Memories Never Die

Michael

I remember when I first met Ava Scott in pre-school. I realize that most people can’t remember being three and four, but I guess I’m special that way.

But anyways, I met her while we were playing on the playground. She was throwing a ball around and it hit me in the back of the head. Our meeting was that strange, and painful, and we ended up being best friends. She was just so much fun to be with. If you lived in the small town of Durango, Colorado, you’d understand that finding fun is hard.

During the summer we had fun riding our bikes around town and sitting at home watching TV. And during the winter we would spend all day making snowballs and hurling them at each other, then going inside to have some hot chocolate.

But then fifth grade came around and she moved away and the times we spent not talking got longer and longer until we stopped talking altogether. I didn’t realize until she moved that I’d liked her. But being a kid, I didn’t understand those kinds of feelings. Hell, Ava was supposed to have cooties and I was supposed to chase her around the playground and pull her pigtails.

Once we stopped talking, I had to move on. I was angry at Ava because it felt like she didn’t feel like putting in the effort. In my eyes, she was letting our relationship go without a fight.

One day, shortly before I graduated high school, when I saw her in movies and magazines, it just angered me more. Mostly because it was like she’d moved on and I hadn’t.

I’d always dreamed of graduating with my best friend. But apparently she was too busy being famous and making money.

Over the next few years, I lived my life until I saw her again after so long. I moved out to California and wasn’t used to the snow-less winters. But if I hadn’t left Durango, I wouldn’t have had that awkward reunion that I can play clearly in my head.

I can remember the very day I saw her. I hadn’t recognized her until she spoke, then I knew it was her.

I was at a coffee shop on a blustery winter afternoon. The shop was almost empty, like it usually was and the warmth of the heater felt relaxing against my cold body. I sat down at an empty table near a woman who looked up at me, stared at me for a second, then returned to whatever she was doing. Something about her was extremely familiar but I couldn’t quite figure it out.

“Anything else you need?” I heard the waitress ask the woman.

“No, thank you I’m fine,” she answered indifferently, which made me immediately know who she was.

“Ava!” I yelled, jumping out of my chair and pointing at her. She jumped at my surprising loud voice. I could see her perfectly now. She had the same emerald green eyes and the brown hair, only it got way darker. It was almost blonde when we were little, and now it was borderline black.

“Yes, I know, I’m Ava Scott. Whoop-dee-doo,” she said blankly as she returned to whatever she was doing.

“No Ava, don’t you remember me?” I asked as I rushed over to her. She stood up from her table and backed away from me as she stared at me. Her eyes widened and she started laughing.

“Michael!” she yelled as she threw herself into my arms, wrapping me in a hug. She broke the hug after a few seconds and gave me a huge grin.

“How are you?” she asked as she tucked her dark brown hair behind her ear.

“I’m doing fine. How are you?” I asked awkwardly.

“I’m fine. Life is good, y’know…” she mumbled softly.

“Ava, you look like you’re ready for a blizzard. We don’t live in Colorado anymore, it’s not going to snow,” I laughed, pointing to the trench coat that laid on her table.

“Well, you know I’ve never been good in any kind of cold,” she said, gliding her fingertips on the fur the lined the collar of the coat.

“Oh yeah, I know.” I laughed.

We spent the next hour talking about the times we spent when we were kids and how our lives were currently.

“So you’re still doing modeling and movies and things?” I said.

“Not so much now but I do jobs now and then,” she said. She took her phone out of her purse and gasped when she saw what time it was.

“I didn’t realize it was so late, I’ve got to be going.” she said.

“Will I see you later?” I asked, standing up with her. She stayed silent, trying to think of something to say.

“I have an idea. Why don’t you come to my house for dinner. Y’know, you continue this conversation,” she offered.

“Sure! I’d love to!” I said enthusiastically.

We walked outside and opened the door to slight rain. We got in our cars and we both waited for the heat in our cars to kick in.

We drove for about ten, fifteen minutes before we got to her house. I hadn’t realized that I’d driven by this house thousands of times. It wasn’t surprising that I didn’t think anything of it. It was a regular, two story house that was a faded blue color with white shutters that were closed.

“Your house is so…ordinary,” I said as I got out of my car.

“What were you expecting? A huge mansion with a garage the size of a Disneyland parking garage?” Ava giggled as she grabbed an umbrella from the passenger side of her car and opened it.

“Yeah, sorta.” I laughed as I got under the umbrella with her. We raced to the door and she rushed for the keys inside her purse. She was about to unlock the door when it opened. A man stood at the door and for a second I thought we were at the wrong house.

“Ava, you’re home,” he said, moving out of the way so we could walk in. The man was about my height, but he had scruffy, golden brown hair with a five o’clock shadow and looked like he could beat me five times before I even hit the ground. He didn’t have huge muscles or anything, just the look on his face. He looked mean.

“Michael this is Jason…my husband,” Ava said. My heart began to pound to a point where I feared that it would explode.

“Jason, this is Michael. I told you about him. He was my best friend when we were little,” she said, looking from me to Jason.

“Nice to meet you…Michael,” Jason said in a deep, almost booming voice as he extended his hand to shake.

“Nice to meet you too Jason,” I replied, grabbing his hand and shaking. We shook for a second until a small boy came running down the hall. I looked at the boy and my heart almost stopped when I noticed that he was a complete clone of Ava.

“And who is this little guy?” I asked playfully, smiling at the little boy. He stared at me with the same huge emerald eyes that Ava had.

“This is…my son.” she said softly.

“What’s your name?” I asked, trying to keep calm.

“My name is Christopher,” he said with a smile.

“How old are you Christopher?” I asked again.

“I’m ten,” he replied, suddenly getting bored with me.

“Why don’t you go in your room and I’ll tell you when dinner is ready ok?” Ava said sweetly, kissing Chris’s forehead. He scrunched up his face in disgust at his mother hugging him and ran off into his room.

If Christopher was ten, that had to mean that Ava was only a teenager when she had him. When we were talking at the coffee shop, she didn’t mention anything about being married or having a child.

“I’m going to go outside and have a smoke, I’ll let you two catch up,” Jason announced as he walked out the back door with a lighter and cigarette in his hands.

“So…were you planning on telling me that you had a family?” I asked.

“Of course I was,” she replied softly.

“May I ask how this happened?” I asked.

“Well, I was sixteen and I met Jason and we dated for awhile and then I got pregnant with Christopher, and you know how my parents are. They flipped and insisted I married him. Me and Jason didn’t want to get married.” she explained.

“Well seeing as you’re all famous and everything, why didn’t the media and paparazzi hound you?” I asked.

“I stayed out of the public eye until after I had Christopher, then I was able to play it off like he was my baby cousin or something,” she answered.

Ava hung her head and folded her arms across her chest.

“He’s not a good husband,” she mumbled softly.

“Does he hurt you?!” I asked urgently.

“No, no, no! Of course not!” she answered without hesitation.

“Then what do you mean?” I said.

“He’s just…distant. He never really wanted to be a part of Christopher’s life anyway. I know that he goes out and cheats on me. And I’m not surprised,” she explained in a soft tone so Jason couldn’t hear her.

“Then leave him,” I suggested.

“I’m staying with him for Chris’s sake. I don’t want him to live in a broken family,” she said softly.

I sighed and processed all the new information. I wanted to just walk out of her house and never come back. But she was back in my life and I wasn’t about to let her out of my life again. I was determined to save her marriage, although there was nothing there to begin with.

If you’re forced to marry someone when you’re not even eighteen yet, there are very low chances that the marriage will work. But I knew I had to at least try for Ava. I knew it would hurt me, but this wasn’t about me.