Magic in Costa Rica

The Other Anniversary

"Hey, do you want to hang out tonight? It's been a while," Carla asked as we sat down between the bookcases in the library. I sighed.

"I can't. I'm supposed to be having dinner with Chris' family. How about Monday?"

"Isn't that the day of our field trip?"

"Yes," I grinned excitedly. Mr. Miller told us that our class would be going to the Museum of Fine Arts on April 15th, and that the trip would last all day. "But we can still hang out in the afternoon," I added. Carla shrugged.

"Sounds good to me. I feel like I haven't seen you in forever."

"Carla, we see each other every day."

"You know what I mean!" she rolled her eyes. "Outside of school."

"I know," I lowered my eyes guiltily. "I've just been really busy." The truth was, ever since Chris and I had professed our love for one another over a month ago, our relationship had become more serious than I had bargained for. He wanted to see me all the time, and it's not that I didn't love seeing him, but I was beginning to feel a little suffocated. Monday would be a nice break from it all.

"I get it, I get it," Carla raised her hands in defeat. "You've got stuff to do. Work, homework, Chris. Just don't forget about me."

"I could never forget about you! I promise we will hang out on Monday."

* * *

That night at Chris', I had a wonderful, if not slightly awkward, dinner with him, his dad, Katie, and Laurie. I was nervous only because Laurie and Mr. Stewart were my bosses (even though Mr. Stewart insisted he wasn't my boss) but it was actually really nice.

"Alma is one of my best waitresses," Laurie raised her wine glass and winked in my direction. "I don't know how we ever managed without her. We'll miss you this Sunday!" I smiled in response and raised my glass.

"Thanks, Laurie. That means a lot." After dinner, Chris drove me home and kissed me goodnight. As we drew apart, he looked at me curiously, his head cocked to one side.

"Goodnight, babe. Hey, why aren't you working on Sunday?"

"Oh, I have some work to do, it's no big deal. But I can't hang out."

"Um, okay? Well have a good weekend, then." He reached across my lap and opened the car door. "Love you." I noticed his knuckles turn white as his hands tightened around the steering wheel, but chose to ignore it.

"Love you, too. Goodnight." I left and closed the door behind me. I didn't hear from Chris all day on Saturday, and by Sunday morning, finally accepted that I needed to deal with the situation, I decided to talk to him. Hey, are you mad at me? I texted and got a response almost immediately. Call me, it read. I took a deep breath and hit the dial button.

"Hey," I said unsurely, not really knowing what to expect.

"I'm not mad at you, Alma," Chris said. "I'm just confused."

"About what?"

"I don't understand why you didn't want to hang out today. I mean, you never get a day off of work. It's your first Sunday off in months, and you don't even want to see me?"

"Chris, I specifically requested today off."

"Why?" he asked. I sighed.

"Because today is the anniversary of my mother's death." A long silence ensued. At the end of it, I expected him to say I'm so sorry, Alma or I completely understand, Alma, but instead, he said something that would've knocked me off my feet if I had been standing.