Somebody That I Used to Know

Later on in the day, the guys all left and Ronnie and I were in my car deciding where to go for lunch.

“Annie, if you love me we’ll go to your mom’s restaurant!” Ronnie exclaimed.

“Ronnie, that’s half an hour away and you always get the same exact thing that I could make at home.” I said, desperately wanting to go to Olive Garden since it was my favorite place to eat.

“Annie, I wanna see your mommy! And it always tastes different when you do it, and I miss your mom!”

I sighed before nodding my head, and turning onto the highway and beginning the journey to my mother’s small diner.

“Awe, I remember when we used to work there in high school and your mom used to feed me.” Ronnie said, remembering the more simple days of when we were just teenagers.

“Yeah, and I fucking hated your guts when we first moved here.” I said.

“Yeah, I remember that too. Thank god our parents were best friends.” he said, playing with the radio.

“Yeah, just like us. I wonder if your dad’s going to be there.” I wondered.

“He probably is, you know that you can never find one without the other.”

I chuckled a bit, thinking of how alike the relationship between our parents was like ours.

I hated my mother for making us move out here. We had lived in Ohio until last week when my father walked away and never came back.

“But why do we have to move, momma?” I asked with the lisp I had at six years old not doing a good job at helping me pronounce my words correctly.

“Ana, please, I know you don’t like it and I know it’s a big change, but it’s for the better. You get to meet your godfather and my best friend Russel; he has a son about your age.” she said.

I was about to speak when she parked the small silver car in front of a small house .

“Stacy, this is where I grew up.” she said, her big hazel/yellow eyes staring out at it happily. “This is where we’re living now. Right next door is my best friend.”

She got out of the car and went to the back door to open the door for me and pull me out. She held my hand as she walked to the front door. She showed me around the house, three bedrooms, one small study, two bathrooms, a nice kitchen and a warm living room with a brick fireplace.

“Do you like it? You’re going to sleep in my old room and I’ll be just across the hall.” she said.

I nodded my head and she knelt down on the floor, looking into my big green eyes.

“I love you more than anything, Ana. This is all for your own good, I promise. I’ll explain it all to you one day when you’re old enough. Now, come one, let’s go introduce you to my best friend.”

My mother and I walked out of the house and towards the house next door, she knocked on the door and a man opened it. He embraced her in a sweet hug.

“Ivana!” he exclaimed happily, “It’s been so long, and is this little Anastasia? She’s gotten so big. Please come it.”

“How are the boys doing?” she asked him.

“They’re both doing well considering everything. Ronnie’s right upstairs in his room and Riley’s at a friend’s house today.”

“Stacy,” my mother called, “why don’t you go on upstairs to play with Ronnie, make friends.”

I nodded my head, walking up the stair with my light blond hair held from my face by a blue clip. I walked down the hallway and stopped when I stood in front of an open door, the walls were white with drawing all over them and a boy about my age with dark brown hair sat on the small rug next to the bed with his Legos scattered in front of him. I didn’t think much of him, but little did I know that he would change my life forever.

I pulled up in the parking lot of the restaurant after what seemed like hours and Ronnie and I looked out at it. It was where Ronnie’s first band Escape the Fate had filmed their music video for ‘Not Good Enough For the Truth In Cliché’ and absolutely nothing had changed, it still had the same vibe to it that my mother adored and Ronnie’s fathers car was right parked outside of it. Ronnie and I got out of my car, meeting up in the front of it to grab onto each other’s hand before walking inside.

“Well look who we have here, if it isn’t Ana and Ronnie!” one of the waitresses said happily, making a few people turn to look at us.

Since it was basically a family owned diner, most of the workers knew who we were already and they all happily walked over to us, greeting us with hugs.

“Where are momma and dad?” Ronnie asked her.

Since we were little, Ronnie had called my mother momma and I had called his dad papa.

“Oh, in the kitchen as they always are. Why don’t the two of you take a seat and I’ll go fetch them for you.” she said kindly, gesturing to the stools by the counter before walking to the kitchen.

Ronnie and I took a seat and I sighed contently.

“This place brings back so many memories.” Ronnie said.

“It really does, we practically grew up here. Our parents opened it when we were, what, like ten years old?” I looked around only to have my eyes land on the wall that was covered in pictures of our makeshift family that consisted of our parents, Max, Ronnie’s old friends from his first band, and Ronnie and I.

“They still have those pictures up.” Ronnie said when he followed my gaze.

“Of course we do, why would we take them down?” I heard the familiar voice say.

Ronnie and I both turned to see my mother, her light brown hair in a neat ponytail as she wiped her hands off on a small red towel. Ronnie and I both smiled and practically jumped over the counter to hug her.

“And you, Mr. Radke, better not get into any more trouble.” my mother scolded once we both pulled away from her.

Ronnie chuckled and nodded his head.

“I promise, momma. Where’s my dad?” he asked.

“Fixing one of the sinks, there’s always something broken around here. Do you want anything, son…who am I kidding you’re always hungry.”

Ronnie chuckled again, “Yes, please feed me.”

She nodded her head and smiled at him.

“Are the two of you coming around for your birthday, and what about Christmas it’s practically a week away?”

“We probably will, after all, we don’t have much else to do. Why don’t you guys come out to visit us, we definitely have the space for it?” I offered.

My mother pursed her lips, nodding her head.

“Let’s see if we can convince Russel.” she said when she saw him come out from the kitchen.

I smiled happily when I saw the closest thing I ever had to a father walking towards the three of us. He smiled at us and I leaned over to hug him.

“Hey kids,” he said to the two of us before giving us hugs, “did you get hitched yet?”

I blushed as Ronnie groaned and my mother hit Russel with the towel in her hand.

“Now, Russel, we talked about this, they’ll marry each other when they’re good and ready. Now go back to the kitchen and help Al whip up some food for this poor kid. Poor Ronnie’s always hungry and you’re here talking about his love life! And did you fix the sink yet?” my mother said, nagging her best friend.

“Woman! Stop nagging me! I’ll get to it when I get to it!” he said, turning back to walk into the kitchen with my mother trailing behind him.

“I forgot how much momma nagged him.” Ronnie said with a distant smile on his face.

“Yeah, it kind of makes me look better when you think of it.”

“Did what they said about getting married and stuff bother you? I mean, I know we’re not together, but still.” Ronnie said.

I turned to look at him only to see that he was staring down at his folded hands in his lap.

“I…I don’t know. I mean, when we were younger it might have been more awkward, but now it’s just normal things people say.”

“So, what would you do if we started going out?” he asked me.

“We wouldn’t.”