Rewriting History

by Missy Johnson

  “It’s amazing. Being here is so surreal. I’m in love with this place,” I grin, my mind fantasizing about living us here.

  “Just this place?” He raises his eyebrow, a glint in his eye.

  “You know I love you too,” I chuckle, kissing his cheek. “But only a teeny bit more than this place,” I smirk. That earns me a dazzling smile and a kiss to the temple.

  The exquisite smell of fresh local seafood is making my mouth water. The waiters have laid little plates of marinated octopus, salt and pepper calamari, grilled prawns, warm green olives, pita bread, and an array of dips in front of us. My stomach grumbles as my senses move into overload. You can’t get Greek hors d’oeuvres anywhere better than the country of origin.

  “Oh my God, do we have to leave tomorrow?” I pout, talking with my mouth full.

  Shaking his head, Eli feeds me another calamari. “I wish we could extend another week.”

  “If you wanted to bring me back here, I wouldn’t complain.”

  “I suppose that’s one of the perks of me being a teacher and you being a student,” he laughs. “Though teaching was much more fun when you were my student.”

  I narrow my eyes at him, but my smile gives me away.

  “Come on, pretty girl, we’ve got one more stop before we can go back,” he says as he signs the credit card slip.

  In a state of bliss from a full stomach and a few glasses of wine, we walk from the restaurant to the main part of Athens is brisk. The night is still light and children are playing soccer in the street while doting mothers try and get them inside. Everything is white in Greece, and the country looks so clean. Locals have painted the streets in color with towels hanging over the balconies and potted flowers lining the windows.

  Arriving out front of a museum, we start walking up the steps. I recognize it immediately. We tried getting in several times but the lines were so long and the museum was so full that they had to stop people from entering.

  “We can’t go in there, it closed at eight,” I tell him suspiciously.

  Eli ignores me and continues pulling me toward the front door. A short, plump man in his sixties is standing at the door.

  “Welcome to National Archaeological Museum, Jill, I’ll be your personal tour guide for this evening,” he says in his heavily accented voice.

  I turn to Eli and gasp as he smiles back at me proudly. I can’t help myself; I jump on him, wrapping my legs around his waist and my arms around his neck as my lips find his.

  “Oh my God, Eli, really?” I laugh as he grins at me. “How the fuck did you manage this?”

  “Elijah volunteered here when he was a young man living in our amazing country,” our tour guide replies. “My name is Marcel, I was a university professor and Eli was my star student many years ago.” He smiles kindly at Eli.

  “It really is great to see you again. We had a lot of fun back then,” Eli says, patting Marcel on the back.

  The museum is silent as we walk through, and it’s an eerie feeling when you’re surrounded by exhibitions that date back as far as 500BC. I marvel at the ceramic antiques and the stories on Greek civilization that go with each collection. Hand in hand, we spend an hour walking through the museum with Marcel directing us. Tugging on my hand, Eli pulls me toward an exhibit.

  “Come over here, I want you to see something.”

  Lit up in a case is a sculpture of a man. He’s holding a plate, and the definition of his muscles is evident. I’m amazed at how far civilization has come since this age. The structures they’ve built and the way they lived is just phenomenal. I could spend days exploring this museum alone. I glance down to read the description.

  WILL YOU MARRY ME, JILL?

  My lungs stop expanding as I hold my breath, my heart beating in my ears. With widened eyes, the tears are starting to form as I watch Eli kneel down in front of me. I gasp as he opens the black jewelry case he’s holding. Resting on a black pillow sits a delicate diamond ring set in white gold. The diamond is stunning. I cover my mouth with my shaking hands as he begins to speak.

  “Jill,” he begins. I can hear the nervousness in his voice. “We fit so perfectly together and I want nothing more than to spend the rest of my life making you happy. Will you do the honor of being my wife?”

  I laugh through the wet tears that are streaming down my face. Eli is waiting patiently for my answer. We’ve been inseparable since we met, and I know there is nobody else for me.

  “Yes,” I whisper, not even needing to think about how I’ll answer the question I’ve wished to hear for a long time. “Of course I’ll marry you.”

  Taking the ring out of the box, Eli slides the ring onto my shaking finger.

  It’s perfect. He’s perfect.

  “I’m going to make you the happiest wife in the world,” he mumbles as he hugs me tightly. “God, I love you so much Jill. You have no idea how nervous I was.”

  The smell of fresh pine and sight of the familiar surroundings of the town brings comfort on our drive home. The three-stop flight was exhausting and both of us are itching for the comfort of our bed—or Eli’s bed, but I stay over at his house so much that I call it our bed now.

  “You missed our exit?” I ask, pointing to the sign.

  “Oh yeah, I’ve got to make one more stop,” he replies, not taking his eyes off the road. Eli picks up my hand and kisses the back of it.

  It’s not even ten miles down the road when we pull into the paved driveway of a two-story brick and timber home. It boasts a wraparound porch and large window panels at the front, a manicured garden lining the porch. Eli steps out of the car and walks around to my door.

  “Come on, come inside,” he says, offering his hand.

  The keys are jingling in his hand as he unlocks the large timber door. There’s a slight creak as he pushes the door open; the house feels empty. No furniture sits along the painted hallway, nor are there memories or abstract art hanging from the walls. My hand still sits in Eli’s as I’m led past a couple of closed rooms, toward the back of the house. Why are we here?

  The view opens up to an open-plan kitchen with dining area. My heels are clomping on the timber flooring as I stand at the sliding door that looks out over the covered patio. It’s the perfect area for entertaining.

  Turning back to face Eli, who’s standing there watching me, I raise my eyebrow. “Why are we here?”

  Eli lifts himself off the black marble kitchen counter he was leaning on and makes his way toward me.

  “What do you think of the house?” he questions.

  I glance around the room again. “It’s beautiful,” I say, shaking my head. I’m still confused as to what’s going on.

  Eli reaches me, pulling me in for a quick kiss on the nose. “It’s our house Jill,” he smiles, waiting for my reaction.

  “You bought this house?” I ask shocked. “Wha…” My voice trails off as I hear commotion in the hallway.

  Sophia, Alice, Mom and Dad, his mom, Jules, and Aaron come barreling through the house into the kitchen wearing party hats and wielding champagne. Mom and Dad are the first to hug me.

  “I’m so happy for you Jill,” Dad whispers in my ear.

  “Congratulations, honey,” Mom adds, tears in her eyes.

  Looking at them both, I laugh. “How did you know?”

  Looking at Eli as he chuckles, I turn back to Dad.

  “He asked our permission before you left on your trip.” Dad smiles at Eli. “And he also asked for our advice on buying this place. You’ve got a good man here, Jill. He’s a keeper. But don’t think I won’t get out my gun if he hurts my baby girl.” Everyone cracks up laughing, although knowing Dad, there’s more than just a little bit of seriousness in that statement.

  I grin as Alice and Sophia as they fawn over my ring.

  “Oh my God, was it romantic?” Alice demands.

  “Very,” I laugh, retelling the story of him proposing.

  Alice is still studying Art at UC, and she has won several breakth
rough artist awards, one of which involved having her work showcased in a gallery in New York. She and Sophia have been roommates since the start of college, and much to Alice’s dismay, Sophia has been seeing a really nice guy for a few months now.

  The two of them dated throughout the first year of college, but their relationship turned to friendship. I think Alice really hoped Sophia would be serious about them, but it wasn’t meant to be. I’m lucky in that the three of us have remained strong friends throughout the last couple of years.

  Mom and Dad are still together and Dad is still working at the National Guard. Having him around more has done wonders to their relationship. I watch as Dad shakes Eli’s hand and gives him a pat on the back. Eli looks up to my dad and my parents absolutely adore him.

  After my school graduation, my dad took Eli to dinner and apparently they had stern words regarding Eli’s intention. It took awhile for my parents to fully support mine and Eli’s relationship, but once they realized our feelings for each other weren’t going to change, they slowly began to accept him.

  Ever since then, they’ve fallen in love with him, just like I have.

  I’m overwhelmed by the attention, but it still hasn’t sunk in that Eli bought us a house. Oh my God…Eli and I are going to live together. I’m getting married. It’s all so surreal. If it wasn’t for the giant rock on my finger, I’d convince myself I was dreaming.

  “Would you mind sharing Jill?” Jules asks my parents. She pulls me into a hug. “You have made my brother a very happy man. Thank you.”

  We smile at each other. His relationship with his sisters took a turn for the better over the year, completed by the inclusion of Aaron. Both Eli and his sisters adore him.

  A knock sounds at the front door and the smell of pizza wafts through the house. The champagne is uncorked and poured into plastic cups. Aaron is handed a can of Coke.

  “Hey, why don’t I get champagne?” he complains.

  “Because you’re not old enough, dipshit,” Eli laughs, smacking him on the back of the head. He looks at me and the cup in my hands. I grin, because I know exactly the smart response that’s about to come out of his mouth.

  “Watch it, Aaron,” I say narrowing my eyes. “Just remember you’ll be at my school next year.”

  He laughs at my empty threat and throws his arms around me. “Seriously, Jill. Eli is one lucky guy. I’m happy for you guys.”

  Aaron…what can I say about Aaron?

  It took a few months after his dad died for Eli to feel ready to start a relationship with his brother, but finding out about Aaron was the best thing that could’ve happened to him. Since his brother came into our lives, the change in Eli has been unbelievable. He is with Aaron everything he felt he couldn’t be with his dad. Being able to build a relationship with Aaron has helped Eli forgive his father and accept that some good might have come out of a terrible situation. Next year Aaron will be living with us while he attends UC on a soccer scholarship—something I know Eli is looking forward to.

  I feel so lucky having all the people most important to me in the one room to celebrate this with us, and even luckier to have found someone who loves me as much as I know Eli does. Tomorrow it’s exactly three years since I set up that profile. I never expected to find the guy I would marry, but I did.

  I’ve changed so much in that time—we both have—but the one constant has been him.

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  See full backlist, links and full blurbs at

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  Prologue

  Andy

  Death. It is the only certainty in life.

  It’s such a small word that holds such a powerful message. We avoid talking about it and we fear it, because we’re taught to do so, because nobody really knows what happens when you die. It’s that uncertainty that is so terrifying.

  It’s amazing how being told you’re going to die puts things into perspective.

  How being told your body is going to slowly give up on you makes you reevaluate everything you thought you once knew. Things you take for granted suddenly seem so fragile. The worst part isn’t the thought of dying itself, it’s everything you’re going to be leaving behind.

  My name’s Andy Grayson. I’m twenty-six, and I’m dying. God, saying that still freaks me out. I don’t know how long I have left. A month—maybe two, if I’m lucky. For a long time, I was angry: I’ve been fighting this fucking disease since I was seventeen and it’s finally going to win. I have nothing else to fight with because it has taken everything.

  Then I realized that this is no longer about me. I can’t save myself, but I can make sure the people I love are taken care of. This became less about what I was losing, and more about what I could gain.

  That’s when I decided I was going to do this on my terms.

  Em is my girlfriend and I love her with everything I have in me. She isn’t just my girl, though; she’s my one of my best friends, my lover, my confidante, my partner in crime, and there isn’t anything I wouldn’t do for her.

  And then there’s Seth: we’ve been best friends for so long he’s like a brother to me, and I know he feels the same. As kids we got into more trouble than I care to mention, and before I die I intend on getting him into some more—for old times’ sake and all that shit.

  Without them by my side, I wouldn’t have fought for this long. They sacrificed so much for me and now it’s time for me to return the favor.

  I can’t leave them without knowing the two people closest to my heart will be okay. I need that assurance before I settle back and let this fucking disease take me—finish me off for all eternity…