Subtle Reminders

by D. J. Pierson

  “We have time for one more. Since you’ve been doing so well, how about this. If you can’t get this one, you have to let me take you out to dinner.” How did I not see that coming? “Don’t worry. We can go after the newlyweds are gone next week. I wouldn’t dream of taking you away from Lex.”

  “Joey… I don’t think…” I didn’t know what to say.

  “Two nights ago, we slept in the same bed. I’m pretty sure dinner would be no big deal.” He had a valid point. I bet he thought of it long before bringing it up, too.

  “Okay. I get to pick the place, though.”

  He shook his head. “Always with the damn counteroffers. All right, but it has to be somewhere decent. No fast food shit.”

  “You like fast food,” I added.

  “That’s not the point.”

  “It can be someplace we both agree on. More than likely, I’ll know it anyway,” I confidently responded.

  “Deal.”

  It took about two seconds before I recognized the music. I almost laughed, but quickly thought back to the two other times he used the same song.

  It was a month before the middle school graduation dance. Joey and I were working on a project for science. Vince and Mindy were the other two members of our group, but they had already left for the night. I hung out, waiting for my mom to finish work. She was going to pick me up from the Sullivan’s house on her way home.

  Joey dropped his pencil and rubbed his temples, disrupting the hat he wore. “Can we be finished? My head hurts.”

  I sighed. “So does mine.”

  I packed up the books Mindy had checked out of the library, while Joey took the model we built over to the table. He knew I wouldn’t have attempted moving it. No way were they going to blame me if it fell. Once everything was cleaned up, he went to the kitchen and brought back two sodas. I accepted the one he held out to me and we plopped on the leather couch, exhausted.

  “Do you want me to check with my dad to see if he can come get me?”

  “No. I don’t mind you being here.”

  “You look tired.” He had baseball seven days a week, and our teachers assigned a bunch of last minute homework and projects to get in before the end of the school year.

  “Not really.” Joey leaned forward, grabbing his iPod from his book bag. “What do you want to listen to?”

  “Doesn’t matter.” I took one earbud and he took the other. Our familiar game went on for roughly fifteen minutes before he stopped the music. I was resting my eyes, so I cracked one open to see what he was doing.

  “Here’s my deal.” Great. Here we go again, I thought. Somehow, I was going to end up doing an assignment he didn’t feel like completing. The last time, I was supposed to read three chapters of a book and tell him what happened so he could pass a quiz. Little did he know, I had already read it and knew what to say. “If you can’t tell me who sings this next song, you have to let me take you to the dance.” He had been asking once a week for over four months, not including the time he asked on the first day of the year.

  “I told you. I’m not going.”

  “It’s just a dance. Everyone’s going to be there. We can sit on the side and make fun of the idiots trying to dance.”

  “You only want to go because everyone else is going?”

  “Honestly, I only want to go to hang out with you.”

  “We could do that without going to some lame school function,” I argued.

  “What’s the real reason you don’t want to go?” I shrugged. There wasn’t anything specific. Dancing just wasn’t my thing. “Are you worried about what you’ll look like wearing a dress?” he kidded.

  “Oh, I know damn well how awesome I’d look wearing one of those things.” He hadn’t seen me in a dress, but I’d worn plenty of skirts.

  “Now we have to go.” His smile was too adorable to deny.

  “Do you think you have the perfect song to stump me?” I asked.

  “As a matter of fact, I do.”

  The one night we spent at Vince’s, something happened to me. Every week, I became more excited when Monday morning rolled around. It meant five whole days I’d be able to see Joey. The more time we spent together, the more I liked him, and the less he was the arrogant guy who annoyed me the first two minutes of eighth grade. If I were being truthful, I wanted to be Joey Sullivan’s date for everything. Hopeful thinking of a young girl with a crush? If it were only that simple.

  “Well, let’s hear it then?”

  His eyes widened. “For real?”

  “Are you second-guessing the song you chose?”

  “Nope.” Diverting his attention back to the iPod, he excitedly pressed the button and the music began.

  The smartass side of me almost blurted out the name of the band to prove him wrong. Luckily, the side which was falling hard for the adorable guy from school won the battle. We sat there and listened to the entire song I had heard coming from the bedroom next to mine more times than I could count.

  “Song’s over, BC,” he announced, as if the silence wasn’t a clue. “You have ten seconds or you’re going with me. Ten… Nine…” He dropped the iPod on the couch and sat in front of me on the coffee table. His hands were on his knees, which were bouncing up and down. “Eight… Seven… Six…” I pretended to be suffering from turmoil. How long were the ten ticks of the clock going to last? An hour? “Five… Four… Three… You’d better hurry up! Two… One…” Joey leapt up, hands in the air as if he had just knocked in the winning run. He gloated, jumping around his parents’ living room. I folded my arms across my chest, as if disappointed with the situation. “Don’t even try to get out of it! There’s no way I’m letting you slide on this!”

  “What if I do your homework for the rest of the year?” I hoped he wouldn’t take me up on the offer.

  “Nice try!” He ran up the stairs. I heard him pounding on a door, Jack yelling at him for interrupting while he studied for a final he had the following morning. “BC is going to the dance with me!” Joey yelled, then came back to where I sat. Right before he rounded the couch, my smile quickly transformed into a fake pout.

  Jack was a few steps behind his younger brother. “Sorry, Brie. When Joe gets an idea in his head, he doesn’t stop.”

  “It’s okay. I’ll manage.”

  “I’ll come pick you up at the dance if you want to leave,” he said, heading back toward his room, chuckling.

  “Shut the hell up!” Joey hollered. “She’s going to have so much fun, she won’t want to go home.”

  Before homeroom the next day, everyone in our grade knew I was his date…even the teachers.

  Three months later, he used the same song.

  As Joey was walking me home, it started to rain, so we sought shelter under the plastic roof of the fort at the top of a jungle gym. Stopping in the park located halfway between our houses was a common occurrence. One of us always suggested it as we approached. I did it to prolong the time we were alone. His reason was unknown to me.

  Since the graduation dance, Joey flirted more than normal. He made excuses to be as close to me as possible. Whether we were laughing, bickering, or silently sitting together, I enjoyed it. No one made me feel the way Joey did.

  The rain wasn’t coming down very hard, but he shook his hat off as we settled into the fort. Instead of putting it back on his head where it usually lived, he gently placed it on mine. Typically, Joey got pissed if anyone tried to touch it.

  “Looks good on you.” I wasn’t sure how to respond, so I kept quiet, leaving it there. “It shouldn’t last too long,” he said, checking out the clouds. “Let’s continue the game.” We had been listening to his iPod while we walked.

  “My turn to pick a song, right?”

  “Don’t be a cheater.” I knew it was his. “For my next song, I’m choosing…this one.” He passed the earbud to me and took a deep breath. “I’m raising the stakes.” I rolled my eyes, unimpressed. “If you can’t tell me who sings it…” He paused.
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  “Is it that bad?”

  “You need to tell me who sings this or…I’m going to have to kiss you.” It sounded like he blurted it out before he lost the courage to say it.

  “You’re insane.”

  “Maybe. What’s the problem? Can’t handle a little pressure?”

  “Please. I got this.”

  “Good luck.”

  He was so calm, whereas I was freaking the hell out inside. Was he really going to kiss me? No. He wouldn’t. He was only messing with me. I decided even if I knew the stupid song he picked, I wouldn’t say. When he looked like an ass, I’d have the last laugh.

  “Will you just play it already?”

  When he hit the button, it caught me off guard that he’d use the same song again. Thinking about it, he never did say who the artist was the previous time. He was too hyped up, celebrating. Usually, if I answered wrong or didn’t know who it was, he’d tell me and move on. Sometimes, he’d play the song again later to make sure I had listened.

  Our eyes were locked the whole time it played. As the music concluded, we removed our earbuds, neither one of us saying a word. His hand rose, settling on the side of my neck, his thumb brushing along my cheek. My heart pounded so hard, I could hear it. Slowly, he leaned forward until his lips gently touched mine. I didn’t open my eyes when he pulled away, bringing our foreheads together. My chest ached.

  Not moving, he whispered, “BC?”

  “Hmm…?”

  “If you want me to stop, you’re going to have to tell me.” His words were so delicate, a tear escaped my eye. Thank goodness he didn’t notice. An eternity passed. “You’re not saying anything.”

  “There’s nothing to say.”

  A coolness fluttered across my skin when his head left mine, but was quickly replaced by a warmth I had never felt before when he softly kissed my cheek, taking his time returning to my lips. After a few small touches, he deepened the kiss. At that moment, I realized putting my heart out there for him to hold would be completely worth it.

  “So, are we going to dinner or what?” Joey’s voice brought me out of the memory.

  Right. The song. “‘Nightswimming’. R.E.M.”

  “Damn it!” he playfully shouted, chuckling. “I guess you finally figured it out.”

  “Figured what out?” I played along.

  “I got you with this song before…twice,” he snickered. When I didn’t answer, he lowered the volume on the phone. I suddenly felt sad, my eyes filling with tears. “Don’t you remember? I got you go to the eighth grade dance with me, then our first kiss in the park.”

  “I didn’t realize it was the same song,” I lied, clearing my throat.

  “Why does it feel like you aren’t telling me the truth?”

  We crossed over the bridge that lead into the shore town we’d been to many times before. “The Ferris wheel!” I always loved that you could see it from that far out. It was my favorite ride on the boardwalk, especially at night.

  Joey chuckled. “You and that damn ride.”

  Getting BC to ride with me instead of her sister turned out to be much easier than expected. I was ready for her to put up somewhat of an argument, so I stayed awake half the night coming up with excuses to change her mind. Damn her for not letting me use even one of them! Anticipating things getting more difficult as the two weeks wore on, I stored the ideas for later. There was bound to be an instance where I’d need to think quickly.

  The two of us heading toward the shore felt like the old days. We laughed and joked as if nothing had changed, but I kept waiting for the ball to drop. For BC to walk away all over again without looking back. Deep down, I even considered this whole thing was a dream. How the hell could she return after seven years and everything seem perfect? The only explanation was we were meant to be. My enthusiasm intensified. For a second time, we were in eighth grade and she was my target. Back then, things were different. I had no clue how incredibly happy she would make me.

  I purposely saved “Nightswimming” for the end of the trip. That song won me one of my favorite nights, as well as the kiss of a lifetime. It meant more than any baseball championship I’d ever competed in. Figuring she’d have learned the name of the song after being stumped on it twice, I played it to remind her of those specific events, rather than just for getting a dinner date. There’d be plenty of chances for a meal after Lex and Vince left for their honeymoon.

  When the music began to play, BC rested her head against the seat and turned toward the window. The satisfaction of seeing she remembered was brief. She zoned out, changing the tone of our light, carefree conversation. Kicking myself for screwing up, I sat silently as she listened. It seemed too late to switch it off anyway.

  As it came to an end, BC didn’t budge, her gaze remaining fixed on the scenery passing by. The silence strangled me, so I broke it. She claimed to have forgotten, but she was lying. Did she really think I wouldn’t notice? We knew each other better than that.

  Before I put another song on, my phone rang. I answered, seeing it was Vince. “What’s up?”

  “Lex wants us to drop them off at the beach. I’m at the end of the street, waiting.”

  “We’re five minutes out.” I disconnected the call.

  “Do your parents still own the house down here?” BC asked.

  “They’d never sell.” I smiled. My parents bought the shore place when Jack was about two. Because Mom was a realtor, she found out first when houses entered the market. She basically stole it and called in some favors to have it renovated. “We redid everything a few years back. The kitchen has all top-of-the-line shit. You know my mom. The stuff down here is probably nicer than what she has back home. Once the contractors finished putting on the finishing touches, a bunch of us came down over a few weekends to repaint every damn wall, both upstairs and down. She didn’t want us getting distracted by the weather, so we had to do it over the winter.”

  “That sounds exactly like your mom,” BC laughed, getting back to herself. I slowed the car as we drove by the house. “The outside looks nice.”

  “You can see the rest later. If Lex has to wait any longer to sink her feet into the sand, she may have a stroke.”

  They were stacking the last chair on the beach cart when I pulled to a stop behind them. Knowing he had an audience, Vince groped Lex’s ass and made a crude gesture. His action initiated a long stream of curse words to flow from my mouth. Why the hell did he have to fall for her? Couldn’t he have found someone I didn’t consider a little sister who he could feel up all he wanted? I knew he did it jokingly, but I’d always feel protective over the Watson girls. Vince knew it, too.

  “He has always enjoyed tormenting you,” BC noted, smirking.

  “He’s going to get his ass beat if he keeps it up. Here,” I told her, holding out my spare keys.

  “What are those for?”

  “The house.” She seemed hesitant. “Lex said she wanted to stay until tomorrow. She doesn’t work until the afternoon, but Vince and I have to be in early, so we’re leaving later tonight. Hang onto them. Come back whenever you want.”

  “Your mom would not be happy if she knew you were giving those to me. Actually, I probably shouldn’t even go inside.”

  “Don’t be ridiculous.”

  She was right, though. My mom had called me the day before, making sure I hadn’t forgotten BC broke me once and had the power to do it many times over. Mom, seeing how I watched her at the party, continually suggested I walk away. Because I knew she wouldn’t understand, I didn’t bother telling her that was impossible.

  “I don’t need permission to allow my friends to stay at the house. It’s fine.”

  “Maybe you should give them to Lex.”

  “I’m giving them to you. Keep the alarm set so I know you’re safe. My code is ten, sixteen, zero, two.”

  She stiffened, her eyes wide. “Your code is our anniversary?”

  “It needed to be something I wouldn’t forget.” I dropped th
e keys into her palm and climbed out of the car before I begged her to take me back right then and there.

  Over the summer between middle and high school, we hung out just about every day. My family found it odd I didn’t spend a large part of my vacation at the shore, making them realize how much I liked BC. Once freshman year began, nothing changed. We had some classes together, but not as many as in eighth grade. I missed seeing her as often as I was used to. After school, I’d meet her in the hall and walk with her to the gym. She’d go to her practice. I’d go to mine. Usually, Jack or her mom would pick us up afterwards and we’d go home to do our homework together. Every day, my happiness at seeing her beautiful face grew. I knew what it meant. The tricky part was figuring out how she felt about it.

  For weeks, BC had been asking what she could get me for my birthday, but there wasn’t anything she could buy. Just that morning, one of my teammates asked whether or not she and I were dating because he wanted to take her out himself. Not being able to answer him positively was the motivation I needed to finally tell her what I wanted.

  Due to some mandatory meeting all coaches had to attend, we both had a rare day off from practice, so BC and I met up at the park to have a catch. The weather was cooler, so it wasn’t crowded.

  “I know what I want for my birthday,” I announced, watching the ball disappear into her glove.

  “It’s about time!” She threw it back. “Well… What is it?”

  I nervously played with the red seams along the ball. “It’s fairly simple. Not a big deal or anything.”

  “Stop being so dramatic. Just tell me already,” she said, irritated. It made me smile.

  “Fine, pain in the ass.” I tossed the ball harder, knowing she could handle it. “You.” She had lifted her arm to throw it back but stopped, lowering it. We stared at each other before I had the courage to walk toward her. “I was hoping we could drop the whole ‘friend’ thing.” I saw panic in her eyes. Placing my palm along her jaw, I gently rubbed her cheek with my thumb. “This is a little hard to explain.” I felt sick. “You changed things for me. Playing ball used to be my life. Then, out of nowhere, you showed up and baseball became just a game.” I sighed. “Sorry. I’m not very good at this.” Suddenly, my words became tangled. “You asked me to tell you what I wanted. My answer is you.”