Dead & Forgotten

Ch. 28

Since the time after Rachel's funeral, everything had gone pretty well for us. Not that I expected things to turn out worse than before, but surprisingly, things went very well for us. Thanksgiving was amazing, Marvin and I went out on a few dates to the movies and an arcade (I eventually got his number, and he mine), and things were back to normal again. At those times, I would have expected Rachel to come back to life and perhaps do a bunch of crazy things to try to destroy my life one way or another, but the weirdest thing was, I never even gave it much thought at all. Sure, I missed her, but I knew that staying strong for her was something I was capable of doing, even if it seemed difficult.

Marvin and I sort of brought up the subject while on a date at the arcade. "Enjoying yourself this evening, Cassie?" he said to me.

"Couldn't have had more fun," I replied. Then I sighed as we went to sit down at a table.

"What's wrong now?" Marvin asked.

"Well, you know...." I trailed off, hoping he got the hint.

"It's about your sister, isn't it? You miss her a lot, don't you?"

"I really do, Marvin," I said with a sigh. "But you should also imagine how I'd feel when you're getting ready for the big move. Are we never going to see each other again?"

"I usually don't want to have conversations like this like I've told you about a thousand times, but the truth is, I don't really know," he said with sincerity. "It's just---"

"Well, how long are you supposed to be gone for?" I wanted to know. "I'm sorry for cutting you off."

"That's all right," he said. "And it's only going to be temporarily, up until my senior year. I haven't really been giving college that much thought yet, but now that I start to think about it....I guess I should give it a shot. And my choices? I think I might consider Yale, which is all the way in Connecticut. Or Harvard, in Massachusetts. Or Stanford, right here. Or even Princeton, all the way in New Jersey...."

"Okay, I think I get it," I said.

"Sorry about that."

"What do you want to study when you get to college?" I asked.

"Now don't laugh or call me a nerd or freak, but I am so into science," he said. For some reason, that left an awkward moment of silence. Who was I to judge him for that? I didn't mind what he wanted to become when he grew up. What really mattered was, he's Marvin Garrett and I really loved him. "I want to become a scientist. Just like my father, Harold Marvin Garrett III, a famous astronomer. He went to Harvard for five years. He was almost a dropout, but thankfully that never happened. So I'm following in his footsteps."

"Marv, that's....genius," I said. "I don't care if you're a science freak; I just want you to be happy. I didn't know your father was a famous astronomer, but that's great that you want to follow in his footsteps. But I just want us to always be together....if not physically, then there's got to be a way for us to always remember each other."

"I will always write to you," he said. "I promise. We have each other's numbers, so that shouldn't be a complete loss."

"I don't care where you go or where you'll end up. We'll always have each other in our hearts, wouldn't we?" I said sentimentally. "I just know that we would. Our relationship may not last for the rest of our lives, and there will come a time when bad things interfere with us, but I know that I must always stay strong, no matter what. And while you are gone, I promise to learn to be my own woman and stand on my own two feet as you have always told me to do."

"Um, Cassandra?" he said, but I ignored him and went on rambling.

"And I also promise never to let mean people such as Jeanna Morton put me down. I figured that if you can dish insults at me, I could take them very well. I don't care what you say to me. I'm a much better, more mature person than I was before. I am responsible for all my words and actions, and nothing can stop me from living on the edge. I'm a changed person now."