Finding the Ties
Was it a lie?
“Emily, can you tell me how it feels to be Mrs. Justin Timberlake?” I smiled up at my best friend, role playing and fake interviews were just part of our daily lives.
“Oh, definitely. It’s the greatest feeling, I have no words to describe it. It’s everything I imagined and more!” She laughed as she twirled around in a circle and fell to the ground laughing.
I shut of my recorder, dropped my steno pad, and fell to the ground as well. Before I knew it we were both giggling hysterically and rolling around like dogs. I’m not sure if we were laughing at the thought of Emily actually marrying Justin Timberlake, or the fact that she had actually put on her white flower girl’s dress from her cousin’s wedding. Either way, this was a typical afternoon for Emily and I. Each day would bring Emily to be a new character in my notepad full of questions and answers, and each day I would become a new journalist, with a new purpose.
“I can’t believe you actually put on that dress. Do you know how ridiculous you look?” I was still laughing.
“I know, I know. I just had t do it. Just admit it, it made the interview a hundred times better, and you know it,” she smiled as she slowly shifted her body into a sitting position.
“It certainly made it funnier.” Emily grabbed my hand and pulled me up off of the floor. “I mean, can you imagine JT marrying a girl in a dress that’s too short and is covered in hot pink flowers?”
“Well, no,” she laughed. “But, hey, a girl can dream, right? One day, I will be Mrs. Timberlake and you’ll look back on this day and laugh, and I’ll just say I told you so!”
I positioned myself so that I was standing directly in front of Emily, I raised my left hand up and laced my fingers between hers, I raised my right arm and placed it on her back, just below her shoulder. I could feel the warmth radiating off her skin as she placed her hand on my back, before I knew it we were dancing like a happily married couple.
“Tell me, Mr. Timberlake, what it feels like to be married to the prettiest, most amazing girl on the planet,” she smiled up at me, obviously trying to hold back an explosion of laughter.
“Oh,” I replied in the manliest voice I could. “It feels like I’ve landed on a cloud, and I’m never coming down. It’s such an emotional high that I just can’t take it. I just want to kiss her all night long,” and with that I leaned in, closed my eyes, and puckered my lips. Of course I was only joking; I would never kiss my best friend, I was just anxious to see her reaction.
“Ew! Ew! Ew!” she screamed as she dropped her hand from mine. “Quit being such a freak! What’s your problem! Oh my God I can’t believe you just did that!”
“Emily, chill out. I was only trying to ruin your fun. I wasn’t actually going to kiss you, idiot.”
“Well, that wasn’t very nice!” She hit me upside the head with my note pad. I suppose I deserved that.
That was thirteen years ago, Emily and I were just two twelve year old girls with a dream. Every Saturday we would take turns living in our own personal fantasy worlds. She would pretend to be a model for a high fashion line and I would practice my photography skills. I would pretend to be a journalist for Rolling Stone magazine and she would take turns being married to the most attractive men in music.
The bench in Cental Park is cold beneath my legs and snow is beginning to fall. The tiny flakes are starting to accumulate amongst the barren branches of the New York City trees, blanketing them in a sea of white. From the corner of my eye I see Emily, a tall, thin young woman coming around the block. Her long red hair is wavy and graces the sides of her face, her brown eyes are accentuated by thick eyeliner, her lips outlined in subtle pink. I can barely hear the noise her heels are making as she walks across the pavement above the hustle and bustle of the cars on the road.
“Mhmm, I got it. 3:15 tomorrow afternoon. Ventura studios, 115 8th Avenue. Seventeen magazine cover shoot. Yup, see you then,” Emily said, cell phone plastered to her ear.
She sat down beside me on the bench smiling as she shoved her phone back into her brown messenger bag.
“Did you just hear that, I got the cover of Seventeen. Me, me Anna, me! I got it!”
“I know! Congratulations, you totally deserve it sweetheart!” I wrapped my arms around her and embraced her in a long, warm hug. It may not be the cover of Vogue, but every girl has to start somewhere.
She smiled again. “So, I hear you have some good news to share as well?”
I ran my fingers through my long, blonde hair and slowly situated it behind my ears.
“Josh and I got engaged, I’m getting married!”
“Let me see the ring, let me see the ring!” Emily shouted with excitement.
I pulled my left hand out of the warm comfort of my coat pocket and placed it in front of her face, allowing her to examine the beautiful diamond ring that now embraced my finger.
“It’s absolutely stunning!” she said as she pulled me into a hug. “Congratulations, I always knew you would be together!”
“Emily,” I shifted my eyes back and forth, I wasn’t sure if she’d have the time for what I was about to ask her. I didn’t want to hold her back from her newly rising career, but I can’t imagine my wedding any other way. “Would you be my maid of honor?”
“Oh, honey, I’d love to!” she jumped off the bench. Her right arm extended outward and slowly grasped my hand. “Shall we start planning?!” she pulled me off the park bench. For a moment, I lost myself in my thoughts, picturing Josh waiting for me at the end of the aisle smiling from ear to ear. His shaggy brown hair was combed back and his green tie perfectly accentuated his hazel eyes. The pianist began to play and suddenly I began to imagine myself –
“Anna, you really love him, don’t you?” Emily was looking down at me, giggling.
It was at that moment I knew my life was a lie. The mere mention of the word “him” caused my heart to skip a beat. Ryan Klein, I thought to myself. How is he doing? Is his hair still short and shaggy, does it still perfectly compliment his baby blue eyes? Are his lips still soft and smooth? Does he still drive that beat up Chevy truck? Does he still love me like I love him?
Ryan and I dated for three years during high school; we had that puppy love kind of relationship that everyone was jealous of. We were prom king and queen and voted Richmond High School’s “cutest couple” of the class of 2004. I broke things off with him that summer before Emily and I left to chase our dreams in the city that never sleeps. I had known I would miss him, but I never realized I would still love him. Is it possible that all this time I’ve been covering up my feelings for him and pretending like I truly cared for Josh?
“Anna, Anna! Snap out of it!” Emily lightly tapped the side of my face, trying to wake me out of my daydream.
“I’m sorry, I’ve got to go, I just can’t do this right now, I just can’t!” As I slowly turned away from my best friend I realized two things about myself. Following my dreams led me to a dark and despair dead end, and I was unconditionally in love with Ryan Klein.
“Oh, definitely. It’s the greatest feeling, I have no words to describe it. It’s everything I imagined and more!” She laughed as she twirled around in a circle and fell to the ground laughing.
I shut of my recorder, dropped my steno pad, and fell to the ground as well. Before I knew it we were both giggling hysterically and rolling around like dogs. I’m not sure if we were laughing at the thought of Emily actually marrying Justin Timberlake, or the fact that she had actually put on her white flower girl’s dress from her cousin’s wedding. Either way, this was a typical afternoon for Emily and I. Each day would bring Emily to be a new character in my notepad full of questions and answers, and each day I would become a new journalist, with a new purpose.
“I can’t believe you actually put on that dress. Do you know how ridiculous you look?” I was still laughing.
“I know, I know. I just had t do it. Just admit it, it made the interview a hundred times better, and you know it,” she smiled as she slowly shifted her body into a sitting position.
“It certainly made it funnier.” Emily grabbed my hand and pulled me up off of the floor. “I mean, can you imagine JT marrying a girl in a dress that’s too short and is covered in hot pink flowers?”
“Well, no,” she laughed. “But, hey, a girl can dream, right? One day, I will be Mrs. Timberlake and you’ll look back on this day and laugh, and I’ll just say I told you so!”
I positioned myself so that I was standing directly in front of Emily, I raised my left hand up and laced my fingers between hers, I raised my right arm and placed it on her back, just below her shoulder. I could feel the warmth radiating off her skin as she placed her hand on my back, before I knew it we were dancing like a happily married couple.
“Tell me, Mr. Timberlake, what it feels like to be married to the prettiest, most amazing girl on the planet,” she smiled up at me, obviously trying to hold back an explosion of laughter.
“Oh,” I replied in the manliest voice I could. “It feels like I’ve landed on a cloud, and I’m never coming down. It’s such an emotional high that I just can’t take it. I just want to kiss her all night long,” and with that I leaned in, closed my eyes, and puckered my lips. Of course I was only joking; I would never kiss my best friend, I was just anxious to see her reaction.
“Ew! Ew! Ew!” she screamed as she dropped her hand from mine. “Quit being such a freak! What’s your problem! Oh my God I can’t believe you just did that!”
“Emily, chill out. I was only trying to ruin your fun. I wasn’t actually going to kiss you, idiot.”
“Well, that wasn’t very nice!” She hit me upside the head with my note pad. I suppose I deserved that.
That was thirteen years ago, Emily and I were just two twelve year old girls with a dream. Every Saturday we would take turns living in our own personal fantasy worlds. She would pretend to be a model for a high fashion line and I would practice my photography skills. I would pretend to be a journalist for Rolling Stone magazine and she would take turns being married to the most attractive men in music.
The bench in Cental Park is cold beneath my legs and snow is beginning to fall. The tiny flakes are starting to accumulate amongst the barren branches of the New York City trees, blanketing them in a sea of white. From the corner of my eye I see Emily, a tall, thin young woman coming around the block. Her long red hair is wavy and graces the sides of her face, her brown eyes are accentuated by thick eyeliner, her lips outlined in subtle pink. I can barely hear the noise her heels are making as she walks across the pavement above the hustle and bustle of the cars on the road.
“Mhmm, I got it. 3:15 tomorrow afternoon. Ventura studios, 115 8th Avenue. Seventeen magazine cover shoot. Yup, see you then,” Emily said, cell phone plastered to her ear.
She sat down beside me on the bench smiling as she shoved her phone back into her brown messenger bag.
“Did you just hear that, I got the cover of Seventeen. Me, me Anna, me! I got it!”
“I know! Congratulations, you totally deserve it sweetheart!” I wrapped my arms around her and embraced her in a long, warm hug. It may not be the cover of Vogue, but every girl has to start somewhere.
She smiled again. “So, I hear you have some good news to share as well?”
I ran my fingers through my long, blonde hair and slowly situated it behind my ears.
“Josh and I got engaged, I’m getting married!”
“Let me see the ring, let me see the ring!” Emily shouted with excitement.
I pulled my left hand out of the warm comfort of my coat pocket and placed it in front of her face, allowing her to examine the beautiful diamond ring that now embraced my finger.
“It’s absolutely stunning!” she said as she pulled me into a hug. “Congratulations, I always knew you would be together!”
“Emily,” I shifted my eyes back and forth, I wasn’t sure if she’d have the time for what I was about to ask her. I didn’t want to hold her back from her newly rising career, but I can’t imagine my wedding any other way. “Would you be my maid of honor?”
“Oh, honey, I’d love to!” she jumped off the bench. Her right arm extended outward and slowly grasped my hand. “Shall we start planning?!” she pulled me off the park bench. For a moment, I lost myself in my thoughts, picturing Josh waiting for me at the end of the aisle smiling from ear to ear. His shaggy brown hair was combed back and his green tie perfectly accentuated his hazel eyes. The pianist began to play and suddenly I began to imagine myself –
“Anna, you really love him, don’t you?” Emily was looking down at me, giggling.
It was at that moment I knew my life was a lie. The mere mention of the word “him” caused my heart to skip a beat. Ryan Klein, I thought to myself. How is he doing? Is his hair still short and shaggy, does it still perfectly compliment his baby blue eyes? Are his lips still soft and smooth? Does he still drive that beat up Chevy truck? Does he still love me like I love him?
Ryan and I dated for three years during high school; we had that puppy love kind of relationship that everyone was jealous of. We were prom king and queen and voted Richmond High School’s “cutest couple” of the class of 2004. I broke things off with him that summer before Emily and I left to chase our dreams in the city that never sleeps. I had known I would miss him, but I never realized I would still love him. Is it possible that all this time I’ve been covering up my feelings for him and pretending like I truly cared for Josh?
“Anna, Anna! Snap out of it!” Emily lightly tapped the side of my face, trying to wake me out of my daydream.
“I’m sorry, I’ve got to go, I just can’t do this right now, I just can’t!” As I slowly turned away from my best friend I realized two things about myself. Following my dreams led me to a dark and despair dead end, and I was unconditionally in love with Ryan Klein.
♠ ♠ ♠
Thoughts?