Key to the Past

Chapter 3

 I walked over to the decrepit–looking sinks and turned on the cold water. I scooped up handfuls of water and splashed it on my face. I always felt burning hot when I did something bad. I took one of my make-up removers out of its neat little pack and wiped it all over my face. I actually looked presentable now. I wrapped my towel around me and walked back outside into the chill night air. My mom was lounging on a pool chair near the closed snack bar. I walked over to an empty chair and sat down beside her.

"Oh hey, honey. Aren't the stars just beautiful tonight?" my mother said.

I craned my neck up to look at the gorgeous black sky. Sure enough, there were a lot of bright pin-points of light painted all over the sky.

"They sure are," I replied.

I spotted a muscular figure running towards me with a white paper plate in each hand.

"Bridget! I was looking for you. You have got to try one of these delicious brownies!" Evan exclaimed, gently placing a plate in my hand.

My mom watched us with a surprised look on her face.

"Who is this, Bridget?" she suspiciously asked.

"He's just some guy I met here. He's really nice," I replied.

"And how old is he?"

Evan spoke up and answered, "I'm going to college in September, ma'am."

"Where to?"

"Harding."

My mom's face tried to mask her disappointment.

"Really? Wow, that's fantastic. You must be a very religious boy."

"I guess so, ma'am," he sadly replied.

I could tell that my mom liked how he was a gentleman. She gave me her nod of approval and I took that as our cue to go do something.

"So," I said, tugging on Evan's arm, "let's go get a drink."

He followed me over to the refreshment table. While Evan poured our drinks, I scanned my eyes around to find Em. I saw her in the pool with a few girls and guys, but not Chris. I walked close to where she was.

"Where's Chris?" I asked.

"Oh, he's in the bathroom," she replied.

"How long has he been in there for?"

"About 20 minutes or so."

"Uh huh, well I see you later."

I walked back over to where Evan was.

"I poured you some fruit punch," he commented as he turned around.

Evan rammed into me, causing the cup of fruit punch to splash all over me.

"I'm so sorry!"

"It's okay. I just have to try to wipe this off before it stains."

I turned to walk over to the bathroom again. Near the bathroom, I heard a rustling sound. It was coming from the corner of the community pool that was covered with trees. I couldn't what the source of the noise was. I sneakily tip-toed into to the corner. I was met with a sight that I had never wished that I had seen. I saw a tall, brunette, athletic-built boy kissing a tan, black-haired girl. I gasped out loud, stumbling backwards. The boy stopped kissing the girl and gazed at me with a pleading look in his two blue eyes. We walked a few yards away from where Kayla was so that she wouldn't overhear us.

"Please don't tell her. She'll be heart-broken if she finds out," he begged.

I glared at him.

"Don't even think that I'm not going to tell her."

I turned around to walk away, but he grabbed my arm.

"Please, please, please!"

"Get off of me!"

I jerked my hand free and continued to walk. He kept following me and begging me not to tell her. I walked over to the pool chair that she was now relaxing on.

"I need to tell you something," I started.

"I'm so sorry, I'm so sorry," he kept repeating over and over again.

"What's going on?" she asked with a nervous look in her hazel eyes.

"Em, Chris is cheating on you with Kayla."

Tears started to flow from Em's eyes.

"Please, Em. I'm so sorry. It's just a casual fling. Please forgive me."

"We've been together for almost 5 years, and you were cheating on me all along," Em quavered.

"No! It just started recently."

Em abruptly stood up and gathered all her stuff.

"Bridget, can you please walk me home?"

Em was trying very hard to keep herself together in front of everyone.

"Of course. Just give me a moment to tell my mom."

Em nodded and started to walk over to the pool entrance, leaving a sobbing Chris behind.

"Mom, can you bring my bike back for me please? I need to go walk Em home."

"Sure."

"Thanks."

I headed over to the pool entrance. We linked arms and started to walk the 5 minutes to Em's house.

"Wait!" a voice cried out, running towards us. "I didn't give you my phone number!"

Em and I just kept walking. Evan was a very nice boy, but I just wanted to bring Em home. I didn't want to get involved with some guy right now. I decided that I would just forget about him, like I usually forget about bad things or things that I really don't want to think about. I dropped off Em and kept walking the 15 minute walk home. I tried to think about anything but Evan, but my thoughts kept straying to him. I couldn't forget about him.