Pieces of it All

by Tracy Krimmer

  The dark blue bike had a white stripe running along the handlebars. The banana seat made her butt cringe. "You don't look twelve years old."

  "Doesn't mean I'm comfortable. I don't think I've ridden one since I was about nine."

  She crossed her legs at the ankles and placed her hands back on the banister. "I'm still surprised I've never seen you before. Well, before that night you came by for, what again, chili powder?"

  "Crap! I still owe your mom." He snapped his fingers. "Please tell her I'm sorry and I'll pay her back soon."

  "She won't mind." Of course if he returned the spice, he'd come by again.

  "Anyway, I've lived here most of my life." The dimple on his chin became a rest for his finger. "I've never seen you, either. I went to Focus First."

  Only the troubled kids attended Focus First, an alternative school for those needing extra attention. "That explains why I never ran into you at school. I still think I would've seen you around town."

  His smile fell from his face. "I don't know everyone here. I'm not too surprised. I just got back from a small trip, so I was off the radar. Besides, I'm a bit older than you. Even if we'd gone to the same school, we would've been in different classes."

  Harvey couldn't be too much older than Beth. At least not old like thirty. At most he would have been a senior when she was a freshman, which didn't mean they'd have been strangers. Upperclassmen guys dated younger girls all the time. He probably had a type and she wasn't it - tall, blonde, a dancer or cheerleader, she assumed.

  "Anyway, I should go. I need to find Bullet before this heat becomes more than he can handle."

  Poor dog. "Okay. Nice seeing you again. Now that I know who you are, I hope to bump into you sometime."

  He winked. "I'd like that."

  Their eyes locked. Beth opened her lips slightly to release a breath as she massaged the back of her neck. The hair at the base of her neck was damp and her cheeks warm. When should she look away? Did guys like girls to ask them out? Should she ask him on a date? In order to break from her urge to burst into a fit of giggles, she detached from his stare. "I better get back inside," she thumbed to the door.

  "Okay," he responded as he turned to leave. He slid onto the bike like he was Lance Armstrong. As he pedaled away, she secretly wished for him to turn around so she could see him one last time, memorizing every line in his face, each placement of each hair on his head. It was probably a good thing he hadn't, or he'd have seen her melt to the ground.

  Once he was a speckle of dust down the road, she ran up the stairs into her bedroom. Like when she was a pre-teen with her first crush, she dove into the bed, a smile spread across her face. She laid there, her eyes focusing on every dot in the ceiling. His perfect face was etched into her mind, and she wished to touch his skin, resting her finger in that dimple. Oh, that fricking dimple. She covered her face with her hands and kicked her legs on the mattress. "Eek!"

  She couldn't recall the last time giddiness overcame her like this. In middle school, she went to a Valentine's Day dance with David Porter. Two awkward and pimply pre-teens. They shared one small kiss, enough for them to be considered boyfriend and girlfriend for all of two weeks. She swore off boys after their brief interaction, until her sophomore year of high school. She met Ryan, a junior, in the library. He towered over her at six foot two. Every day he'd hug her before class, and she'd press herself into his chest, taking note of the rhythm of his heartbeat. Built like a football player, although he played baseball, he always reminded her of the stereotypical surfer boy with his dirty blond hair and bright eyes. They dated for about seven months. All their nights of making out never led to sex. Not that she didn't want to. Lucy always told her if she did it with him, he'd dump her and tell everyone how easy she was. In her heart, she didn't feel Ryan would ever do that, but she wasn't willing to take any chances. Their make out sessions always involved a lot of kissing and heavy petting. Sometimes they would just lay naked next to each other.

  After the two of them broke up, Ryan hooked up with a few girls. Beth knew they were doing more than making out and accepted the truth. She made the choice not to do it, anyway, so she couldn't blame him. She focused her time and energy on her schoolwork and pulled out a 3.97 her senior year. In her eyes, breaking up with Ryan proved the best thing to ever happen to her. She always had top grades, and while they dated, her grades declined. Their breakup refocused her efforts on school. Her GPA helped her get into the local university, which she couldn't wait to attend in the fall.

  The only thing missing in this moment was Lucy. Best friends existed for these very moments - those times in life you'll burst at the seams unless you can share it. She hated letting Lucy win, but soon they'd each be in different colleges, meeting new people and sharing those experiences with new friends. Beth needed to give in. It didn't matter who initiated the apology, just that they were friends again.

  "Rise and shine!" Sharon Overland whipped open the shades in her daughter's bedroom, sending rays of light into the room.

  Beth rubbed her fists against her eyes. The clock flashed 9:15. "Mom! What are you doing?"

  "Today is your eighteenth birthday, dear! We're having a ladies' day!" She clapped her hands in excitement. Beth cringed at the early success in annoying her. If an Olympic medal existed for irritating your child, her mom would win gold.

  "What do you mean by ladies' day?" She pulled herself up and leaned against the pillows.

  Her mom hopped up next to her daughter. "A ladies' day! A girl's day! You know - we'll get our nails done - a manicure and a pedicure – do some shopping, go to lunch, gossip. All those things you'd do with your girlfriends, except since you're eighteen, we'll call it a ladies' day. You're not a little girl anymore."

  "Sometimes you're such a dork, Mom."

  She rubbed her hand on the sheet over Beth's leg. "What do you kids say these days? Takes one to know one, right?"

  "Not since I was in middle school." She rolled her eyes. "Anyway, I have plans to see Lucy."

  Beth called her after she finished fawning over Harvey. Uncomfortable pauses filled the phone for at least ten minutes of the conversation. Beth gave in, a commonality in their relationship. "I'm sorry I stormed off. I know you're only being a good friend."

  Lucy paused, her breath echoing on the other side of the line. "I'm sorry, too, Beth. I shouldn't have left like I did. I even left Jackson behind. He was pretty pissed, but got over it." They exchanged a few stories about their summer so far before agreeing to lunch for Beth's birthday.

  "I'm glad you two made up, and especially for your birthday." Her mom waved her hand in front of her face, refusing to accept Beth's plans. "You can hang out with Lucy later. Meet her for dinner instead. Let's have a day together." She patted her hands on the bed. "Come on. We never do this. I want to do this."

  It had been awhile since they'd spent an entire day together. But the whole day? Was spending the next eight hours together necessary since they lived in the same house? She and Lucy had a lot to catch up on. She hadn't brought Harvey up in their conversation, but she was anxious to tell her about him. The smile on her mom's face pulled at her heart (was guilt stored there, too?).

  "Fine. I need a half hour to get ready, okay?" Eight hours was manageable if she thought of it like a school day.

  "Fantastic!" Her mom leapt to the floor. "I'll meet you downstairs."

  As soon as she left, Beth curled back under her covers for a few minutes, her mind wandering toward Harvey. His thick hair, muscles ready to rip his tight shirt in half. She shivered thinking about him.

  "Beth, I don't hear the water running!" her mom called from downstairs.

  "Ugh!" She threw off the covers. "I'm going!" Thoughts of Harvey would have to join her in the shower.

  A half hour later, Beth sat silent next to her mother in the car. She stared out the window looking for Harvey, hoping he found his dog. She never owned a pet, but imagined he must be pretty upset.

  "Eighteen already!"
her mom broke the silence. "I can't believe my baby graduated and is off to college next year. You're going to do fine. You've always been an excellent student."

  A true statement, but she was still scared. She wished she had the chance to compete in academic competitions, or add to her roster of extracurricular activities. Lucy's constant warnings of not to join those things kept her away. Though she wasn't valedictorian of her graduating class, she wore many honor sashes with her gown. Jennifer Schumacher held the title.

  Her mom laughed. "What's so funny?" Beth inquired.

  She took a left onto Washington Avenue, which was considered "downtown." Only a few blocks long, it boasted many mom and pop shops. Knitters Korner, Bob's Trading Cards, the Old Fashioned Ice Cream Shoppe, along with multiple businesses like insurance or tax help. On the weekends, the sidewalks filled with people. "Remember when you were little and played school all the time? You'd come home from school and still want to be there! You'd play when your friends came over, and you always insisted they be your students and you their teacher." She stopped at a traffic light, the first of only two on the small strip of town. "All these years later, that's what you'll do." She gripped her hands on the steering wheel. "I'm so proud of you."

  Beth looked over at her, who stared at the red light. "Thank you, Mom. That means a lot."

  Her eyes remained focused on the signal. She didn't move when it changed to green.

  "Mom?" Beth tried to break her from her trance. "The light's green. You can go."

  "What?" she asked, turning her attention back to Beth. "Oh yeah, it is." She pressed her foot on the gas and began down the road.

  "Mom, are you okay?"

  She glanced at Beth, returning her focus to the roadway. "What? Yes, yes, I'm fine. I just forgot where we were going." She kept driving, appearing unsettled. Flicking her head from left to right, tightening her grip more on the wheel. They approached a parking lot for a paint store to turn around.

  She remained focused on her mother, capturing the details on her face. The smile had dropped, her lips tight with concern. Beth never before noticed the creases spreading from her eyes. "Are you sure you're okay? That was weird."

  "It was only a quick lapse of memory." She slowed as she reached a driveway. "I'm fine. I have a lot on my mind."

  The migraines had worsened over the past year. Her mom suffered from a headache almost every day. She insisted her brain was cluttered with so many thoughts, the claustrophobia in her brain caused the pain. Beth researched migraines a little on the Internet. They seemed common, but she feared more as the words "neurological" and "stroke" often jumped off the page at her, slamming her in the face like a brick. She paged through forum after forum, each person describing symptoms and everyone jumping on the bandwagon with a different diagnosis. One day her mom caught her sifting over information and tried to assure her she was fine. Beth hoped it was true.

  They pulled into a small lot. "The nail shop is over here on the right." Opening her car door, she urged, "Come on, now, let's go get pretty!" Maybe the special ladies' day was a good idea. If something were wrong with her mom, she'd never forgive herself for not spending enough time with her.

  The morning began at Ann's Nails, a little shop owned by Ann Murphy, a friend of her mom's since high school.

  "Welcome!" Ann greeted them as they walked in the door. She immediately grabbed both Beth's hands. "This must be the birthday girl!"

  Ann, a spunky, tiny lady radiated an orange glow from over tanning. Spiky gray hair stood from her head, and large hoop earrings hung, apparently forgetting they went out of style more than a decade (or even two) ago.

  "It's so nice to finally meet you, Beth! Imagine I've known your mother your entire life and this is the first time I've met you! Isn't that so unfortunate?" She bellowed, leading Beth and her mom to two massage chairs.

  "Please, have a seat. Take off your sandals. We're going to paint those nails a sassy shade of red. Donna will be right over to help you, Beth. I'll get started on my old pal Sharon here."

  Taking off her shoes, she pleaded, "Please don't call me old, Ann." She rubbed her hands on her thighs.

  Ann gently took her feet and placed them in the basin. "I'm teasing you. Lighten up. Don't forget we're the same age, dear!"

  Meanwhile, Donna found her place by Beth, beginning the massage and pedicure. She remained silent as the two ladies began their gossiping and reminiscing.

  After forty-five minutes of listening to their chatter, Beth wanted to move onto the next "event" her mother had planned.

  Chapter Four

  "No arguing - I'm buying," Lucy insisted as she held the heavy door to The Blue Rooster for Beth. "Your birthday dinner is on me."

  Most of the locals spent their evenings at The Blue Rooster, a dinky restaurant on the corner of Washington and First. Frank and Carol Chandler, a couple Beth's dad knew on a professional and private level, owned the establishment and breathed new life into the dwindling restaurant. Months of replacing doors, a few bouts with exterminators, and a ton of new paint paid off well for the Chandlers. The inside, decorated in a woodsy theme, screamed cute from every angle. Each booth had a birdhouse on a stand, focusing on a different type of bird. Ironically, specialty burgers ruled the coop.

  "Where should we sit?" Lucy and Beth scanned the room, a few tables fresh from patrons, dirty dishes still occupying them. The hostess greeted them, and sat them right away in a freshly cleaned corner booth. The rectangle table was now spotless, with their silverware wrapped neatly in periwinkle napkins. A dangling blue light softly lit the area. They sat opposite each other, allowing enough room to rest their purses on the cushions.

  Lucy drummed her hands on the table. "I can't believe you're finally eighteen! You're such a baby!"

  Beth wondered at what age people would stop referring to how young she was. With a July birthday, she was one of the youngest in the graduating class. She had to wait to take driver's education, while all her peers drove before her. Lucy had been eighteen for six months and already had a credit card with a small line.

  "Anyway," Beth bypassed the commentary. "Thank you for dinner. Totally not necessary."

  "Your birthday only comes once a year. Think of this as a make up dinner, too." She grabbed the menu, browsing over the contents. "What are you getting?"

  Opening the menu, Beth asked, "Why do we look at this every time we come here? We always get the same thing." Looking up at each other they said in unison, "Blue cheese burger with curly fries." They closed their menus as the waitress approached.

  The tall brunette pulled a notepad out of her apron and a pen from behind her ear, causing her hair to fall slightly and a few strands fell on her shoulder. Her name tag read "Jessica."

  "What can I get you?" Her eyes made contact with everything in the room besides Beth and Lucy. They gave their traditional order, adding in a diet soda for each. "That all?" The waitress asked.

  The girls smirked at each other, knowing a good tip was out of the question. "One more thing. Why is this place so busy tonight?" Beth pointed out the small availability of tables. Across the room, the bar didn't have an empty seat, leaving many forced to stand.

  She pointed to a sign and walked over to the next table. The sign advertised a country karaoke contest with the winner getting a fifty dollar gift certificate to The Blue Rooster and a guitar autographed by Tim McGraw. "Should be an interesting night." Lucy glanced around the room. "By the looks of everyone here, no one pops out at me as a superstar."

  Beth certainly wasn't. Over half the people who sang karaoke had no right to. If she heard Don't Stop Believin' from Glee wannabees tonight she'd walk out. Great show, overplayed song. "So, did you decide on a school?" Beth crossed her hands on the table.

  Lucy tucked her milk chocolate hair behind her ears and drank some water. "I'm sorry, what?"

  Karaoke hadn't started yet. The music wasn't loud enough to drown out Beth's voice. "Did you pick a school yet?" She raised her voice to be sur
e Lucy didn't miss her question again.

  "Actually, yes. Wisconsin has a lot of great schools for nursing and I've applied at many of them. When the time came to make my decision, well ... " she fell silent.

  "Are you not going?" Beth accused. They talked about college so many times over the past year. Heather and Beth enrolled at the same college, and Heather's dad was footing the bill for an apartment they'd share. Lucy had narrowed her choices down to two schools, one closer to Beth and Heather than the other. Being a nurse was something Lucy always wanted. What would change her mind? "What's going on? Why wouldn't you be going now?"

  Lucy shook her head. "No, that's not it." She buried her face in her hands and mumbled something.

  Through the gaps in Lucy's fingers, Beth swore a smile peeked out. Maybe she decided on going to school with Jackson. "I can't understand what you said."

  She dropped her hands and took another drink of water. After the longest swallow in the world, she answered, "I'm going to school in Boston."

  "You're what? How? Why? When?" Her voice raised several octaves. Boston? That had to be at least a thousand miles away.

  "I decided a few weeks ago. I've been thinking about leaving Wisconsin for a while now. I had to decide by the end of June."

  'The end of June.' The words repeated themselves in her head, taunting her. Had they not had their stupid fight, Lucy would've told her about this already and she could've talked her into staying. Keeping in touch was going to be hard enough even while in the same state. As Lucy effortlessly ate her burger, Beth struggled to find words. Their friendship would turn into seeing each other on long breaks, if even that. With such a long distance, seeing Jackson would be the priority. Even with Face Time and email, growing apart was inevitable.

  "I can't pass this up. How could I not go? It's different. I'm getting out of this hick of a town. I'll be in a big city at a top school. So many job opportunities, too."