulled up into a gravel lot that was surrounded by a green lawn, trees, and stone flowerbeds which led up to the centerpiece, the two-storied house of red brick and gray siding.
The van came to a stop. Everyone piled out to stretch their legs and arms. Nicole looked across the large hay field at the setting sun, which blazed a bright red. Jason walked up to her and put his arm around her.
“It’s beautiful,” Nicole said.
“Yeah, its nice. The real treat is to go up on Jumunville summit and watch it set. The horizon just stretches on forever.”
Nicole pointed to the field in front of them. “Is this your family’s property too?”
“That’s my grandfather’s. He cuts the field about twice a summer for hay to feed his cows. However, a large chunk of this area was once all my grandfathers and its been split up to my various relatives or sold off.”
“I see,” Nicole said nodding. She then leaned her head on his shoulder. “Can I ask you one more question?”
“Sure.”
“Well… that house we passed. The one over there,” Nicole said pointing to a pink house on the edge of Jason’s driveway. “Were those geese in that makeshift chicken coop?”
“Yeah. Geese right now. That structure has also housed pigs, chickens, goats, sheep, swans, and dogs. Not necessarily in that order,” Jason replied nodding his head. “Of course, seeing as I’ve been gone awhile, I’m sure there been some new experiments in my absence.”
Nicole looked up at her boyfriend’s face. “One last question. Why?”
“Welcome to Smithfield, dear. Population: Mostly nuts.”
In the absence of a sane reason, Nicole accepted the answer. Nicole was beginning to believe Jason’s horror stories, though was still positive that it can’t all be that bad. Nicole decided to get her bags and help unload the van.
Turning around, Nicole saw a couple standing on the front stoop of the house. A man and a woman, both appeared to be aged in their mid to late forties, possibly early fifties. The woman was small, not measuring more than five feet. Her hair was red and wavy and she wore a brightly colored sweatshirt and blue jeans.
The man was very similar to Jason in that he had a stocky frame and very broad shoulders. He wore khaki pants and a white dress shirt, unbuttoned at the top. The couple waved.
Jason smiled and waved back. “Hey mom! Hey dad! Guess who decided to drop by?”
The two couples brought their things into the house and were given the dime tour. Jason introduced John and Lina to his parents as he did with Nicole. Everyone was showed to their respective rooms to take their luggage. Nicole simply placed her bags in the guest room and made her way downstairs. She walked down the hall to the door that Jason pointed out as his.
She slowly opened the door and looked inside. The walls were covered with various posters and action figures were on various shelves and cupboards. There was thick layer of dust covering all the toys and mementos. Nicole ran her finger along the bookshelf and it came back positively gray.
“Sorry bout the mess. I basically left an ultimatum for my mother to not enter my room nor touch my stuff until I eventually came back to reclaim them,” Jason said leaning on the door frame with his arms crossed.
Nicole eeped and spun around. “Sorry. I didn’t mean to snoop.”
“You are a curious individual. Curiosity can have repercussions. It can also have rewards,” Jason said, still leaning with his arms crossed.
“What kind of repercussions?”
Jason shrugged his shoulders. “I could feed you to the geese, but that would just put a damper on the whole trip. I was thinking of taking you to a party tonight.”
“A party?” Nicole asked.
“If you guys wanna go. I just called Trav to let him know we’re in. Trav and Charl are holding a pre-wedding get together at his parent’s house. If you guys are up to it, I’m sure there’ll be good food. I was figuring maybe to take a few moments to stretch out our legs and then head over,” Jason explained.
“I’m up for it. I want to meet this mystery couple whose wedding I’ll be attending,” Nicole said.
“Count us in too!” John and Lina said from behind Jason in the hall.
"Then I guess we’re going to a party,” Jason said.
Jason yawned lightly as the van pulled into the driveway of the Evans residence. He hated to admit it, but he was starting to feel wiped, but he missed his friends too much not too attend. The quartet parked the van next to several other cars and they all piled out.
As Jason and Nicole made their way across the lawn to the back of the house where the party was surely being held, the front door opened unexpectantly. A young man with a thick, long mane of dark brown hair and a bushy goatee, followed by a small petite girl with cropped black hair both came rushing out.
“Trav! Charl!” Jason shouted to the pair!
“Jason!” They both shouted back and ran over to greet the whole group. Jason quickly exchanged quick embraces with his two friends. The engaged couple then walked over to John and gave him a quick embrace as well.
“Glad you could make it!” Trav said to John.
“Glad I could too,” John replied and then introduced Lina to the pair. Lina greeted them and gave them her best wishes for their upcoming nuptials. Trav and Charl then turned their attention to Jason and Nicole.
“I assume that this is the Nicole you’ve talked so much about in all your e-mails,” Trav said looking Nicole up and down.
“You assume correctly, Trav, Charl, this is Nicole Porter,” Jason said gesturing his hands over to Nicole. Nicole in turn greeted the couple and also wished them well on their wedding in two days’ time.
Trav then slapped Jason on the back and motioned him to follow. Come on. Everyone’s around back. Everyone was wondering if you were going to make it to the party.
“Great! I’m pretty sure everyone is famished. I’m assuming that there is, in fact, food waiting for us,” Jason said as all six made their way around the house.
“You assume correctly,” Charl said as they first started seeing various people milling around in the back yard.
As John and Lina set out to meet and greet, Jason took Nicole around to meet his friends. The first stop was Trav’s sixteen year old sister Staycie. She enthusiastically shook Nicole’s hand and then zoomed off to greet John and Lina.
Shortly afterward, a rather tall and broad man with a slightly thinning hairline and thick glasses introduced himself to Nicole. His name was Jason Burchianti and Jason told Nicole how he was the oldest member of their tiny clique at the ripe age of 24. Burchianti told Nicole how he was a chemist for a chemical company in Pittsburgh.
“So, I hear that Trav got you penciled in for Best Man duties, eh Jay?” Jason said, throwing an elbow lightly into Jay Burchianti.
“Yeah. I know he would’ve asked you, but…”
“No need to apologize. He couldn’t have picked a better guy for the job, though…” Jason then took Jay aside briefly and starting whispering into his ear, “Is there gonna be a celebration of the end of Trav’s bachelorhood?”
Jay looked around quickly and then whispered to Jason, “Aye, there will be. Tomorrow night. I’ve reserved the top room at Meloni’s for the occasion. Be there at seven-ish and be prepared to give Trav your two cents,” Jay confirmed.
Jason then smiled. “Beautiful. Good work my friend. I won’t miss it.” Jason then came back to the waiting Nicole, who crossed her arms at the stupid grin on Jason’s face.
“What was all that about?”
“Male bonding my dear,” Jason replied holding his hands up in innocence. Nicole continued her scrutinizing glare as to indicate that he would never get away with a secret. A moment later she relented. Jason took Nicole’s hand and the pair continued their trek into Jason’s past.
A moment later, a female voice spoke out. “Jason?”
Nicole looked at her boyfriend and was assaulted with a barrage of new faces. At first, she could read pain, then maybe anger, then simply discomfort. Jason slowly turned around and faced the girl, not realizing that he had started to squeeze Nicole’s hand.
Nicole tried to read Jason’s face, but now it had gone to a neutral expression. “Shelly.”
The girl, who had a long mane of chestnut hair, a slightly stocky build and very thick glasses also wore a slightly neutral expression. “Its been a while, hasn’t it?”
Jason nodded. “Time does fly. I see that you managed to get away from Michigan.”
Shelly nodded. “I wasn’t going to miss Trav’s wedding for anything.”
“No, you certainly don’t ever seem to miss things,” Jason said. Nicole could definitely read a hint of anger in his voice.
Shelly appeared to be taken slightly off guard by the statement. She then looked around as if trying to find something. Jason turned to Nicole. “I’m going inside for a coke. You want one?” Nicole nodded and Jason turned around to open the door. Nicole noticed that he had entered the kitchen and then opened another door and proceeded to walk down a set of steps.
Nicole stood there for a moment with Shelly. Shelly shifted nervously and then coughed. She then turned toward Nicole. “If you excuse me, I have to freshen up.” Shelly then opened the same door and walked down the same stairs.
Nicole was quite good at reading a situation and decided that this was worth investigating. She quietly opened the back door into the Evans’ kitchen and then began to make her own way down the stairs stealthily.
About three steps down, she heard voices. Nicole halted and kept her position. She could see shadows looming, presumably formed by the light of a refrigerator. Nicole could hear her own heart beating within her chest. She could hear Shelly’s voice and she assumed that meant Jason was also there.
Shelly’s voice crept its way up the stairway first. “Jason, Will you please at least talk to me?”
Jason’s voice floated up next. Nicole detected a very angry tone to it which seemed so inconsistent with the Jason she knew. “What part of ‘I want nothing to do with you again’ don’t you understand? I made it clear: you and me are done. I came here to see my best friend, not you.”
Nicole tried to keep her breathing quiet. She listened intently as Shelly’s voice came next, this time quavering.
“Why are you being so mean to me? What did I do?!”
Jason’s voice came next. It was filled with intense anger. “You know, I would expect that you still wouldn’t even realize how you hurt me after all this time. But then again that was always consistent with our relationship wasn’t it? As long as Shelly was fine, who cares about everyone else? I did love you Shell. More than you could’ve ever known, but you threw that away. Now I see that you are a selfish woman and I want nothing to do with you again. I am glad you are well, but beyond that you are a stranger to me.”
Nicole watched as the shadows disappeared and she heard the sound of a refrigerator door closing. She started backing up the stairs slowly to avoid being seen, but the oncoming footsteps stopped.
“Just tell me what I did! You owe me that much!” Shelly hissed angrily.
“Owe?! I owe you?! Everything I ever did, I did for you! Goddammit, stop thinking about yourself for once!!! This is not Shelly’s World with everyone else is just living in it!”
Nicole then heard footsteps coming her way. Nicole quickly backed up the stairs and hid behind a kitchen counter. A moment later, Jason emerged from the steps and quickly walked outside. Nicole waited a few moments and then proceeded to follow his out.
Upon reaching outside again however, she couldn’t detect Jason anywhere. Nicole saw John and Lina and walked over to them. John and Lina were talking to Trav and Charl, who wore worried expressions.
“Have you seen Jason?” Nicole asked.
Trav pointed to an area past the house, over the eastern horizon. “He said he needed a walk to clear his head.” Nicole then nodded and proceeded in that direction. Trav placed his hand on her shoulder. “You might want to just leave him be for a bit.”
“What happened between him and that Shelly woman?” Nicole asked.
Charl frowned. “They used to be pretty serious. It didn’t end well, for anyone.”
Nicole then continued her way toward the eastern horizon where the stars were already visible. As she walked the party became less audible and she could hear the crickets chirping. As she passed over the top of the slight slope, she saw the land started to slope downward again. At the bottom, she saw Jason sitting alone.
Nicole carefully made her way down. Jason’s head perked slightly as she approached. “Whoever it is, I don’t want to talk about it!”
Nicole stopped her advance and crossed her arms. “Congratulations. It takes a lot of effort to hide something from me, but you managed to succeed. An ex-girlfriend no less. I am thoroughly impressed by your skills.”
Jason whipped his head around toward her in surprise. “ Nicole! Wha… ?”
Nicole uncrossed her arms and walked over to and ended up sitting next to him on the grassy slope. “You know, I don’t think I’ve ever seen, or rather heard you, so angry before. Oh, I’ve seen you when you were annoyed, but never so genuinely angry.”
Jason turned his head away in shame. “I wasn’t trying to hide it from you on purpose. I just wanted to forget it ever happened.”
“Was it that bad?” Nicole asked.
Jason nodded his head slightly. “Yes. It was an time of my life that I want to never revisit.”
“Because of what she did to you?”
Jason shook his head violently. “No. It wasn’t what she did to me, it was the person I became because of it.”
“I don’t understand,” Nicole said taking Jason’s hands into her own.
Jason sighed heavily. “I had met her in my senior year of high school. Immediately, I was intrigued by her. It didn’t long for me to ask her out.
“That was the start of a eight month relationship, my first truly serious one at that. I loved showering her with gifts. I was only making maybe forty dollars a week at the time, but I would’ve gladly spent it all on her.
“Sure, she wasn’t perfect, but neither was I, so how could I criticize? What did it matter that she wasn’t very open to some of my unique interests, while I experimented with hers? I didn’t matter, I loved her and was willing to see past even annoying habits.
“Did it bother me when she constantly went on about her last relationship and how much she missed him? Sure, but what right did I have to complain? I was just grateful to be in her company.
“When she told me that she was moving to Michigan and leaving pretty much forever, I immediately offered to drive her and her things there. After all, I had to make use of the last bit of time I had with her.
“And after she was gone, I’m sure she would miss me and let me know how important I was to her. A validation that my time with her was important.” Jason then snorted in contempt.
“Of course after she was gone, I heard from her less than a handful of times in the months that followed. She never wanted to discuss our relationship. She just wanted to make idle chatter. After all, why should she need to validate my value to her? She was where she wanted to be. She had all she wanted and she even found someone to give her a ride there.
“Every time she called, I was there with a shoulder to cry on. For every hurtful act her exes did, I was there to comfort her. But now she was done with me. She didn’t need me anymore. I felt used, like a disposable boyfriend. I had tided her over until she could be where she really wanted to be. She did to me what she always weeped over having had done to her.”
Jason stopped and looked to Nicole. She noticed a fresh trail of tears running down his cheeks. “What had I done to deserve that? I gave her everything I had. Even a thing I could never give anyone else. Now I was tossed aside? Didn’t she know that hurt me?!”
Nicole put her arms around Jason. Soon his breathing calmed. He wiped the tears away with his arm. “But what she did to me was worse than simply throwing me away. I felt as if I deserved it, like I was a bad boyfriend and I deserved to be thrown away for a better model. Then I got angry. Very angry. I wanted nothing more to let everyone know how mad I was. It almost ended up costing me all my friends.
“But the worst thing was after it was all over, I felt like I could never trust women again. I hated that about me! I liked being nice to women! All I ever wanted was to make someone happy, but now I was afraid to ever give anyone that much of me again.”
Nicole felt her grip loosening on her boyfriend. “You mean, you don’t trust me?”
Jason looked at her and frowned. “At first, I was afraid to trust too much. Then something changed a few months ago.”
“What changed?” Nicole asked, her voice quavered slightly.
“I realized that I loved you. I truly loved you and that loving you was worth putting myself out to a risk like that.” Jason then took her face into his hands and gave her a kiss on her lips. Not a passionate kiss but instead a tender kiss of gentleness and trust.
Nicole opened her eyes and felt the need to breathe again. A moment later she turned away. “Jason, I love you too.”
“You do?”
“I really do. You are the first man to ever open his heart to me. Everyone except my sisters always try to keep a safe distance from me. I don’t blame them. If I were them, I’d be afraid of me too. After all, I’m Nicole, Financial Warrior,” Nicole said with slight sadness.
“Nicole…”
Nicole shook her head and continued, “Jason, lets explore this new territory together. Let’s not have any more secrets. From now on, we go through this adventure together.”
“I promise,” Jason said as he took Nicole’s hand in his. “We’re in this together and wherever it takes us, we go together.”
“Hey Jason!” A voice called up from the top of the hill. Nicole and Jason looked behind them to see John and Trav walking down the hill.
Jason quickly wiped away any traces of his previous tears and got up from his seated position. He helped Nicole up. By that time, Trav and John had made it to the bottom of the hill.
“She left Jason, It’s safe for you to come back,’ Trav said.
Jason hung his head slightly. “Sorry bout that. I didn’t want to cause a scene, but I had to get away from her.”
“She went home. She’ll be at the wedding, you know,” Trav said with a cautioned tone.
Jason squeezed Nicole’s hand. “I know. But it’s time I moved on.”
John spoke. “The party’s dying down pretty much. Trav and Charl offered to take all of us out to a coffee bar they like to frequent. You up for it?”
Jason shook his head. “Not tonight. I am really spent. I want to have some energy for tomorrow. Can you guys drive me home before going out?”
“Why don’t you just take Lina’s van? I’m sure Trav can drive the rest of us in his car, right?” John asked.
Trav nodded. The four then made their way back up the hill. Lina and Charl met them at the top. Soon the groups split up. Lina handed Jason her keys and Jason and Nicole ended up going back to his home together. John, Lina, Trav, Charl and Jay all squeezed into Trav’s car and departed for nearby Uniontown.
At Jason’s house, Jason and Nicole found themselves on his couch watching a video from the collection of tapes he hadn’t been able to take with him to Massachusetts. She sat upright while he had laid his head on her lap. She played with his hair occasionally. Jason sighed slightly. He was finally
beginning to move on. A new chapter was opening up before him and her. Now, they had to write it.
Meanwhile, Trav, Charl and Jay led John and Lina down a set of stone steps, which were located under a hanging wooden sign. On that sign, written in beautiful calligraphy was the name of the establishment: The Three Sisters’ Coffee Bar.
Entering the basement locale, John and Lina were stunned to see that it was not a musty basement dive, but rather a slice of New York located in the most unlikely spot. Trav and Charl spotted a table able to fit them all and sped toward it before it was taken.
As the five took their seats, they chatted about the wedding, which was only two days away now. A short while later, a woman walked over to take their drink orders.
“Hiya! Welcome to the Three Sisters’! What can I get ya this evening?”
John’s ears perked and he whipped his head up at the source of the voice. That voice! It was too familiar. He couldn’t believe it, but his eyes didn’t deceive them…
“Fenny?!?” John shouted in shock.
Lina whipped her head at the direction of his comment. “Fenira?!?!?!?”
Fenny found herself dropping her pad and pen. She stared at John in a stupefied shock. Life was about to get very interesting again.
To Be Continued...
Jason's End Notes
Well, another chapter is in the books. Hopefully. Of course, if Matt decided to withhold this one, I guess it wouldn’t matter either way, would it, as you would never read the end notes anyway.
This chapter seemed to go everywhere didn’t it? I wanted to experiment with a few different dynamics and am quite pleased with the results.
For the record, a lot of this story is based off some real events and emotions. It’s been about a year, but certain things still eat away inside of me. By putting it down on paper, I feel a lot better. I hope no one was too uncomfortable with learning a little more about me. I have always used Perspectives as a way of venting out some real emotions or at least some thoughts currently running inside my mind. Chapter five will always stand out as one of those where my mind was running a million miles a minute.
For some purposes, some names were changed, while others are the names of my real life friends in Pennsylvania. Don’t worry, they’ll get more lines next chapter, I promise.
I hope no one was offended at any scenes. I don’t think anyone would, but then again Perspectives has always been kinda the R-rated cousin of the more PG-13 Boy Scouts ½. So I do tend to push some envelopes on language and tone. Then again, I think that is why it has some appeal to some of the more regular BS ½ readers. It’s kinda like offering a liquor menu at a restaurant, it’s not to everyone’s tastes, but some appreciate the option.
The song sung by Lina and Nicole was “Right Now” by Atomic Kitten. It’s a europop song that has a very retro ‘seventies’ feel to it. Check it out, if you can.
One last note: People who know me know I can’t resist throwing things I like into my stories… especially karaoke. So for those who were wondering when I would do it, I have finally added a reference to Dance Dance Revolution. Will it play a massive and consuming element of future stories? Will it bog down future parts much like Magic the Gather once did in BS½? Hmmm…. Nahhhhhhhhh… It’s just too much of a pain to write down what the game is like in any great detail… So, to answer the question: No, DDR will not be used to solve any problems to resolve any love triangles/hexagons/polyhedrons…
Hmmm… looks like I’m done here. Until Part 11, this is Jason bidding you a nice summer. Hopefully, I’ll get one more out before summer’s end, but job hunting and some other web projects keep me busy these next few months. Hopefully, Matt will have part 23 up and about soon…. Speaking of Matt, Hey Matt got anything to say yourself? How about you Jessi? Got any Perspectives fan art to show off? Hmmmmm?
This chapter seemed to go everywhere didn’t it? I wanted to experiment with a few different dynamics and am quite pleased with the results.
For the record, a lot of this story is based off some real events and emotions. It’s been about a year, but certain things still eat away inside of me. By putting it down on paper, I feel a lot better. I hope no one was too uncomfortable with learning a little more about me. I have always used Perspectives as a way of venting out some real emotions or at least some thoughts currently running inside my mind. Chapter five will always stand out as one of those where my mind was running a million miles a minute.
For some purposes, some names were changed, while others are the names of my real life friends in Pennsylvania. Don’t worry, they’ll get more lines next chapter, I promise.
I hope no one was offended at any scenes. I don’t think anyone would, but then again Perspectives has always been kinda the R-rated cousin of the more PG-13 Boy Scouts ½. So I do tend to push some envelopes on language and tone. Then again, I think that is why it has some appeal to some of the more regular BS ½ readers. It’s kinda like offering a liquor menu at a restaurant, it’s not to everyone’s tastes, but some appreciate the option.
The song sung by Lina and Nicole was “Right Now” by Atomic Kitten. It’s a europop song that has a very retro ‘seventies’ feel to it. Check it out, if you can.
One last note: People who know me know I can’t resist throwing things I like into my stories… especially karaoke. So for those who were wondering when I would do it, I have finally added a reference to Dance Dance Revolution. Will it play a massive and consuming element of future stories? Will it bog down future parts much like Magic the Gather once did in BS½? Hmmm…. Nahhhhhhhhh… It’s just too much of a pain to write down what the game is like in any great detail… So, to answer the question: No, DDR will not be used to solve any problems to resolve any love triangles/hexagons/polyhedrons…
Hmmm… looks like I’m done here. Until Part 11, this is Jason bidding you a nice summer. Hopefully, I’ll get one more out before summer’s end, but job hunting and some other web projects keep me busy these next few months. Hopefully, Matt will have part 23 up and about soon…. Speaking of Matt, Hey Matt got anything to say yourself? How about you Jessi? Got any Perspectives fan art to show off? Hmmmmm?
Matt's Notes -- 2013 Edition!
Hello, folks. Matt here, writing from the far flung future of 2013. As many of the two or three readers my website likely has may know, about a year ago the website (previously hosted on Tripod) vanished completely. I've spent some time restoring it, and it pleases me that I am now getting this, the last story that existed on the older website, back online! Alas, this one was last for a reason: I foolishly had no copy of it on my computer, and unlike other stories in a similar situation, this story was not available on archived versions (via the Internet Archive Wayback Machine) of the old website. Thus, it had to be reconstructed using the original file as Jason first sent it to me.
For the most part, this was not a huge issue. It made putting it back online a somewhat more involved process, but at least it was still doable. But alas, there is one aspect of this story, as it existed on the original website, that is now forever lost to the past... never to be seen again. And that is whatever notes I had put on at the end of the story. Thus, "Matt's Notes -- 2013 Edition!"
Ahem...
"Greetings from the world of tomorrow!"
So here we have the final vintage Perspectives story! Some good stuff here. Did certainly hint at a more adult aspect to some of the characters then would have happened in the main series... But this is Perspectives, so it's all good. (Heck, a part of me cannot help but wonder what Nicole might look like in her Victoria's Secret purchase... Then the rest of me says, "Bad Matt!" whaps myself on the back of the head, and dismisses the thought.)
If people are looking forward to more Perspectives, worry not! Jason, some months ago, actually did send me his next Perspectives story. However, while I don't wish to say too much and spoil anything, I should warn you it may not be what you expect. But hopefully it will entertain you. I wish to get at least one (maybe two) new BS½ in Japan stories first (so I suppose I'd better start writing again, or else!) but I can promise you, with a smirk on my face as I type this, that Perspectives will return.
For the most part, this was not a huge issue. It made putting it back online a somewhat more involved process, but at least it was still doable. But alas, there is one aspect of this story, as it existed on the original website, that is now forever lost to the past... never to be seen again. And that is whatever notes I had put on at the end of the story. Thus, "Matt's Notes -- 2013 Edition!"
Ahem...
"Greetings from the world of tomorrow!"
So here we have the final vintage Perspectives story! Some good stuff here. Did certainly hint at a more adult aspect to some of the characters then would have happened in the main series... But this is Perspectives, so it's all good. (Heck, a part of me cannot help but wonder what Nicole might look like in her Victoria's Secret purchase... Then the rest of me says, "Bad Matt!" whaps myself on the back of the head, and dismisses the thought.)
If people are looking forward to more Perspectives, worry not! Jason, some months ago, actually did send me his next Perspectives story. However, while I don't wish to say too much and spoil anything, I should warn you it may not be what you expect. But hopefully it will entertain you. I wish to get at least one (maybe two) new BS½ in Japan stories first (so I suppose I'd better start writing again, or else!) but I can promise you, with a smirk on my face as I type this, that Perspectives will return.