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Bittersweet Memories
Because sometimes it can be both...
This was, at the moment, the most dominant thought in my mind on this day, this Thursday afternoon that was normal, perfectly normal for most people.
But for me, and the hundred-something kids I’d left inside the memory-filled, U-shaped building across the street, it was special. It was important not only for the one obvious reason: Report Card pick-up, but important because it was the last day, the final day, that we, the “not ninth graders anymore but not quite tenth” would be all together in the same place, at the same time. It was the last time—that brief hour—that we’d be a class.
I could still remember my graduation ceremony clearly; the memories still fresh after a few days. I could remember the intense, nauseating heat of the large gym.
I could remember losing my voice after a quick twenty minutes. No, not even. Ten minutes of clapping, cheering, and screaming with and for all of my friends, and my voice was shot.
I could remember the slideshow, which I had somehow managed to convince Mme Wilson to do for us. The classes, five in total, aww-ed, guessed, and roared with laughter. Mostly at one of the final photos; of Mr. Jean-Pierre, a favourite teacher among all. The call, from one of the boys, was that J-P, a Frenchman who never wore pants, even in the dead of Canadian winter, (he was making an exception for grad) would be wearing shorts in his baby picture. And sure enough: no pants.
I remember the standing ovation Samantha got for her amazing, solo, acoustic performance of Avril Lavigne’s “Tomorrow”. She is, without a doubt, one of the most fearless people I’ve ever met. No joke.
The dance afterwards was pretty lame, as they usually were, but we had fun anyways. And, of course, it wasn’t without its’ drama. Something about Madison wanting to dance with Christian, or something like that. The final, clichéd song of the night was none other than Vitamin C’s “Graduation”, and a group of us girls shouted out the lyrics at the top of our lungs. But I stopped at the last verse, finding I couldn’t go on. My throat was getting unbearably tight.
By the time the song ended, everyone was back in the gym and the waterworks began. All the girls cried and hugs were passed around. I held Mitch the tightest. Not ever had I called him by his real name, Mitchell. And I never would. After him came Ryan, Andrew, all the girls, Anthony, Dylan, and Chase.
“There aren’t any tears in your eyes right?” The last asked as he held me. I managed a muffled, “No” into his shoulder.
“And you promise there aren’t gonna be any tears when I let go?”
I promised. No, the tears didn’t come until my friends, and the school, were finally out of sight.
“Hey.” I replied feebly. I wasn’t going to last much longer. “You’re late.”
He grinned, a little sheepishly. “Yeah. Overslept.”
I studied him a bit. Before me stood the guy I’d practically hated for three years, until he grew out of his cocky, somewhat jerky exterior in the last one. He became a friend, a pretty good one. And, I realized almost too late; the last Hillside I was going to see for a long time.
“Have you seen Luke?”
I nodded, waving my arm at the place from which I’d come. “Over there. He was with Jake and Noah, I think.”
It was his turn to nod, and with a “See you”, began to walk away. He’d almost stepped into the street before his name flew out of my mouth of its’ own accord. Daniel turned back questioningly. I opened my mouth, but no sound was coming out. I’m going to miss you was what I wanted to say, or something along those lines. But I couldn’t.
What I was thinking must have shown on my face, or the slight desperation behind the way I’d said his name, because the blonde, smiling in an almost amused way, moved in my direction. I had almost closed the space between us when he opened his arms, and I walked right into them. His grip was surprisingly tight, almost matching mine around his middle.
“Have fun at Ackers.” I heard coming from the area above my head. I smiled slightly in surprise. I hadn’t expected him to remember where I was headed in the fall; most of my guy friends hadn’t. It was nice.
He stepped back, and I gazed up at his “six-feet-something-ness”. I tried to burn the image of him in my head; His messy, dirty blonde mop of hair, his “sometimes green sometimes greyish-green” eyes, his wide smile. Because I knew I would not see Daniel; he and I did not hang out.
I would miss him. I would miss his cocky attitude, his not-good-but-amusing backtalk in Band, the way his whole face lit up when he laughed. I would miss his eyes. I had a thing for eyes like his.
“Bye, Danny boy.”
He’d never commented on my nickname for him, although many girls had.
“Bye.” He smiled one last time before finally walking away, leaving my eyes full of sunlight, and my head filled with bittersweet memories.
Reviews are appreciated!
Annie
