It's So Easy | Buddy Holly

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November 29th, 1958. 7:39pm, The Smith Household

"I don't want you to go back to New York!" Juliet frowns as she walks out of the kitchen with popcorn.

"We have to, I'm sure Jude is tired of tending to Ginger." I cross my feet.

"I assume Jude is the one taking care of the cat?" Russ asks.

"Yeah. I miss her. She's such a good kitty." I smile. I really love Ginger, even if she gets black hair all over me sometimes.

Juliet sits down next to Russ and sets the popcorn in his lap. "I hate you for naming a purely black cat Ginger."

I smile. "She likes her name."

"No one else does." Juliet smirks and throws a piece of popcorn at me.

"I do." Buddy responds.

"You like everything Vi does." Russ grabs a handful of popcorn. I've never been a popcorn fan.

Buddy laughs. "You got me there."

I zone out and mindlessly stare at the TV. Juliet's idea of fun is to watch boring movies. I would rather sit in silence, if I'm honest. I'm used to the quiet.

I must have dozed off because when I wake up, it's 9:30 pm and the movie is over. I rub my eyes and stretch.

"I'll miss you so much, Vi!" Juliet stands up.

I stand up slowly and try not to lose my balance. "I'll miss you too, Juliet. Call me about the babies as often as you can, okay?" I smile and wrap my arms around her. She smells like the perfume the entire cheer squad used. It makes me want to puke, I have too many bad memories of cheer.

"Here, we'll walk you out." Juliet pulls on Russ's arm and makes him stand up. They escort Buddy and I out to the car and Juliet starts to tear up. Jesus, it's not like we'll never see her again.

"Well, we'll see you later, Vi, Buddy." Russ nods toward us gives Buddy an awkward side-hug. "Come back soon, okay?"

"We sure will." Buddy smiles. Juliet pulls him into an actual hug. So that's what we look like together, just with no baby bump...yet. They simultaneously look natural and unnatural at the same time. Natural because Juliet looks just like me and I feel like Buddy and I look natural when we're together. Unnatural because I'm aware that it isn't me, I guess.

Russ awkwardly goes in for a hug with me and I don't hesitate. The faster I hug him, the faster I'm done.

We all say our little goodbyes and Buddy and I finally get into the car. Juliet and Russ go back inside. "Do you feel better about Russ now?" I ask, pulling on the seatbelt. It's jammed.

Buddy nods and starts the engine. "Yeah, he's actually a really nice man. I didn't expect that." He pulls his seatbelt on effortlessly.

"Huh, I wouldn't have guessed." I tug harder on the strap and it finally unjams. I pull it on.

"Havin' issues?"

"Shut up." I smile.

We get back to my parents house. It's eerie at night. It's huge and the fact that there's only two people there now? Weird. I never liked this house. It's too...showy. We didn't need seven bedrooms and four bathrooms. We didn't need a huge back yard or an intricate garden in the front. I think my mom just wanted neighborhood credit. We used to have neighborhood barbeques in the summer. Almost every week. It was tiring after a while. I wonder if they still have them, or if they stopped when we all moved away.

Buddy and I quietly climb up the stairs and head into my old room. I turn on the lamp and plop on the bed.

"Tired?"