Sequel: Palm Trees ›
Seashells
ah, relationship problems
August 10th, 2007
It was almost time to leave the island again. I had no idea how I felt about that. Obviously not good, because I was leaving you along with the rest of my friends, but I also wouldn't be so confused about everything once I got home. I'd have a whole year to think before I saw you again. I didn't want to wait that long to see everyone again, but there was nothing I could do about it.
Things just went on as usual. On this particular day, we were supposed to meet up at the ice cream parlor. We were going to fulfill our tradition early, simply because we could. Sim and Matt were also planning to come. An hour before leaving the house, I got a call from Sim.
"I'm not going."
"What?" I said. "Why not?"
"I don't want to."
"Are you just going to leave me hanging like this? And more importantly, Matt?"
"Oh, he won't care," she said, laughing in a way that kind of scared me. There was nothing humorous about it. "Trust me."
"Did you guys have a fight or something?"
"I guess you could call it that."
"Well that sucks," I said, having no idea what else to say. I didn't want to keep asking questions because she'd probably either not answer or get pissed off. Or both. "I can talk to him for you if you want."
"No, don't," she said. I didn't realize it until afterwards that she sounded a little bit worried. "I'm serious, don't talk to him. It's not really your problem."
"If you say so," I said. If there was something going on, it wasn't that bad. Sim would be reacting much worse if something horrible happened, so I wasn't particularly worried. I was pretty curious though. "I gotta go soon, though."
"Have fun," she said. It didn't sound like she meant it.
I finished getting ready and then groaned to myself when I saw that the car wasn't in the driveway. This meant I would have to walk. I told myself that it would be exercise to cancel out the ice cream eating, but that didn't mean it was fun.
I got close to the ice cream parlor and remembered what you told me about your cousin. I didn't really want to think about it, but I wondered how you felt every time you came here. Did you try to block it out of your mind?
When the small building was in sight, I saw that the line was outrageous. I checked to see if you were already in line and you weren't. I got in line because I figured the sooner the better.
After about five minutes of standing in line, I heard someone say "Cassidy!" and I turned to see you sitting at one of the picnic tables next to the building. You started waving and I walked over, slightly annoyed that I had wasted five minutes of my life for nothing.
"Hey," I said, sitting down. I figured I could wait until the line got shorter to get my ice cream. You already had yours and I was looking at it enviously. I swear those rainbow sprinkles were calling my name. The only thing I thought was weird was the fact that you had the ice cream in a cup and not a cone like usual. You later told me that you just wanted to change it up, I guess.
"Here," you said, pushing the cup towards me. You got up and got another spoon from the window. "We can share so you don't have to stand in line for like ten hours."
"You sure?" I said. "I know how you are with other people eating your food."
"Well, I'm pretty sure you don't have AIDS or anything so we're all good," you said, smiling. "Besides, I can make an exception for our tradition."
"Okay," I said, smiling back. Then I started eating the ice cream and it was delicious. We were alone, too, which made it even better. "Where's Matt, by the way?"
"He stayed home," you said. "Something about not wanting to see Sim. What about her?"
"She said the same thing. Do you know what happened with them?"
"I think they broke up," you said, frowning a bit.
"Yeah, Sim can be harsh when she dumps people, I know."
"From what Matt told me, he broke up with her," you said.
"Really?" I asked. I was surprised to hear that. Matt didn't seem like the type to break up with people and Sim didn't seem like the type to get dumped. "Do you know why?"
"He said something about her being too demanding or something like that."
I could see that, I could definitely see that. Matt was way more laid-back than Sim would ever be. "So why would he be hiding from her?"
"He said he feels bad," you said. "Or maybe he's afraid she would murder him or something. I know I would be."
That was when I remembered that you also dated Sim, and I got a bit jealous. Irrationally jealous, but still jealous. "I hope this doesn't make things weird between everyone when we do stuff in groups or whatever."
"When Sim and I broke up nothing was weird," you said. "But nothing was serious, either."
"Sim and Matt weren't really serious," I pointed out.
"They were more serious than I was with her, though."
"That's true," I admitted.
"Truth is, she didn't make a very good girlfriend." You looked down as your spoon scraped the bottom of the styrofoam cup. I cringed at the sound it made. "You would be so much better."
It was almost time to leave the island again. I had no idea how I felt about that. Obviously not good, because I was leaving you along with the rest of my friends, but I also wouldn't be so confused about everything once I got home. I'd have a whole year to think before I saw you again. I didn't want to wait that long to see everyone again, but there was nothing I could do about it.
Things just went on as usual. On this particular day, we were supposed to meet up at the ice cream parlor. We were going to fulfill our tradition early, simply because we could. Sim and Matt were also planning to come. An hour before leaving the house, I got a call from Sim.
"I'm not going."
"What?" I said. "Why not?"
"I don't want to."
"Are you just going to leave me hanging like this? And more importantly, Matt?"
"Oh, he won't care," she said, laughing in a way that kind of scared me. There was nothing humorous about it. "Trust me."
"Did you guys have a fight or something?"
"I guess you could call it that."
"Well that sucks," I said, having no idea what else to say. I didn't want to keep asking questions because she'd probably either not answer or get pissed off. Or both. "I can talk to him for you if you want."
"No, don't," she said. I didn't realize it until afterwards that she sounded a little bit worried. "I'm serious, don't talk to him. It's not really your problem."
"If you say so," I said. If there was something going on, it wasn't that bad. Sim would be reacting much worse if something horrible happened, so I wasn't particularly worried. I was pretty curious though. "I gotta go soon, though."
"Have fun," she said. It didn't sound like she meant it.
I finished getting ready and then groaned to myself when I saw that the car wasn't in the driveway. This meant I would have to walk. I told myself that it would be exercise to cancel out the ice cream eating, but that didn't mean it was fun.
I got close to the ice cream parlor and remembered what you told me about your cousin. I didn't really want to think about it, but I wondered how you felt every time you came here. Did you try to block it out of your mind?
When the small building was in sight, I saw that the line was outrageous. I checked to see if you were already in line and you weren't. I got in line because I figured the sooner the better.
After about five minutes of standing in line, I heard someone say "Cassidy!" and I turned to see you sitting at one of the picnic tables next to the building. You started waving and I walked over, slightly annoyed that I had wasted five minutes of my life for nothing.
"Hey," I said, sitting down. I figured I could wait until the line got shorter to get my ice cream. You already had yours and I was looking at it enviously. I swear those rainbow sprinkles were calling my name. The only thing I thought was weird was the fact that you had the ice cream in a cup and not a cone like usual. You later told me that you just wanted to change it up, I guess.
"Here," you said, pushing the cup towards me. You got up and got another spoon from the window. "We can share so you don't have to stand in line for like ten hours."
"You sure?" I said. "I know how you are with other people eating your food."
"Well, I'm pretty sure you don't have AIDS or anything so we're all good," you said, smiling. "Besides, I can make an exception for our tradition."
"Okay," I said, smiling back. Then I started eating the ice cream and it was delicious. We were alone, too, which made it even better. "Where's Matt, by the way?"
"He stayed home," you said. "Something about not wanting to see Sim. What about her?"
"She said the same thing. Do you know what happened with them?"
"I think they broke up," you said, frowning a bit.
"Yeah, Sim can be harsh when she dumps people, I know."
"From what Matt told me, he broke up with her," you said.
"Really?" I asked. I was surprised to hear that. Matt didn't seem like the type to break up with people and Sim didn't seem like the type to get dumped. "Do you know why?"
"He said something about her being too demanding or something like that."
I could see that, I could definitely see that. Matt was way more laid-back than Sim would ever be. "So why would he be hiding from her?"
"He said he feels bad," you said. "Or maybe he's afraid she would murder him or something. I know I would be."
That was when I remembered that you also dated Sim, and I got a bit jealous. Irrationally jealous, but still jealous. "I hope this doesn't make things weird between everyone when we do stuff in groups or whatever."
"When Sim and I broke up nothing was weird," you said. "But nothing was serious, either."
"Sim and Matt weren't really serious," I pointed out.
"They were more serious than I was with her, though."
"That's true," I admitted.
"Truth is, she didn't make a very good girlfriend." You looked down as your spoon scraped the bottom of the styrofoam cup. I cringed at the sound it made. "You would be so much better."