All Yours

1. 23 and Invincible

An American poet by the name of Walt Whitman once said, "Keep your face towards the sunshine and shadows will fall behind you." If only I learned not to take things so literally maybe I wouldn't be in the mess I am right now. It didn't even matter that I was carrying my so-called 'trusty' pocket knife, even if I had been able to see that suspicious shadow.

Oh, there I go again. Getting ahead of myself before I even catch my audience up to speed. Let me start again.

If you know me, you know my name is Haley Parker, twin/partner-in-crime with my brother Dustin, and currently ruling the world with my awesome boyfriend Griffin Johnson (alongside my other best friends, of course). At least that was me, back in high school. And although the events that led to me being unconscious in the back of some van were quite different than me in my teenaged days, it didn't all happen so quickly.

After graduation, like I said, Griffin and I were basically the kings and queens of the world. We spent the summer together goofing off and playing pranks, spending quality time together, and just becoming more of ourselves each day - because that's what we do. We bring out the best parts of the other's true self. But unfortunately, summer doesn't last forever.

By the time the fall rolled around, we knew it was time to start doing something with our lives. Neither of us had any desire to go to college, so attending different universities miles apart was never an issue for our relationship. After all, we both wanted to do music - Griffin had always dreamed of being a professional producer, and I had always wanted to be in a band. And at first it seemed like everything was gonna work out.

For instance, during the time my parents had nearly dragged me to California with them, Griffin had made plans to move out there with me. And it wasn't a bad plan, seeing as he'd be in the perfect place to work on what he loves. And somewhere down the line I figured I'd find some other bandmates and start my dream there as well. But after my folks announced we weren't moving after all, our dreams kind of went on a stand still.

When that summer's end came, we both knew it was time to start getting real. And although Griffin had already made plans out in the west coast for his career before things changed, he insisted on changing everything to be able to stay in Boston with me. But I knew that would be selfish, seeing as trying to make it as a producer in Massachusetts was about as likely as trying to fish for whales in Texas. Alright, maybe that's an exaggeration, but you get the point.

It took some time, but eventually I convinced him to go through with his original plan and once I got my band together I would meet him out there shortly. But oh did I underestimate the struggles of starting a band.

For starters, it took awhile before I found the right bandmates and I finally had a whole band going. And then between finding time in everybody's schedule's to practice and actually learning to play in time with each other, I realized this was going to be harder than I anticipated.

And time just kept rolling on. By this point, we had greatly improved as a band and even had regular gigs going on. But we were in no position to pack up and move to California. We just didn't have the money or the experience we needed to find our way through Hollywood - not without someone professionally and well-known in that field. But even though things were moving along slowly, we were still improving and getting closer every day to our goals.

During these times, Griffin and I were still dating and calling each other regularly. And every now and then he would come over for a visit, whether it be for a holiday or just to surprise me. But as weeks turned into months, and months into years, our communications with each other had slowed down. And even though we both missed each other terribly, when Griffin told me he was gonna come home for good, I made sure he stayed. He wasn't giving up his dream for me, no matter how much it was breaking my heart to be away from him.

But after that, things only continued to slow down between us until eventually we only talked a few times a year. It was at this point we decided maybe it was best to take a break for now, just until we got our lives a little better sorted out. After all, Griffin was already achieving great things in the producing world and my band was finally gaining popularity. With so much on both of our plates, we were a little preoccupied with our lives to focus on a long-distance relationship, or at least what was left of it.

Five years had past since graduation. I am now 23 and invincible and about to begin recording our first full-length studio album since our band got discovered last year, around the time Griffin and I ended it. I don't know where Griffin is these days, other than still living it up in California, but I can only hope he's doing well. He still crosses my mind every now and then, but the excitement of it is nothing like it used to be. The last time I even talked to him was the brief 20 minutes we were both in the same town for Thanksgiving before he had to run off to catch a plane back to the west coast. We were still friends, sure, but it was starting to feel like we were just two faces that used to know each other.

Anyway, since that day last Thanksgiving, it has been about 6 months. And if my memory serves correctly, now it has been about 12 hours since I was kidnapped.

My memory is hazy on the details, but somewhere between walking down the sidewalk with the sun shining in front of me and now, I vaguely remember being hit on the head on my way to the studio, traveling in some strange van, and then waking up in some bar I've never seen before.

I remember my eyes still feeling heavy - like I was about to pass out again any second - and I had a headache that made me feel I had a refrigerator-sized brain. I tried to get a good look of my surroundings, but I felt myself passing out again. The only thing I actually remember clearly was when right before my eyes closed, when I saw a familiar figure coming closer to me.

And that figure was unmistakingly the one and only Griffin Johnson, my ex-boyfriend.