No One's P.O.V.- (Summer, 2011)
"Hi! Anyone home?!" Peter Kavinsky hollered through the open front door. "In here, Peter!" Dr. Covey called back. This had happened before; Peter would stop by to see Aerity without calling or texting first. Consequently, sometimes he found that she was not home. In such cases, he'd usually hang out with Stephen or one of Aerity's sisters. He walked into the kitchen to find Aerity's father making himself a sandwich before work.
"Hey, Stephen. Aerity around?" Peter asked while resting his elbows onto the kitchen island. "Nope. She and Kitty went on a bike ride about an hour ago; they should be home soon. Feel free to hang around until then if you want." "Sure thing, thanks," Peter's eyes began to wander around the room aimlessly. Sure was a messy kitchen despite three girls living there; he wasn't aware of the sexist undertones of his thoughts at this tender age. "Want a sandwich?" Stephen slid him the loaf of white Wonder Bread. "Sure!" The growing teenage boy didn't hesitate to jump on the offer. While he was doing that, and Dr. Covey was chowing down on his own sandwich, Margot entered the room with a bunch of envelops in her hand. She didn't look at all surprised to find Peter there.
"Hey, Peter." "Hey, Margot. What's up?" "Not much, just got the mail." "Thanks, sweetheart," Stephen took the pile from her, immediately sifting through them. "Bill, bill, bill," the two teenagers watched him toss said bills onto the counter. Their attentions perked up however when Dr. Covey came to a halt, his eyes growing wide at one letter. "Who's that one, Dad?" Margot ventured to ask at his failure to react. "Huh? Oh! Uh, John Ambrose," his voice was quiet and thoughtful. "John?" Margot's own gaze started to grow in astonishment. "Who's John Ambrose?" Peter didn't think much of it, taking the first bite of his sandwich. "He's… Aerity's old friend," Margot answered for her father, who looked rather conflicted at the moment. "Oh," that's when Peter lost interest. Margot and Stephen on the other hand….
"What are you going to do?" She asked him in a slightly concerned tone. "I'll take care of it," Dr. Covey stuffed the letter into his coat's pocket. "Dad… you're going to have to tell her eventually." "Tell who what now?" Peter was only half-listening to the conversation now, still preoccupied with his food. "You know she doesn't remember, Margot." "Wait, she doesn't remember this guy?" This definitely caught Peter's attention. Why wouldn't she remember him? Margot and Dr. Covey gave each other a look before the latter grabbed his briefcase. "I've got to get to work." "Bye Dad," she waited until he was gone. Once he was, she turned to face Peter straight on.
"What was that about?" "Listen, Peter… I know this sounds weird, but I need you not to mention the letter…. or John Ambrose to Aerity." "Huh? Why? You're right; that is weird." "She doesn't…. remember who he is. Look, just do this for us, ok? It would be… too painful for her to remember, to learn… Just promise you won't tell her." "For real?" Peter obviously didn't grasp the severity of the situation, raising a suspicious eyebrow Margot's way. But her expression was so firm and sincere. "Please." "A-alright; alright then. I won't say a word."
"Don't tell me it's that preppy Ambrose dork you were pen pals with in junior high."
No One's P.O.V.- (Spring, 2000)
Eve Song had passed away recently after the birth of her third child, a daughter. Stephen Covey, her husband, grieved dearly for her loss, as did his daughters. To help them cope, he brought them to a botanical garden in the city. Margot was an outdoorize girl, who loved to romp around and get dirty. Her younger sister, Aerity, was more reserved and liked to play quietly by herself. She was five at the time, and Margot was seven; their mother's death affected her particularly hard.
While at the garden, Margot would go off to climb trees and the like. Aerity would naturally stay close her father, who was usually relegated to pruning or weeding. She didn't mind hanging around the flowers- she loved flowers. The roses in particular caught her attention. She liked the way they looked, deep and integrate; not that she had the vocabulary to say so at the time. Normally she would sit among them quietly for a while, enjoying their scent and watching the bees fly around them peacefully. This was a day just like any other, where Margot was off playing in the trees and Aerity was lazing about the flowers. But what began as an ordinary day would be the day that change Miss Aerity Covey forever.
She was currently sitting next to the red rose bush; her fingers were twirling and pulling at the blades of grass. Seemingly content with the situation, her little eyes blinked up at the sound of something quietly munching on the plant life. To her joy, it was a turtle; Aerity adored turtles. "Hello there," she giggled to herself, instantly crawling towards the creature. Now this particular type of turtle was a freshwater turtle, and rather fast. It spotted Aerity rushing over and immediately dashed away. "Wait, come back!" Tiny Aerity gave chase, trying desperately to catch up to the turtle.
Unfortunately, it was faster than her and they were already near a small pond. Aerity's feet came to a stop as it dove in, out of her reach. She got onto her knees, bringing her face close to the water; too late, it was already gone. "Awe," she pulled her head away from the water a little, gazing off to the side. All thoughts of the turtle disappeared however, when she saw a young boy reading by the water. He wasn't aware of her presence just yet, too wrapped up in the book on his lap. He had short, light brown hair, and wore dark blue pants with a fancy jacket. Curious, Aerity slowly got up and made her way over to the new entity in the garden. Only when she was three feet away from him did he look up. Their eyes met, widening onto each other's.
"Hi." "Hello." "Whatcha reading?" "Erm, Pride and Prejudice." "What's a… prejudice?" The small boy chuckled softly to himself. "It's a love story." "Oh, you mean like Cinderella?" "Kind of. Haven't seen you here before," he shut the book. "I'm here with Daddy; he's weeding." "My aunt and mother also volunteer at the garden. They bring me and my brother along with them." "My sister's here too. She's climbing things somewhere." "Why aren't you playing with her?" "Uh, I don't really like to get dirty," Aerity kicked the ground with her foot a bit shyly. "Me either," the boy laughed. "Is that's why you're reading?" "Uh huh. I love to read in the garden; it's my favorite place." "Mine too," Aerity's face lit up a hint.
The two children stared at one another before Aerity's young mind realizing what she was doing; in the context that only a child would. "I'll let you get back to your reading. Daddy hates it when I interrupt his reading." "Oh….. oh no! That's fine, I don't mind," the boy perked up. "It's a very big book." "Yeah, and I've barely started," he glanced down to it. Then he nibbled his bottle lip for the briefest second. "Would you like to read some?" Aerity considered for a moment and shook her head; she still wasn't good at basic reading yet. "Oh….." The kind boy pondered, his eyes wandering off into nowhere briefly. You could see in his face when an idea came to him. "Would you… like me to read to you?" "Read to me?" Her eyes lit up. Pride and Prejudice…. How much it influenced my life, particularly as an adult. Seeing Peter Kavinsky for the first time, buying my first copy in that Parisian bookstore…. "Peter may be your Mr. Darcy, but I am your Andrei Bolkonsky."
"Yes, read to me."
Learning to Forget