Impact

“Talia Rose! The phone’s for you!”

“Mom! Why do you insist on calling me that, when my name is just Tally!” Tally Hayes groaned.

“Fine, ‘just Tally,’ Asher’s calling,” her mother responded with an “I-don’t-care” tone.

Tally picked up the phone in her room and smiled when she heard Asher’s voice.

“Hey Talls,” was the first thing he said. He was the only person that called her that, or at least, the only one she allowed to call her that. At five foot eight, Talia Hayes all but hovered over every single boy she had an interest in. It was almost unbearable, but sometimes, the height was advantageous.

“Hey Ash,” she said, smiling. “How are you?”

“Terrible. I need to talk to someone. And since my number one choice is six feet under, I was thinking you might be just as good of a pick.”

Once upon a time, around 2001, Tally had been a friend of Riley’s. Their fathers were best friends, but when Riley and Aimee’s father disappeared one day, they had all lost touch. Only in 2009 did Tally really reconnect, but that was when she had met Asher.

“Mom, why do you always insist on visiting our old house every freaking Christmas?” Tally had whined.

“Because memories, sometimes, are all you have!” her mother replied.

At that, the car jerked from slamming the brakes.

“Can’t you drive, mother?!”

“Talia Rose, this boy just came out of nowhere! What did you want me to do?!” her mother exclaimed, exasperated.

When Tally looked up, she saw a boy, a little short for his age, but definitely handsome. He looked like a deer caught in headlights, but Tally unbuckled her seatbelt and got out to greet him. Her sociable nature was what made her so amiable to many.

“Are you okay? I’m sorry, my mother drives like a monkey on marijuana sometimes!” Tally joked.

“I’m fine and so are you,” he replied with a wink and sheepish grin on his face.

Tally would have maybe even considered it if the boy wasn’t at least five inches shorter than her. Instead, she pretended to not notice and asked, “Which house do you live in?”

He pointed to the one that was next to her old house.

“Oh, so who lives in this one?” she asked, pointing to the home of her childhood.

“My best friend Riley,” Asher replied with a half-smile. “I’m Asher… and you are?”

“Talia Hayes. Call me Tally. I used to know a Riley,” she said with a chuckle. “That would be the biggest coincidence of my life, wouldn’t it?”

Indeed it was. Her mother had jumped for joy at the sight of an old friend and almost tackled the family. Tally had shyly smiled at Aimee and Riley, whom at one point were supposedly inseparable from her. Not that she could remember for her life.

Although Tally had spent the entire day with the Williams family, she only remained in touch with Asher. He had quickly become her best friend and a non-stop texting buddy.

“Sure thing, Ash. Vent away,” she said, smiling a little at her best friend’s intact humor after all he had been through.

“I don’t need to vent. I just want to ask you a question. How come I wasn’t the one who got hit by that car and Riley was? What makes me deserve to live and lets him die? Answer that, Talia. I need to know.”

It was the first time Talia had ever heard Asher Elan Goldman cry.