Title: Pearls
Rating: PG
Dislciamer: Not mine, etc.. Just good fun.
All right, so I caved. I dated Logan all through high school. What was I thinking, right? Right. God, it was so hard to resist him. But what could I do? No matter what the rumors said (and boy, did the rumors fly!), and no matter what my friends said, I was still plain, old, Mary Anne Spier and that's all I was ever going to be.
Right?
We were graduates of SHS, and everyone loved us for it. We made it, we didn't quit. There was my father, beaming. Sharon, snapping photos. Dawn, who graduated a week before in California, hooting and hollering for all of us. Mrs. Bruno, grinning like a maniac. Kerry Bruno, just turned fourteen, looking pretty in a white shirt, pink and black pinstriped skirt, and a silver chain, probably given to her from some cute boy who had a crush on her.
Jump four years. Senior at Central Connecticut State University. Still dating Logan. He's talking about marriage. He's talking about children. He's talking about almost nine years we've dated, and spending the rest of our lives together.
I'm thinking about Stacey. I'm thinking about quitting. I'm thinking of joining a convent, because I feel so dirty after every time Logan and I have sex.
Maybe I would feel better if we were married. That must be it. Deceiving my family. I'll bet my father thinks I'm a virgin. I doubt he knows that I lost my virginity to Logan at the age of sixteen in the back of his truck.
Yeah, I know. Not my ideal place either.
We were graduates of Central State and everyone loved us for it. We made it, we didn't quit. There was my father, beaming. Sharon, snapping photos. Dawn, looking bored and is probably stoned. Mrs. Bruno, grinning like a maniac. Kerry Bruno, just turned eighteen, looking very pretty in a red tank top and short black skirt with a string of pearls, probably given to her from some boy who has a crush on her.
That night Logan proposed.
I ran away without answering him. I didn't know where I was going, but I knew, right when he asked the question, his eyes filled with love for me, that I couldn't stay there anymore. I didn't want to hurt him, I certainly wouldn't do it on purpose, but I knew that I wasn't going to be his girlfriend any longer. Maybe I had been leading him on, or perhaps I was too afraid of hurting him to actually leave. That question was the straw that broke the camel's back.
Broke? Shattered.
I ended up in a coffee shop outside the college campus. I ordered a latté, but I didn't plan to drink it.
"Mary Anne?"
It was a sweet voice with a Southern accent, but it wasn't Logan. It was Kerry, surrounded by a group of friends who were gaping at me. Like they'd never seen a crying college graduate. Kerry wasn't gaping. She was concerned.
She was still wearing the red tank top and skirt with the pearls. Her hair was down around her face, messy, her face flushed with having a good time with her friends. But she looked no longer happy. "Is everything all right?" she asked.
I shake my head, knowing that if I speak, it would all come tumbling out. I didn't want to do that to her when she had all of her friends. Her brother's girlfriend giving her some sob story about how she doesn't want to marry him. That's what everyone needs to top off a night.
She looks at her friends. "I'll catch you guys, later, okay?"
They nod and smile. One calls out, "I'll call you tonight!" She has good friends.
She sits next to me. "You want to talk about it?"
I get out the words, "Go have fun. You don't need-"
She stopped me. "Mary Anne, you're one of the first people I met when I moved here. If you don't want to talk about it, you don't have to. But I'm not going to leave you here crying by yourself."
After that, the story came out. She nodded in all the right places and put her hand over mine. She didn't even wince at the thought of her brother and I having sex, when I got to those parts of the story. She simply nodded understandingly and I went on.
When I finally got to where were now, Kerry looked like she was about to cry as well.
"Mary Anne," she said, "it's all right. You need to do what you want to do. Not what Logan or anyone else wants you to do."
How was it that I could remember exactly what she wore on the day I graduated high school? I was looking at her, her sweet, understanding face, and all I could think about was that white shirt and pinstriped skirt and was eighteen year old Kerry would look like in it, because Kerry at thirteen looked so pretty.
Her voice had grown quiet. "Mary Anne, I remember what you wore to your prom. That sweet pink dress with the low back and I remember thinking what lovely shoulders you have."
Where... where was she going with this?
"I kidnapped your cat and the day he died you wore a red and white striped shirt and a pair of jeans with white sneakers." Kerry paused. "I can remember what you wore every day I saw you."
"What am I wearing today?"
She closed her eyes. "A frown. And that's not right."
She leaned in and kissed me. I kissed her back, and it felt so good. I couldn't believe how good it felt.
"Is there anywhere we can go?" she asked, her lips still so near to mine.
"No," I said.
She kissed me again. "Then we'll make somewhere."
I pulled away. I stared at her for a moment, taking in the red tank top and the pearls. "Those are mine," I said.
She touched the necklace and smiled. "They're mine. You gave them to me."
"Almost six years ago."
"And I kept them. Given to me by some cute girl whom I had a crush on."
Maybe that girl didn't realize that she had a crush on you too.
Rating: PG
Dislciamer: Not mine, etc.. Just good fun.
All right, so I caved. I dated Logan all through high school. What was I thinking, right? Right. God, it was so hard to resist him. But what could I do? No matter what the rumors said (and boy, did the rumors fly!), and no matter what my friends said, I was still plain, old, Mary Anne Spier and that's all I was ever going to be.
Right?
We were graduates of SHS, and everyone loved us for it. We made it, we didn't quit. There was my father, beaming. Sharon, snapping photos. Dawn, who graduated a week before in California, hooting and hollering for all of us. Mrs. Bruno, grinning like a maniac. Kerry Bruno, just turned fourteen, looking pretty in a white shirt, pink and black pinstriped skirt, and a silver chain, probably given to her from some cute boy who had a crush on her.
Jump four years. Senior at Central Connecticut State University. Still dating Logan. He's talking about marriage. He's talking about children. He's talking about almost nine years we've dated, and spending the rest of our lives together.
I'm thinking about Stacey. I'm thinking about quitting. I'm thinking of joining a convent, because I feel so dirty after every time Logan and I have sex.
Maybe I would feel better if we were married. That must be it. Deceiving my family. I'll bet my father thinks I'm a virgin. I doubt he knows that I lost my virginity to Logan at the age of sixteen in the back of his truck.
Yeah, I know. Not my ideal place either.
We were graduates of Central State and everyone loved us for it. We made it, we didn't quit. There was my father, beaming. Sharon, snapping photos. Dawn, looking bored and is probably stoned. Mrs. Bruno, grinning like a maniac. Kerry Bruno, just turned eighteen, looking very pretty in a red tank top and short black skirt with a string of pearls, probably given to her from some boy who has a crush on her.
That night Logan proposed.
I ran away without answering him. I didn't know where I was going, but I knew, right when he asked the question, his eyes filled with love for me, that I couldn't stay there anymore. I didn't want to hurt him, I certainly wouldn't do it on purpose, but I knew that I wasn't going to be his girlfriend any longer. Maybe I had been leading him on, or perhaps I was too afraid of hurting him to actually leave. That question was the straw that broke the camel's back.
Broke? Shattered.
I ended up in a coffee shop outside the college campus. I ordered a latté, but I didn't plan to drink it.
"Mary Anne?"
It was a sweet voice with a Southern accent, but it wasn't Logan. It was Kerry, surrounded by a group of friends who were gaping at me. Like they'd never seen a crying college graduate. Kerry wasn't gaping. She was concerned.
She was still wearing the red tank top and skirt with the pearls. Her hair was down around her face, messy, her face flushed with having a good time with her friends. But she looked no longer happy. "Is everything all right?" she asked.
I shake my head, knowing that if I speak, it would all come tumbling out. I didn't want to do that to her when she had all of her friends. Her brother's girlfriend giving her some sob story about how she doesn't want to marry him. That's what everyone needs to top off a night.
She looks at her friends. "I'll catch you guys, later, okay?"
They nod and smile. One calls out, "I'll call you tonight!" She has good friends.
She sits next to me. "You want to talk about it?"
I get out the words, "Go have fun. You don't need-"
She stopped me. "Mary Anne, you're one of the first people I met when I moved here. If you don't want to talk about it, you don't have to. But I'm not going to leave you here crying by yourself."
After that, the story came out. She nodded in all the right places and put her hand over mine. She didn't even wince at the thought of her brother and I having sex, when I got to those parts of the story. She simply nodded understandingly and I went on.
When I finally got to where were now, Kerry looked like she was about to cry as well.
"Mary Anne," she said, "it's all right. You need to do what you want to do. Not what Logan or anyone else wants you to do."
How was it that I could remember exactly what she wore on the day I graduated high school? I was looking at her, her sweet, understanding face, and all I could think about was that white shirt and pinstriped skirt and was eighteen year old Kerry would look like in it, because Kerry at thirteen looked so pretty.
Her voice had grown quiet. "Mary Anne, I remember what you wore to your prom. That sweet pink dress with the low back and I remember thinking what lovely shoulders you have."
Where... where was she going with this?
"I kidnapped your cat and the day he died you wore a red and white striped shirt and a pair of jeans with white sneakers." Kerry paused. "I can remember what you wore every day I saw you."
"What am I wearing today?"
She closed her eyes. "A frown. And that's not right."
She leaned in and kissed me. I kissed her back, and it felt so good. I couldn't believe how good it felt.
"Is there anywhere we can go?" she asked, her lips still so near to mine.
"No," I said.
She kissed me again. "Then we'll make somewhere."
I pulled away. I stared at her for a moment, taking in the red tank top and the pearls. "Those are mine," I said.
She touched the necklace and smiled. "They're mine. You gave them to me."
"Almost six years ago."
"And I kept them. Given to me by some cute girl whom I had a crush on."
Maybe that girl didn't realize that she had a crush on you too.