Just to Hold You Close and Tight

The first thing I was aware of was someone knocking on my door. I turned over and saw Ray sitting in my chair.

“It’s your mom,” he said.

As if to prove it, I heard her muffled voice. “Amber? Are you awake?”

“Yeah, Mom,” I said. “Come in.” When I saw what was in her hands, I groaned. It was a tray of breakfast foods.

“Happy birthday!” she exclaimed.

“Aw, Mom,” I said, rubbing my eyes. “You didn’t have to do this.”

Of course I did! It’s noon, and I had to think of a nice way to wake you up on your eighteenth” she said.

“Thanks,” I said as she set the tray on my bedside table.

“No problem,” she replied. “Your dad will be home at four. He wants to take you out to dinner.”

“Okay. Thanks again!” I exclaimed. She walked out of my room and closed the door behind her.

I analyzed the food for less than a second before digging in. I hadn’t eaten in almost twenty hours. My stomach still felt empty after eating the omelet, so I started on the bacon and sausage. When I was finally full, I looked up. I nearly fell out of bed when I saw Ray starring at me in amazement.

“You were really hungry,” he said, grinning.

“Oops,” I said, blushing. “I forgot you were here. Sorry about my… manners.”

“That’s okay,” he replied, still smiling stupidly.

I jumped up and walked over to Ray. He stood up. “So what’s the plan for today?” I asked.

He smiled wryly. “As much as I’d like to steal you away on your birthday, you would regret it later. You’re going out to dinner with your parents, like they want.”

To my pleasure, he lifted the locket off my neck and started playing with it. This made it hard to think. Finally, I knew what I wanted to say. “Are you coming?”

Ray shook his head and looked at me sadly. “I can’t,” he said. “It’s a family thing. I’ll be waiting for you to get back, though.” Without waiting for me to formulate an answer, he dropped the locket, letting the now warm silver fall on my chest, and left.

I stared at the wall where he left for minutes, one finger on my locket. I finally snapped out of it, took a shower, and got dressed. I decided to kill the rest of my time by watching tv.

“There you are!” my mom said when I walked into the family room. “I haven’t seen you much lately. It seems like you’re always either away or in your room.”

“Sorry,” I mumbled. “I’ve been busy.”

The hours dragged on so slowly, I thought I would go mad. Although I tried not to, I ended up looking at the clock every five minutes.

When my dad got home, I was relieved. At least I would have dinner to distract me. However, I was sadly mistaken. The only time I was momentarily relieved from the burning in my chest and throat was when my dad asked me about my locket.

“That’s beautiful,” he said, pointing to my locket. “Where did you get it?”

I blushed when he said it was beautiful, but quickly recovered by saying, “Er, thanks. I found it when I was unpacking.”

Besides that small exchange, I knew I seemed distant to my parents, and I knew they were worried.

I tried to smile and act normal. I hoped they didn’t notice how quickly I ran up to my room when I got home.