Marissa and Randy started dating during her senior year of high school when she was seventeen years old, after she and Daniel broke up. At first it was just a way to distract herself from the pain she was feeling, but Randy was a bad boy and quickly she started doing a lot of bad things with him, it didn’t hurt that he was tall, dark and gorgeous. She became dependent on him just as much as she did the life style he led, because that was the only time she felt numb to it all. They had broken up the summer after she graduated high school, after she caught him having sex with her “supposed” friend Tara at the graduation party. Drunk, high, and upset she retaliated, doing something she never thought she'd do, she’d slept with someone she cared very much about, using him for the night, and that wasn’t okay in her book. She had finally had enough of it all, but with their past, like any addiction, she knew they’d somehow end up back together. That’s why she ran. She wasn’t going to let that happen.
The very thought, even after twenty years, still sent chills down her spine. She’d loved the guy once upon a time, or at least she’d thought so then, but she, along with the rest of her world knew he was no good and she would never go anywhere in life as long as he was in hers. But he had a way of getting to her; a way no one could ever understand, not even her. It was an addiction, maybe to the excitement, maybe to the rebellion, and just as hard to quit as the drugs she had become so fond of during that time. She ran for her life at the first chance. She didn’t allow herself to stop and think and obsess over the decision she’d made to leave. She just left and never looked back. Even though she missed her friends she knew it was the right choice.
She had thought all of that had changed forever. She never had to look back again. Not so soon anyway, but she knew this day was inevitable. Pamlico County was her home and despite her past, it was where she always felt like she belonged. She had grown and changed through the years. So now she was happy to be back home as a new person. Someone she liked and worked hard to create. Just as long as she avoided those old ghosts.
Mindlessly walking with her coffee in hand, she stopped instantly when she found herself standing in front of the old gothic structure of the historic Episcopal Church. She craned her neck to look up at the sharp arches and her gaze rested on the huge clock tower at the very top. Blinking rapidly, she looked around the grounds. On one side was a very old cemetery with weathered head stones scattered about and massive Oak trees eclipsing the entire area. On the other side of the chapel was an outside cement pulpit with six cement benches in front of it. It was built with the church hundreds of years ago for outdoor ceremonies and such on warm summer days. Marissa always thought it was so beautiful and unique for the area, looking more like a pagan altar rather than a part of a church, with its stone altar in front and large Oak trees surrounding it with stringy sage moss hanging down all over, making it seem menacing.
Marissa turned from the area and looked back toward the opposite side at the cemetery area. She didn’t have any family buried there and people didn’t even get laid to rest there anymore, not for almost one hundred years, but it was a special spot for her nonetheless. That was the very spot where Daniel had sworn his love to her for the very first time, a few months after they started going out during their junior year of high school. Underneath the Oak trees with their ever so present sage moss hanging on low branches above their heads like mistletoe, he kissed her, told her he loved her, and swore that it would be the two of them forever. She knew she loved him too, even after such a short time together, but the emotions burnt too raw in her throat to get the words out. Some may think that the scene was inappropriate for a declaration like that, but Marissa thought it was perfect and romantic and one she’d never forget.
She jumped when a vibration went off in her pocket breaking the vision from the past. She fished out her phone and pressed the green button on the screen to accept the call.
“Hello?” she asked into the phone.
“Marissa Lou? Umm sorry, Marissa.”
“Yes, this is she.”
“Hey, it’s Jess. I was hoping this was the right number, we were all a little tipsy the other night when you gave it to me.”
Marissa laughed, “Yes, we were. What’s going on, Jess? How are you?”
“I’m good, just on my lunch break. I wanted to see how your interview went.”
Marissa walked out of the cemetery and back onto the sidewalk to continue her stroll. “It went great,” she said excitedly. “I was actually thinking of calling you girls to see if you wanted to do dinner or something so I could tell you guys about it.”
Jess paused for a minute before responding, “I think that would be great. What day do you want to get together?”
“Soon actually. I’m leaving in a few days to go back home.” She still wasn’t sure when she wanted to go back home, but she wanted Jess’ answer to leave it up to chance. Marissa was always a firm believer in signs from the universe.
“Oh, okay. I will call Katie and see what she has going on tonight.”
“That would be wonderful. Let me know what you guys want to do. I know it’s kind of last minute, but I don’t have any plans for today.”
“K’. I will.”
“Thanks, Jess, I’ll talk to you soon,” Marissa said before pressing the red call end button.
She was proud of herself because the interview really had gone well. They did all but hand her an id badge and key. She had to pat herself on the back for that. Hopefully, if everything went as planned she would be a North Carolina native again in a month, and she was beyond excited.
Four
At six o’clock in the evening Marissa pulled up to Katie and Daniel’s house in Kennels Beach. She was somewhat disappointed that Katie suggested they all go to her house for dinner because she wanted to dress up and have a night out at a restaurant, but she was thrilled to see the old neighborhood and that made up for it. As much as everything around it had changed, at least it was one thing that remained the same; almost completely untouched and beautiful just like she remembered it, even though there were a lot more houses crowding the area than she remembered. It did however unnerve her some to find out that Katie and Daniel bought her old house beside Katie’s parent’s house. The house she called home for most of her childhood. The house where, when they were seventeen, she had made love to Daniel for the first time after one of Becca’s parties that she decided to throw when Marissa’s parent’s had gone out of town for the weekend. That was Becca though and Marissa loved her for all that she was, even when she was getting them into trouble, which happened to be often. She didn’t like the idea of Katie and Daniel making love there and creating memories where there were already some.
Marissa got out of her car and stared up at the house in front of her. She knew she was at the right address, but the house looked so different. The exterior had been painted a softer shade of gray and the lazy wooden porch on the front entrance had been replaced with a huge white framed screened in wraparound porch and that wasn’t even the start. There was now an extra floor added onto it making it an impressive two story house, almost causing it to tower over the majority of the other houses lining the street. Marissa had silently wondered if that was done as a kind of metaphor. A rub-it-in Marissa’s-face kind of thing. Katie had won, she got the boyfriend and the popularity and now she had her house too, which she seemed to have made into some kind of grand declaration of her stature. Marissa shook the thought out of her head. She and Katie were once best friends and they were older now, more mature. Whatever happened in the past, no matter how hurtful, should just stay there so that she could recapture all the things she once loved.
Slowly, she walked up the cobblestone walkway and opened the screen door leading onto the massive porch. She smiled and felt guilty about her previous thoughts when she noticed on each side of the door there were two white rocking chairs sitting side by side with a small table in-between each set. The four of them had often talked about how they would sit in thei
r rocking chairs when they were older, drinking cold beer, while the kids played together in the yard.
She rang the door bell, listening to it chime, before a tall teenage boy answered the door. She stared at him for what seemed like forever. She knew he was Daniel Jr., or D.J., but by god he looked exactly like his father at that age, even more than in his pictures.
“Hi, I’m Marissa. Are your parent’s home?” she finally said, somewhat breathless.
“Yes ma’am, come on in,” he said in a deep southern accent.
Marissa followed him inside where he led her to the living room where Katie, Becca, Jess and Jess’ husband, Steven, were sitting around on assorted furniture sipping wine and laughing at whatever was said before she came in.
“Yay! I’m so glad you’re here,” Katie said, standing up and walking toward Marissa. She wrapped her arms around her giving her a tight squeeze.
“Am I late?” Marissa asked, prying herself from Katie’s grasp and looking around the room.
“Not at all, they got here a little early. Dinner won’t be done for a few more minutes,” Katie said.
Marissa couldn’t help but to stare at D.J. spellbound as he left the room and disappeared through a swinging door that led into the kitchen. As soon as the door closed behind him it opened again and an older version of him walked out holding two glasses of red wine. Marissa stared at him frozen, unable to breathe, as he walked up to her. He put an arm around Katie’s waist and handed Marissa a glass of wine.
“Hi Maris, you look good,” Daniel said staring into her eyes.
Marissa looked away, pretending to observe the décor in the living room, trying to hide her rosy cheeks. “Thank you, same to you. The house looks great by the way.”
“Thanks to these,” he said holding his hands out to her.
“You did all this?”
“Yep,” he said proudly.
* * *
Katie looked between them and could sense the tension, which in turn made her feel uncomfortable. She had been worried ever since she saw Marissa at the high school reunion. Back when they were in high school she didn’t worry about Marissa or Daniel remembering that they once shared something special. She was too young and naive at the time to think those sorts of things, especially after Marissa moved away. Out of sight out of mind. But in the past few years she often wondered if Daniel regretted his decision to leave Marissa for her. What’s even worse is, what if she, herself, regretted it? Her life did not turn out the way she thought it would and sometimes she felt resentful for it.
She shook off the thought and grabbed Marissa by the hand. “Come on, let’s sit and talk.”
“Yes, Marissa, sit your petite fancy city girl ass down right here and tell us your good news already,” Becca said, patting the cushion on the couch beside her.
Marissa did as she was told.
As soon as she was seated, Becca threw both arms around her, pulling her into a hug. “I’m so glad you’re here.”
Marissa laughed and patted her arm. “Well I should hope so, because it looks like you are going to be seeing a lot more of me in about a month.” She looked around the room at all of the eyes locked on her, as if waiting for some kind of reaction. “Surprise,” she said, sounding nervous.
“Are you serious?” Becca asked.
“Yep, my interview went great and although it is too soon to hear anything, I can pretty much guarantee that the job is mine.”
Katie sat down in one of the chairs and just stared at Marissa, frozen, because she knew if Marissa moved back, she would have to face her own reality and she didn’t know if she was ready for that yet.
After Marissa’s big news was announced everyone began to speak at once, congratulating her, but when she turned to Katie, Marissa must have noticed her deer in head lights expression. Katie blinked rapidly again and smiled quickly. “That’s wonderful, Marissa. I’m so happy for you.”
“Thanks,” Marissa said, sounding awkward. She turned to look away from Katie, but when she did, Katie noticed that she caught Daniel’s eyes, his expression seeming confused and quizzical.
* * *
By the time dinner was over and everyone was full, the awkward moment seemed to have lifted, leaving everyone cheerful and chatty again. All four women took their glasses of wine and walked out onto the porch to enjoy the summer night air, while the men stayed inside, allowing them their time together without distractions.
“Katie, I can’t believe you guys bought my old house. I almost didn’t even recognize it,” Marissa said, taking the rocker on the left side of the door beside Becca.
“When it went on the market it just seemed right. My parents were getting older and they like having the kids nearby. I hope you don’t mind all the changes we made.”
Marissa thought about her answer for a minute before responding, “Not at all, it really does look great.”
“Thanks, we loved it the way it was, but as the kids got older we needed more space. The whole top floor is ours and the kids rule the bottom floor, or so they like to think.”
Marissa was silently relieved to hear that they were being intimate in an area added on rather than where she used to live.
They fell into a silence for what seemed like forever, each person lost in their own minds. Marissa was lost in a sea of thoughts, watching the ever so present heat lightening dance across the night sky before none other than Becca spoke up, interrupting the peaceful moment. “We should do this every weekend.”
“What’s that?” Katie asked.
“Everyone getting together like this. I’ve missed it.”
“It’s not like you don’t live horribly far away, Becca. Vanceboro is less than an hour away,” Katie said matter of fact.
“I know, but it never felt the same when we weren’t all here together,” Becca said, playfully cutting her eyes at Marissa.
“I agree,” Marissa said, turning from Becca to look at the others. “We used to be thick as thieves and we promised that we would be doing this very thing at this very age. But it’s been twenty years and nothing. That’s too much time in-between.”
“I like it,” Jess said, smiling wide.
Katie looked at all three excited faces. “Hell, why not. Just as long as it isn’t at my house every weekend. I do not have time to be cleaning up after everyone.”
They all burst out laughing and promised to compromise. Marissa excused herself and walked back into the house to use the restroom. As soon as she walked into the house, she could hear manly laughter of the husbands coming from the living room. So she quietly turned in the opposite direction where she remembered the restroom being.
When she was done, she opened the door and came face to face with Daniel who was leaning against the wall in front of the restroom with his arms crossed across his chest. His dark eyes bore into her, making her remember the dream that she had earlier that morning, causing her heart to beat uncontrollably in her chest and heat to pulsate through her feminine areas. In the silence, she studied his face. He looked exactly the same with dark full hair, tan muscular body and eyes that had the ability to see right through her, with the added bonus of facial hair and bigger, obvious, muscles.
“So you’re staying?” he finally said, looking her in the eyes.
“Yes,” Marissa said breathless. “You don’t mind, do you?” she asked teasingly, even though she felt so nervous that she didn’t know how she wasn’t shaking.
After a few torturously silent seconds, he pried his eyes off of hers and uncrossed his arms and shoved his hands in his front pockets and looked down at his feet. “It’s really good seeing you again, Maris,” he said before walking away.
“You too, Daniel,” she managed to croak out, but her mind screamed, Yes!
Five
Katie had been more restless lately, ever since Marissa blew back into town for their high school reunion with her stylish, long flowing blonde hair, beautiful, youthful looks and an air of superiority that she had always seemed
to have. Her body was still perfectly toned too, maybe even more so than when they were in high school; untouched by age or child birth; and topped off with polished designer clothes. It wasn't far off from Katie's own looks. Her long, natural, dark brown hair was still glossy without the slightest sign of graying, and even though she had two children, her body was far from damaged. That may have even been an advantage over Marissa because having children helped to plump her in all the right places, and along with helping her husband with the construction business, her body was curvy, but kept toned through the years. But the thought was still enough to make Katie feel sick to her stomach.
Marissa would most likely get that job at the hospital in New Bern as well, which would be great. She missed her old friends, but it only added to her high accomplishments and made Katie feel like Marissa was still better than her, by surpassing her in all the exciting endeavors she had done thus far. Marissa was living the life that Katie always wanted, although she didn’t realize just how much until recently, and she would never admit that to anyone else. She hated that thought, but it plagued her nonetheless. She had only dated one guy her whole life, married directly after high school because she was pregnant, then a second baby came along shortly after. She was deeply rooted to this town with no signs of leaving anytime in the near future. The thought was becoming heavier and heavier after seeing Marissa and it was paralyzing. Marissa was living the life she should have had. They literally switched roles in high school. She often wondered how her life would have turned out had she and Daniel not fallen in love. He was with Marissa back then, after all. He and Marissa had the plans to get married and have babies, and Katie was going to go away to a major university and have an exciting life with a serious career, dinner parties, and traveling, but she couldn’t help herself. Maybe this was her punishment for stealing her best friend’s boyfriend. She deserved to be punished because no matter how much Marissa tried to hide it, Katie always knew that it hurt her deeply, it had to have.
Hometown Girls: Reunion (Hometown Girls Series Book 2) Page 3
