3-Remembering

When Lily got to the clearing, she sat down on the grass and waited. Before she had been there too long, she remembered why she and Matt had loved it here so much.

Flashback

"Come on Lily! Hurry up, I have something to show you!" Matt said, running a little bit ahead, then stopping to part the curtain of vines to lead Lily into the clearing that would become their place.

Lily stepped into the clearing and said, "Oh, Matt, its so beautiful! Look at all the trees, and the flowers, its like this is a magical place!"

"It is, I just know it, Lily, this could be our secret place, what do you think?"

"Definitely, it's perfect!"

The memory faded into black, then to another. Lily was talking to Matt on the phone.

"Lily, meet me at me at our place, tonight, usual time?"

"See you there"

They hung up and Lily waited for the clock to hit fifteen minutes before their time, then she snuck out her bedroom window. Lily's mom watched her run across the lawn from the kitchen window. She had long since stopped being angry when Lily snuck out and raced across the lawn like that. She knew where she was going, with who. She trusted them.

Exactly when Lily stepped into the clearing, she heard the ten o'clock train rush by. She saw Matt sitting in the clearing, his back turned, and decided to sneak up on him.

"Guess who?" she giggled when she put her hands over his eyes.

"Hey Lily" He said, tuning and putting his hands on her waist and kissing her.

That particular memory made her cry a little, their first kiss, the night he asked her to be his girlfriend. The memory faded again, then another came that made her cry harder. The last time they had seen eachother here, the night before he left.

"Hey, Matt." Lily said, feeling his hands over her eyes.

"Hey Lily," He said as she turned to him and gave him a kiss. They broke apart and he spoke again, "I got something for you."

He handed her a box with hearts printed on the wrapping paper. "Oh, Matt! You shouldn't have." But she knew he had to give it to her today, he was leaving in the morning, and he wasn't going to tell her.

She opened the box and gasped. Inside was a necklace, simple and perfect. Lily started to put it on, but Matt stopped her. "Let me" He said, and she let him.

End Flashback

"Lily?"

She gasped and turned to see Matt.

"Why are you crying? Are you okay, did someone hurt you?"

"No, I'm fine, I just...I was thinking about times we've been here, remembering, you know"

"Yeah, sometimes I come here just to think, to be alone, to remember. Why'd you need to see me?"

She had forgotten for a second there. "Oh, I went to Jeremy's house, for dinner tonight."

"Why'd you have to tell me?"

"Because, well, you'll get it in a second, just let me finish. I went to Jeremy's house for dinner tonight, he...wanted me to meet his parents. He also told me that his cousin was moving in with them for the rest of the school year. Let me finish." she said when he turned to leave. "I'm not finished yet. His cousin was sitting on the couch when I walked in, and he introduced her, Jocelyn, he called her. She...moved here from Myrtle Beach. I looked at her wnd she looked at me, and I knew I had already met her. Matt, Joycie is back."

"What? No, she..."

"Joycie is her nickname, she's moved here, and I have a feeling she moved here because you did. Matt, she's looking for you."

"I...you're right, she probably did move here because I did. I just hope I can avoid her."

"I don't know. Matt, why haven't you talked to me for the past two years?"

"I...I don't know anymore, Lily, I was mad at you, and then I stopped talking to you to try and get over you, I guess...You know what though?"

"What?"

"It didn't work" Matt pulled Lily into a kiss, just like he had the night of the party. This time though, he wasn't going to give up so easily. When he did let go, she turned away. "I'm sorry, Lily."

"No, don't be. I get it now. Matt," She said, sturning back to him. "I'm breaking up with him."

"What? No, don't break up with him for me...

"I'm not, I'm doing it for me. I didn't realize it before, but I've stopped liking him over the years. He..."

"He what?"

"He wasn't you."