CHAPTER 31

   Carly decided to spend the next few hours rearranging her clothes in her former wardrobe which still stood in the same place she left it.She was still tired and wasn't sure she would do anything productive but she wasn't used to staying idle.A deep contrast between now and years back when she was just a teenager.

    Just like everything else,the wardrobe was properly maintained as if someone had been using it all along or as if they had been expecting her back anytime. Only that the clothes she  had left behind were still intact.Of course they were now smaller than her size.She pulled all of them out and placed them on her bed. It was big enough to fit clothes for two people but since there was a smaller closet next to it,she decided to use it for her son's clothes.She had plans to move out eventually as soon as she secured a job even if her parents accepted her back.She didn't want to be a burden but thought unpacking her clothes wasn't a bad idea.She had not come with much of the things she had back in Australia.Carol would know what to do with them together with the house she had been living in.Maybe they would move in since it was bigger than her own and they were now a growing family.

     Since her son's clothes were much easier and therefore quicker to arrange,she decided to start with them.She moved to the closet and opened it and there sat a very familiar  blue and white gym bag. Her highschool gym bag that held so many memories  that came flooding back  in her head.It was exactly in the same position she had left it all those years ago.She decided to open it to see its contents.

   Even after quitting cheer leading, she hadn't returned her uniform and it still lay at the bottom of the bag,neatly folded.Above it was her gym shorts and a shirt which had always been two sizes bigger than her.She was sure they would both fit her perfectly now.She put them away and took the cheerleaders uniform.She moved her hands along it feeling it's texture.It was a little rough after being unworn for a long time but that didn't hinder her from remembering the days.For two years,she had been just a normal girl,forced into cheer leading but the next one and a half,she had gone further into it because she wanted.Or rather because she had wanted to hurt someone who she had thought deserved it.Dylan.It had been a terrible mistake which she still regretted because it hadn't only brought an end to their relationship, it had also created a certain amount of distrust on her part even though the more she thought of it,the more she realized that it was less of distrust and more of fear.She pulled the shirt to her face and inhaled deeply with her eyes closed. It still smelt of the powder she used even though it had now faded away leaving only a slight fragrance.A polaroid fell down from in between the folds and settled on her feet on the floor.She opened her eyes and retrieved it.

   A teenage girl with a full smile and a tiny dimple stared back at her.Next to her was another teenager, hair held up with  basketball shorts and a black and white jersey. She had one hand around her shoulder and the other one clutching a ball against her hipbone on her side.She recalled that day too well.They had just finished practice and as usual they had both been left behind after everyone else had left.They didn't even hear the Polaroid camera click because they had been laughing their guts out.They didn't know  they had been photographed  until much later in their senior year when Taylor gave them a copy of the photograph each. She told them that she had been sneaking her father's camera to school and that day had just been a coincidence. She had kept the photos until then.

She smiled. Her sophomore year and part of the junior year had been the happiest in all her highschool life.And it was because she had met Dylan. 

      That brought her back to the present. Her brother had not mentioned Dylan in a single conversation and she had been too afraid to ask.She had many questions she wasn't sure how she could get the answers. Like, how was she?What was she doing now and did they still see each other? With time she would know all that.

     She returned everything back in the bag and put it under her own wardrobe. She unpacked her son's suitcase and started arranging the clothes in the closet.It didn't take her long to finish up so she went back to her own.That's when she realized she didn't have enough hangers for all her clothes. She needed to get some and that meant she had to get out of the house and go shopping. Sleeping with all those clothes on her bed was not a very welcome idea and shoving them in the wardrobe wasn't appealing either regardless of her tiredness. She looked at her watch.It was already past one o'clock in the afternoon. Her dad would probably bring Teddy back for lunch and she knew she had to prepare something. She left the clothes and went to the kitchen downstairs.She opened the fridge.There was meat and several packets of pasta.There was also several cans of beans and peas but they didn't look as appealing as the pasta.There were no veggies though which were a compulsory inclusive in her son's diet.Being a mother came with much responsibility and ensuring she followed the doctor's instructions when it came to her son was one of them.

     She retrieved a couple of dollar bills from a wallet her mother used to leave food money for them when they were still in highschool. She was lucky her mother hadn't stopped doing that even long after that.She had money but she didn't think she had the time to go to the ATM across town. Her father's old jeep was parked in the garage and the keys were still where she remembered. What she hoped though was that it would take her to the store and back.She wasn't even sure if the engine would start in the first place but luckily, it cooperated.

              ★★★

       Carly walked between the shelves in the grocery store.She had first dropped by a clothes shop and bought several hangers which she had left in the car outside. She knew exactly where she would find what she was looking for but the improvements made inside the store increased her curiosity to look around.It was just a small place back in the days and they used to go for most of their food items in another bigger one on the other side of the town.Now,this one had much of everything. She took a packet of chips from the shelf and walked along.The uniformity in every corner made her wonder if it was still owned by the same people she used to know.It used to be a cluster of a mess most of the time despite its small size.She took a tin of curry powder then headed to the vegetable aisle. She added a few bunches  of kales and spinach then added lentils and went up front to pay up.

      She hadn't looked closely enough at the cashier when she came in until when her turn came to be served.

          "Thank you and welcome again." the cashier said cheerfully.

Carly felt the  familiarity of the voice even before she looked up and met the eyes of the last person she would have thought would still be there,in the same town after all those years. 

         "Carly McAdams! What a surprise," Emily said loudly.

 ‘Oh my God.’she thought silently and moved forward matching the smile. "When did you get back in town?" she asked as she went around the counter to embrace her.Two other customers were waiting behind her and she wondered if this was really a good impression. She however couldn't decline because Emily already had her arms stretched out so she just went with it. 

         "Not long ago,I got back yesterday," she replied.

         "How have you been?It's been so long!"

          "Seven years,yeah and I have been great. Just missed home and decided to come back," she replied then quickly asked before Emily got the chance to interrogate her."How about you?"

         "Oh,there has been ups and downs but here I am.Still fighting. I'm married now with two kids."

Just then,another young woman probably in her early twenties came and stood at the next counter.Emily motioned for the customers behind her to head there then went back to Carly. "I work here now."

         "It's a nice place,much better than I remember."

         "Yeah, my husband owns it.He bought it from the previous owners when they couldn't manage it anymore."

         "Oh,that's great," Carly was clearly not interested in any of the conversation with Emily but she couldn't just walk out and leave.She seemed as talkative as she remembered but the fact that they had graduated from highschool being sort of enemies made her do exactly that.Emily had gone to a private college,her money had done that even though she hadn't passed their final examination. After the drama on Dylan's party back in senior year, she had gone back to her usual obnoxious ways until they finally graduated and went different ways.Carly had not seen her again and she never wanted to but now here they were.It so happened that she was the first classmate she had to see on her first day back in the country.

        "Are you back for good or is it just a temporary stay."

Carly didn't know how to answer the question without giving her much detail but decided opening up just a little wouldn't cause any harm.

        "For good.My son and I needed a fresh start and since I was already divorced, I decided that home was the best place to start afresh."

  Emily's smile seemed to fade a bit as if she was sympathising with her and Carly was surprised.

        "I'm sorry. Divorce is the worst stage in a marriage especially for the kids.How is he?" Perhaps Emily Hill had finally met someone who humbled her and changed her.She shrugged.

       "It's been almost two years and he's been okay with it.But you never know with kids."

      "Yeah,sometimes they act okay while in real sense they aren't." Emily then took the shopping basket containing her items and began counting. "We could get a coffee together if you want.Get to talk and catch up."

  Carly didn't know what they could possibly talk about but she nodded.It could have been just to get herself out of there but she also was curious to know about everything that had happened while she was away.Her brother hadn't been the best informant and Emily seemed eager to talk.She also wanted to know how Emily ended up married to a man and got kids despite her confession back during Dylan's party.  "Sure,I would like that."

         "That will be ten dollars and fifty cents but it's all on me," Emily said after packing everything in a bag.

         "You don't have to, I have  the cash," she replied handing her some bills but Emily pushed the hand back.

        "Consider it a welcome home gift."

   Carly decided to accept it to avoid an argument or seeming hateful, "Thank you very much."

          "It's no problem," she replied and Carly took the bag,preparing to leave. "By the way, have you seen Dylan yet?"

    Carly shook her head,"No.Like I said,I just came back and you are the first classmate I have seen besides my brother." Her curiosity got the better part of her though and she found herself asking, "So she's still in town?"

        "Yeah,she never left like most of us did.Your brother must have told you that she now works with the LAPD."

          "No,we don't talk about her so that didn't come up," she replied truthfully.

        "A lot has  changed and a lot has happened but none of what happened to most of us surpasses what she has gone through," Emily said in a soft sorrowful voice.

    Carly frowned at Emily's words.She didn't want to discuss Dylan with her but she wasn't about to leave in a confused state.

       "What happened?"

 Emily looked at her in confusion. Now it was her turn to be surprised.

          "You mean Carl didn't tell you even about that?"

          "Tell me about what?What happened to Dylan?" she asked, now with a tremor in her voice.

        "No,not exactly her but her mother.She was murdered in cold blood inside their house two years ago and Dylan has never been the same person again."

    The news struck her like thunderbolt. How had her brother not mentioned something like that?How could he have forgotten? Or had he just chosen not to tell her?

        "No he didn't tell me," she replied. Her voice was laced with anger.She was angry at Carl for not telling her about it and at the same time felt pain and remorse.Wendy had been a better mother than her own back in the days.And Dylan, her beautiful soft spoken Dylan, had she had someone to walk with her through that terrible time?How was she now?Her mother had played both parenting roles so well.Who had been there to fill that gap?

        "I'm sorry,I shouldn't have..."

            "No!" she snapped and Emily recoiled. She shook her head.Her anger was propelling her to act like the highschool Emily she remembered. "I'm sorry.It kind of annoys me that Carl didn't even bother to mention it and now he is going to answer that."

        She turned and left the building in a hurry.She started the car and drove off.​