Shane
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Ellianna and I woke up at about 9:30, we ate a quick breakfast and then I left, starting my three hour journey to my home town. I vaguely remember the roads I took to get to Alabama but the closer I got to home the more things looked familiar. home, it was strange to call Jefferson home, it wasn't home to me anymore despite that being the place I was raised in. Northview was my home now, that's where all my friends were and that's where my future was. Jefferson had nothing left for me, nothing but memories of the past. I pulled up to my Aunts house at about 12:30 she was waiting for me as I walked into the front door of the blue and White House used to know. My aunt Jackie was my moms little sister and looked almost exactly like my mother, and by proxy me. she had dirty blonde hair and brown eyes and the same soft facial features my mother had. "oh Shane im glad your here." she gave me a hug after I had tossed my small suitcase to the side. "hey Aunt Jackie." her hugs felt like my moms. I then looked up to see a now not so little girl running towards me. "Shane!" my cousin Charli came barreling towards me and gave me a hug. she was 6 years younger than me but we had grown up almost like siblings, it was me my brother Alex in the middle and little Charli trying to keep up. of course my mom loved me and my brother but she had a soft spot for Charli the only little girl in the family, although she didn't have the same features as my mom and Aunt, she took more after my uncle rick, with her curly chocolate brown hair and ocean blue eyes. "hey Charli, How is it still stuck in elementary school?" I teased, she folded her arms over her chest and gave me a pouty smile. "you should remember, your not that much older than me." I laughed, she was still as feisty as ever. "Shane you can go put your things down in the guest room if you want, ill get started on lunch and then we can all eat." I nodded my head and headed upstairs to little guest room in the attic, it was small but somehow it felt comfortable.
Once I had settled my items I went back downstairs the food smelt great, I couldn't remember the last time I had had a good home cooked meal. most nights my dad wasn't home so I had to cook for myself or oder food out my aunts cooking was definitely a welcome change. "that smells great." I complemented my aunt as I stepped into her farmhouse style blue kitchen. "Thank you, actually Shane can you do me a favor." I peered at the ingredients being gathered on the counter, my aunt had just started her cooking there was still lots to be done. "yeah sure." I responded plainly. "I hate to ask you this but were out of milk and I need it to make the sauce. would you run to Hudsons and get some?" Jefferson was a small town, there were no chain stores like Walmart to get groceries, only local shops all nestled in the town square, Hudsons was the grocery store, the only place to buy nessicites without having to travel to the nearest big town about 30 minutes away. "sure." I responded shrugging my shoulders and then it was back to my mustang parked in the drive way. I drove into the town square, it was lined with old pick up trucks and sensible sedans, no one in Jefferson had a sports car like I drove, and no one had Alabama license plates like I had either. I illicited a few stares as I got out of my car and walked into Hudsons, chimes rang as I walked in and everything was like I remembered it, linoleum tiles peeling under my feet, old times checkout lanes, fluorescent lights over head and a distinctive smell I only knew how describe as the Hudsons grocery smell.
I made a beeline to the back left corner of the store where the dairy section used to be but no longer was, I spent a few minute searching the area for milk but seemed to be out of luck. "Do you need help finding something." A female voice asked, it sounded familiar but every voice would sound familiar everyone knew everyone in Jefferson. "yeah milk-" I turned around to see a girl holding a small shopping basket. She looked just as I rememberd, jet black hair, olive skin, big brown eyes. "Shane?" she asked, She may not have looked different but surely I did, I had grown a good 4 or 5 inches had had put on about 25 pounds of muscle, it made sense she wouldn't recognize me. "yeah." I responded shortly, now realizing I was facing the one person I didn't want to see here. "you got taller, you look more grown up, how's Alabama?" she asked smiling almost like she wasn't mad at me for leaving at all. "It great Bri, its exactly what I needed, you would love Northview. its a lot bigger than Jefferson." Brianna gave me sad look, all we had ever wanted was to leave Jefferson, we dreamed together about going off to college somewhere me for athletics and her for exemplary academics, Jefferson held us back, here everyones lives were planned for them, kids grew up most skipped college alltogether and simply took over the businesses their parents ran, Briannas family owned Lopez flower and gift shop, she was an only child therefore her destiny was laid out before her. before we left my dad worked at the local bank, he liked it okay until he went off the rails with his alcohol consumption and then we left I had gotten what I wanted, out of Jefferson to a town where there were more oppurtunites, meanwhile Bri was stuck here left to her inevitable fate. "sounds amazing, it sounds like your doing better." Brianna had known me and helped me through my worst my drinking benders, my breaking her heart. she was my first love, my best friend. the only person I had felt the same way about since was-. I stopped myself, I wouldn't allow myself to feel the way I felt about Bri ever again. "How's Jefferson?" I asked her even though I knew the answer. Bri shrugged her shoulders. "the same of course." I let a playful smirk come across my face. "except for where the dairy section is at Hudsons right." Brianna let a playful giggle escape her lips, it sent a wave of nostalgia rushing over me. "yeah they moved it a few moths age, broke the news around here."
"mind leading the way?" I asked, Brianna nodded as she guided me to the promised land aka the dairy section at Hudsons, "Im really glad your doing better Shane, people ask me about you all the time, I think about you all the time." When I left Jefferson I scrubbed it from my life, I got a new phone, new number, deleted all my social media, no one knew anything about me here anymore. at the time that's what I wanted but maybe not anymore. "give me your phone." I asked Brianna, she complied handing her I phone over. I opened it up still remembering her passcode and opened instagram, I searched my new profile up and clicked follow. "after everything that happened between us and all we went through together, you deserve to know how im doing." I passed her phone back to her, she looked down at my instagram page, at the picture I posted with Julia, the football team and even some with Ellianna. " you should come to the flower shop later we can hang out, like old times." I opened the door to the milk fridge and grabbed a gallon. "I wish I could Bri, but im visiting my aunt and then tomroww im gonna see Alex and my mom." her face fell a bit, I hoped I didn't hurt her feelings too much."oh, I understand, maybe next time then?" I didn't know how soon I would come back to Jefferson, probably not anytime soon. "yeah next time, but it was good to see you Bri, really." I told her with a smile, she gave me a smile back. "you too Shane." and then I turned to go to the register Milk in hand.
up until today I had made it my mission to forget everything about Jefferson Mississippi. but that was a mistake, I wasn't supposed to forget it, I was supposed to remember it and realize how far I've come. Jefferson was apart of me wether I liked it or not, I decided it was time to stop running from my past and instead embrace it.
