Fine lines

Chapter 27

Wyatt

Mom practically runs out of the room as soon as Tate answers yes to her question. Tate looks over at me like she's said something wrong but it wouldn't make any sense. Mom rushes back in shortly after holding a pink shoebox, she slides her plate across the other side of the table to make room for the box. She looks back up at Tate who I can tell is waiting anxiously for whatever is in that barbie pink box. I've never seen Mom run out of a room so fast in my life.

"Back when I was 14 I had just changed schools, I was getting severely bullied and I couldn't fathom another day at that place. My parents eventually moved me my sophomore year, when I got there I sat in class next to a dark haired brunette who got partnered with me for an assignment. We were best friends everyday from that moment on. She got me into figure skating and I absolutely loved it." She opens the lid and reveals a slightly crinkled photograph of two women holding trophies and medals around their necks, I peer in closer to see a girl who looks almost identical to Tate. Before I realise Tate's already gasping, tears in her eyes and a sad smile to match.

"That my Mom" I can't stop staring at the picture and the uncanny alikeness of Tate and her Mom. I look up at my Mom and see her almost tearing up. I have vague memories of her telling stories during the competition days and when she was younger but I never knew her name. It always started with 'one of the girls I was friends with'

"Your Mom was my best friend all through high school, by the time we went to college we separated a little and we still kept in contact but as the years went on it wasn't as often as we would've liked. She encouraged me to do so much with myself." Tate rummages through the shoebox a little further.

"I remember her talking about this girl that she skated with all the time, she always said I reminded her of you because I wasn't daring but the minute she was involved my mind slowly changed" My Mom chuckles at the comment. "I don't remember her saying your name though, she always called you something else, I think it was Cazzie? Which I thought was a nickname for a Cassie or Cassidy" She laughs again at Tates comment. Mom continues to tell her the ridiculous nicknames they gave each other and how Cazzie was her favourite. This world isn't small enough anymore.

She pulls out Polaroids and other pictures of the two of them, medals and when they decided to try out being a pen pal during college because calling on the phone wasn't as easy back then as it is now. I rest my hand on Tates leg as I take in the conversation, watching the both of holding back tears. I look over at Dad who's just smiling, he shakes his head making me smile too.

"I can't believe it, I can't believe you're Aci's daughter.." She pauses before she continues again. "I completely missed her funeral, we got snowed in here and I couldn't leave. I was devestated when I got the call and sick to my stomach I couldn't be there" Tate reaches over to her hand and holds it with comfort. My heart warms watching the two of them.

"You have all of this, your last memory isn't a funeral and she would've known if you had it any other way you would've been there. I have heaps of videos I can show you, I have so many" Moms face lights up and gets up from the table rushing around behind Tate to hug her, she pulls up a chair beside her as Tate pulls her phone out from her pocket. She rests it up against her glass of water opening an album in photo library named 'Mom♡' she plays a video of them in Disneyland and Tate absolutely shitting herself before getting on a roller coaster. Another one of them skating together for the first time with her Mom showing off. Followed by so many more of just the two of them. None of them included her Dad I notice half way through, he truly has been so absent for so many things either because of work or simply couldn't be bothered and didn't want to. She lost her best friend and now she gets to relive stories through my Mom. How the hell did we end up like this together? I've never been one for believing in the universe putting you where you need to be. Ask and you shall receive. But now, I'm starting to think that the universe is onto something. The longer we watch the videos on her tiny screen, the more I start thinking about what happened over the last month. How I almost lost her. I watch her eyes beam back and forth from her phone to my Mom and my eyes don't leave hers. I stare at her, taking in every smile and nose crinkle when she laughs. Something different pulls on my heart so deep I feel it pound in my throat. Sending a shockwave through me as I feel it not understanding it fully until I realise she's completely clouding through my brain, and the longer I think about her as I gaze at her it finally stops me, I'm in love with her.