I grinned. "Remember that one talent show our high school had?" I said. "The principal- what was her name? Montez, that's right- was so angry when you came out unannounced with that electric guitar and practically started a riot!" I laughed. "Remember that?"
"Yeah, that was great," I chuckled. "She looked like her head was about to explode. And then I had the volume so loud the speakers nearly short-circuited. That poor custodian...he was standing right by the speakers..."
I laughed and looked around me. I remembered everything about this place, these people. They had no idea how I'd changed. I was half expecting Sunny to ask me where I'd been all those years, but part of me was afraid of answering. Because honestly, even I wasn't sure.
"This is actually really cool," I remarked. And it was--I hadn't seen Rose in forever, but suddenly we showed up at the same cafe. "I know I kind of fell off the edge of the map after high school, but it's good to be back for a change. So do you write for a living?"
I smiled a little sadly. "I used to," I said. "I used to write for the New York Times, but I quit to come back here." I gestured around. "I was mostly just a fact checker anyway."
"Oh, yeah, okay," I replied. "Journalism, and stuff. If you don't mind my asking...do you have something you wanted to do here, or did you just want to be someplace familiar?"
I bit my lip. "Well I guess you could say I came here to forget," I said. It sounded much more melodramatic out loud. "I mean, I don't really have a plan now that I think about it. So yeah, I guess I do just want to be somewhere familiar." I talked too fast. I always talked too fast when I wanted to cover something up.
I could tell Rose didn't want to talk about it, so I tried changing the subject. "Sure," I said. "I don't really have a plan, either. I was just supposed to be here for a few days, but then Cass asked me to watch the cafe for her...she's the owner."
I knew Cass from somewhere, but I couldn't remember where. Cass...Cass...I mentally snapped my fingers and nearly shouted, "Eureka!" "Cass...wasn't she the class president back in high school or am I dreaming?"
"Yup," I replied. "She was the class president. She was pretty much the class everything." Cass had been (and was still) a nerd--the kind that studied day and night for fun. She was a good friend, but she could be an overachiever sometimes.
Dogs love their friends and bite their enemies, quite unlike people, who are incapable of pure love and always have to mix love and hate. — Sigmund Freud
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