73 Memories

The Sixty-Fourth Memory

"Bye Laura! Have fun!"

She waved and disappeared inside the house.

I sighed and got back in the car, pulling away.

You called me, interrupting the silence. "What's up?"

"What's the pastability you remember where I first said pastability?"

"Of course I remember."

"Go there, then."

"What?" I asked. "I'm not going back to Portland."

"We have one here, too. Find the note."

And then you hung up.

I snorted. I should have known something was up when you refused to come with me to drop off Laura.

I changed route and redirected myself towards the high school. Find the note.

I got out of the car and shut the door quietly, trying not to disturb the neighborhood. Sneakily, I crept along the building. The doors would be locked by now, so I doubted whatever not you had placed here was in the building. When I got to the back wall, I saw a note taped to one of the bricks. Food fight!

What did that mean? I folded the paper up and shoved it in my pocket, leaving the school and deciding to just head home.

When I got there, I called for you, but you didn't answer.

I sighed, realizing you were probably at the end of this scavenger hunt. I went to the kitchen, getting ready to heat some food up instead of finding you because I figured you'd come home soon.

But when I opened the fridge, there was another taped to the grape bowl. Where did we sleep in Ireland?

A hotel. We had a lot of those here! I scoffed, trying to think of the name. Maybe we had the same kind of hotel.

I googled it, and we didn't.

But when you thought about it more specifically, the way you would have...

Bed Bath and Beyond, one of your favorite stores.

I ran back to the car, suddenly excited about this adventure.

I pulled into the store parking lot, hurrying inside to the mattress section. Finally, I found a bed that had a note taped to the back of its display headboard. This is getting boring. Just go to Emlyn's apartment building.

I laughed, exiting the store and heading East, towards where I believed you would be.

I shut the car off, seeing you in the distance. You were waving your hands around, and then you turned on a flashlight, leaving. I ran to follow the light, and then behind the apartment, where there was a little strip of grass and then the beach, was a picnic blanket with a bunch of candles all around it and a wicker basket in the middle.

"How about a picnic?"

I laughed, walking over and sitting down on the red and white checkered blanket. "Is there Subway in there too? Full on redo-first date recreation?

You grinned, glad that I'd picked up on that. "Same blanket and everything."