Memories Untrue by Jordan Sparks 01/11/07

"Are you sure about this?"

"I know who I am. I don't need a bunch of stuff to remind me."

And with that, the barrel of memories was set ablaze. The flames slowly ate the photos, journals, and every other reminiscence of his relatively short life. Evan's eyes lit up with content, knowing that he had finally saved everyone. It was worth it, even if he sacrificed Kayleigh's love for her to be truly happy.

"Why didn't you go?"

"I couldn't stand my dad, but I knew that if I went to live with my mom...I would never see you again."

Evan fought back tears as he thought back to what made him decide to finally end her suffering, to let her go. Lenny patted his best friend on the back; Evan offered a weak smile.

"I loved her.."

"Who?"

"..It doesn't matter."

He turned away after taking one last glance at his burning, written past. The hurt on his face plastered, and his heart broken forever.

8 YEARS LATER

"I'm just running a little late. Yeah, I had to finish up with some patients. Well, get the soup or something. Alright. Love you, mom. Bye."

Evan closed his cellphone as he made his way out of his office building and down the busy side-walk. He was happy with his life, now somewhat over Kayleigh in a way. It was only two years ago he started dating again. Every time, they all turned out to pale in comparison. He agreed silently to himself that he'd never find someone as perfect or as wonderful as that little girl he met so long ago...Or, well, didn't meet, now. That was only a memory which he held. And one that no longer remained on the time-line. The old feelings of loss came back to him, his face losing it's joyful glow.

He sighed, his eyes drifting upward from his feet moving quickly across the ground. The visage before him squeezed his heart and stopped it from pumping. An angel filled his vision, a beautiful blonde in all white. He stopped in his tracks as she passed, his face in complete awe. She stopped, too, seeing his surprised response to her presence. They each turned, and came to face one another once again. They approached hesitantly, a knowing look lay across Evan's face. He gulped quite nervously.

"Do I know you?", the angel said confused.

"No, I...Evan."

He held his hand out.

"Kayleigh.", they said in unison. She looked at him with her own bit of surprise.

"Uh...you look like a Kayleigh."

She was just as gorgeous as the last time he had seen her. He thought about the consequences of being with her again..and they were, thankfully, nonexistent. She had a good life, she and her brother both. He could never ruin that again. Not anymore. He really did save her.

"I know we just met...but, do you want to get some coffee sometime?"

"Yeah! You know, I'm free now if you want."

She looked hopeful, ecstatic even. She was obviously interested in him, as well as being interested in finding out how he knew her. He stared blankly at her, mouth hanging open and still not believing what he saw.

"..Absolutely."

Evan talked with her as they walked to a cafe' a few blocks away. He found out so much about her, mainly about her childhood. She told him that she moved in with her mom and had a great stepfather, and she's never seen her real father since she left. Evan smiled inwardly, almost breathless with happiness. Tommy had grown up to be a normal kid, even very intelligent. He graduated at the top of his class, Kayleigh coming in at a close second. Kayleigh was working to become a lawyer, and Tommy grew up to be a politician. She's never found a boyfriend that really cared, and she was currently single. After divulging him in her love life, she felt curious about his own.

"So, any interesting stories from your childhood?"

"Well...there was this one girl. I loved her my whole life, even if I wasn't around to show her that. She loved me too, I'm sure. But..."

He trailed off, remembering that if he told her, she wouldn't understand. She would never love him or know him like she did before. That life was long gone and it was never coming back.

"It's boring, you don't want to hear about it."

She just laughed, not particularly minding so much at the moment that he avoided a certain part of his life. They continued asking back and forth, when she finally asked the question that was resting in her mind.

"How did you know my name, Evan?"

He smiled lightly.

"You wouldn't believe me if I told you. I know a lot of people say that, "you wouldn't believe me if I told you"...but in this case, it's not even worth trying."

"Are you sure about that?"

"Positive."

"Try me."

He knew the ramifications of his actions could prove to be horrible...but he wouldn't deny her. If she didn't believe him, he could always just say he made it up. It was worth getting off his chest.

"Remember when I told you about that girl I fell in love with when I was little?"

"Yeah?"

"Well, let's just say today is the first time I've talked to her in 8 years..."

"What? What do you mean by that?"

"This girl, she was gorgeous. I mean, stunningly. I never thought I'd see someone more attractive, physically and mentally, than her. And I was right. I've never met a soul that was a great person than she was. We did everything together. We grew up together and went through so much tragedy together. I used to have blackouts when I was younger. Whenever something bad was about to happen, I'd black out. So, my mom took me to a doctor and he had me write about what happened after my blackouts happened to help me remember. He asked me to write in journals...but I'll get to that later. At 13, we kissed each other for the first time. Her brother was psychotic, so when he saw us, he freaked out. He killed my dog. I blacked out right before. He put him in a sack, tied it up, and burned him to death.."

She gasped loudly.

"Yeah, I know. Sorry. Well, because of that, and tons of other bad things that happened, my mom decided to move away. I was worried, considering she would be left to her insane brother and her sick pedophile father..."

Evan continued on, never revealing the name of the girl or her brother, but mentioning his mom, Lenny, and other people other than those two. He avoided saying their names so she would, at least, hear him out. He could see the pain and happiness in her eyes, and confusion, too, as he let the story unfold with his carefully chosen words. He ended it with:

"I know you think I'm crazy; going back in time and changing parts of my life and people too."

"You...you don't expect me to believe any of it, right?"

"No. I never did. I hoped, but I didn't expect you to. I haven't told you the most important part of the story."

"What's that?", she felt an ominous tone hidden in his last sentence.

"The girl's brother was named 'Tommy' "

"That's funny, my brother's name..."

"And her name, was Kayleigh."

There was a silence. She looked at him unbelievingly. Then, a smile cracked across her face as she laughed and pointed at Evan.

"That was funny, Evan. You got me! Hehe. Seriously, that was a good story."

"I'm not joking. This is the most serious I've been in almost a decade."

"Okay..."

"I have proof."

"Evan...you said you burned it all."

"All, except one thing."

He pulled out a folded up piece of paper and handed it to her. She opened it slowly, and spread it wide. She read what it said out loud.

"I WILL COME BACK FOR YOU."

"I kept it. Just in case, you know? Just in case I ever saw you again. I always knew that I could never be with you again, because I'd just ruin everything. But I can't anymore. Please, Kayleigh, I know you we haven't known each other for very long, but I need you to know that I'm telling the truth. I wouldn't lie to you."

"Evan..."

"Kayleigh..."

Evan leaned grabbed her hand and held it in his, and an odd feeling washed over Kayleigh. He peered longingly into her eyes, and she stared into his. Who was this man she had just met? He was beautiful and friendly, but he must've been slightly off. How could he hope for her to believe in such a nonsensical story? But...when he touched her hand, she felt as if everything he said was true. As impossible, unlikely, and completely crazy it sounded, she wanted to believe him. She pulled her hand away from him. She began looking at him with frustration and anger, even. Her eyes, the stare they made, pierced into his soul.

"I know you for an hour and you're already feeding me bullshit?"

"I just thought.."

"Thought that I'd fall for it?"

Evan looked crushed. His face stung with redness and tried hard not to show his tears and sorrow.

"No. I just thought you should know you were happy once...with me."

It was the same line he had used so long ago to persuade her. She didn't believe him then...

"Stop it, Evan! None of those things happened. They're all figments of your apparently twisted imagination! What are you doing anyway? Stalking me?"

...And she wouldn't now. She broke from him and started walking back down the street. Evan turned desperately and called out to her.

"Kayleigh MILLER!"

She stopped abruptly and turned on her heel.

"What did you say?"

"You heard me."

Evan inched toward her for dramatic effect.

"Your name is Kayleigh Miller. Tommy is your brother and your father, your real father, is named George."

"How did you--"

"I know everything there is to know about you..like the twin moles on your inner thigh. If we'd never met before; if we didn't know each other in some way, how could I have ever known that?"

She looked flabbergasted; she was taken aback.

"Hear me out."

"...Fine."

"I didn't tell you this to stir up your shit, Kayleigh, alright? I told you because I've missed you for so long. I used to think about you every night, telling myself there was no other way for you to live a happy life. I had to stay away so you could become great. But I can't go another day without you. Seeing you here made me realize that. May I shouldn't have said anything, we could have been okay without that knowledge. But I figured that there might be a slight chance, no matter how small, that you'd remember me. And I know you do. I know you remember my face at least, or you wouldn't have stopped for me. You have to trust me."

"Why should I?"

"Because I love you...I always have."

She was flattered, though obviously skeptical about his story still. Before she could say anything else, Evan moved in and kissed her deeply on the lips. She tried resisting, but something began to happen. Her whole body went numb and her eyes rolled to the back of her head. The memories came flooding in.

"Let's go down to the basement. It's more like a dungeon down there."

"He has to die!"

"You have no idea how beautiful you are, do you?"

"7 years, no blackouts!"

"Well, fuck you, Evan! Nothing ever gets better! If I was so wonderful why didn't you ever call? Why'd you just leave me here to rot?"

Blood began dripping out of her nose.

"If I can make scars, can I heal them? What about Kayleigh's scars?"

"I'm not going to lose you again."

"Everytime I go back and change something, everything turns to shit!"

"What if I told you no one could ever possibly love you as much as I love you?"

The blood flowed, tears streaming down her cheeks. Crying into Evan's mouth, she realized he was telling the truth. She had been rescued by this loving stranger.

"I can't even fucking kill myself.."

"There are no journals, Evan."

"If anyone finds this, it means I've failed, and I'm already dead. But if I can go back to the beginning, maybe I can save her."

"I hate you and if you ever come near me again I'll kill you and your whole damn family! ...Goodbye."

Evan and Kayleigh broke away from each other, both sobbing.

"Kayleigh...I'm so sorry."

She sat there, wiping the blood from her nose and the tears from her cheeks. There was an awkward silence. Evan felt his heart beating out of his chest, hoping that despite all the horrid things she had just seen, she would perhaps find it in herself to thank him. He didn't even fathom the idea of her finally caring for him once again, just that she'd thank him for all he'd done.

"You do so much..."

"I know."

"You weren't lying.."

"..I know."

"You wanted to die without my love."

"I've wanted to die for 8 years."

Evan sniffed and apologized once more, holding his head in his hands.

"I guess I'll...I'll just leave you alone. You probably have your own life--"

She reached out and grabbed his arm. He shot a look down to his arm, then his eyes met with hers.

"I can't imagine being anywhere but here."

She lunged at him and pressed her lips violently to his. All the passion dwelling within her released into him and took over his body. Now that she knew, he didn't have a worry in the world. After a few moments of their embrace, he pulled back from her, still astounded by her reaction.

"Are you sure about this?"

She smiled.

"I know who I am."

8 Years Later

"So, Evan...you never mentioned to us how you and Kayleigh met! Care to share?"

The now married couple looked at each other, holding hands and smirking. Evan gave a small chuckle.

"You wouldn't believe me if I told you..."

THE END