The Boy I Knew

It Started with Wine

I looked over at him as he drove. Normally, someone who had consumed as much liquor as he had tonight would not be fit to drive. But PJ holds his liquor so well, and honestly I'm okay with riding with him. He looks over and catches me staring at him again. He chuckles and looks at me. I look away, my face blushing.

"What?" He asks still chuckling. I laugh and shake my head.

"Nothing....I just....Never would have pictured my night going this way." I admitted. I look at him, he's watching the road. I can see a slight smile curling the corner of his mouth as the intermittent glow of the streetlights hit his face.

"Yeah, me neither. But I'm glad it did. I wouldn't want it going any other way." He says, turning and looking to me with a sweet smile. I'm honestly surprised he said that. I look away, I can't wipe the smile from my face. We continue to drive around and talk.

"I'm gonna stop at the liquor store real quick." He says, pulling into the parking lot of a corner liquor store. He pulls into a parking spot and turns the car off. He opens his door but looks at me before he gets out.

"You wanna come in or stay in here? I'll be in and out." He asks.

"I'll stay in here." I answer. He smiles at me.

"Okay. Be right back." He says patting his legs and then getting out of the car. I watch as he walks into the store. Now I can't help but wonder, what's going to happen? Is this him closing up our time together? Are we going to leave here and him take me back to my car? We've been driving around for about 45 minutes. Will our drive continue? Are we going somewhere? All these thoughts race through my mind, and a few minutes later he comes out of the store with a brown paper bag. He opens the door and gets in. He shuts the door and looks at me with a smile.

"Okay Camille, you have two choices. I can take you back to your car and you can be on your merry way. OR...." He pauses and pulls a bottle out of the paper bag.

"You can come back to my place and share this bottle of wine with me. I shouldn't drink it by myself." He finishes, holding the bottle up with a hopeful smile. I look at it, and it's all too familiar. Strawberry Hill Boone's Farm. We used to steal it from this very corner store, and go down in his parents' basement at night after they went to sleep. We'd drink and talk all night, and of course fool around a bit. Then eventually we'd fall asleep together. With the sight of him holding that wine up, I couldn't help but smile and chuckle a little.

"By your place, do you mean-"

"My parents' house?....Yeah" He finishes my sentence. There's a short silence and a period of staring at each other. Then we both erupt in laughter.

"I guess I can't let you drink that bottle of wine by yourself." I say shrugging my shoulders. That must have been the answer he was looking for, because a huge smile spread across his face when I said that, and it wouldn't go away as he started the car back up. We pull out of the parking lot and head to his mom and dad's place. Now I get even more anxious at the possibilities of upcoming events. What I tried to block from my mind, thinking it was just an irrational thought, could very well become reality at this point. I try to ease my mind and keep calm. Soon we pull into the driveway, and I become more nervous. PJ gets out and shuts his door quietly, so I do the same. I felt like we were kids, sneaking around again. We walk to the front door and PJ carefully opens it as to not wake up his mom and dad. He holds the door open for me and I walk in. It's still the same little house, just a little outdated now. PJ walks in after me and closes the door quietly. He does a funny little shimmy as he walks by me. His arms swinging front to back.

"Follow me" He whispers with a funny face. His goofy expressions always made me laugh. We walk through the living room. I know exactly where he's taking me. He opens a door to some stairs. The basement. I know he's trying to recreate old memories, and it's totally working. He holds the door open and looks at me. I look at him with a smile.