From Hereafter: A Collection of Memoirs

Brief Flashes From Summer '16

This is supposed to be a thing like short bursts of memories/ short scenes that youre placed in for a just a second before moving on, and theyre all supposed to sort of connect and tell a complete story at the same time.

(In order)

1. There's always that one guy that brings his acoustic guitar everywhere and plays generic tunes that aren't really from anything. He was my date. This was the first time I met him, though we had been talking for about three weeks. I thought we would get to talk but he wanted to play the guitar instead. We were in the basement of a huge cabin on Candlewood Lake, which I hadn't heard of until that day, even though it's the largest lake in Connecticut. There were couches, a pool table, and a hot tub. The floors, walls, and ceiling were made of wood, and there were giant animal heads, it was exactly like you would picture a fancy lake house. He said it was going to be a party but it was only about six people. I was 19 and they were all at least 26. The house was owned by a doctor who was at least 30. I was so out of place and I made it much worse when I admitted that I did not drink. 

We had stopped at his place beforehand so he could pick up his jacket. His best friend and his girlfriend were in the backseat talking about how much they wanted to find a third person for a threesome. When he went inside they told me that he was acting so strange and nervous. I wondered why and they said it's because he likes me so much.

The last thing he said to me was that he had a really great time with me. When I got back into my room that night I wrote to myself that "I could see us really being something." But he never texted me again. He blocked me on everything.

2. I was woken up by my stepmom sobbing. I immediately knew what had happened, though there was no way I could have known for sure. I could tell just by her crying that something happened to Charlie. I came out of my room to see our orange cat dead on the floor and my stepmom collapsed next to him. My dad was trying to move her. 

She told me that he was walking towards her, fell on his side, started shaking, and then was dead. He was only a few years old. He never showed any signs of anything being wrong. There was no warning. 

My dad put a blanket over him. Before they took him away I held his paw and said goodbye to him. Then I cried for the entire day, and my eyes hurt for the rest of the week.

3. I was driving through a curve on a busy street in Woodbridge when I saw a sign saying that there was a "HUGE" tag sale, and I immediately swerved onto that street with no blinker and without braking. It really was the biggest tag sale I ever went to, it took up an entire parking lot to a warehouse and then the entire inside of the warehouse. We were there for maybe an hour. 

There were a lot of great records but he didn't know any of them. Instead we looked at paintings. I always wanted to be an art snob. There were a lot of huge, colorful, abstract pieces, and I kept picking them up and studying them pretending to be critiquing it. I was like "Look at the brush strokes on this one." I ended up blowing $25 on one of those generic paintings of old French streets.

4. I looked on the kitchen door to see the menu for today and the details of each party. Alec's name was listed under mine but was crossed out. I asked Josh if he knew what had happened. He said he had been fired for grabbing Tony's ass. I rolled my eyes.

I thought it was a little late in the season to be having a high school prom. I was one of three waitstaff for the entire party. I made hundreds of shirley temples. My hands were stained red at the end of the night. It was a really easy night. They didn't even use china, just Styrofoam plates and cups. 

After the party, none of the maître d's could be found. Josh and I sat by the fireplace and ate leftover marshmallows. He asked me if I ever went to prom. I didn't.