Memories

Chapter 2

"Where did you get that?" Kelley asked, shocked.

Lowering the picture so she could see Kel's face, Sarah answered, "Mom had me clean out the attic today, and I found this with a bunch of other pictures."

After a few beats of silence, Kelley's brow furrowed. "Did you ask your mom about her?" she asked.

When Sarah nodded, she continued. "And what was her reaction?"

"She got kinda quiet, and just said it was an old friend. I was gonna ask more, but she nearly ran out of the room," replied Sarah, fidgeting.

Kelley nodded, biting her lip. When she didn't meet Sarah's eyes, the younger girl asked, "You know who it is, don't you?". Kel hummed in confirmation, looking concentrated.

"Can you tell me who it is?" Sarah asked pleadingly.

Her aunt's eyes flashed up to meet hers, a troubled look in her eyes. "There were other pictures, weren't there? That you saw?" Kelley asked.
Sarah nodded.

"What else did you see?"
Biting her lip, Sarah mumbled, "There were some of her hugging, holding hands, and kissing my mom. There were also some of you with a really tall blue eyed woman."

Kelley's eyes widened, Hope, and she sighed, running a hand through her hair. She rubbed her eyes as she remembered about a certain tall blue eyed beauty, and looked blearily at Sarah.

"Kiddo, this.. I dunno. It's..." she trailed off, shaking her head.

"Please tell me," Sarah pleaded. "I just want to know who this is, who made my mom look so happy, and why she's not here right now."
Something in Kelley's expression faltered, and a strange look came over her eyes. She sighed, wringing her hands.

"Sarah...it's not really my story to tell," she said quietly.

"You know that my mom's not going to say anything about it. I just want to know," Sarah begged.

Kelley shook her head. "Sar Bear, I can't.. I'm sorry, but if your mom isn't telling you.. I can't go against her," she said apologetically.

Suddenly, the sound of a car pulling up reached Sarah's ears, and she stiffened.
"I think Mom's home," she said quietly, peering over to the window. Turning back to look at Kelley, there was a final plea in her gaze. "Please, just reconsider. I just want to know who she is."

"I'll think about it, kiddo. We'll be in touch," the older woman replied, before the two of them signed off.

Alex walked in, bags of groceries hanging from her arms. "Sarah, I'm home!" she called from downstairs.
Her daughter ran from her room to help her, smiling. "Need some help, Mom?" she asked, taking a few of the bags.

Alex nodded gratefully, smiling back  at her daughter. "Thanks, babe. Can you grab the milk from the car?" she asked, as she put the eggs in the refrigerator.

"Sure, Mom," the young girl answered. Running out to the car, she saw Kylie Krieger-Harris juggling a soccer ball in her driveway a few houses down. "KK!" Sarah called, waving at her best friend.
The blond defender paused, looking up. With a grin, she waved back. "Hey, Sarah!" she shouted. Running over,she tucked the ball under her arm.

"Whatsup, girl?" Kylie asked with a dimpled smile.

"Nothing really. Oh, my mom got the tape from last game, do you wanna watch it?" Sarah asked, as she pulled out the milk from the car.

KK nodded. "Sure!" she replied, and the two of them went into the house. "Hi, Mom number three," Kylie said, greeting Alex.

As Sarah handed her mom the milk, the older woman grinned at her daughter's best friend. "Hey, KK! The video's on the coffee table, just pop it in the player," she said, pointing to a disc in the living room.