"Lance! Finish up in there. I'm feeling thirsty," Henry calls from the pool, water running off his fake tan body. I finish up the last coat of fresh paint on the oak fence, and move into the kitchen to finish yet another command. While I pour him an ice cold lemonade, I consider poisoning it. Not literally, but it's not stopping me from thinking it. Just then, Owen my oldest step brother, walks in and demands that I get him a glass, too.
"I've been working all day, and what have you done?" He asks, resting his feeting on the chair beside him.
"Actually, I've been in the sun working all day, but sure. I know it's hard for you to lift your arms," I say, annoyed at the distance of him and the pitcher. I pour them both drinks and head back onto the patio where the Royal highness awaits, calling my name from his throne.
"Here you go," I say, handing him his drink, but he stares at the glass like it's the worst thing he's ever seen.
"Why can't you remember I don't like ice? And you forgot my lemon. Why can't you get things right? Does it always have to take you three times before you get anything right? Just go inside, you're useless."
I shrug and hold back any harsh words that cross my mind. Many do, but instead of adding anything else to my list, I keep them to myself, the thing I've been doing for my whole life.
About seven years ago, my life was just a normal young boy's life. I played baseball and spent the weekends getting into trouble with all my friends my age. I guess all the trouble I got in, pushed my mom away, because on one day, a day in the December, I wake up to a car starting and pulling away, but thought nothing of it. It must just be our crazy neighbors, getting in from a late night. A few hours later, I find myself stalling in bed, waiting for my mom to come in and tell me to get up. When she doesn't, and I go to school without her goodbye, I began to grow worried. By the time I get home from school and she still isn't home, I go into Henry's office and ask him where she is.
"She's not coming back. Don't worry about it. She's okay."
He continues to work on his laptop, or he pretends to so he doesn't have to make eye contact.
"Why wouldn't she want to be here? Did you make her mad or something?"
"No, Lance. She just doesn't want to be apart of this family. Now go and make yourself dinner, I don't have time for this."
It all started there. I never asked about my mother again and I never had dinner made for me. I grew up in just one night, just by myself and my camera.
Before my mom left, on my tenth birthday, while everyone else was getting toys and trains, my mom got me a camera, and I recall being so mad that I got something so useless. But then I remember her saying, "You don't want to miss a thing, capturing every moment you can so nothing can slip your memory." It meant nothing then, but as I started to get older and the more pictures I took, the more I understood what she meant. Now, anytime I do even anything, I take my camera and take a picture. Even at school, after joining the yearbook committee, I'm always behind a lenses, capturing the happiest moments. And even if they aren't my happy moments, I still seem to get something out of it.
"Great shot," Remy says, smiling, flashing her own camera in my face.
Remy and I have been friends since eight grade, when I moved to this new town and knew not a single soul. She was the first to talk to me, welcoming me in like I wasn't even new. Ever since that first day, we've been inseparable. She's funnier and smarter than most girls at this school, and probably the only one that doesn't spend her weekend gossiping at the beach. As a bonus, she's kind of cute, though I could never think of her that way. All the affectionate feelings I have go to Annabelle, but there's only one problem. She's with my step brother, Dexter, and that's the only reason she even notices me. Without him, she would never even acknowledge my existence.
I like to think that sometimes when she's at my pool on the weekends, that she's there for me, but then Dexter comes, and he steals all the attention away with his "great" hair.
"Lance? I hope you're coming tonight. It's gonna be the party of the year, or so I've been told." Remy winks, taking a shot of the dance team performing.
"I mean, I wasn't really planning on it. Do I ever?"
"No, and that's exactly why you should go to this one. It's your last year. Don't you want something to look back on? Something that you actually want to remember?"
I'm reminded of my mother, and what she had said about the camera. She was absolutely right, even if this was stupid, it was at least something to remember. I mentally make a check list of all the things to accomplish before I graduate, and check off, do something stupid and out of character. I give her an affirmative nod, an RSVP. I finish the rest of the school day mentally writing this list, planning out how and when I will complete them all. Let's do one at a time, I think to myself, and set out to home.
"You aren't going," Henry tells me, combing gel through his hair.
"Why not? Aren't Owen and Dexter going?"
"Yeah, and they've done everything they're supposed to this week. I don't have to tell them three times to get it right. Therefore, you will stay in tonight, finishing your staining job. You're going to finish something for once."
I can't put words together that can even express what I'm feeling now, but I know that I'm clenching my fists for a reason. I try and remember my schedule for the week, when I had any leisure time, but I can't think of one. Also, I recall all the times I would come home to find Dexter and Owen in front of the TV, doing absolutely nothing.
"I'll be playing poker with the guys tonight. I expect all of it to be done when I get back."
"You win. Oh, and you missed a spot in the back. Why don't you cake some more gel on?" And with that, I'm walking out, laughing at his minor freak out and rush to the mirror.
Remy walks through the back gate a few hours later to find me taking a break, paint on my hands and hair.
"You're a mess," She says, handing me a bottle of water.
"Yeah, remind me to cross this off my list. Paint a fence." I say, the sarcasm spilling out.
"No. You are going to get your butt in there and get ready. You're going to this party whether you like it or not."
"Remy, I can't. I have responsibilities to take care of, more important than some stupid highschool party full of stupid teenagers."
"I have that covered. I came prepared with reinforcement. Boys?" She calls, and in comes four guys carrying buckets and paint brushes with them.
I can't help but smile, returning one to Remy. She can always make me feel better even in my worst moments, and even if now wasn't that bad, she still worked like an angel and made everything better.
"I'll be there," I say, walking inside, sending her off to get herself ready.
The party is in full blast when I arrive, wearing my very best suit. The bright green tie is just a hint of me, something I always seem to slip in when I have to dress up. As I walk through the doors, Juniors and seniors are scattered everywhere, in bundles and small groups, filling in every empty space. I squeeze through, making sure to stay discreet. If Dexter and Owen see me here, they'll definitely let Henry know, because they find pleasure in my every day sufferings.
For a brief moment, I think about turning around and going home, well out of my search at finding anyone I know. I even begin heading towards the front doors, when I see something catch my eye. A beautiful girl in a princess look dress walks in, stunning all of us. I can't tell who she is because of the mask on her face, but I feel instantly drawn in. Number two- talk to a random cute girl just because. I walk over with confidence in my step, while she watches, well aware of her own beauty. I find myself asking her to dance, and she accepts, pulling my hand towards the floor.
We dance the night away, her secret identity still in tact. I dare ask her who she may be, but I hold back, because she's smiling and it's distracting. Everything about her seems so familiar, like I've known her forever. Her laugh, it's one that I've heard. Those eyes, they're some that i've seen. Those hands, they're one that i've touched. I think about all the people I know, any that might have signaled liking for me, but I can't think of a single thing. So I start asking her questions, a game of twenty questions.
"Are you a senior?" She nods.
"Okay, do we have any classes together?" She nods.
"Do I see you out of school?" She nods.
"Do we know each other?" She nods, smiling at this one.
She's waiting for a response, something to let her know she's not invisible. It all hits me right there. How could I have not seen her earlier? Maybe because I never thought of her that way. Remy has always been my friend, never anything more. What does she think of me? I don't even know if she's into me. But she has to be, right? That dance was not just something you share with a friend. Or is it? Well I'm having a debate in my head, I completely forget that Remy's there, waiting for me to say something. But I can't, and when she sees this, as fast as she came, she is running back into the party and away from me.
I spent my whole life thinking the worst, that basically working for Henry was the only options of life that I would ever get. Remy showed me that I was wrong. She's been showing me for years, but I never quite understood it till I saw her walk away from me. It was as if my heart was detached from my mind, and not until then did it collide. I was crazy about Remy, and I've always been. Sometimes it takes someone walking out on you to realize what you've missed. So I did what my heard told me, and ran after her, because I knew exactly where she was.
She's exactly where I thought she'd be, looking up at the stars. I know she's heard me, the crunching of leaves giving me away. I knelt in front of her, placing her hands in mine.
"How could I not have known?" I ask, both to myself and to her.
"Because you wanted to see someone else." She replies, hurt spilling from her mouth. For a second, I let what she said sink in, considering if maybe that was the reason. It was Annabelle I longed for after all. But then I correct my thoughts with the only thing that's logical.
"I was blindsighted. I had no idea you thought of me in any way like that. So, I never really fit the two together. It wasn't until you ran from me and I saw that you dropped this, did I know that how much I love you." I hand her her necklace, and watch her interwine it through her fingers. She's deeply thinking, I can tell, because she's biting her lip and closing her eyes. The give away to all her thoughts.
"You must know that I love you, how could you not? I've loved you since day one. See, you've always been my prince."
I do the first thing that comes to mind, and do another check from my list. Kiss someone beautiful with meaning. That's exactly what we do, we end the night kissing under the moonlight, making my whole night perfect.
After that, everything seemed to just fall in place, as the world worked it's miracles. Henry lost all his money gambling, and had not only him but the boys working at Al's Diner to pay off all his debt. Annabelle leaves Dexter, once she's sure his true loser self had shown through. As for me, I turned eighteen, and my life changed completely. I recieved a letter in the mail full of thousands of dollars, more than I can even tell you. The letter was from my mother, the last person I thought I'd from. She explained why she had left, and enclosed in visits for me to see her in her new apartment in the middle of New York City. I write her back, promising to come visit, and do exactly that, Remy with me the whole way.
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