Our Time Around The Sun

Chapter 5

"I haven't seen you in what feels like ages." She says. She seems happy to see me again. Yeah I guess it has been quite a while now that I think about it. "Like what? 5th grade I think. 6 really is a long time." I reply.

"Hey Carmen, have you met our new neighbor." Mrs. Rivera asks her. "Yeah, mom. We used to be friends when we were younger. We just completely forgot about each other until now." She says. Her mom looks like she remembered something. "You're Gina's kid, right?" She asks.

I nod and say, "That indeed I am. Did you and my mom use to work together?" Mom is a nurse so they probably worked in the same unit together. "Yes, we did. Does she still have the same job?" She asks. "Um, I actually don't know. I can get her real quick if you'd like." I tell her.

"That would be great, thank you." She says. I cross the street real quick and go through the garage door. I find her in the kitchen. "Hey mom, the Rivera's moved back into town and Christi wants to talk to you." I say. She literally drops everything and runs out the open door.

I go back outside to continue helping the neighbors move into their house. Mom and Christi are still talking when I walk out. They must have a lot to catch up on, so I just leave them amongst themselves. Carmen comes out to get more boxes too. "So what made you guys decide you wanted to move back here?" I asked.

"After mom divorced dad, she decided to move back to where we used to live. For a fresh start." She said. I thought that her dad still lived with them. I guess that's what time does to people. It either brings them together or tears them apart.

"I'm sorry to hear that. Do you think that it's better this way?" I ask. Hopefully I don't sound rude. "Yeah, I think so. She seems a lot happier now." She says. You learn something every day I guess. "That's great." I say.

"How's your parents?" She asks me, kind of changing the subject. "Pretty good. Ace is doing well too." I say. I don't know if she remembers him or not. "Ace. That's your little brother right?" She asks.

"Yeah you remember him?" I ask her. "Of course I do. Remember at your 10th birthday party when Ace took his cake and threw it at you, and you had icing on your curls for 2 days?" She says. "The infamous icing incident of 2013. I'll never be able to forget that day." I say.

"Where did you used to live before you decided to come back here?" I ask her. "New York. It was too cold for us so we decided to move back." She says. That does sound pretty cold. "Are you happy you're back?" She looks happy. "Yeah, I am. Most of my family lives here, so it's nice being able to see them on a regular basis again." She replies.

"That's good. There's so much that I need to catch you up on." I say. "I'm all ears." She tells me.