Focused

Saying Goodbye

The next day, I walked to Jay's house and discovered he was alone. Good. 

"Hey." I was standing on the porch and he walked towards me from the back yard. 

"Hey there." He bit his lip. 

"Jay, can I talk to you?" I don't know if I can do this.

"Well, aren't we talking now?" He grinned and I couldn't hold back a smile. 

"I don't know if I can do this." I thought out loud.

"Marley, we still have two weeks together we don't have to do this now." He came over and pit his hands on my shoulders. 

"That's the thing." I started to tear up. Jay let go of me and backed up slowly.

"Wha-what do you mean?" He turned away from me facing the other direction.

"Jay, my aunt from Florida called me and in two days...I'm moving there." He turned around. His face was startiing to turn red and tears started to form in his eyes.

"No. Marley, please don't leave. Please!" He started yelling and I jumped.

"Jay I--"

"You're all I have." He came up to me and caressed my cheeks with his dirt covered hands. This statement made me boil up inside. 

"You're wrong! You have your mom and dad and for God's sake my parents are dead! You think you have the fucking right to say something like that! Especially to me." I was furious and started sobbing. I got down on my knees in the grass and Jay rushed over to me.

"I shouldn't have said that, Mar. He got on the ground and hugged me. I sobbed into his shirt. I smelled detergent and well, Jay.

"We can make it work. I'll visit you when I get the chance and in a few years we will both be out on our own. We will see each other." 

"I dunno. It's Florida, Jay. I'ts really far. I couldn't have you drive almost 15 hours by yourself." He smiled at me and lifted me up into his arms. He stood up and carried me to his front steps. 

"I'm willing to do it, because I love you." He was playing with a piece of grass in between his fingers.

"I love you too." I stood up and he did too. I told his goodbye and we kissed. I said I would probably just stay home and pack. We decided on a lunch date for tomorrow though.

*

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I opened the door of mr house and looked at my home phone. There was 1 voice message that appeared on the answering machine. I clicked "Play" and Dr. Wayco's unhappy voice started ringing through the house. He said he was very concerned about me because I had not gone to my check ups the past few times. I had comepletely forgot. Oops. I did need to call the hospital though about me moving to Florida, unless Aunt Jade had already done that. Knowing her she probably did. 

I decided to call Dr. Wayco and tell him that I was moving. He already knew and he had contacted the local hospital where my aunt lives. I will be having check ups there once every three weeks instead of once every week. Dr. Wayco said I'm pretty much back to completly fine again. My amnesia is starting to sort of...subside. When he said that I bursted out into an ear to ear smile. 

After I called Dr. Wayco it was 7:00 P.M. I decided to skip dinner and start packing. I went up to my room and looked in the closet. The first box I opened contained my Nikon D3200. I hadn't touched it for 4 months. I got it out and decided to go take pictures of the brilliant sunset. I forgot how photography could release me and make me feel more alive than I would ever feel. Capturing moments of time could really release a person from whatever they were going through. Trust me on this, I know.

I packed over 4 boxes before I passed out on my bedroom floor and woke up around 2:00 in the morning to find knocking on my door. Who would be here right now? Jay? 

I slowly walked down the stairs and looked through the hole in the door. It was definitely not Jay.

It was the weird guy from the night Jay got hurt and had to go to the hospital. Although, he was not wearing a black hoodie, he was wearing a dark blue tee and jeans. He had dirty blond hair and and sparkly blue eyes. He knocked again.

I looked through the tiny window and the guy looked at me and gave me a small smile. I opened the door and stepped outside.

"Who are you and what are you doing here?" I crossed my arms over my chest.

"Hi. I'm the guy from the other night who kind of...made out with you." Even in the moonlight I could see that his cheeks were pink.

I nodded. "I'm really sorry about that. I had a few beers that evening." So he was drunk. How did he know my name though?

"Okay then, but how do you know me?" He sighed at my question.

"We go err went to high school together." He rubbed his hands on his jeans.

"What's your name though?" I asked him.

"I knew you were going to ask. I'm--It's Tanner." Tanner?

"I'm not sure I know you. Sorry." He turned around and started to walk down the sidewalk. Wait. I ran towards him and touched his shoulder. 

"Wait. Tanner Cross?" His eyes noticeably lit up. 

"You got me." He shrugged his shoulders.

"Aren't you "Missing"?" I said with air quotes.

"Yeah. I don't know if you'll understand if I tell you." He turned back around to face me. 

"I haven't seen you in forever, Tanner." I gained the courage to hug him. 

Tanner Cross and I used to talk. We used to be really good friends in middle school and in 8th grade we were boyfriend and girlfriend for half the year. He stepped back and smiled at me. We talked for about 2 hours. He told me he ran away so he could be free. He said he did have a girlfriend, Elizabeth. He said she was nice, but she controlled him and he hated it. I told him about my parents, Jay, my memory, Aimee, and how I was leaving for Florida in two days. It felt really good to talk to a guy friend. Of course, Jay was my friend, but he was my boyfriend and sometimes it felt good just to talk to a friend. Aimee's also my friend, but guys can actually understand better sometimes.

We told our goodbyes and I told him that I would text him soon. It was 4:32 in the morning and I was just about to pass out once again. I went inside and this time went to sleep in my bed.