“Krista stayed here, too,’ I continued. “She teaches fifth grade at Lakeview Elementary. We shared an apartment for a few years after graduation while I completed my Masters and she started teaching. Then each of us bought our own houses. We live just a block apart. The last time I was in our hometown was when I helped my folks move a few years ago; I spent two weeks helping them pack up the old house. I missed the last two class reunions, too, as they happened during the summer months when I was teaching; but I keep up with most of our old friends on social media.”
“I loved your house, so many memories. Great second story window access, too,” Matthew said with smile as he raised his eyebrows suggestively. Just the mention of my bedroom window almost brought me to tears again. I quickly pushed the memory down and forced a smile on my face. Even though Matty was always welcome at my house, and in fact came home with me after school and sporting events many days, in the summer between the sixth and seventh grades, he had taken to sneaking into my room at night by climbing up the trellis below my bedroom and crawling through the window. He would have been perfectly welcome ringing the doorbell and using the front door, but the window became another one of the things we liked to keep just between us.
“So, how are your folks?” I asked in an attempt to bring the conversation back to him. I was never close to Steve and Nancy Boyd. While my parents provided an inviting home with an open-door policy where my friends were always welcome, Matthew’s house felt like a corporate office complex with minimal decorations and hallways filled with closed doors. The Boyd’s always smiled politely at me, but I got the impression that they disapproved of my friendship with their son. Somehow, they always made me feel that I just wasn’t good enough to be with Matty, even if it was just as a friend. I knew they envisioned Matthew going on to play football at a prestigious school before joining his dad’s firm and marrying a gorgeous woman of equal stature. I was a quiet, simple girl who wasn’t impressed by their wealth; I’m sure they wondered why Matty was friends with me at all, much less best friends.
“Oh, same old pair, I guess,” Matty replied with a roll of his eyes. “I see my dad around the office, of course; he’s now Vice-President, just one step away from heading the entire company. My mom is completely wrapped up in her charity work and social circle, although she does expect me to attend weekly dinners with her and my father. My dad is always out schmoozing clients, and they have frequent parties at their house for their friends along with my dad’s colleagues. And when he isn’t working, he is golfing. So, they are pretty much the same as they were when you knew them, only on a larger scale. At least in their minds,” he added with a sarcastic grunt.
“What do you do in your free time?” I asked Matty hesitantly. I was honestly afraid of the answer; I did not want to hear about him dating and partying. For years, I had held onto my idealized version of him with me as the only girl in his life, and I didn’t want to let that go. Which was silly, as it wasn’t like I hadn’t dated or gone out, myself. But I also didn’t think Matty had held on to memories of me the same way I had of him.
“Well, I work a lot,” he replied. “Not just at the office, but I also travel quite a bit, visiting corporations and organizations, such as the Miller Sports Foundation, where my meetings this week are, to see if they want to partner with us on our youth initiatives. I am honestly not home that often; I have a small apartment not far from the office so that I can walk to work. Pretty much everything I need is on my block: grocery store, pharmacy, bank. The rest I just order online. There are lots of little restaurants and cafes in the area, so it is easy for me to grab food or coffee whenever I like. I would love to take advantage of the beach more, but even though it is technically close by, the California traffic makes it a pain to get to. It’s been months since I’ve actually been there,” he confessed.
“Bummer,” I said, feeling silly for using such a childish word. But I was feeling like a kid again talking to Matty. “My parents live near the beach in Florida, so it’s one of the benefits of them retiring there. They live on the Gulf Coast; the water there is so clear and warm, much calmer than on the Atlantic side. I try to get down there a few times a year, including at Christmas. Plus, there is so much to do in Florida, not just the beaches but the theme parks, attractions, dining, shopping. If I wasn’t so
