When We Were Young

Merry Ole' England

I had to wake Skylar. She was nestled under the blanket and the flight attendants were about to come around to make sure everyone was ready to land. I couldn't believe she didn't wake after all the announcements. When she finally lifted her head, her eyes were half-closed and her hair pushed up in weird directions.

"We're here, baby," I said quietly kissing her forehead. She roused and looked around as if she wasn't sure where she was, pushing her hair back swiftly. Skylar looked up and smiled wide, leaned over and kissed my cheek.

"I'm sorry I fell asleep," she said wide awake now. "How did you do?"

I shrugged, unbuckled my seatbelt and stood up in the aisle. I was happy for the extra room and space, even though Skylar argued with me when I bought us business class seats. "I figured you'd wake before we landed; I was squeezing your hand fairly tight I would say."

Skylar laughed and crawled out of the aisle, grabbing her bag and slinging it over her shoulder. "I think the exhaustion of the last week kicked in and you could have thrown me from the plane and I wouldn't have known."

I had barely seen Skylar the week leading up to our trip, a gift to her for our one-year anniversary. Ever since her birthday in February and a weekend at the lake house, we hadn't spent any serious time together. She was on a deadline to finish editing a manuscript and I was busy myself with work and getting all of my paperwork completed to start school in the fall.

"So will you be driving?" she asked as we made our way to customs. I held her hand tightly, guiding her through the crowds and into the correct line.

"Yup. It won't take long to get to my folk's place," I said. She headed to the counter. The officer looked at her passport, smiled, and asked Skylar a question. She laughed and took her passport after he stamped it, then proceeded through to the line. I had a longer line to wait on since I was a national and found Skylar looking at her phone, email presumably, before they continued to baggage claim.

"So how do you feel?"

Her eyes were wide and curious as she watched me searching the carousal waiting for our luggage to tumble down the conveyor.

"I'm absolutely terrified," I finally said. I wrapped my hand around Skylar's and we made our way to the car rental pickup.

Skylar squeezed my hand tight, sticking her bottom lip out. I laughed. We loaded up the car and Skylar nearly got in on the wrong side, chuckling as she ran to the left side of the car to slide into the passenger's seat.

"It'll be fine. You said they understood when you spoke with them," Skylar beamed, her hand resting on my arm as I shifted through the roads leading out of the airport. "They'll probably want to hear all about your classes and maybe we can take them to a museum," she shrugged. "They might appreciate it more with you there..."

I forced a smile but it was without feeling. I knew I had set myself up for a disaster and the bottom was about to drop out from beneath me.

Skylar stared out the window, watching the bright green rolling hills, the old crumbling stone fences that lined the narrow roads and the houses she described as 'homey'. As the car neared the house, my stomach started to turn and my insides were trembling beneath my skin. I wiped my brow, took a deep breath, and tried to calm down but it was no use.

We passed through town and I noticed that not much had changed. There was Old Molly's, one of two pubs in town and the one that my friends and I used to frequent often before I moved away. I was sure a couple of my old friends were in there right now watching a football match. The pub looked the same with two large bay windows overlooking the street; the weathered and faded green sign with gold writing hung above the arched doorway. The building had been a school at one point, which became a joke in town when someone said 'they were going to school', most everyone knew they were going to Old Molly's.