by Rowe, Brian
“I’m sorry,” I finally said.
That turned her around. “I’m sorry, too, Cam. I’m sorry that I haven’t come clean with you about everything. But you have to understand… I’m trying to adjust to this new life… with you… with your family. Before you entered my life, things weren’t so… well… complicated.”
“Not complicated?” I took her hands. “Liesel, you can do magic. What’s not complicated about that?”
“It’s something I was trying my best to ignore. Plus, give me some credit. I’ve been completely magic free since graduation night. Eight months and counting, Cam. That’s pretty damn good for me.”
“I agree,” I said. “That’s smart, I guess. But Leese, your powers are extraordinary. It seems careless in a way for you to just completely ignore what you’re capable of.” She stared out the window, onto the shiny blue lake just a few yards past our backyard, and then brought her attention to me. “I didn’t mean what I said before. I know you. I know your spirit, and I know your kindness, and I know that nobody could ever make me happier than you. I just have this strong feeling that there’s hidden demons in your past that you have yet to let me in on. And as your fiancée, I promise, you can tell me anything. And I won’t judge you. I promise.”
She nodded and kissed my palm before caressing it against her cheek. “There’s things that I’ve done that I’m not proud of. But I promise… I’m not hiding anything that I’m ashamed of, or that I think might jeopardize our relationship in any way. There’s just some things in my past that I’m still trying to make sense of.” She grinned and crossed her arms.
“You’re gonna have to tell me sometime.”
“I know, Cam. And I will. Just not today. Not this weekend.”
“OK.”
“Thanks.”
I kissed her on the forehead. “Now, please, let’s enjoy our weekend. Can you believe this is our first Valentine’s Day together?”
She smiled big, revealing her big pearly whites. “I know. It’s my first Valentine’s Day with anyone.”
---
Liesel and I walked hand in hand to the center of town early that afternoon to grab a bite to eat and take in the local sights of what my parents still referred to as the hidden gem north of Reno—I had been going to Lake Almanor nearly every summer for the last ten years. Many of the Reno locals elected to just drive up the hill thirty minutes to the gorgeous but crowded Lake Tahoe. But there was always something more mysterious, and more of a true destination, about Almanor, which was always mostly empty yet provided lots to do. This weekend, Almanor, while maybe the coldest it’d been since my family and I had started coming here, was particularly dead in town.
“Can we stop by the supermarket?” I asked, as we neared it on the winding sidewalk.
“Sure, what for?”
“I want to get up early tomorrow and make you the most amazing breakfast of your life.”
“Yeah?” Liesel let go of my hand. “I like the sound of that.”
“Mmm hmm,” I said, planning on banana pancakes.
“OK. I’m gonna go check out that antique shop at the end of the street. Meet me there?”
“Sure… as long as I don’t have to go inside…”
She playfully slugged me on the shoulder. “See you in a few.”
“OK.”
I crossed over some yellow grass and turned a corner to find myself at the front of the only local supermarket, Almanor Food & Drug. Most surprising about it was the massive size of the place, which was as big, if not bigger, than a typical supermarket found in Reno.
I walked up and down the aisles, looking for the cheapest pancake mix, marveling at just how deserted the place was. There was only one cashier at the front, with maybe four or five people in the entire store.
Entering the last aisle in the back, I started to think that maybe this city didn’t believe in selling breakfast products. Finally I found a shelf filled with Pop Tarts, so I knew I was in the right place. I scanned the rest of the shelves until I found the mixes. I picked up two boxes, one Bisquick, the other an organic mix with whole wheat flour that was nearly four dollars more.
“Go with the organic, it’s worth it.”
The voice behind me startled me so much that both boxes escaped my hands and dropped to the slick hardwood floor.
“Jesus!” I said, both at my girly shriek, and at my clumsiness.
“Here, let me help you,” the unfamiliar female voice said.
I picked up the Bisquick box and looked forward to see a hand with black-painted fingernails pick up the other box. I stood up straight to see a young woman take a step toward me, her voice as raspy as it was sexy. “Sorry about that,” she said.
“Oh, that’s OK. Sorry I freaked. Didn’t think anyone was in this aisle.”
“Yeah, the town’s pretty quiet this weekend, isn’t it? It’s like a ghost town, or something.”
I nodded and took my first good luck at the girl. She looked twenty, maybe twenty-one. She had long, straightened black hair, striking full lips, and prominent freckles on her cheeks. A thin, black nose ring hugged her left nostril. Her eyes were dark blue, made more prominent on her pretty face by her circular dark eye shadow.
“It sure is,” I said, trying not to slobber.
“I’m up here with some girlfriends. We’re having an all girls weekend.”
“No Valentine’s Day dates, huh?”
“Not a one. Hence, the all girls weekend.”
I nodded, sensing intelligence, mixed with a bit of attitude, in the girl.
“Anyway,” she said, “we made some pancakes this morning with that organic stuff. They were insanely good.”
“Oh. OK. I’ll get that, then.”
“What about you? All boys’ weekend?”
“No, no… I’m up here with my f—” I’ll never know why I couldn’t complete the sentence. Maybe it was because it still hadn’t settled in that I was two and a half months away from getting married. It also might have been because of our little tiff a few hours earlier. I knew if Liesel could hear me right now denying her existence and flirting with another girl, she’d put an end to her magic sabbatical and turn me into a cockroach. “I’m here with someone, yeah,” I finally said.
“That’s too bad. My friends and I could use a cute boy like you tonight.” She smiled in a way that suggested she wanted to rip my clothes off right here in the supermarket. You live in a world where you’re marrying a witch, I thought. Anything’s possible.
“Do you live around here?” I asked the semi-gothic, all-beautiful young woman.
“No. I just moved to Reno, actually, a few hours south of here.”
“Really? I live in Reno, too.” Don’t say that, you idiot!
“You don’t say.”
“Born and raised.” Idiot! End the conversation!
“Well maybe we could get together sometime,” she said, “that is, if your girlfriend wouldn’t mind.”
I nodded. There was nothing left to say. I needed to never see this attractive girl again if I knew what was good for me.
“All right, well, it was nice to meet you,” I said, grabbing the pancake mix and moving past her.
“You too.” She turned around and took a few steps forward, but then she stopped and turned back toward me. “Oh, what’s your name, by the way?”
I pretended like I didn’t hear her question. “What was that?”
“Your name? Do you have one, or did your Mom forget to give one to you?”
This girl was feisty, hot, dangerous. I had never met one like her before. Maybe she’s a stripper. Maybe Coach Welch knows this girl well.
I decided to throw out a different name. “Umm… Wes… Wesley.”
“Nice to meet you, Wes, Wesley. I’m Hannah. Maybe I’ll see you around.”
She put on a pair of sunglasses and walked down the aisle, disappearing from view as she made her way out of the store.
I shook my head and tried to continue with my
shopping. I figured Liesel would be waiting impatiently at the antique store by now. I’ll tell her I got lost. She’ll believe that, right?
I made my way further down the aisle and grabbed maple syrup, blueberry sauce, and cinnamon.
When I started making my way toward the register, grabbing a huge stash of bananas before I nearly slammed my foot against a magazine rack, the thought finally hit me: That Hannah girl didn’t buy anything.
I stood in line behind another customer, who unfortunately had a cart filled with food. I rested my breakfast products on the back of the conveyer belt, trying to think about anything else, unable to erase that sexy black-haired femme fatale from my mind.
She just walked out the store. Didn’t buy a single thing. All she wanted to do was talk to me.
And then the worst thought of all entered my head: I’m glad she did.
---
I met up with Liesel at the antique shop, which somehow had kept her interested for the last twenty minutes, as she didn’t question my tardiness. We enjoyed a delicious lunch of comfort food, and then five hours later partook in a scrumptious Italian dinner out on the lake. The rest of the day couldn’t have gone better, and by dessert, I had nearly forgotten about the run-in at the grocery store. Nearly.
Liesel and I entered the cabin a few minutes after ten, and my first inkling was to rush straight to the bed.
“Let’s watch a movie,” Liesel said.
“We can watch a movie any night. Come on.” I tried to drag her to the bedroom, but she wouldn’t budge.
“I’m not tired. I want to put on a movie.”
“Honey, I’m not tired either. That’s the point.”
“I brought up some DVDs. Let’s just watch something short.” She plopped herself on the couch and turned on the little TV in the corner of the room.
I sighed and walked over to the couch, but instead of sitting next to her, I got down on my knees behind her and started massaging her neck.
“What movies did you bring?” I asked.
“I have to check. Some romantic films, for sure.”
“Hocus Pocus?”
She shook her head. “Ha-ha. No.”
“Practical Magic? Witches of Eastwick? The Wizard of Oz?”
“I’m sensing a pattern here…”
“All right. What’d you bring?”
“I actually kind of liked Practical Magic. I adore Sandra Bullock. But no movie’s been able to display the true emotional and physical power of what girls like me can do.”
My hands stopped. I froze.
“Why’d you stop, Cam? That felt really good.”
“Girls like you?” I asked.
“What?”
“You mean… there’s more than one?”
She seemed confused. “I don’t understand.”
“You said ‘girls like me.’ As in more than one.”
“Oh? Did I?” She just laughed and started sorting through her DVDs. “Sorry. Unfortunately, for all I know… I’m truly one of a kind.”
I smiled. “You can actually say that and have it not sound conceited.”
“I try.” She picked a DVD from her pile. “Romeo and Juliet?”
“With DiCaprio?”
“With DiCaprio.”
“I’ve actually never seen it.” I took a seat on the couch next to her and wrapped my arms around hers.
“Blasphemy! It’s one of the great love stories of all time. A perfect way to end the night.”
I opened my mouth, and then closed it. I squinted my eyes and looked up at her smiling face. “Don’t they both die at the end?”
Her jaw dropped open. “How did you know?”
“Well, you see, the movie’s an adaptation of a play. I think it’s kind of famous…”
She flicked my forehead with her index finger. “I’m just messing with you. Please don’t think I’m that dumb. I’m not a blonde, you know.”
“No you’re not.”
“It’s a sad movie,” she said. “But in the end it’s one of the most powerful stories about love… ever. Most people find it depressing. I find it inspirational.” She turned to me and played with my chin. “Happily ever after doesn’t always mean the two people in love necessarily stay together forever.”
I didn’t know what she was getting at. She didn’t see me flirting with that girl in the supermarket did she?
She threw the DVD in the player and jumped back on top of my legs. “Happy Valentine’s Day, Cam.”
“Same to you. Our first of many.”
We kissed for most of the opening credits and then situated ourselves on the long, blissfully comfy leather couch. I stayed upright while Liesel laid her head back against the arm rest and settled her feet against my crotch.
Her warm soles shoved up against my tight jeans reminded me that Liesel and I had been dating for eight months and had yet to have sex. It was kind of understood, never stated aloud, that Liesel wanted to wait until our wedding night. I definitely tried to make the moves on her since getting engaged at Christmas, but she would always just say, “in time, I promise.” I’d seen her naked, so I knew she didn’t have anything to hide physically. She wasn’t religious, or at least didn’t discuss her religious beliefs with me, so I didn’t think her withholding on sex was an issue related to God. But it was all right. Frankly, I had been a little scared about having sex with Liesel, anyway, given that she was an all-powerful force of nature who could probably lop my penis off with her emotions if the sex became too rough or heated. I just tried not to think about it too much. I never got any with Charisma, so I had gotten used to celibacy. It was still a bummer though, spending time with the girl I loved, in a cabin, by the lake, all by our lonesome, with an extraordinary opportunity to get our freak on. How awesome would sex with Liesel be right now? I mean, seriously!
But that was OK. I could wait. Our wedding day was just a few weeks away. And I’d waited this long. I could wait until April.
Plus, I love her, I thought. With all my heart. And nothing could ever change that.
Right?
---
February turned to March, and suddenly the wedding started to feel more and more like a reality. I found myself having to think about renting a tux. There were all the RSVPs coming in from family and friends, as well as from colleagues and pals of my parents. I even got a call from my gay high school buddy Aaron, who begged me to let him plan the bachelor party. I tried to instill in him the concept that bachelor parties for straight men usually consisted of his guy friends and some mostly naked females. But given that we were all still under-age, I wasn’t sure if he’d be legally able to bring a stripper or one of Hugh Hefner’s Playboy Bunnies over for an hour of fun. Plus, given that he was gay, I assumed he’d probably bring me some ripped cowboy stud rather than a big-breasted stripper, anyway. I didn’t know what he had in store, but he promised me “the works,” whatever that was supposed to mean.
By the time April Fool’s Day rolled around, I was in a pretty good mood, because not only was I marrying Liesel at the end of the month, but I had survived the one-year anniversary since I started rapidly aging; lo and behold, the curse didn’t end up repeating itself. This time a year ago I was already hitting my late twenties, but now, I was still eighteen, still young, and still with a long, very prosperous life ahead of me.
I was driving around busy downtown Reno, alone on this Sunday while Liesel pulled a double shift at Uncle Tony’s. I was happy to be alone since I was just six days away from Liesel’s nineteenth birthday, and I still needed to pick out the perfect gift.
Can’t the wedding ceremony at the end of the month be my gift to her? Shouldn’t that count?
Liesel had woken me up this morning by calling me and reminding me that today was our wedding day. I screamed, jumped out of bed, and raced down the hallway before I heard her calming voice echoing through the phone: “April Fools! April Fools! Gotcha!” It was a day I hated, because I was always one of those gullible chums who forgot
about it every year. Last year, though, marked one of the first April Fool’s Days where a joke turned out to be a harsh reality, with me aging older and older. So I wasn’t exactly agreeable to the torment today.
I stepped into the Macy’s at the Sparks Town Center just a few minutes past downtown Reno, and flagged down a pretty cashier lady.
“So you don’t want to give her jewelry?” she asked.
“Well, see, I already gave her an engagement ring. Our wedding’s in just four weeks, but her birthday’s next weekend. I don’t know what I can do to impress her when we’re so close to getting married.”
“I have just the thing,” she said, not just turning around but darting down an aisle and out of my sight.
I backed up against the glass and stared out at all the women surrounding me. I couldn’t see a guy anywhere. I hoped they all assumed I was picking out an item for a loved one and not for myself.
I waited for five minutes, at least, for the employee to return, but she didn’t. I figured she had gotten detained, either by another customer or by her bowels, but I felt satisfied that at least she didn’t return right away with a Barney stuffed animal, screaming at the top of her lungs, “April Fools, butt-head!”
I peered down at the glass in front of me to see all kinds of earrings. Liesel likes earrings, doesn’t she? But won’t a pair of earrings look like a lame gift just weeks after handing her an engagement ring? I laughed. Not if I spend enough on a truly gorgeous pair. She’ll be happy enough to start floating in the air again.
I looked at a few pairs and compared prices. I started tapping my index finger against the glass, when a terrifying reflection appeared before me.
Oh no. Please… tell me this is just an April Fool’s joke.
“Mr. Martin? Is that you?”
It’s not. What did I do to deserve this?
“Cameron! It is you!”
I stood up straight and calmly turned around, thinking hard about bolting out of the store and not looking back until I jumped into my car and raced out of the parking lot. She wouldn’t be able to do anything about it, now that I’ve graduated!
