Flower Bud Village… a place I haven't been in for years. I tuck my walnut locks behind my left year and sigh in disbelief. I promised myself I would never come here again, I thought pensively, but I owe it to Dad to try. Searching for a golden blonde in the near empty train station, a heavy all-to-familiar feeling of regret settles in my stomach with dreadful memories of my last year there. It's a quarter to six in the evening and my escort back to Flower Bud is nowhere in plain sight. An overwhelming sense of awkwardness of being alone in a train station strikes me as I hear a voice sweetly tittering, echoing eerily in the station.
"She should be somewhere around here. Hurry up, you little dweebs." When I heard her voice, I immediately perked up and straighten out my navy blue pea coat.
"Dweebs? What are you, a six grader? We're walking at a normal pace; you're the one who's taking a fifty miles-per-hour stride." I laughed and picked up my bags as the voices drew near.
"There she is! It's the one and only, Rebecca Reinhart!" Evelyn "Eve" Reinhart, my cousin, exclaimed. Her wavy golden blonde hair shone like spun gold and Eve's true blue crossover jersey dress paired with lime green espadrilles was worn tastefully as I always remember. Eve was my best friend, but I felt that we drifted apart when I had to leave Flower Bud. I hope that I get another chance to make up for lost time. Eve is twenty-two years old like me and our mothers were twins, which practically made us sisters. Sun kissed skin, perfect complexion, a winning smile and charm to boot makes her a big catch. She has quirks, but they're little things like being a neat freak or organizing clothes by colors. It sounds like I obsess too much about her however I, just, miss her a lot.
I gave Eve a big hug and said," I missed you, Evie."
"Aw, I missed you, too, Becky"
"Okay guys no more best-friend clichés or I'll sic Reeves on you." I looked up to see a tan, muscular man about my age smiling.
"Reeves is six feet under making friends with the worms, Joe." I said pulled a face which set him off laughing,"Hey, Joe! It's been too long since I made someone laugh at me without being so serious."
Joe Greenwood was a good friend of mine in Flower Bud and like Eve the distance took a toll on our relationship. He was a bit shy with girls, but he is the sweetest boy I've met and his face with or without baby fat was adorable. He was endowed milk chocolate irises and the cutest dimples I have ever had the grace of seeing.
A handsome caramel skinned man came up to me and shook my hand. His unruly coal black hair framed his face similar to a lion's mane. When he spoke his voice took on a smooth unctuous tone, "You must be Rebecca." Duh, who were you expecting, Madonna?, "You're prettier than Eve described you as. It is a pleasure to meet you." He then proceeded to kiss my hand, but stopped when he saw my expression even though I couldn't see it myself, Eve told me later it was like he offered me a cup of his own saliva. "I'm sorry! My name is Dan Roberts, I'm Eve's boyfriend. The whole hand-kissing thing was a bit much, huh?"
"Oh yeah, Eve told me about you. Next time, stick with a handshake." Yeah, no need to make love to my hand. Maybe I'm being harsh, but from what I hear about Dan I'm pretty sure I wouldn't like him. Dan is Eve's on-and-off again boyfriend and he is an unbelievably big womanizer. The first time they broke up was because he was dating another girl at the same time Eve and he were. Right now, they're supposedly together.
"Hurry up, Kurt! You're the slowest one here!" Eve called to a man walking up towards us. My heart skipped a beat. She never told me she was bringing Kurt with her!
"Hey." I said, shaking nervously.
"Hey." Kurt said awkwardly. He took my suitcase and started to walk in the opposite direction.
"Kurt!" I called, feeling hurt. "I… I'm…"
He turned around and looked at me. The pain in his eyes reminded me that it was my fault, never his. I didn't say anything. What could I say to a man who will never forgive me?