(~) Prologue (~)
“Twenty-Four Seven, you are on my mind...I’m going crazy. You are the cure, and you know, but you don’t care. BOY, you’re drivin’ me insane...!!!” Amy mumbled along with ‘U Drive Me Crazy’ on her Winter Album as she finished hanging a floral piece from her mantel. She paused and looked longingly at the two smiling faces in a small picture frame above the arrangement. A million different emotions hit her all at once as she remembered the last time she had seen the boy in that picture. The two young people looked so happy. He had his one arm around her waist, and his beautiful face was pressed lightly against her own. It had been at least four months since that picture, the only one from their time together, was taken...and she missed him terribly. They had spent many evenings burning up each other’s phone bills, but that just wasn’t enough anymore - she was becoming impatient and confused. There was never enough time to arrange even a short rendezvous, or so he claimed...he basically blew his promise to be there when she needed him.
Amy sighed and sat down in her plush lazy boy just as the CD clicked over to a traditional version of ‘The First Noel’.
‘Perfect’, she thought. ‘It couldn’t have picked a different song...’ The beautiful bass line in that one always reminded her of that certain someone she was longing for.
She put her head back against the soft material and started recapping the past four months since that fateful week in May. After the boys left, all involved stayed in touch for about a month or so. Then, schedules become busier, tempers grew shorter, and calls became more infrequent. Maureen had started acting very reclusive since May, and, one day, out of the blue, she announced simply that she had found a good job and would be promptly moving to San Diego with some trumpet player she had met and fallen in love with. It all seemed so ridiculous and unlike her...but not even her best friends could change her mind. No one, including her dreded love, had heard from her since June. She was missed terribly, but she left before she gave anyone her new address, so she couldn’t be traced.
To the dismay of a certain Italian, Caroline found a new boyfriend named Aaron. She loves him more than life itself, and with him being a mere ten minutes away as opposed to ten states away, she’s all but forgotten the love she had that one week.
Kristin often spoke to the ex-Mouseketeer, but they were no longer ‘together’. The two 20-somethings found it extremely difficult to remain exclusive to each other and they agreed mutually to see other people. Kristin simply could NOT handle her man thrusting around his pelvis with thousands of screaming girls willing to do nearly anything just to get a glimpse of him. He respected that difficulty and they still remained friends.
On the other hand, Jen and the curly-haired one were still going strong. They spoke almost nightly, and from the bits and pieces of their conversations that Amy occasionally heard, she KNEW they still had strong feelings for each other.
That brought her to once again pondering her own relationship. She was becoming more and more confused and frustrated with the mixed messages she was always receiving from the ‘Mississippi Albino’: “I miss you...”, “It’s so great being on the road...”, “I love you more than anything...”, “We had the BEST show last night...”. She really didn’t know what to think. Just like in the beginning, she had NO idea what was going on in that boy’s blond, spiky-haired head.
She sighed again as her CD player switched songs. Her once favorite, but now bittersweet, Christmas song came on Track 11 - the most difficult one for her to handle. (Why she continued listening to Christmas songs in September was beyond her. Actually, it probably had something to do with the terrible cold spell they were having. The unseasonable temperatures were dipping into the 40’s and 30’s at night.) She began to doze as a familiar voice crooned the lyrics to the beautiful Christmas ballad.
She must have slept for a good while because by the time she woke up, the sun had gone down - and her CD player was back on the same song that had been playing when she had started dozing. She shivered and looked at the big clock on her mantelpiece. It was after 7:00 and the crazy September air was chilling. She walked out onto her porch and picked up a huge log for a fire. She never noticed the black 4-Runner pull up next to her little Honda. She shuddered from a chill and shut her door just as the owner of the 4-Runner made his way up her stairs.
“Come on, you stupid piece of crap. Light! LIGHT!! Geez...why won’t you catch?!?” Amy tried repeatedly to ignite the log.
“It helps if you start it with a piece of newspaper...”
Amy nearly burned off her finger as she swung around in fright and found herself staring into the familiar, beautiful green eyes of the boy she had cared so much for - and still DO as a matter of fact. She felt her heart skip a beat as she quietly whispered his name:
“...Lance...”
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