You Were What You Eat

12. The Past Comes Back

As Anna left the classroom, she was feeling pretty good. A 95% on her French test! True, she had learned French when she was younger. But that had been almost three hundred years ago, and her teacher often complained that Anna's French was almost unintelligibly old-fashioned. But it seemed she was finally learning some more modern phrases.

She held that paper, smiling proudly to herself as she walked down the hall towards her next class. She was about twenty feet away from the door when she heard a familiar laugh. She stopped cold, a knot forming in the pit of her stomach. But, it had been years since she'd heard that laugh – surely she was mistaken. Slowly, with a feeling of dread building up inside her, she turned to face the sound.

The hallway was filled with students shuffling back and forth, but Anna was able to spot him easily. He looked just as he always had – thick, blond hair and ice-blue eyes. She could even see the dimple that appeared on his left cheek whenever he smiled. He was tall, handsome, and athletic-looking, and Anna recognized him instantly. His name was Fredrick.

At the sight of him, she froze. Fortunately for Anna, Fredrick didn't see her. He just walked right on by, joking and laughing with a group of guys on the football team. Anna followed him with her eyes until he rounded the corner and was out of sight. She continued staring after him, as if she could still see him. It wasn't until some kid ran straight into her that Anna finally started moving again.

It had been a long time since Anna had seen Fredrick, but she knew him well – how could she ever forget him? In 1724, when Anna was just seventeen, Fredrick had been twenty-three. He had lived in the same town as Anna – grown up with her. Even all those years ago, Fredrick had been the most popular person in town, and he'd known it. He was smart, funny, and charming – able to light up a room just by walking into it. It seemed like little had changed, even in three hundred years. Then, as now, he was constantly surrounded by admirers. And, as the son of the mayor, Fredrick was the most eligible bachelor around. That is, until the day it was announced that he was getting engaged – to Anna.

Anna had also come from an old and fairly well-established family. And, as the only daughter in a family with six children, she had been the natural choice for him to marry.

Anna thought back to the engagement. It had been the talk of the town when it was announced. Fredrick Evans and Anna Ellington. Not that anyone had been all that surprised; they came from two of the most prominent families in town. Before the engagement, Anna hadn't really known Fredrick. She'd known of him, of course, but she had never really said much more to him than the occasional hello. Her parents had arranged the marriage along with his. It wasn't until after the engagement had been announced that Anna had begun to spend any real time with him.

She remembered how nervous she was the first time she met him. He was so popular, so handsome, that she worried she might do something foolish or somehow look stupid in front of him; the first time he'd visited her home, she'd barely said two words to him she was so shy! But Fredrick, suave as ever, had more than made up for her lack in the conversation. He'd joked with her and told her stories until she felt completely at ease with him.

Even now, Anna couldn't help but smile when she remembered how they would laugh together. She remembered when he and his parents would come over to visit. Anna would go out on the porch with Fredrick for hours; she, perched on the bleached-white railing, and he, standing beside her, his hand lightly touching hers. When the rain would fall, she would stand there safely under the eaves with him, hand in hand, and watch as the water ran off the leaves and gathered in grassy pools below them. On these days, the rain would make the plants look so green, she almost felt as if she were in a tropical forest instead of staring at a small garden in an old New England town. It was during these moments that Anna truly fell in love with Fredrick. They seemed to have so much in common – she felt that there had been a real connection between the two of them. Fredrick was so easy to talk to, the hours would pass by in what seemed like mere minutes, and she was always sorry to see him go. With a wave of nostalgia, Anna realized that she had never been happier in her life than on those days when she was with Fredrick.