Faded Memories

“Abby,” Cameron said in a serious tone, “just drop the bag.” I hesitated, still gripping tightly onto the garbage bag. I told Cameron that I needed him to help me with something. Well, this is what I needed help with: throwing away all the things Daniel gave me. Inside the garbage bag was a bunch of letters, CD’s, and pretty much more useless junk. Cameron thought it was a good idea to give away the stuffed animals and clothes to the Salvation Army. You know what they say: another person’s trash is another person’s treasure. I bit the bottom of my lip, still holding the bag above the trash can. “Abby,” he repeated, “just drop it.”

I closed my eyes shut and dropped the bag. It landed with a bang. I opened my eyes and saw Cameron applauding. I sighed of relief. It was good to let things go.

He asked me, crossing his arms, “How do you feel?”

“I feel,” I struggled to find the right words, “I feel good.” I linked arms with him as we headed outside to his car. He opened the passenger door for me and closed it once I sat down. He walked around the front of the car, opened the driver’s door and sat down. “Thanks for all the support,” I thanked him.

He inserted his keys into the ignition, making the car start before replying, “It’s no problem, at all.” He placed his hand behind my seat and looked behind him as he pulled out of the driveway of my house. I leaned forward and turned on the radio only to have one of Cameron’s favourite songs play. I devious look was painted onto my face knowing that as soon as the lead singer would start singing, he would be singing too.

“She has no problem with secrets. She knows how to keep them. She never felt the need to let them show,” I began to sing by myself while his mouth stayed shut. I knew he really wanted to sing along, but the windows were open causing him to stay quiet. I continued to sing as the chorus came up belting out every word, “She, she is the words that I can’t find. How can the only thing that’s killing me make me feel so alive and I couldn’t speak. I couldn’t breathe to save my life.” I nudged him, waiting for him to continue singing the rest for me. I nudged him once more and told him in the middle of the chorus, “Come on, Cameron. I know you want to sing.”

Finally, he began to quietly sing the second verse, “My vocal chords have been fighting. My mouth likes to spite me. It never says the words that come to mind.”

By the time the chorus came around again, Cameron and I singing so loud that we received odd looks from other drivers. We’d smile at them as we would sing along to every word.

“All of my chances swim like sinking ships. This time it’s it. I’ll drown or make her mine,” we sang the last line before laughing until our stomachs hurt.

“I can’t believe we just did that,” he said still laughing. “Did you see the looks we got from other people? They probably thought we were crazy.”

“They just can’t handle the fact that we’re amazing,” I added.

After singing along to more songs and laughing at how ridiculous we were, we arrived at the Salvation Army place. We got out of the car and Cameron offered to carry the box of stuff. He pushed open the door with his back and waited for me to walk in.

“What a gentleman,” a woman behind a counter said. “It’s nice to know that chivalry isn’t dead.”

Cameron dropped the box onto the floor and leaned against the wall. I went up to the counter, “I have some things I’d like to donate.” I pointed to the box on the floor.

The woman was filled with joy, “Well, you’ve come to the right place! You can just drop the box in the back. Just keep walking straight and you should see a room where it says ‘donations’ on the door.”

Cameron picked up the box and made his way to the back, flashing me a quick smile before disappearing. Just when I was about to walk away, the woman made a comment.

“You sure are lucky to have a boyfriend like him.” She folded her arms and leaned on the counter.

“Oh no,” I told her. “He’s not my boyfriend. He’s just one of my really good friends.”

“Oh honey,” she playfully pushed me with her hand, “I beg to differ. I see the way he looks at you, sweetie. He’s head over heels for you.”

I shook my head and disagreed with her. Come on, Cameron and I are best friends. Sure, he probably treats me differently than the way he may treat other girls but he’s just Cameron: my best friend. Right when I was about to tell her, my words were held back once Cameron came back.

As we were walking away, I could faintly hear the woman yell to me, “Remember what I said, sweetheart: head over heels.”



I kicked my feet back and forth while I watched the guys perform A Different Side of Me over and over again. The boys were rehearsing in their rehearsal space for a concert they were having in a couple of weeks. At this point, the song was driving me insane and I was prepared to burst out in anger and show them the different side of me. Ha, what a lame joke but it was true.

“Can you guys play a different song, please?” I begged them. I closed my eyes and rubbed my temples in hopes of getting the song out of my head.

“What song do you want us to play?” Zach asked me as he ran his hand through his dark hair.

“Here With You,” I answered right away. “But the old version, please.” Michael counted to three with his drumsticks and the song began. Here With You had that special place in my heart. The bridge always got to me because I could relate to it. They did come in my life when I was down. When my parents passed away, things were really hard for my sister and I. Once we moved from Pheonix to San Diego, things became even harder since I had to leave my best friend, Tiffany, behind. Once they stepped into my life, they did color my world. It was great to have friends like them.

Once the song finished, I stood up from my chair and applauded them. They each took a bow and said thank you.

Nathan then snapped his fingers and remembered something, “Oh, we forgot to ask you something. We’re heading over to NYC to perform in a couple of weeks and we want to know if you want to come.”

I blinked a couple of times, my mouth open ajar. New York City? “Of course!” I said with too much enthusiasm. I couldn’t believe that I was going to NYC with the guys. Can you imagine all the great pictures I can take and all the awesome clothes I can buy? It was too much to handle. Yet, I didn’t realize that there was something better than all of this that was going to happen in New York City.