Everywhere I went the memories hit me, showing the past, the future, and the present. I couldn’t hold them in. They flowed through me, looking for ways to make my tarnished memories reappear. I hated when this happened, I wanted peace from those memories. The memories of the all, as I called them, sense they showed all of the past, present, and future. The memories of all made me think, “is there anyone out there that knows these tricks to stop them?” The answer was always no.

The cold made me stop. I had no jacket, and my house was miles away from here. I looked for a shop for a coat. I found one; it’s called Mercy. Know idea why someone would call that a store, but oh well. I went in. It was old smelling. Dust and such. I didn’t mind the smell; that’s how my basement smells. But this store was different. It had a feeling of something different.
I stepped forward. The memories rushed through picture by picture. Too fast to see anything. Too fast to make out any colors of the rainbow.
“May, I help you?” An old woman asked.
“Um, no, I was just looking.” I said. I probably had a dazed look on my face.
“Well, if you need anything I’ll be over there.” She pointed to a small, glass counter.
“Thanks.” I said, nodding like an idiot.
The memories faded so all I could see of them was a soft glow. I walked around looking at things. This shop wasn’t an antique store; it was an old art plus old letters and such store. It was beautiful. There were things I haven’t seen in my whole life. Things that I wanted to touch, but were afraid to because they looked so fragile.
There was this one piece that had blue sapphire in the middle of it. Then different kinds of blues reaching out and out. Like a flower. I loved it. It was so beautiful. I wanted it. I looked for the price tag and saw that it was $109. Too much; I had only 50 dollars with me.
“My dear?” The old woman was standing right beside me.
“Yes?” I asked, a little weirded out that she was standing so close to me.
The old woman looked at my hand. I realized I was still holding the price tag. “I can lower that down to $40. If you want.”
“Oh, that would be great.” I said.
“Good.” She walks around the statue and picks it up. She puts it on the counter. “Oh, by the way, my name is Elise Frenchold.” She nods at me.
“Thanks so much, Elise.” I say.
“Your total comes to 42.50.”
I hand her the 50. “Thanks.”
She smiled. “Your welcome.” She gives me the change.
I smiled at her. I grabbed the statue, and put it on my shoulder, King-Kong style and walk out. The door dinned as I pushed it open to the outside. The freezing air hit me. What an unpleasant day, I thought. I groaned. Why did I buy this piece? I still have to walk home, and I don’t have a coat. Uh, I thought, I have to go look for another store.
I was looking around, and I saw a dollar store. I still have $7.50. I went in and bought a coat. I walked home semi-warm, holding my statue.


Hours and hours later, I was home safe and sound. I was still trying to find a place for it when I heard my doorbell ring.

It was my friend, Tyler Notts. His name was hilarious to me. I thought Notts was a funny last name like you had to work with nuts and bolts. Or something like that. He had on jeans and a navy blue t-shirt with a gray coat on. His clothes looked shabby; Tyler couldn’t afford real nice clothes. He usually buys things cheap. He had short rich, dark hair that made his eyes look greener.

“Hey, Meloney. What’s up?” He asked, looking at my clothes. I was wearing sweatpants which according to Tyler I never wear them (I actually wear them a lot), and a t-shirt that said, “Rock N’ Roll.” This attire meant I was sad according to Tyler. Which I was not.

I motioned for Tyler to come into the house. It was old, but my mom refurbished it and made it look like it was when it was first built besides a few things. My house was huge. The grand foyer was huge with marble tiles and columns. Art statues were everywhere on mini columns that my mom thought that it would make it look Greek. Which it really doesn’t look like that at all. The kitchen and breakfast area were at the end of the grand foyer with granite counter tops and such. The living room was opposite of the kitchen area. It has a huge flat screen TV which Tyler likes to come over and watch games on it. My bedroom was huge as my mothers. It was upstairs. I had all of the works; huge TV, a Jacuzzi, a huge walk in closet, and everything in the between. We had three guestrooms that were a nice size.

“Nothin’.” I finally answered. I looked at him, wondering why he was here. I didn’t invite him here and there wasn’t a game on. “Why are you here?” I ask.

He sighed. “Can’t I just miss my best friend and want to see her really bad?”

Oh, I get it. He wants money. “How much?” I ask. I go up to my bedroom and try to find a good spot up there for my statue. Tyler follows me. Oh, I know, by my desk. So I pick it up and put it there. “So, what do you think?” I look at him for his approval, but he’s looking out the window.

“Sorry, what?” He recovers when I look at him with a weird look on my face. “Oh, that looks great.”

“Tyler,” I sigh, “what’s up? Do you need money ‘cause I can get some.” I say.

“Oh, no. Um, I need to ask you a question.”

“Shoot.” I go to sit on my bed, and he follows me. He sits right up against me; his leg brushing mine.

“I need a date.”

“Um, excuse me?” I ask, shocked.

He repeats what he said, “it’s for the dance coming up. And I know that you have a ton of dresses. I just need?”

I interrupt him. “I’ll go.” I say.

He was clearly surprised by my answer. “Well, as friends.” He finished.

“Whatever you want.”

“Cool.” He nods his head. “Cool.” He repeats. His leg is still brushing my leg, and it feels nice and weird at the same time. “Awesome. So, I’ll pick you up ‘round seven. Okay?” He asks me, trying to look into my eyes. I was looking down at my feet for some reason. I looked up at him, staring into those beautiful, dark green eyes. His stare was powerful; I couldn’t look away. He looked away his gaze going around the room till he found my statue.

“Where did you find this?” He says pointing at the statue.

“Um, at this really cool shop. You would have loved it there. The women who owns the store brings down the prices a lot.” I joked with him sense he doesn’t like to buy expansive things. “I got this for $40’s, when it was originally $100’s. Cool, right?” I ask, wanting his opinion.

“Totally.” He nods. “So, did you walk there? Or what?”

“Um, I intended to take a walk, but I didn’t really think where I was going. So I ended up at the shop to look for a coat, and instead I bought this.” I point to it.

Tyler leans into me. His breath is on my face. “What f?”

A loud bang interrupts our talking. “What was that?” I ask Tyler. He shrugs. We go down stairs to see what the crash was. It was an art piece that my mom bought weeks ago in Italy. And in the middle of it stood my mother with white-blonde hair that was all over the place. I was the spitting image of my mother. Her luggage was all over the floor. She sees us standing there and blushes. “Oh, dear. Meloney, sweety will you go and get the broom and dustpan?” Mom asks.

“Sure.” I nod.

I go over to the kitchen and grab a dustpan, a broom, and the trashcan. I go over where my mom is and give her the broom while I kneel down and hold the dustpan so she can brush the glass into there.

“Oh, thank you! I was walking with all my bags and I’ve must of hit this and bam! hit this piece and it smashed to pieces. I can always get a new one.” She finally notices Tyler standing there, quietly. Being my mother she doesn’t really care who witnesses the mess as long is it not a customer. “Oh, hello, Tyler! How are you?” My mother asks as she takes the dustpan from my hands and puts the glass into the trash. She goes into the kitchen and puts the trash, dustpan, and broom away. She turns to us and smiles.

“Great.” He says.

“Hey, Mom can I show you my new statue I got? It’s really cool, and I can show you the store where I got it. And maybe Tyler can come too.”

“Um, show me the statue, but the other things I can’t do because I need to pack and go.” My mom starts to go to my bedroom, but I stop her.

“Mom, I thought you could stay!” I whine. I don’t usually whine, but she just came back and I wanted to spend time with her. I know my mom is tired, and she probably yell at me for being whiny, but I don’t care.

“Meloney.” Tyler whispers. He’s pleading with me to not make a scene.

“Fine this way.” I lead the way to my room to show Mom the statue. I point to where it is.
My mother gasps. “How much did you get this for?”
“40 dollars.” I say.
“Amazing. It must be the exact replica of the Flower.” My mother breathes.
“The Flower?” Tyler asks.
“Yes, it is a wonderful flower piece that is very valuable. Very expansive. Maybe millions of dollars, maybe more.” My mother is a huge artist, even though she is a lawyer. My mom knows everything about art. But my mom wanted to help people in a way that she was good at; being a lawyer. She wasn’t a good artist at all.
“Wow.” It’s all I can manage.
“I must get going. Oh, Tyler are you staying the night?” My mom asks. Mom likes it when Tyler stays here, so I’m not alone.
“Uh, I wasn’t planning on it. But yeah I can.” Tyler answered.
“Okay good.” She kisses my head and starts to walk out of the door. “I’ll be gone for four days. Call me if you need anything. I love you.” She waits to see if I would say anything, but I don’t. She walks out of the door.
“You hurt your mother when you don’t say anything.” Tyler says, looking at me sadly.
“Yeah, I know, but I hate when she leaves. I hate it! Why can’t she stay home?” But I don’t want to fight with Tyler. “So, real opinion. What do you think of my “Flower” statue?” I ask.
“Love it.” That’s all I’m going to get from him. Tyler goes to my bed and lays on it. He pats his side for me to join him. I walk over and lay down next to him our bodies breathing together. “So.”
“So.” I repeat.
“Truth or dare?”
“Truth.” I state.
“Do you looooovvvve me?” He asks me, laughing. I realize it’s not the real question he wants to ask me, so I just stay silent and wait for him to say something. “What do you think of us going to the dance as friends?”
“Um, fine. Awesome. Great. Can’t wait.”

“No, really.” He pokes my sides.
“I think it will be nice.” I say, and I know that he knows that I meant it.
“Good.” He sighs turning over so he faces the statue. “I guess I have to go get my stuff. For what four-five days?” He asks me.
“You don’t have to stay.” I say, but I do really want him to stay, and Tyler knows it.
“Nay, I’ll stay. So, five days?”
“Sure.”
Tyler leaves and takes my car keys with him to drive to his house to get his stuff. I go over to my desk and work on homework for the weekend. It feels like hours until Tyler gets back with his stuff. He goes and puts it into my closet. He has a permanent place to keep his clothes sense my mom leaves a lot. I go lay down on my bed. My homework is finished and everything else is finished. Just need to eat. Tyler comes out of my bathroom and lies next to me. He turns his head to look at my face.
“So, tired?” Tyler asks with concern.
“No, just lazy.”
“Okay, so let’s watch a movie.” So we do. Then I think I fall asleep right then and there while Tyler is lying next to me.
I wake up to a noise. It’s a beeping noise. I want it off. So I go and move my arm towards the noise, but something is there. I go to push it off when I get hit with memories. They’re slow, so slow that it looks like a movie.
Tyler is there; it must be his memory. It’s this afternoon. I am sitting next to him on the bed and he leans into me to?kiss?me. I kiss him back in the dream. Then he let’s go of me and sighs. His hair is all over the place; sticking in different directions. I think I sigh too. This is totally weird. I wouldn’t kiss Tyler; it’s too weird.
We have been best friends ever since my mom had to help out his family with legal problems. I don’t ask what they were because I think it’s too embarrassing for them. Tyler had to stay at my house, and we just became really close friends just like that. We always had each others backs. When I started dating; Tyler was still my friend, but I saw less of him. And that hurt too much, so I ended it with that guy. Neither of us has dated sense.
But now in this memory things were weird.
“I love you, Meloney.” Tyler says out of nowhere. The me in the dream just smiles.
“I love you, Tyler.” I say which I think is weird. I would never even admit that I love him in that brotherly-sisterly way. Not this kind of love.
He sighs, again. “So.”
“So.” I repeat back.
He then gets up and leaves closing the door behind him. I cry. And that’s the end of the memory.
I open my eyes. Tyler is lying next to me. This must have been in the present because he has this look of hurt on his face. I don’t like it, so I nudge him awake.
“W-what?” He rolls over to look at me.
“You look like you were having a bad dream.” I say, innocently.
“Mels, did you see the dream? Tell me the truth, now.” He growls the last part. I think it’s so cute when he does that. Wait. Cute? When did I start to think he was cute? I guess, now.
Wait.
Was the memory from the future? But Tyler saw it. Didn’t he?
“Maybe. Tyler, tell me what the dream was about. Please.” I beg.
He sighs. “It was about Marcy.” He looks at me to see if I want to hear the rest of the story.
“Telling the truth.” I barley get out.
“Yes.” He says.
Marcy was Tyler’s old girlfriend that he told me he loved her, but got dumped by her. He came over the night he got dumped and ate ice cream and slept in my bed. I hated Marcy after that. And Tyler only hanged out with me and some of my other friends that were girls.
Then the memory was of the future.
And I had to stop it.