Jovial Memories

Chapter 17

            "So, what are the plans for today?" Mandy asked, her eyes gleaming as she looked into Dustin's eyes. Upon using her Time Precedent, she had appeared at his familiar home and was now sitting on his comfy couch.
            Dustin grinned and wrapped his hand around her shoulder. "Well, I suppose that's up to you," he said. "You're my guest after all."
            Mandy grinned and hoped he couldn't see her cheeks turning rosy red. What she would give to have Dustin back, the real Dustin, not the one who had moved and lost all contact with her when she needed him most.
            "Well, what can we do?" Mandy asked. When she and Dustin had dated, he usually always came up with the plans, and they were always brilliant and exciting. It thrilled her to be a part of one of his plans again.
            Dustin glanced off at the wall, thinking for a moment. "We can ride our bikes," he decided. "Stop at the icecream shop."
            "Perfect," Mandy declared, rising from the couch in excitement. She followed Dustin toward his garage where they rummaged through his shed until they unveiled two bikes. One was a dark blue, Dustin's, Mandy presumed, while the other he found a was a light green. Mandy happily accepted the bike and followed Dustin out to the front of his house. Fortunately, the sun was shining in her Year Dimension today, making for a lovely day for a bike ride.
            With the helmet Dustin had provided her, Mandy slipped the helmet on and swung her leg over the seat of her bike. As Dustin pedaled down his driveway, Mandy followed close behind, and soon they were on their way.
            Mandy hadn't gone bike riding in a long time. It was a normal activity she'd done with friends over the summer when snow wasn't coating the ground, but she hadn't exactly had any friends since Jessie's death, limiting her to her home for activities.
            But today, as Mandy rode her bike down the quiet street, she was filled again with the excitement and serenity she had once possessed while spending a day riding her bike with her friends. Dustin biked alongside her and grinned.
            "Happy?" he asked.
            Mandy nodded vigorously, glancing around at the scenery. Unlike the current winter season she was in, the trees here were bright green, as was the grass, signaling summer, Mandy's favorite time of year.
            The sky was a bright blue, puffy clouds layered across it. Mandy smiled, enjoying the warm feeling of the sun on her back. It was better than having fifteen layers on. Here, in a summer environment, she could actually move and be free.
            She and Dustin biked a few miles before they finally came into town to where the icecream shop sat. Mandy would often go there with her friends to get a tasty treat. Moving off the street and onto the sidewalk now, Mandy noticed how rarely any people or cars went down the street, which was odd for a sunny day out on town.
            "Where is everyone?" Mandy asked.
            "Only that which you need appears," Dustin spoke.
            "Huh?" Mandy asked.
            "Huh?" Dustin replied, as if he'd forgotten that he'd ever spoken. Mandy shrugged and followed him to the icecream shop, which sat at the corner. It was a small brick building at the edge of the corner.
            Placing their bikes on the bike rack, Mandy followed Dustin inside the icecream shop. It also served as a diner, though Mandy often only used it as a place to enjoy a frozen dessert. Glancing up at the billboard menu, she immediately recognized the Ben and Jerry's flavors she had grown up with.
            With Ben and Jerry's originating in Vermont, and the factory not too far from where she was, it was traditional to love Ben and Jerry's. She glanced at the flavors, then selected her favorite.
            "One scoop of Half-Baked for me and a scoop of Phish Food for her," Dustin told the lady behind the wooden counter.
            "Coming up!" she called, working to get their icecream ready.
            "I don't have any money," Mandy began to explain.
            She was cut off by the lady's reply. "Here you are!" she called.
            "Thanks," Dustin replied, grabbing the icecream from her. He handed Mandy's share to her, and for a moment, Mandy only glanced in confusion. The lady had asked for no money. What did go on in a Year Dimension?
            "What? Wrong flavor?" Dustin wondered.
            Mandy shook her head. "Nothing. Let's sit down," she decided, sitting with him at a sleek, wooden round table. She placed her spoon into her icecream, humming as she tasted chocolate, caramel, marshmallow, and bits of chocolate.
            Mandy glanced at Dustin's icecream. He had chosen Half-Baked, a vanilla icecream filled with both brownie bites and cookie dough bites. She was glad Dustin remembered her favorite icecream flavor here though. Would the Dustin in real life even still remember?
            Both Dustin and Mandy licked their bowls clean and headed back outside where their unprotected bikes still sat against the bike rack. Mandy excitedly climbed back onto her bike, and with Dustin, she headed back off to his house.
            It was nice to burn off the icecream and continue chatting with Dustin as they biked back towards his home. Mandy had had a nice day, though she wished it could've been real. If only it all could've been real. Life would be so much simpler, so much nicer.
            Mandy came to a slow halt as they came to Dustin's driveway. She then got back off the bike and walked it back up to Dustin's garage, glad for a fun day. As he placed her bike away, she grabbed his hand and kissed him. She knew this Dustin wasn't real, he couldn't possibly be, yet she couldn't help but feel the way she had before...
            Dustin grinned and lightly stroked her hair. "Time to head back?" he wondered.
            Mandy nodded. "My dad will get worried."
            Dustin nodded, leaning over and kissing her cheek. Mandy blushed and removed the Time Precedent from her pocket. Pressing the button that would take her home, she watched as Dustin faded from her sight.

Mandy awoke on her bed, her stomach still acting like it was filled with butterflies. Grinning, she sat up, reality slowly coming back to her. It was late Sunday afternoon, and she was at her dad's house.
            Mandy had told her dad she was completing her homework, which she guessed made him happy, even though she'd lied and done none of it. She glanced over at her backpack and groaned, still not in the mood for homework. Maybe when she got back home to her mom's after dinner...
            With the thought of Dustin still in the back of her mind, she left her room and came downstairs to find her dad excitedly watching football on the couch. At the sound of her door opening, he glanced up.
            "Hey," he called.
            "Hey," Mandy replied, walking out to the front room to greet her dad. Her mom's house, though small, was still large in comparison to her dad's two bedroom, two bathroom home. Everything felt all crowded together in her dad's home, which she guess she couldn't blame him for. After all, he was the only one living in it.
            "Did you finish all that homework?" her father asked. "You were in there awhile."
            Mandy nodded, guilt flooding her as she lied once again. Still, she believed she deserved some time in her Year Paradise after she did so well at school the past week.
            "Well, good. I won't be taking you back to your mom's until after dinner, so what do you want to have?" he wondered.
            Mandy shrugged. "Whatever, I guess."
            Her father frowned. "Not very particular, huh? How about I microwave us up some of that frozen macaroni and cheese."
            "Sure," Mandy agreed, not that hungry after her icecream snack with Dustin.
            The football game was still on though, so for a awhile, Mandy sat, snuggled up against her father on the couch, listening to the distant hum of the T.V. She was thankful for the time she got to spend with her father and secretly wished she could be with him more.
            Over summer, she and her father would swap week to week with Mandy, but during the school year, Mandy only got to see her father two times a week, and they spent barely forty-eight hours together.
            "Here, you find something," her father offered after awhile, handing her the remote. "I'll cook us up some dinner."
            Mandy nodded and flipped through the channels until she decided on some cheesy sitcom. Her father meanwhile was at work in the kitchen, working vigorously to microwave contains of mac and cheese.
            Mandy's eyes lingered to her bedroom door where her homework was waiting, and suddenly, memories of school flooded back to her. She still didn't want to think of Roy and Iris as "official friends," but she supposed it was happening. Yet, for some odd reason, she'd grown to accept the facts, and her heart leapt slightly to think of seeing them at school tomorrow. That wouldn't make the Monday too bad.
            "Dinner," her father called a few minutes later.
            Forgetting all about her homework, Mandy joined her father at the table and ate her microwaved mac and cheese. Her father talked quietly; he mostly congratulated her on the outstanding grades she'd received, something her mother had decided to tell him. Mandy was surprised her mother had even engaged in a conversation with him.
            "Why so glum?" her father asked.
            Mandy shrugged. "School tomorrow, that's all."
            "Well, I happened to buy an apple pie if you're interested," her father spoke as he cleared away her trash.
            Mandy's eyes lit up. "Really?"
            Her father nodded. He seemed to always know how to cheer her up, something her mother seemed to lack.
            Moments later, Mandy was digging into a tasty piece of pie with her father, opening up to him a bit more. With not really any friends, she didn't have anyone to really talk to. She spoke to him a little bit about Iris and Roy, about how she was getting to know them better.
            "Hey, good for you. You're making friends," her father spoke. For some reason, the way he put it did not bother her as much as how her mother would bother her about making friends. She smiled warmly and spoke a little longer on the subject.
            With dinner over, Mandy gathered up her things and walked with her father to his car, ready to return home. As the car started and they went on their way, Mandy felt almost a bit excited about going to school. But then, her thoughts of the Year Dimension and her old friends flooded her mind, and she was left of a different sense of nostalgia, wanting to be with all of them again. She sighed, wishing that all that she experienced in the Year Dimension could just be real...