Ok…just got back from spending two hours downtown with Holls…it is so hot down there. I did see a skirt that I liked though…maybe when I get that job I'll have some cash! Here's the next chapter!
Ella lugged her suitcase into Holly's upstairs bedroom. "why can't you have an elevator in your house Holls?" Holly threw down the magazine she was reading and jumped up to help her friend. "Oh, I'm sorry Ella, did you need help?" Ella left the suitcase where it was sitting. In the middle of the doorway. "We'll get it later. Mom just left to go pick up Anna. I actually just got off the phone with Anna. She says there's the big secret that mom doesn't tell anyone…she says she's gonna get it out of my mom." Holly made space for Ella on the bed. "I believe that when it's coming from Anna…but there actually is…look." Holly picked up the pants from where they were sitting on her dresser. "Ella…who's Eric?" Ella took the pants and looked at the inscription Holly was pointing at. "Umm…I don't know. Maybe an old friend." Holly rolled her eyes. "I think they were more than just friends…they only wrote stuff on here if it was important. I mean my mom wrote about this guy Kostos…I have yet to ask about that one…but then right over here on the other leg it says something about my dad."
After dinner, the girls cornered Holly's mom in the kitchen. "Hey Aunt Lena," Ella started. "We have some questions about the pants…do you think you could…you know tell us some stuff?" Lena removed her apron and placed it on the counter. "Alexia!" She called, "Come in here and finish the dishes. The girl's and I need to talk about some things." Alexia moped into the kitchen and walked over to the sink and put her Ipod in her pocket. "Whatever."
Holly led her mom up to her room and handed her the pants. "Mom…we were just looking at the stuff that was written on the jeans…and we were just wondering if you could tell us what all of it meant." Lena unfolded the jeans and laid them out on the floor. The three sat down. Lena started with Bailey. "First of all…Tibby met Bailey while she was working at Walmann's. Bailey and Tibby became very close. But Bailey died later on in the summer. She had Leukemia." "Ohhh." Holly gasped. "So all of these people died?" "No!" Lena laughed. 'But they should have.' She said to herself.
Ella wanted to get straight to the point. "So who was Eric?" She asked. Lena pointed to the inscription she knew Ella was talking about. "Eric…I guess its ok for me to tell you guys this. It happened when we were your age…yeah…Bee wouldn't mind. I mean you're her daughter for crying out loud!" Holly grabbed her mother's shaking hand. "Just tell us mom. Get to the point!" Lena cleared her throat before she began to speak. "It was the first summer we were going to be apart. Bridget was going to a soccer camp in Baja. She was so upset that it was going to be an all girl camp! But when she wrote me…she sounded ecstatic. She said that she had met a guy…one of the coaches. He was…older than she was. Let me just say that when your mom was younger, she got what she wanted." Lena said to Ella. "Eric was off limits…and your mom wanted him. One night…things went a little too far. Bridget gave him more than she had. I actually had to go out to Baja and get her. I remember how sad and worn out she was." "That's sad." Holly said to her mom. Lena held up her hand to silence her daughter. "But I'm not done. There's more. We came home and she just went through the motions of everyday life. She stopped playing soccer…" Ella burst out laughing. "This Eric guy must have been some sort of god for my mom to stop playing soccer!" Lena looked at Ella. "Do you want to hear the story or not?" Ella pretended to zip her mouth shut. Lena went on…again. "But referring to your remark. He was a god. I'll have to find you a picture of him, later. Bridget went to Alabama the next summer, and amazingly she came back better. Then the summer after that, the one after we graduated from high school, she went to another camp. This time she was coaching. And this time it was in Alabama. Guess who was there?" Ella and Holly looked at each other. "Eric." They said in unison. Lena nodded her head. "Yes. Bridget and he basically figured things out about that first summer. And before she knew it they were kind of dating. She even took him to meet Greta. Then he took her back to Baja to meet his mom and some of his family. We got a call from her three days before she was supposed to come back and we met her at the airport that night. That was the last we heard of Eric. I mean he occasionally wrote her and emailed her. But he never called. I think hearing her voice would have made him go insane. Instead of him breaking her heart, she broke his." Lena thought back to that day she had to go with Carmen to pick Bridget up from the airport. "Ok…so if that's all you guys wanted to know, I'm just going to go back down stairs now."
Holly grabbed her mom by the leg and pulled her back down. "I don't think so mom…we aren't done here. And you know that. Who's Kostos?" "And do not leave anything out Lena." Ella said with a mean look on her face. Lena coughed. She was going to stall this as long as possible. "My grandparents wanted to see me and Effie, so our parent's sent us over to Greece for the summer. Oia was beautiful. And so were the guys…I met a boy. His names was Kostos. He went to University in London. He was there for the summer too. He was helping his grandfather with the fishing. Again things just happened and we fell in love. Everything was going well too. Then the next summer came. I had been talking too him the whole year, but I couldn't wait to see him. He came to Bethesda on some kind of business thing and he stayed with some friend's of my parents. I wore the pants to go see him…and just between you two girls and me…we made out for hours! Then he had to leave. I didn't hear from him for weeks. Then my grandfather died. We had to go back to Greece for his funeral. That's when it all went down hill from that moment on. I ran into Kostos at the funeral and he had this girl with him. He introduced her as his 'pregnant'fiancé. I mean I completely lost it. He found me later and tried to explain some things. But I didn't want to hear it! It was Carmen who had to do the saving that time! And," Lena said as she pushed Holly's hair behind her ears, "That's when I met your dad." Lena pulled her hand away and let a smile play across her face. "You all know that story though. And Ella, since you said I couldn't leave anything out I guess I should tell you what became of Kostos. I went back after I graduated from high school and I had thought that Kostos wasn't going to be there. He was and I told him that we could only be friends. His wife had left and the whole baby thing never happened. And I'm still not finished. There's a whole lot more. I remember everything so well. I was taking a letter to the post office…I was wearing the pants. Then all I remember doing was waking up in a dark room. Kostos, the sick and sorry bastard that he was, had kidnapped me. Pardon my language girls! Paul and Carmen's brother Stephen came to the rescue. Because, oh yeah. I didn't mention. Stephen was roommates with Kostos in London. And then you guys, again, know the whole story with Stephen. But yeah Kostos shot Paul and then ran off. Stephen caught Kostos, when he was trying to fly back to London. Kostos got put into jail…and then Paul and I kind of spent some time apart. He came home and we fixed things though…" "But Kostos will always be your first love." Holly swooned. Lena again nodded her head. "You know me too well daughter…and unfortunately that's about it. I think you two should get ready for bed." Lena got up and walked out of the room. "This stays between us…no one else. Understood? Unless one of my friends, the girls, says something to you about it…you keep your mouth shut."
Ella and Holly nodded as Lena shut the door. Ella turned to Holly. "And what do we have to look forward too this summer?" "Nothing quite like that my friend." Holly answered.