Friends and Alibis

8 hours of sleep went by way to quickly for my liking but I had to get going. I pulled Katelyn into a bone crushing hug and told her that I’d miss her over twenty times.


“Stop sulking, we’ll se each other again in what... three weeks! And I’ll go visit you as often as I can after that, ok?” She said in a cheery tone. I just nodded and pulled her into another hug, said my final goodbye and drove to the airport to catch my flight. The time spent in the plane gave me time to think.


I wondered what the guys had been up to since I was gone. It was kind of amazing to know that they actually got to live their dream. They had always talked about becoming famous but who would’ve guessed that they would actually get what they wanted.


The nearer I got to my new home the more anxious I got and the more prominent the strange feeling in the pit of my stomach became.


What if the guys forgot about me? Zack wouldn’t have forgotten about me, you don’t forget about the person you gave your virginity to, right? What if they remembered me but didn’t recognize me? That was a big possibility.


I wasn’t anymore the girl with the short blond hair and braces that you easily mistook for a boy. My hair was dyed a dark brown, almost black; I had gotten my braces off at seventeen and my boobs had grown a remarkable amount in eleven years.


But my biggest concern was had the guys changed?



Physically? Yes, obviously. It would’ve been a little bit weird if they still looked like sixteen year old boys, stuck in the middle of puberty. But had their attitude changed? They used to be laid back and the nicest guys I had known despite their reputation in our neighbourhood. For all I knew they could’ve become stuck up rock stars with prostitutes and drugs surrounding them. I just hoped they weren’t.


After another half hour driving after the plane had landed, I finally reached my new apartment. My new boss had set me up with it and I had to admit that he had done a pretty amazing job.


Most of my stuff had been brought into the apartment already, so I started to unpack most of the boxes, just not all of them. I had gotten the first week off in order to settle in, so I would just unpack the rest whenever I felt like it.


I decided to go to sleep and let my curiosity get the better of me the next day. When I woke up I got ready and started driving towards my old neighbourhood and the house I hoped Zack’s parents still lived in. I got there in no time, navigating through the streets as if I had never lived somewhere else.


Jumping out of the car I almost tripped on my way to the door due to the excitement bubbling up inside of me. I knocked and waited patiently, though.


My smile grew even wider when the door opened and an older version of the Mrs. Baker I had known stepped outside. It took her a moment before realization hit her and her eyes went
wide.


“Hello, Mrs. Baker.” I couldn’t suppress the grin on my face.


“Dear Lord, May! It’s so good to see you again!” She gasped, enveloping me in a tight hug.


“It’s good to see you, too.” I told her truthfully. Mrs. Baker was always one of my most favourite persons. Don’t get me wrong, I loved my mum, too, but Mrs. Baker was never harsh to any of us. I don’t think she ever even yelled at Zack though he fucked up many times in his youth.


She pulled away, looking me up and down with a huge smile on her face. “Look at you, all grown up! Come on, we’ll get coffee and catch up!” She led me inside and soon there was coffee and cake.


After the usual talk as to how we both had been and why I had returned to California, Mrs. Baker asked what I was waiting for her to ask the whole time. “So have you met up with Zachary and the boys yet?” She asked curiously but I shook my head.


“I have an address. I don’t know if it’s the right one but I wanted to make sure before I go knocking on the wrong door.” I grabbed the note from my bag and handed it to her. “Do you think he’ll even remember or recognize me?” I asked worriedly while she looked over the
piece of paper I had handed her.


“Of course he will. I did, too, didn’t I?” She asked surprised and handed me the note back. “It’s the right one.” I accepted it back with a nod before responding.


“You’re a mum, mums remember such things! But he’s... a guy. They tend to forget about such things.” It honestly worried me.


“I can’t guarantee that he will recognize you immediately but he sure does remember you. He still talks about you, you know?” She told me and I smiled at her with a shy but genuine smile. It was good to know that after all this time he still hadn’t forgotten about me.


I decided to leave a little bit later for Zack’s house after Mrs. Baker and I had said our ‘goodbye’s and ‘see you soon’s.


It didn’t take me too long to drive to the address Mrs. Baker had confirmed as Zack’s but it still crept me out to know that it was from a definitely not legitimate website.


I didn’t waste any time to get out of the car and onto the doorstep. There was a car in the driveway so there had to be someone at home. I knocked and waited.


And waited.


I knocked again and waited a little longer before I finally heard shuffling and silent cussing inside.


The door opened.

Notes