“Are you okay?” I asked, placing my hand on hers.
“I feel great now that you’re here,” she said. She patted my hand and smiled.
“The feeling is mutual.” My heart melted.
I was glad she was home, and I was glad we would create something new to remember.
“Strangely enough, I didn’t have to remind her that she had a granddaughter,” Mom said to me under her breath.
“I didn’t hear you, what was that?” Nan asked.
“Oh, it was nothing.” Mom laughed.
I grinned and went upstairs to my room. When I opened the door I could see the journal on top of my bed.
“Clay,” I called. “Did you keep looking in the basement today?”
“No.” He walked out of the closet. “The pages aren’t there.” He sighed. “We’ll find them, Anna. We will. He had his reasons.”
“I’m just thinking, like, where?” I shrugged.
It seemed so silly to take those pages away. It seemed silly to me, anyway. But we had time to focus on that, I guess now it was time to head to Tia’s place.
“You got any plans tonight?” I grinned at Clay.
“What are you getting at?” he asked.
It was Clay’s first time at Tia’s house. He looked super uncomfortable as he and Taz eyeballed each other.
“Your first time seeing a real dog?” I asked Clay.
“Yeah, it’s…a lot to wrap my head around.”
“He’s really not that complex,” Tia said. “Not like meeting your childhood best friend’s imaginary friend.” Tia grinned at him. “You ready to head out?” she said to me.
“Ugh, I don’t know. House parties are a lot.” I sank into her beanbag chair.
“Don’t get cold feet on me now.” Tia sank down beside me and nudged my shoulder. “C’mon, what’s the worst that can happen? I’ll be there with you.”
“She’s right,” Clay said. “You’ve been stressing a lot lately. Maybe letting loose isn’t such a bad idea.”
“Yeah, yeah, yeah,” I said. “The faster this party is over, the faster I’m in bed.”
“That’s the spirit!” Tia laughed.
“Who’s all going to be there?” I asked, knowing I wouldn’t know any of them, and most of them probably wouldn’t remember me.
“No way, Taylor and the girls will be there, they love you.”
“Whatever.” I laughed. “Taylor probably thinks I’m the biggest dork after seeing me at Wades, but I guess now you know why I was there.” I pointed at Clay’s shirt.
“I kinda figured.” Tia grinned. “But I’m still down for the revolution. You know that, right?”
“Stop it!” I laughed.
“Taylor, she was one of the girls at your birthday party, right?” Clay asked Tia.
“Yeah…yeah, that’s right.” Tia said. “Normally I would think it was creepy you knew, but I’m sure you must be familiar with a lot of folks from Anna’s past, right?”
Clay nodded. “I am. I replay the memories a lot, usually whenever I’m alone.”
Tia’s smile turned to a frown when she heard that. Clay didn’t live a very exciting life, and there we were getting ready to go to a party right in front of him.
“Oh, Clay….” Tia put her hands on her head.
“I didn’t mean for it to sound like that!” Clay said. His grey cheeks began to turn warm pink; it was the cutest blush I’d ever seen. “I’m not saying I’m not lonely….”
“We can fix that.” I smiled.
“Wait, what do you mean?” He asked.
“It’ll be a surprise.” I put the journal in my bag.
“I’m not sure I like where this is going.”
“Time to go,” I said, ignoring Clay. Tia and I walked out the door. I had offered to be DD, since I wasn’t a big drinker anyway. Tia took the passenger seat and I put Grampy’s truck in drive.
Bobby’s grandparents lived somewhere along the way to Cape Forchu. I drove slowly down the dark road, but it wasn’t too hard to find. There was one house that looked super small, but had lots of cars parked in the driveway and along the road. The lights were on and music was blasting.
“My intuition says this is the spot,” I said, trying to find a place to park.
“Your intuition is right,” Tia replied. “So, what’s your plan with the journal?”
“I’m gonna give Clay something new to remember.” I put the truck in park and got out, knowing the journal was in my bag. When we reached the house I could hear people cheering and loud music bumping.
When we got through the front door there were shoes all over the place. I felt like I had to watch every step as Tia pulled me through a crowd of people cheering and yelling. The music was a mixture of hip-hop and new country. And no, it was not a good mix.
“Tia!” I heard a voice float above the crowd.
“Look, there’s Laura!” Tia said to me.
“Hey, girl.” Laura pushed past everyone and pulled Tia into a hug. “And you brought Annaka!” My new-name memo must not have stuck. “I’ve been trying to find you at school but you’ve haven’t been around too much.” She slid over and gave me a hug that was a little too tight.
“Hi there.” I let out a breath. “It’s just Anna now. It’s good to see you, Laura.”
“Why haven’t I been able to find you at school?” Laura asked.
“Because she’s a rebel now,” Tia intervened. “Got a big old truck and everything. Starting revolutions at Wade’s Clothing too.”
I shook my head and couldn’t help but grin.
“I feel like we never really got to touch base yet.” Laura was saying. “Again, I’m sorry about your granddad. I lost mine a couple years ago, and it’s hard. It really is. But trust me when I say it gets easier in time.”
I nodded and tried to smile. I felt like the party was going to be a lot of that. And it was.
Taylor and Lucy eventually came over, and they all began taking about memories I was never a part of. I wasn’t sad because of it, I just wanted to explore a bit. I made my way to the basement to find
