Back Into Your Arms
Chapter 13
“So I had my first drink because of jalapeño poppers?” I asked laughing.
“Those damn jalapeños” John said chuckling.
“You mentioned we took a picture together, show it to me” I demanded. He opened up the box and looked for the photo.
When he found it, he looked at it for a couple of seconds and then handed it to me.
“What is this?” I said looking at the photo, I was shocked.
“You never mentioned we kissed, why would we?” I demanded. The photo was an outline of two people kissing, with a sunset in the background. The kind of cheesy photos you find on Instagram now a day.
“Melody” is all he said in return to my question.
I sat silent looking at the photo.
My head was throbbing.
“You-you said we never dated!” I said to him feeling extremely upset he had denied it earlier.
“Melody, we truly never did date. We were two teenagers in love, we-”
“I don’t believe you John”
“Why would I lie to you?”
“I-I don’t know, maybe you have this obsession since high school and-and” I tried but there truly was no other explanation.
“But why am I barely hearing of you until now? I have no pictures of you, or anything related to you. Julie never talked to me about you” I said trying hard to remember something, “What else is in the box?”
“Everything you just said you didn’t have about me. All the things they threw away that I managed to save”
“They?”
“Your family”
“Why would my family throw away my things?”
“They thought it was best you forgot about me permanently”
“I-I don’t know what to think right now John”
“And that’s okay, this is why I waited to tell you today. This wasn’t something I could have explained at your job or at the concert…I’m still having a difficult time explaining it to you now”
“I appreciate your concern John, but I shouldn’t be finding out about this 10 years later. That’s why I’m upset…give me the box” I said reaching for it. He handed it to me. I opened it up and saw many more photos of us and letters.
I felt a stab in my heart.
He wasn’t lying.
“Oh gosh” I said as I looked through it. I had to hold back the tears.
“Give me your number” I said handing him my phone.
He obeyed.
“I’ll call you” I said taking my phone back and walking to the door with my box in hand. He was silent.
He opened the door for me and walked me out.
“Thank you for the memories” I said to him as I waved over a cab.
“They were yours all along” he whispered back.
I got on the cab, forcing myself not to look through the things again but as soon as I got to my apartment, I kicked off my shoes and sat on the couch. Opening the box again.
The people in the photos were John and I for sure, just much younger. He had funny emo hair and I clearly didn’t know how to wear makeup.
Pictures of us at concerts, at school, at the Grand Canyon.
CD’s he made for me.
Letters he wrote to me.
Notes we passed in class.
A song I wrote for him.
A guitar pick with my initials and his.
A lot of different dried orange roses, all with the date of when I received them.
So many things.
I felt robbed.
I felt lied to.
I felt confused.
It was almost as if I had a twin sister who pretended to be me and did all of these things.
I wanted my memories back, I wanted them back immediately.
I looked at our pictures again.
Wiping the tears from my face.
He told me to ask my brother what had happened.
I grabbed my phone, but didn’t have the guts to call him.
They had done such a good job hiding this for 10 years, there must have been a good reason. But regardless of the reason, they had no right to choose whether I wanted to remember John or not.
There was only one other person I could ask.
I grabbed my phone and dialed Julie’s number.
She answered right away.
“You’re calling pretty late, everything okay Melody?” she asked.
“Julie”
“Yeah?”
“Why did you never mention anything about John O’Callaghan?”
“MEL, what did you say?”
“JOHN O’CALLAGHAN, tall, hazel eyes, thin, my boyfriend from high school”
Julie was silent on the other line.
“How-how do you know this…did you get your memory back?” she asked startled.
“I had some memories returned to me, but not in the way you’re thinking. But tell me Julie, why did you never say anything? I thought you were my best friend”
“Mel, it wasn’t my decision to keep these things from you. Your family threatened me, they said it was for the best”
“I don’t get it. What did John do to deserve to be completely cut off from my life?”
She was silent again. I could hear her kids in the background.
“He loved you”
I was stunned.
“Because he loved me?”
“Because he wouldn’t let you go Mel”
“Let me go?”
“He didn’t want to break up with you”
“Why did he need to break up with me?”
“He needed to break up with you so you could go live your life. You know, you had already decided to decline the offer to go to Columbia University. You were going to go to ASU so you could be with John”
“I rejected Columbia for him?…”
“Yeah and your parents were very upset, but he refused to break things off with you and you did too. You know the night you got into the accident…you had a fight with your family, you ran away from home and on the way over to my house, you got into the accident”
“You guys told me I was sleeping over at your house that night not that I was running away from home”
“I know Mel, I’m sorry. I feel really ashamed right now for lying…I’ve felt guilty for 10 whole freaking years for not telling you the truth” she said to me, she was crying now.
“Jules”
“Melody, I’m so sorry”
“I know, it wasn’t your fault”
“But I contributed to it”
“You were simply respecting my parents and their wishes”
“But, how did you find out about John?”
“He told me himself”
“HE WHAT? You’ve met John O’Callaghan again? Where?”
“He showed up at my workplace and left me orange roses”
“Girl, are you serious?”
“Yeah, then I saw him out on the street and demanded an explanation and well long story short, we had dinner tonight and he finally told me. He had a box saved of all the things my parents threw away that had to do with him”
“That’s incredible, after all these years he hasn’t forgotten about you…and it seems to me he still wants you”
“Oh gosh Julie no, I think he just wanted closure with me”
“Closure? Gosh Mel, you don’t even know how in love with you he was in high school. I always thought he would show up at your doorstep after you were discharged from the hospital and sneak into your room to tell you everything”
“Why didn’t he?”
“I think he did show up but it was too late”
“Wait, is that why they moved us to New York?”
“Probably”
“I thought it was because you were coming to study here and needed a roommate”
“No girl, your parents got me admitted to NYU and sent you a long with me. I was originally going to community college”
“I can’t believe it”
“Are you going to confront them about this?”
“I really want to”
“I’m not going to stop you this time Mel, it’s your life, you’re a responsible adult. You can date who you want to, see who you want to, do what you want to and your parents sure owe you an apology”
“They do”
“Let me know what happens okay? I got to go put the kids to bed”
“Thank you for finally telling me the truth Julie, I forgive you”
“I shouldn’t have ever lied, but thank you for forgiving me”
“Goodnight Jules”
“Goodnight Mel”
I canceled the rest of my cooking classes for the month. Refunding everyone back. I bought two tickets to Arizona.
I texted John.
“I know you’re in the process of recording an album but if you’re not busy tomorrow, would you mind going with me to Arizona?”
He replied right away.
“Arizona? I’m not busy at all, we don’t record my vocals until Monday. May I ask why we are going to Arizona?”
“To demand an apology”
“You’re serious?”
“I’m serious”
“What if you’re parents kill me?”
“They won’t”
“Fine, I’ll buy my ticket right now”
“No need, I bought yours already”
“What time?”
“8am flight”
“I’ll pick you up?”
“I’ll send you my address right now”
“Alright”
“Thank you John”
“Have a goodnight Mel”
“You too O’Callaghan”
For a moment I thought I was crazy for getting him to go to Arizona with me, he was still a stranger to me but I was treating him like a friend already. But I couldn’t help it, it just came naturally, John felt like home. He was already filling up that emptiness in my heart that I had been trying to fill for the past 10 years.
“Those damn jalapeños” John said chuckling.
“You mentioned we took a picture together, show it to me” I demanded. He opened up the box and looked for the photo.
When he found it, he looked at it for a couple of seconds and then handed it to me.
“What is this?” I said looking at the photo, I was shocked.
“You never mentioned we kissed, why would we?” I demanded. The photo was an outline of two people kissing, with a sunset in the background. The kind of cheesy photos you find on Instagram now a day.
“Melody” is all he said in return to my question.
I sat silent looking at the photo.
My head was throbbing.
“You-you said we never dated!” I said to him feeling extremely upset he had denied it earlier.
“Melody, we truly never did date. We were two teenagers in love, we-”
“I don’t believe you John”
“Why would I lie to you?”
“I-I don’t know, maybe you have this obsession since high school and-and” I tried but there truly was no other explanation.
“But why am I barely hearing of you until now? I have no pictures of you, or anything related to you. Julie never talked to me about you” I said trying hard to remember something, “What else is in the box?”
“Everything you just said you didn’t have about me. All the things they threw away that I managed to save”
“They?”
“Your family”
“Why would my family throw away my things?”
“They thought it was best you forgot about me permanently”
“I-I don’t know what to think right now John”
“And that’s okay, this is why I waited to tell you today. This wasn’t something I could have explained at your job or at the concert…I’m still having a difficult time explaining it to you now”
“I appreciate your concern John, but I shouldn’t be finding out about this 10 years later. That’s why I’m upset…give me the box” I said reaching for it. He handed it to me. I opened it up and saw many more photos of us and letters.
I felt a stab in my heart.
He wasn’t lying.
“Oh gosh” I said as I looked through it. I had to hold back the tears.
“Give me your number” I said handing him my phone.
He obeyed.
“I’ll call you” I said taking my phone back and walking to the door with my box in hand. He was silent.
He opened the door for me and walked me out.
“Thank you for the memories” I said to him as I waved over a cab.
“They were yours all along” he whispered back.
I got on the cab, forcing myself not to look through the things again but as soon as I got to my apartment, I kicked off my shoes and sat on the couch. Opening the box again.
The people in the photos were John and I for sure, just much younger. He had funny emo hair and I clearly didn’t know how to wear makeup.
Pictures of us at concerts, at school, at the Grand Canyon.
CD’s he made for me.
Letters he wrote to me.
Notes we passed in class.
A song I wrote for him.
A guitar pick with my initials and his.
A lot of different dried orange roses, all with the date of when I received them.
So many things.
I felt robbed.
I felt lied to.
I felt confused.
It was almost as if I had a twin sister who pretended to be me and did all of these things.
I wanted my memories back, I wanted them back immediately.
I looked at our pictures again.
Wiping the tears from my face.
He told me to ask my brother what had happened.
I grabbed my phone, but didn’t have the guts to call him.
They had done such a good job hiding this for 10 years, there must have been a good reason. But regardless of the reason, they had no right to choose whether I wanted to remember John or not.
There was only one other person I could ask.
I grabbed my phone and dialed Julie’s number.
She answered right away.
“You’re calling pretty late, everything okay Melody?” she asked.
“Julie”
“Yeah?”
“Why did you never mention anything about John O’Callaghan?”
“MEL, what did you say?”
“JOHN O’CALLAGHAN, tall, hazel eyes, thin, my boyfriend from high school”
Julie was silent on the other line.
“How-how do you know this…did you get your memory back?” she asked startled.
“I had some memories returned to me, but not in the way you’re thinking. But tell me Julie, why did you never say anything? I thought you were my best friend”
“Mel, it wasn’t my decision to keep these things from you. Your family threatened me, they said it was for the best”
“I don’t get it. What did John do to deserve to be completely cut off from my life?”
She was silent again. I could hear her kids in the background.
“He loved you”
I was stunned.
“Because he loved me?”
“Because he wouldn’t let you go Mel”
“Let me go?”
“He didn’t want to break up with you”
“Why did he need to break up with me?”
“He needed to break up with you so you could go live your life. You know, you had already decided to decline the offer to go to Columbia University. You were going to go to ASU so you could be with John”
“I rejected Columbia for him?…”
“Yeah and your parents were very upset, but he refused to break things off with you and you did too. You know the night you got into the accident…you had a fight with your family, you ran away from home and on the way over to my house, you got into the accident”
“You guys told me I was sleeping over at your house that night not that I was running away from home”
“I know Mel, I’m sorry. I feel really ashamed right now for lying…I’ve felt guilty for 10 whole freaking years for not telling you the truth” she said to me, she was crying now.
“Jules”
“Melody, I’m so sorry”
“I know, it wasn’t your fault”
“But I contributed to it”
“You were simply respecting my parents and their wishes”
“But, how did you find out about John?”
“He told me himself”
“HE WHAT? You’ve met John O’Callaghan again? Where?”
“He showed up at my workplace and left me orange roses”
“Girl, are you serious?”
“Yeah, then I saw him out on the street and demanded an explanation and well long story short, we had dinner tonight and he finally told me. He had a box saved of all the things my parents threw away that had to do with him”
“That’s incredible, after all these years he hasn’t forgotten about you…and it seems to me he still wants you”
“Oh gosh Julie no, I think he just wanted closure with me”
“Closure? Gosh Mel, you don’t even know how in love with you he was in high school. I always thought he would show up at your doorstep after you were discharged from the hospital and sneak into your room to tell you everything”
“Why didn’t he?”
“I think he did show up but it was too late”
“Wait, is that why they moved us to New York?”
“Probably”
“I thought it was because you were coming to study here and needed a roommate”
“No girl, your parents got me admitted to NYU and sent you a long with me. I was originally going to community college”
“I can’t believe it”
“Are you going to confront them about this?”
“I really want to”
“I’m not going to stop you this time Mel, it’s your life, you’re a responsible adult. You can date who you want to, see who you want to, do what you want to and your parents sure owe you an apology”
“They do”
“Let me know what happens okay? I got to go put the kids to bed”
“Thank you for finally telling me the truth Julie, I forgive you”
“I shouldn’t have ever lied, but thank you for forgiving me”
“Goodnight Jules”
“Goodnight Mel”
I canceled the rest of my cooking classes for the month. Refunding everyone back. I bought two tickets to Arizona.
I texted John.
“I know you’re in the process of recording an album but if you’re not busy tomorrow, would you mind going with me to Arizona?”
He replied right away.
“Arizona? I’m not busy at all, we don’t record my vocals until Monday. May I ask why we are going to Arizona?”
“To demand an apology”
“You’re serious?”
“I’m serious”
“What if you’re parents kill me?”
“They won’t”
“Fine, I’ll buy my ticket right now”
“No need, I bought yours already”
“What time?”
“8am flight”
“I’ll pick you up?”
“I’ll send you my address right now”
“Alright”
“Thank you John”
“Have a goodnight Mel”
“You too O’Callaghan”
For a moment I thought I was crazy for getting him to go to Arizona with me, he was still a stranger to me but I was treating him like a friend already. But I couldn’t help it, it just came naturally, John felt like home. He was already filling up that emptiness in my heart that I had been trying to fill for the past 10 years.
♠ ♠ ♠
Hello, hello, so what do you guys think of Mel's parents? Do you think there was a reasonable explanation on why they did this to them?Hope you guys are enjoying the story so far, it would be awesome if you guys could let me know, but if you guys are still shy, that's alright as long as you guys keep reading!