Our Last Time: A Novel (4 page)

Willow

I was wearing a strapless
pink dress, and it was
way
too pink. It was magenta. Who looked good in magenta? I definitely hadn’t.

Kennedy seemed to like it, though, so I resisted the urge to rip it off of my body and set it aflame.

“How did you know my size?” I asked him.

He bought me a pink dress for prom, which prom was scheduled for tomorrow and I wasn’t excited about it. But I liked how he’d been smiling a lot more ever since I had agreed to go with him. He smiled a lot already, he just smiled
more
now. It was hard to think that prom was the reason behind it.

“I kind of went in your closet when you weren’t looking, and dug around until I finally found the only dress you had,” he sighed, but he was smiling. “You’re a size two.”

That dress he found was only worn when there was a special occasion. Which it would have to be really special, and my mother would have to fight me on it. Kennedy was lucky I loved him so much. This dress was fairly atrocious.

We stood in my large bedroom, and stared at my reflection through my body-length mirror that was about a foot away from my queen-sized bed.

“The bottom is very frilly, but it’s soft. I’m glad you didn’t get me one that would make me itchy everywhere.” I turned around, and looked up so I could smile at him. He hugged me over the shoulders as I grabbed his waist.

“I rented my tux, but you’ll have to pick out my pink bow tie. And shoes, Will. We don’t have prom shoes,” he said. His eyes had widened as he looked down at me, and I smirked.

“We can wear our sneakers.”

“No, we should go get shoes now.” He wasn’t going to be even a little bit original for this prom. At least I’d feel like this big
mimic
wearing a hideous magenta-colored dress to prom.

“
Hey
…” I paused, as I backed a few inches away from him. I had an idea, but I was pretty sure it had been Kennedy’s all along.

“Does your tux have ruffles? I’d be so happy if your tux had ruffles.”

His lips meshed into this half-smile thing, and my mouth dropped when he nodded. I was excited about prom now.

“I get it. I understand. And
this
is why you’re my best friend.”

He laughed. “And we’re going to take prom pictures, Will. We’re going to slow dance, and your head is going to rest on my shoulder. I’ll have to bend my knees a little so your head can reach my shoulder, though. And we’re also
not
going to get laid. We’ll be just like everyone else.”

We were going to prom to make
fun of it
and to do everything that’s typically done on prom night, and I wish I would have thought of it before Kennedy did.

“Should I tease my hair to make it really tacky looking? What if I wore a bow in my hair, too, Kennedy? And…” I paused, thinking. “Oh, and please
tell me you got me a gigantic corsage, Kennedy. That would be
so
awesome.”

He grinned. “It was supposed to be a surprise, Will, but you’re way too smart for my little surprises. You figure
everything
out,” he sighed.

“We have to go get shoes now.” I dragged him by his hand, but he was willing to be dragged.

We rode on our bikes to the closest shoe store in our small hometown in the pit of Tennessee. I hadn’t even taken the dress off, and I wore my Keds. Kennedy was wearing his Beatles T-shirt and a pair of long khaki cargo shorts, along with his high-top converse sneakers.

After placing our bikes in the corral, we smiled before locking elbows as we walked in the shoe store together.

“I have to get stilettos,” I whispered.

“And they have to be shiny,” he told me.

“And you have to get magenta-colored men’s shoes. It’s not fair for you to only have a pink bow tie. You need to look just as
ridiculous
as me,” I said, grinning up at him.

I was so excited, because I knew Kennedy would let me dress him up. Even if he’d look ridiculous. We’d look
ridiculous
together.

“If you can find magenta-colored shoes in the men’s section, that’d be great,” he chuckled.

I was sure I’d find them.

I found some clear stilettos that were shiny enough to blind someone, and Kennedy nodded in agreement when I looked to him for approval.

I sat on the bench next to him before putting them on my feet. I held my feet out in front of me, and we stared at the heels in unison.  

“How will I walk in these, Kennedy?”

“By standing,” he shrugged. “And maybe moving your feet step by step in front of you.”

“I’d fall,” I groaned. I had never walked in heels before, and I hadn’t thought about that before coming here.

“
Hey
, hold on a second,” he smiled. He got up from the bench, and kneeled to scan the various boxes of stiletto heels. He grabbed a box of heels that were a size
thirteen, and he sighed as he looked over to me.

“I don’t know what size I am in women’s, but this is the largest size I could find.”

I grinned.

He took his shoes and socks off, and placed them next to mine on the ground below us.

“We can learn how to walk in heels
together
,” he said, as he took one of the yellow heels and successfully popped it on his left foot.

I laughed as he popped the other one on his right foot, and held his feet out in front of him like I had done. “
Very
Pretty,” he said.

He wouldn’t drink a milkshake through a straw, but he’d walk around wearing stiletto heels in a shoe store for
me
. He was a silly guy. He was
my
silly guy.

We had gotten up from the bench together, hand in hand. My elbow was bent forward, and my hand was held up grasping his so it would be easier for us to stand.

I was surprised we hadn’t lunged forward, and landed on our faces.

“Ready?” he asked me.

I nodded. “I think.”

“That’s not ready, Will.”

I rolled my eyes. “Yes Kennedy, I’m ready.”

We took one small step forward, and the click of our heels made me smile.

There was about another five feet in front of us when he said, “You go forward on your own now. I’ll be behind you to catch you if you fall.”

I had let go of his hand, and he was standing behind me, now. I took a deep breath before taking a step forward.

“Keep your legs straight, Will.”

I smirked. “You keep
your
legs straight, Kennedy.”

He coughed, and I hadn’t had to turn around to know that he’d noticed and
fixed
his slack posture.

I had about two feet of room in front of me when I stopped and turned around to find Kennedy swirling his long arms around at his sides, about to fall backward.

My eyes widened as I went to grab his hands, and I said, “I got you.”

But I didn't have him. He fell backward, and I fell right on top of him. My hands were settled under his head so it wouldn’t crack open on the floor, and my body hit his body hard.

He groaned longingly as his hands met my waist, and he pulled my skirt down so I wouldn’t be exposed.

“Ow,” he muttered.

“Ouch,” I said, as I buried my forehead in his neck.

He chuckled lightly, and I met his eyes.

Then we laughed
out
loud
, because we were okay, and it was funny.

Willow

“Put up your hair, and I’ll push you on the swings.”

Annette stuck her lip out. “Why do I have to put my hair up?” she whined.

I smiled. “Because you’ll fuss if your hair lands in your mouth, sweetie. Do you want to taste
hairy
shampoo?”

She crinkled her little face as she shook her head vigorously. “No, mommy. Can aunt Catie put my hair up with her chopsticks? I really like aunt Catie’s chopsticks,” she grinned.

I could see Caitlyn as she smiled over her computer screen. She was sitting at the picnic table just a few feet away from the swings, working on another article.

“Come here, kid,” Caitlyn sighed, patting her lap as she swung her legs to the side.

Annette let out a delighted squeal before running over to her. I placed my hands on my hips and smiled widely as I watched her hop on Caitlyn’s lap.

“Don’t touch them, okay little babe? If you want to keep them in, you have to leave them
alone
.”

Annette nodded as Caitlyn took the chopsticks out of her shiny red hair, letting it all fall against the small of her back.

“Hold still so I can put them in,” Caitlyn instructed sweetly.

Annette said, “Okay,” and listened to her.

Caitlyn easily wrapped Annette’s long dirty blonde hair into a tight bun on the top of her head, and then stuck the two chopsticks in the bun to keep it from falling out.

“There.” Caitlyn smiled before patting Annette’s thigh so she’d hop down. Annette did as she was told.

“Thank you, aunt Catie,” Annette said, before standing on the tips of her toes so she could loudly kiss Caitlyn on the cheek.

“You’re very welcome, little babe,” Caitlyn smiled half-heartedly.

Annette turned around on her heel and ran into my arms.

I had kneeled on one knee before she got to me. I gently rubbed her back as the tips of her tiny fingers curled against my shoulder blades.

“Isn’t it pretty, mommy?” she leaned back a little so I could see her vibrant smile, and her gorgeous blue eyes.

I grinned, and nodded. “
Very
pretty, sweetie.”

She hugged me again before sitting down in one of the swings.

I pushed her, and she said higher every time.

She wore a yellow sundress today with matching shoes, and she wore dresses
a lot
. I thought it was funny, because I’d never wear dresses when I was younger. Never in my life had I enjoyed wearing a dress or anything labeled as
cute
until I became an adult.

I was a tomboy at its finest. My Annette wasn’t a tomboy at all, and I honestly loved that. She was a lot more open than I was, and she thought she was pretty. She was
beautiful
.

I loved everything about my daughter, because she was
hardly
like me.

She was confident, she was lively. She loved going to school, and she loved being a girl. She had long wavy hair, and she loved showing it off. I knew she’d be a heartbreaker one day.

The only thing Annette and I really had in common was our love for the outdoors. We weren’t couch potatoes when it had been just me and her. On a day after work, if Annette was awake for it, we’d ride on our bikes and go to the park. It was just a few blocks away from our apartment. Caitlyn would go with us sometimes if she needed some outdoorsy scenery. Caitlyn would get sick of being cooped up in the apartment every once in a while, but she had always spent a lot of her time writing. She was a freelance journalist. She typically made more money than I did, because she was so dedicated to what she did for a living. Caitlyn always drove her car to the park, though, because she never traveled without her laptop.

I swung Annette on the swings for a while, and we eventually moved to the slides where I would wait for her to meet me at the end, and then I’d swoop her in my arms. She’d giggle every time.

“You ladies ready to head back yet, or am I leaving alone?” Caitlyn yelled to us from the picnic table where she was sitting.

I looked to Annette, but she looked unsure. We had about an hour before dawn. “You ready to go, sweetie, or do you want to stay for a little while longer?” I asked her. I was knelt to the ground, and she was at the end of the slide holding onto my hands.

“I have homework, mommy, remember? We should probably go home now,” she said, before loudly kissing me on my nose.

I picked her up by the waist, and she wrapped her little legs around me. I hugged her tight as I kissed her on the temple.

“Okay, sweetie. You want to ride in the car with aunt Catie, or do you want to ride bikes with mommy?”

I brought my face back so I could study hers, and she was tilting her head. “I want to ride my bike with you, mommy. I’ll ride with aunt Catie next time,” she smiled as I put her back down on her feet.

I was glad she wasn’t too tired to ride bikes. I loved having my baby ride on her bike with me.

We walked with Caitlyn to her car, and then parted ways as Caitlyn drove off. We found our bikes where we parked them in the corral, and we were both smiling as we hopped on, and rode off.

Annette always rode in front of me so I could see her, and so I’d know if she were to fall or get hurt somehow. The distance from the park to our apartment was only about five minutes if we kept up our pace. We never raced, we just enjoyed the ride. My legs hadn’t started burning until we were already turning onto our road, and it was never a
bad
burning sensation. It was just a feeling of movement. I’d always loved riding bikes, and having someone to ride with me.

Kennedy was my best friend when I was a kid, and we rode bikes every day. We had learned how to ride bikes together. We had learned a lot of things together.

Now I was learning new things with Annette, and we shared our differences. That’s one of the
best things
when it came to being a mother. I loved having a daughter. The day she learned how to ride a bike, I cried. Nothing could have been more beautiful than the look on her face. She never needed training wheels. She was a natural.

My baby was growing up fast, and that scared the living hell out of me, and for lots of reasons: both describable, and indescribable.

I was a mother, and I never wanted that to end.