The Time Capsule

Chapter Eighteen

James

I look around my old room. It hadn’t changed much since I moved out when I left for college. The walls are still a navy blue and the bedding is still black. Depressing maybe, but it works.

There’s a knock on my door and I tell them to come in, hoping it would be Selena but knowing that wouldn’t happen. Greg appears and doesn’t look all too happy. Which is surprising since he’s been unusually happy lately.

“what’s up?” I ask, putting my last thing back in the draw.

Greg walks all the way down and sits on one end of the bed, I had a feeling this wasn’t going to be a friendly conversation. “we need to talk about Selena.”

I sigh and take a seat across from him, “we’ve gone through this enough time Greg.”

He shakes his head, “this is more about what happened fourteen years ago.” Shit. He knows, which means Amber knows. Why would Selena tell them? “Don’t worry, I’m not about to beat you up or anything.”

“so you know about-”

“you cheating? Yeah, I do. But you see, I just don’t see you doing that to her.” I scratch the back of my neck nervously. I’d never really told anyone about that day. “But again, don’t worry, that’s not why I’m here either.”

“then what exactly is this talk about?”

“Selena, as I’m sure you recall, became very depressed after that. And she wouldn’t let Amber or I around her at all. That’s how the group really got torn apart. We’ve always blamed you but in reality, it was all Selena’s doing. You see, she had this sick idea that Amber and I would have had to choose between you two because of the break-up. So she took herself out of the picture, thinking that we’d choose you over her. Instead of facing that pain too, she just stepped out of the contest she made up.”

I was shocked to hear that. I knew she became depressed and too herself throughout high school, but I never thought that was what was going through her mind. “Hell, I wouldn’t even choose me over her.” I blurted out.

Greg chuckles, “yeah, we don’t know where she got that idea. But it did prove that she was what held us together. Without her we just fell apart.”

“and now she’s the one to bring us back together.”

“yeah, she is.” We sat there in silence, me taking in what I was just told. How could Selena think so lowly about herself? “may I ask exactly what happened that day?”

“what do you already know?” I ask, not wanting to give him the same information.

“All I know is that she caught you cheating.”

I nod, taking in a deep breath to tell him the whole story. Just as I was about to utter the words, the door flies open “Hey guys, we’re looking at photos downstairs. Want to join?” Amber was the one standing there, looking like she’d just gotten over laughing for a while.

“want to Greg?” He was just staring off into space, also known as Amber.

“uh, yeah, sure. Let’s head down.” We both get up and head downstairs, following Amber. Selena was sitting on the couch flipping through a photo album. My dad was the photographer of the family, and was never found without a camera. So he caught our best (And most embarrassing) moments.

When we appeared into the room, Selena was staring at a picture. I peek behind her and notice it’s the one that I had been talking about yesterday, when we kissed. “I hate to say I told you so.” I whisper in her ear and she jumps.

“what the hell James!!” I laughed at her reaction and she looked pissed. “it’s not funny.”

“It was pretty funny Selena.” I jump over the couch to sit next to her, looking at the photo of the two of us. It was one of my favorite pictures ever. Not only did we look so happy in it, but it was just adorable. Dorky, I know. But that’s how I feel about it. “Whatch’ya looking at?” I ask like a ten year old, peeking over her shoulder once again.

“none of your business Watson.”

I ignore the last name add on and go back to teasing her. I forgot how fun this could be. “aw, is that James Watson and Selena Lawrence kissing? I could never imagine that happening!” I can tell that Selena is trying not to laugh at me, which motivates me to continue. “There has to be some explanation for this. I mean, maybe the world is ending after all!” That last line did it and Selena, along with Greg and Amber, burst out laughing.

Selena closes the book and hits me with it, “you’re such a goof James.”

“ah, we’re back to first names now.” Her response was sticking her tongue out at me, how mature. “Now, I came down here to look at pictures, and looking at pictures is what we’re going to do.” I grab the book from her and open up to a random page, closer to the end.

That was a big mistake on my part. The page I opened up to was of Selena’s 14th birthday. It was a series of photos taken of the two of us, specifically when I gave her the bracelet. I asked my dad to secretly take the pictures, so Selena has never known they existed. Which would explain her attitude right now. “what are these?”

“aw, that’s your birthday Selena.” Amber comments, pointing at the words at the bottom of the page.

“I know when they were taken!” She turns to me with a glare, “What the hell are these James?!”

I knew she was mad, that was obvious, but it’s not every day Selena Lawrence swears at you. and honestly, it can be kind of frightening. “uh, I asked my dad, to um, photograph us that day..?”

I could see Greg and Amber slowly leave the room, knowing this discussion wasn’t for them. “And why in the world would you do that James?”

I take a deep breath, calming my nerves. The last thing I wanted to do was flip out on her. “look at these Selena.” I tell her, “remember that day, not that summer, not that year. Just the day. Just the scene that’s shown in front of you. Remember how my hands were shaking as I tried to latch the bracelet onto your wrist. And then I said-”

Selena cuts me off, “you told me you were sorry when you dropped it. Then finally it was put onto my left wrist.” She glances down at the bracelet that still lays there against her skin. “I was crying, that’s how happy I was at that moment.”

I notice tears rolling down her cheek and reach in to wipe them away, “Selena…”

Quickly, she pushes my hand away. “No, just leave me alone James.”

And once again, Selena walks out of the room before I can explain the whole story.
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So I've been putting off my new testament paper because I've been enjoying writing this too much. Is that a bad thing? I don't think so.
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