Found You
Past: Chapter One
Jamie:
"Obviously I could tell she was a difficult child from the beginning. I'm sure her parents were happy back then that they only had the one kid. You could tell when she was planning something that would get her, and most likely me, in trouble. Her eyes got this sparkle in them, just in the corner of her eye where the green turns into blue. It would always bring a smile to my face; I knew what I was getting into before she even suggested it. I can't tell you how many adventures we didn't tell our parents about.
"I remember during that second summer, just after our parents finally gave up keeping us away from each other, my family was out to dinner while I was stuck home sick. She climbed the big willow tree and onto the balcony outside my window just to bring me soup and a blanket. We watched 'Nightmare on Elm Street', something that we smuggled out of my parent's room, pressed against each other under that scratchy, raggedy thing. We both jumped when my brother threw the bedroom door open. He told mom on me like always.
"It was awkward the next day when we saw each other at the ice cream shop. We kind of just stared at each other for a second across the room. She was wearing a dress, and I shuddered, thinking of what my dad had told me after she was sent home about how girls and boys interact when they're older; and how they shouldn't do those sorts of things when they are young. We were only seven and eight. Her face was covered in chocolate sauce, and I ordered extra chocolate sauce on mine so I could do the same thing and make her laugh after the trouble we had gotten in. It worked.
"Afterwards, we walked out to the tide pools, leaving our bikes chained up outside the shop, and I learned that her mom told her the same sort of stories that my dad had. 'It sounds weird' she told me. And then she got this really disgusted sort of look on her face as she asked, 'Do you think we'd ever do those weird things? I mean, when we're older?' 'Maybe,' I had said back, 'My dad says that's what girls and boys do when they're old enough.' 'When do you think we'll be old enough?' she asked, ' Like, in 20 years? That's a long time from now, right?' I nodded.
"A couple days later, she had caught my cold, and I went over to bring her soup like she had for me. Her parents had made sure to stay home with her, but they let us sit on the couch, opposite sides of the couch, and watch 'The Unicorn' or 'The Last Unicorn' or something like that. She was sicker than I had been though, and I felt really bad, not being able to comfort her like my mom always taught me boys should do for girls.
"Once I knew our parents were asleep, this was probably around 11 or so, I snuck back over to her house and crawled in through her bedroom window. She wasn't asleep, just staring at the ceiling, sniffling. Her nose kept running all throughout the night, so I passed her tissues as I held her against my eight-year-old chest. I think that was a stain mom could never get out of my shirt. Sometime in the middle of the night, she finally fell asleep. We got caught again in the morning, and we were both grounded for a couple of weeks after that."
+++++
Jamie; three months before the kidnapping:.
The streets along the beach were lined with people. Groups of them surrounded tables and benches; flocks of them were kayaking through the bay or pedaling along on their rented bikes. Vendors were stacked practically on top of each other in the roped off sections of parking lots. Red and white and green and yellow cars slowly made their way past Jamie and his brother as they wound around the festival goers.
"Emily better hurry if she doesn't want to miss opening day of the festival," Jordie yelled over the crowd. Emily's family was still driving up from their home in Seattle, Washington. With the highways and ferries around the area backed up from the party, it could be midnight when they finally arrived.
Music played off in the distance, and the crowd cheered as the song came to a close. The noise echoed off the surrounding buildings. Jamie leaned over to his brother.
"She wouldn't miss this for the world." When the two of them had been old enough to walk through the busy streets alone, they never missed an opportunity to be out doing something in the annual crowd. It was the one time of year where they were both excited to be up at six in the morning. The people energized her. Nothing about them was boring to her. Naturally, this meant that they didn't leave until they last few stray partiers were sleeping in their cars for the night. It was also tradition to sleep in late the day after it finished, then sit together on one couch or another, in silence, as the high began to wear off.
As they continued walking, leaving the majority of the events behind them, the crowd began to disperse. Thinner and thinner it became until it almost felt normal. They passed the ice cream shop where they used to go as kids. Jamie smiled at the memories of sampling all of the flavors with Emily, posing as an out-of-town couple, whenever a new employee started working there.
"Jamie!" He didn't have time to turn around before she jumped on his back. Her thin legs wrapped around his torso, which had grown firmer over the school year.
"Hey!" he gasped, staggering to keep his balance in light of the sudden weight. She quickly kissed his cheek, making a loud and purposeful smacking sound with her lips.
"Hey Jordie," she said once she had slid back onto the ground. "How are you?"
"Good, good. It's nice to see you."
One hand of hers was snatched by Jamie as she paused to give Jordie a hug. She didn't pull it away, and as soon as she broke from the hug with the older boy, Jamie pulled her back into his chest. Her lips vibrated against his chest as she laughed. Their big grins were identical when they pulled back.
She had changed very little, but it was significant to him. Her hair was light at the ends, like it gotten sun bleached in the rainy weather of Seattle. She had lost what little fat there was left to her; he could see the slight bumps that defined each muscle around her arms. There was also something new to her smile, something very confident and bright. He was sure that if she took off her sunglasses her eyes would bear the same look.
"Where do you wanna check out first?" he asked, motioning with his head towards the crowds. Emily paused.
"Actually," she chuckled, and Jamie's intuition told him it wasn't as innocent as it sounded, "I was thinking that we could head back to my place for a while. Relax? I haven't been there yet, I came straight here." He was almost taken aback.
"You don't want to go get something to eat? Maybe some ice cream?" he suggested, nodding over to the glass doors that encased 20 or so different flavors along with countless stories the two of them shared.
"Maybe later, I want to head home right now." She grabbed the side of her glasses, pulling them up just enough to where Jamie could see her eyes. He was right about the look, but there was also that mischievous little glint hanging somewhere just to the right of devious. "We have somewhere to be tonight. We need to get some rest."
"Obviously I could tell she was a difficult child from the beginning. I'm sure her parents were happy back then that they only had the one kid. You could tell when she was planning something that would get her, and most likely me, in trouble. Her eyes got this sparkle in them, just in the corner of her eye where the green turns into blue. It would always bring a smile to my face; I knew what I was getting into before she even suggested it. I can't tell you how many adventures we didn't tell our parents about.
"I remember during that second summer, just after our parents finally gave up keeping us away from each other, my family was out to dinner while I was stuck home sick. She climbed the big willow tree and onto the balcony outside my window just to bring me soup and a blanket. We watched 'Nightmare on Elm Street', something that we smuggled out of my parent's room, pressed against each other under that scratchy, raggedy thing. We both jumped when my brother threw the bedroom door open. He told mom on me like always.
"It was awkward the next day when we saw each other at the ice cream shop. We kind of just stared at each other for a second across the room. She was wearing a dress, and I shuddered, thinking of what my dad had told me after she was sent home about how girls and boys interact when they're older; and how they shouldn't do those sorts of things when they are young. We were only seven and eight. Her face was covered in chocolate sauce, and I ordered extra chocolate sauce on mine so I could do the same thing and make her laugh after the trouble we had gotten in. It worked.
"Afterwards, we walked out to the tide pools, leaving our bikes chained up outside the shop, and I learned that her mom told her the same sort of stories that my dad had. 'It sounds weird' she told me. And then she got this really disgusted sort of look on her face as she asked, 'Do you think we'd ever do those weird things? I mean, when we're older?' 'Maybe,' I had said back, 'My dad says that's what girls and boys do when they're old enough.' 'When do you think we'll be old enough?' she asked, ' Like, in 20 years? That's a long time from now, right?' I nodded.
"A couple days later, she had caught my cold, and I went over to bring her soup like she had for me. Her parents had made sure to stay home with her, but they let us sit on the couch, opposite sides of the couch, and watch 'The Unicorn' or 'The Last Unicorn' or something like that. She was sicker than I had been though, and I felt really bad, not being able to comfort her like my mom always taught me boys should do for girls.
"Once I knew our parents were asleep, this was probably around 11 or so, I snuck back over to her house and crawled in through her bedroom window. She wasn't asleep, just staring at the ceiling, sniffling. Her nose kept running all throughout the night, so I passed her tissues as I held her against my eight-year-old chest. I think that was a stain mom could never get out of my shirt. Sometime in the middle of the night, she finally fell asleep. We got caught again in the morning, and we were both grounded for a couple of weeks after that."
+++++
Jamie; three months before the kidnapping:.
The streets along the beach were lined with people. Groups of them surrounded tables and benches; flocks of them were kayaking through the bay or pedaling along on their rented bikes. Vendors were stacked practically on top of each other in the roped off sections of parking lots. Red and white and green and yellow cars slowly made their way past Jamie and his brother as they wound around the festival goers.
"Emily better hurry if she doesn't want to miss opening day of the festival," Jordie yelled over the crowd. Emily's family was still driving up from their home in Seattle, Washington. With the highways and ferries around the area backed up from the party, it could be midnight when they finally arrived.
Music played off in the distance, and the crowd cheered as the song came to a close. The noise echoed off the surrounding buildings. Jamie leaned over to his brother.
"She wouldn't miss this for the world." When the two of them had been old enough to walk through the busy streets alone, they never missed an opportunity to be out doing something in the annual crowd. It was the one time of year where they were both excited to be up at six in the morning. The people energized her. Nothing about them was boring to her. Naturally, this meant that they didn't leave until they last few stray partiers were sleeping in their cars for the night. It was also tradition to sleep in late the day after it finished, then sit together on one couch or another, in silence, as the high began to wear off.
As they continued walking, leaving the majority of the events behind them, the crowd began to disperse. Thinner and thinner it became until it almost felt normal. They passed the ice cream shop where they used to go as kids. Jamie smiled at the memories of sampling all of the flavors with Emily, posing as an out-of-town couple, whenever a new employee started working there.
"Jamie!" He didn't have time to turn around before she jumped on his back. Her thin legs wrapped around his torso, which had grown firmer over the school year.
"Hey!" he gasped, staggering to keep his balance in light of the sudden weight. She quickly kissed his cheek, making a loud and purposeful smacking sound with her lips.
"Hey Jordie," she said once she had slid back onto the ground. "How are you?"
"Good, good. It's nice to see you."
One hand of hers was snatched by Jamie as she paused to give Jordie a hug. She didn't pull it away, and as soon as she broke from the hug with the older boy, Jamie pulled her back into his chest. Her lips vibrated against his chest as she laughed. Their big grins were identical when they pulled back.
She had changed very little, but it was significant to him. Her hair was light at the ends, like it gotten sun bleached in the rainy weather of Seattle. She had lost what little fat there was left to her; he could see the slight bumps that defined each muscle around her arms. There was also something new to her smile, something very confident and bright. He was sure that if she took off her sunglasses her eyes would bear the same look.
"Where do you wanna check out first?" he asked, motioning with his head towards the crowds. Emily paused.
"Actually," she chuckled, and Jamie's intuition told him it wasn't as innocent as it sounded, "I was thinking that we could head back to my place for a while. Relax? I haven't been there yet, I came straight here." He was almost taken aback.
"You don't want to go get something to eat? Maybe some ice cream?" he suggested, nodding over to the glass doors that encased 20 or so different flavors along with countless stories the two of them shared.
"Maybe later, I want to head home right now." She grabbed the side of her glasses, pulling them up just enough to where Jamie could see her eyes. He was right about the look, but there was also that mischievous little glint hanging somewhere just to the right of devious. "We have somewhere to be tonight. We need to get some rest."
LOVE
6/24/16