Best Friends, Remember?

The light in the darkness

On the next morning, Genevieve and Jared have woken up early, but they slept well. They both haven’t suffered from nightmares or creepy visions. The night has passed nicely and calmly – just like they hoped for it and expected for a long time.

Genevieve opened her eyes and the first thing on her mind was Jared – next to whom she was just lying. She smiled to him, but he still didn’t open his eyes. His breath was deep and calm. Just like she wanted it to be. Although Jared hasn’t told her, what he had been through, she knew, that he was in trouble. She could feel it instinctively. While she was looking at him, he finally woke up. Jared looked at Genevieve and smiled to her. The sparkling was so strong from the previous afternoon and evening, that they still were thinking about what happened.

They said good morning to each other and went downstairs, where they met Jack – playing with a green tennis ball, which he probably found in the garden.

After the morning toilet, Jared and Genevieve made some breakfast for themselves – with Genevieve guiding Jared. He learnt something and he was doing really great. She complimented him, so they sat down and had an amazing meal together. While eating, Genevieve reminded something.

“We have to go to the library” she said.

“Oh, yeah, you’re right” admitted Jared; “I almost forgot”

“Me too. But we need some money. Wow… so that’s how it feels as a grown-up…”

Jared laughed and asked:

“And how about doing some laundry. I don’t want to be rude, but…”

“I know, I get it. We definitely should do it”

“So I’ll give our staff to the service, and you can join Mrs. Grandy. Tell her, I’ll be there too soon”

“Sure” responded Genevieve; “What about Jack?”

“What about him?” asked insecure Jared.

“We can’t leave him alone like that all the time. What if he’s sad?”

They both took a look at Jack, which was eating ham from his bowl. Jack put his head up and barked, just like he had heard and understood, what they were talking about. That made them laugh, so Jared said:

“He’s smart enough to stay on his own for a while. I promise, that when we come back, I’ll play with him. Maybe you’ll join us?” he suggested.

“Sure, why not. It’s a great idea” responded Genevieve.

“I love dogs” said Jared, passing Jack and stroking him, going to the sink. He did the dishes and they went outside.

* * *

“Hi, Mrs. Grandy!” greeted Genevieve.

“Hello, dear” responded the lady; “I have a task for you and mister Jared. I would love you to clean up the HORROR & CRIME BOOKS unit. We happened to got many of books returned recently, so now it’s being a one, big mess. Books are put in incorrect order, names of the authors are messed up as well. A true disaster. And I can’t help it on my own”

“Okay, sure. But let me just tell you, that Jared will join us later on” she told Mrs. Grandy.

“Oh, is something wrong?” asked Mrs. Grandy worried.

“No, no. Everything is definitely okay, he is just doing some home stuff. But he’ll be here. Soon”

Mrs. Grandy nodded her head in agreement, so Genevieve walked away. She went through a hall and came closer to the library map. The HORROR & CRIME BOOKS unit was supposed to be just on the corner.

After following the guidelines, she found the room. She pushed the golden handle and went it. It was a huge room, with bookshelves placed regularly, that it looked like a labyrinth.

“A lot of work in here…” said Genevieve. Her whisper flew up to the ceiling and spread across the room.

She started sorting out some books, that were lying on the nearest shelf. They were totally mixed – just like Mrs. Grandy had said.

“Oh, boy…” sighed Genevieve. She felt tired just looking at those piles of horrors, thrillers and suspense stories, growing up from the desks and lying on bookshelves. She has found, among others: H. P. Lovecraft, Agatha Christie and Stephen King. That has felt no surprise for her, since she knew, they were the best (they were icons!) in their job. She took a one, particular book, which she wanted to show Jared, when he’s finally back. She has grabbed The Shining, and carried with her all the time. She was still cleaning and tidying up, but having King’s masterpiece with her, she felt more confident. She laughed to herself for coming up with such a peculiar, but an original idea.

Once she has sorted out a few books with titles on A and B, she started to look around for more. She went to the highest shelf, with The Shining in her left hand, and tried to reach the highest one. She jumped, but not successfully. She groaned with disappointment and frustration.

“No way, I’m too short” she joked and then tried again. Nothing. Then, she heard some male voice.

“You need help?”

Though, it didn’t belong to Jared. Genevieve got scared, gasped and turned to the voice source. She saw a tall, handsome boy, having his hands put in his pockets. His eyes were blue and he had dark brown, curly hair. He was wearing a smart vest, which looked really nice – vintage, not cringe. He smiled to Genevieve in a tempting, flirty way and came close, putting one of his hand out of the pocket.

“I’m Timothée” he introduced himself.

At first, Genevieve look insecurely at Timothée, but then she blew her concerns away.

“I’m Genevieve” she responded.

“Wow, Genevieve. What a beautiful name. Just like its owner” he said, kissing her hand.

She blushed a bit by hearing that compliment.

“What are you doing here?” asked Timothée.

“I work here” she responded, so Timothée frowned his eyebrows; “really? Since when?” he astonished.

“Since today” she answered, so Timothée’s eyebrows went back to their initial position.

“I see. That’s why I couldn’t recall you. Do you live in Foggy Corner? Because… I just can’t remember if I know you. Do I?”

“No, no. I’m not from here. Me and my… me and… my friend are staying here for… probably a long time, but I don’t think, we’re gonna stay” Genevieve explained.

“I see. So… maybe we could hang out some time. What do you think?” asked Timothée, leaning against the bookshelf, so Genevieve wasn’t able to walk away. She shyly hugged The Shining to her chest, which she had took from the shelf.

“I think… it could be a great idea if I only…” she hung up.

“…didn’t have a boyfriend?…” ended Timothée, but Genevieve denied.

“No, I don’t have a boyfriend, but…” she didn’t finish. She didn’t know how! She panicked and Timothée noticed that.

“Is everything okay?” he asked to make sure.

“Yeah, I’m fine” she responded sighing.

“But you didn’t ended up the sentence. You don’t have a boyfriend, but…” Timothée stressed the last word, to make Genevieve finish it properly and honestly.

“But… I’m here with someone” she finally finished.

“Really? With whom?”

“Me”

Jared appeared literally from nowhere. Genevieve and Timothée jumped, surprised. Jared looked insecure.

“Oh, Jared! You scared me to death… Why it took that long?” she asked.

“Um… a long queue” he lied.

In fact, he happened to get that fabulous surprise dress for Genevieve. He had taken it and left it in Mist Hill, in the cubby-hole, where they had previously found some tools for repairing the door, the fence and other stuff like that.

“Oh…” she just replied.

“Um… you’re the famous ‘friend’, right?” laughed Timothée. He pulled his hand towards Jared; “Hi, I’m Timothée” he introduced himself.

Jared, still cagily, stepped closer and shook hands with Timothée. He didn’t smile, even though Timothée seemed amused.

“Okay, so… I’ll leave you, guys, alone. I’ve been here since six o’clock, so my work time is over now. I was just curious of new guys I’ve heard about, which were employed here. It was nice to meet you, Genevieve” he said walking away.

“It was nice to meet you, too” responded she.

“You too, Jared” added Timothée, just when he was about to disappear behind the corner.

“Yeah…” he muttered.

Timothée disappeared.

“How long have you been standing behind this wall, to hear, that Timothée was talking about you?” asked Genevieve, a bit angry.

“Enough. I don’t like this guy” he said.

“Why? He seemed to be nice” opposed Genevieve.

“I don’t trust him. Have you seen, how he was looking at you? Like he wanted to eat you!”

“Jared, don’t be ridiculous… Wait…” she said, like she understood something.

“What?” astonished Jared.

“You don’t like, when he talks to me… Someone’s jealous…” she said temptingly.

“No… I just… Hey…” he laughed, a bit more chilled out, when he saw Genevieve’s face.

She came closer to him and hugged his waist, putting her head up to look into Jared’s eyes. She was grinning, just like him.

“Well… I’m not yours, so you cannot decide with whom I like to talk” she joked.

“Yeah, I know, but I want to protect you more from guys like him, so don’t make it any harder, okay?” responded Jared, a bit more seriously.

“Are you being serious?” she asked.

“Absolutely. There’s a lot of sons of bitches out there…”

“I am fully aware of that, Jared” responded Genevieve, thinking about her parents’ killers.

Jared smiled shyly to calm the situation down and kissed Genevieve on the lips.

“So are we good?” asked Jared.

“Sure thing. Just… don’t stress out whenever you see Timothée, okay?” replied Genevieve.

Jared nodded his head, but didn’t give any verbal answer. They both hugged and then began to run their duties from Mrs. Grandy.

“What you got there?” asked Jared when he had seen a book in Genevieve’s hands.

“Oh, I took this from a bookshelf. It’s The Shining. By Stephen King. An absolute icon” she said.

“That’s a really good one. Grandpa Bill really loved that” said Jared.

“So we must give it a proper place in this library. What do you say?” suggested Genevieve.

“I say, wonderful idea. In honour of grandpa Bill” he replied and then they started to remove piles of books from places to places.

It took the whole shift for them to tidy up the HORROR & CRIME BOOKS unit. Which means they have left the Foggy Corner Library after the four o’clock. They were exhausted, but truly enjoyed their work.

The sky started to turn orange. Genevieve and Jared thought they were lucky to have such a view passing the dried wheat field, every time they left the Mist Hill. What’s more – they envied Stan, that he had this view for himself and Joan for so long, and more importantly, will have for the rest of their lives.

“Tomorrow’s Halloween” said Jared suddenly.

“It is? Gosh, it completely flew out of my head. Just a few days ago

I wouldn’t have thought, that would be spending Halloween far away from Kingston. And… with you” confessed Genevieve.

“A full one-eighty” joked Jared.

“Exactly” laughed Genevieve, so did Jared; “Oh, shoot, we don’t have any sweets” groaned Genevieve,

“Don’t worry about this. That’s why it took so long in the afternoon for me to join you in the library. Just didn’t want to tell you to make a surprise” said shyly Jared.

“Really? Oh, that’s so sweet of you” she said cheered up and kissed Jared on his left cheek. He blushed a bit, but that was adorable.

“I did – bought them – but, don’t misunderstand me, we won’t probably have guests in the evening” said sadly Jared.

“Why do you think so?” asked worried Genevieve.

“We are so far away from Foggy Corner. Five. Miles. Apart. Is there any brave fool to come such a long distance just to collect few sweets? I don’t think so” explained Jared.

“Oh… I haven’t thought about that… I guess you’re right…” worried Genevieve.

Jared saw her face. She was really sad. But instead of trying to explain, he just left the ‘sweets situation’ like it was. Because he had a plan. That was on purpose…

“That was a long day…” sighed Genevieve in her sleeping t-shirt from Jared and made their bed.

“And also a weird day. I just still can’t get this old lady out of my head. What was her name? Karen?” responded Jared.

“Yeah, Karen”

“Exactly. That was weird”

“I think we shouldn’t care any more” suggested Genevieve.

“Care about what?” asked Jared a bit confused.

“I just feel that nothing can surprise us any more. At least in here” she explained.

“Uh… yeah…” laughed Jared; “what a fact, is a fact”

“But that does not mean, we have to bear it every time. That’s really tiring. Just think. Weird looks, conversations, all this… pretending, fake smiles… Like you and Timothée for example…”

“Oh, don’t start it over” moaned Jared, lying on the bed.

“I’m serious. You guys don’t like each other. Would you like some other guy if we are in London?”

“No… Still no from me. I just… I know, we have barely met. But… you’re…” he suddenly stopped.

“I am… what?…” Genevieve asked confused; “tell me. You can’t leave it like that. You know I won’t stop asking, until you tell me” she warned him.

“Any of this” opposed Jared.

“Oh, come on…” Genevieve groaned.

“Nah-uh. Knock it out, as long as I’m still patient” he joked.

“Okay, okay. Fine!” she responded jokingly.

“Don’t take this personally, but… I just hate that guy” responded straightly.

Genevieve laughed mockingly.

“What you’re laughing about?” Jared asked, amused.

“Oh, nothing, jealous”

Jared gave Genevieve a nudge.

“Stop calling me like that” he laughed.

She smiled and lied on the bed next to him. Actually, in his arms.

The night passed calmly, with no surprises. Jared woke up and left Genevieve still sleepy in the bed. He went to the cubby-hole in the garden to check if the dress he had bought was still there. Unaffected.

Yup. Still perfect.

“Today’s Halloween” thought Jared; “I bet no one’s gonna come, but at least, we’ll have the sweets all for ourselves” he joked.

He went to the kitchen and wanted to make some breakfast so bad, because previously Genevieve did the whole job. Then, he wanted to say thank you by doing something for her. He grabbed the frying pan and a mug hanging on a hook.

“And that would be it…” he sighed resigned.

Finally, his sight stopped at one particular point – the toaster. He took out some toast bread from the bread bin, that Genevieve had bought them and put it into the toaster. He plugged it in and took out two plates from the shelf. He drew some tea and when the kettle started to whistle characteristically, Genevieve heard that sound and opened her eyes. She smiled to herself, because from the bottom of her heart, she predicted, that Jared would want to make some meal by himself. She embraced the mess that she had happened to be and slowly went downstairs. Not to jot down Jared’s enthusiasm. She stood at the edge of the stairs and leant against the rail. She was observing Jared from that position and daydreaming about him. Again, having this specific warm in her heart that told her to move on. But she felt, that was not proper for the situation. And also too late. She wasn’t quite sure. Everything around was messed up, except Jared. That was her only reason to wake up. And to live. Jared felt quite the same.

He was walking around the kitchen, trying to handle the tea and toasts at the same time. He was doing very well, as a guy who has never cooked before.

Jared stood up with a plate in his hands. He was waiting for the toaster to throw out a loaf of bread. It jumped out of the machine and landed straight on Jared’s plate. He laughed adorably to himself and when he was about to call Genevieve from downstairs, but he found her already staying next to the railing.

“Geez…” he sighed and laughed; “you… you scared me…”

“Sorry” Genevieve laughed too; “I didn’t mean to”

“That’s okay. I was going to call you for the breakfast” he informed her.

“And I was going to compliment your working enthusiasm. It will be needed in the library today” she said.

“I know, right? Trying to keep focused” he laughed.

He passed her the full plate, she thanked and then he grabbed his. They sat down in the living room in their favourite place – on the floor, lying against the furniture.

“Isn’t it weird, that I don’t sitting like civilised people…? On a sofa, for example…?” joked Genevieve.

“Not at all” responded Jared; “I have the same” he added, so he made Genevieve laugh.

“That’s a kind of a relief” she confessed; “can I be honest with you?” she asked then.

“Always”

“I’m starting to feel, that I… how can I explain this?… that I’m becoming someone else…”

Jared frowned his eyebrows a little bit and looked at her in insecurity.

“What do you mean?” he asked.

“Well… this place is changing me…” she started.

“But, in a good or a bad way?” asked Jared and by that, he really hit the point.

“Actually… in a good way… I mean… I’m not tense any more. I just live like that, with you, with no rules, in a foreign place… We are all by ourselves and no one is telling us what to do… I mean, I really like my new life. Don’t misunderstand me – I miss my parents and I desperately need to meet Giselle, but if I’m made to stay here… I kind of like this idea…” she said slowly and uncertainly, waiting for Jared to respond.

“I totally get your point of view” admitted Jared. And smiled to her. He happened to feel warm, as Genevieve said those words, straight from the bottom of her heart. With no undertone or false. She spoke truly and honestly about her deepest feelings. Well… one of them…

* * *

The library was empty as always. The only person that was constantly present there was no one else, but Mrs. Grandy, sitting at the reception, at her wooden desk, having tones of files on it. She welcomed Genevieve and Jared, and after that, she continued her work. Their job for that day was to clean up the HORROR & CRIME BOOKS – they haven’t finished their work from the previous day, as they happened to have a lot of to do there. The mess was, luckily, about to disappear that day.

“Excited for Halloween?” asked Genevieve, holding a pile of books and walking around to bookshelves to logically put them in some order.

“Meh…” he responded and Genevieve looked at him surprised. She smiled shyly as she noticed, that he had joked; “well, maybe not expecting any guests, but I do want to do something cool” he explained.

“Cool? How cool? Do you want to go trick-or-treating?” she asked with hope.

“Walking on foot five miles to the only destination that we have – Foggy Corner? No, thanks” he said sarcastically.

“So what are your plans?” she asked intrigued.

“I don’t know…” he lied; “maybe just stay inside and have a nice evening by the two of us…?” he suggested shyly and gave an insecure look at Genevieve, not to miss her reaction. She put her head up and looked into Jared’s eyes. He was being completely serious. Genevieve swallowed saliva and smiled shyly to him. He did the same thing, panicked, but in

a different kind of a way. Not like before danger or threads, but… emotionally.

They have been working very hard, not to disappoint Mrs. Grandy. She was very nice and kind, they didn’t have to make any trouble, but Jared thought, that this was too boring for him.

He happened to have an extremely unusual life. Maybe not in every point of it, but mostly because his family did not care of his education and self-esteem. His past was pretty complicated and peculiar too. He didn’t want to worry Genevieve, but the truth is, that if she had met him on a weekday, in a normal life, she wouldn’t have wanted to keep contact with him. That was Jared’s guess. But the thing he didn’t know was, that it turned out he was deeply mistaken… For Genevieve, it was a great deal of adventure, which she could experience with a boy, with whom she always wanted to be next to. The only thing, that could not get out of Genevieve’s head was, that some day Jared’s true nature will be shown, which she or he would not like to discover. Truly speaking – it happened to be a huge surprise for the future. The time will show…

“If we happen to have no idea what to do tonight, we can always go to town, to a bar, or something” suggested Jared.

“Really? Thanks. I mean. I thought you didn’t want to walk so far. Of course, if you mean Foggy Corner” said Genevieve.

“Well, I thought you would just like to do some stuff” he responded.

“Thanks, that’s nice of you” she smiled; “well…”

She started to think about what Jared had said before. He didn’t want any changes – just an evening of two of them, so…

“I think we should stay at home” she finally said.

Jared looked at her, positively surprised, with a shy smile on his face. Then he got a bit serious and said:

“You don’t have to do this…”

“No, no… I want to. Trust me. You’re right. We don’t have to move from Mist Hill. A calm evening will be perfect”

“You think?” he asked.

“I know it will be” she assured him, stroking his arm.

He smiled.

“And you have to eventually get rid of this spot on your jacket” she reminded him. They both started looking at the red spot on his left denim sleeve. Jared swallowed saliva and tried to hide his face; “Will you tell me what is it?” she begged, trying to look in Jared’s eyes, but he happened to be too stubborn to rise his head.

“It’s just paint” he lied.

She gave a look at his lowered head. He seemed to hide something. Like from the very beginning. The only she did was hugging him. He felt surprised by this, but also relieved. Jared hugged Genevieve back and his heart started to beat in a normal tempo again. Calmly. One, two… One, two… One, two…

They have left the library around four o’clock. Walking away, Jared realised something, which made him really satisfied.

“Good, that it went without an extremely awkward meeting with Timothée. Better for him” said Jared.

Genevieve frowned her eyebrows.

“It is weird, that he didn’t show up” admitted Genevieve.

“Probably day off” said Jared.

“But yesterday we at least saw each other, when he was also working”

“Not a big deal, relax Genevieve”

“I know, I know. Sorry”

Genevieve thought, that Timothée had got scared of Jared, that’s why he didn’t come to the Foggy Corner Library that day. But then she thought, it would be ridiculous. Just ridiculous… Or maybe not?…

The sun started to set. The sky turned into a beautiful mix of orange and indigo. It looked like from a painting. The wheat on the field was swinging as a weak wind was blowing. An absolute silence accompanied Jared and Genevieve heading Mist Hill.

They passed the white fence and went into the garden. Genevieve welcomed Jack, because he appeared from the corner of the kitchen and jumped to hug her. She hugged the dog back, so he started to lick her cheeks. Jared strayed to the cubby-hole and took the dress out. Every time Jared was having that dress in his hands, he observed the zirconias sparkling funnily. He was excited to give the dress to Genevieve so much, that he felt, his heart was literally about to jump out of his chest. He put the folded dress under his denim jacket and went inside.

The sun has finally disappeared behind the hill. The sky was indigo, with million stars sparkling on it. Jared, looking through the window, thought that the sky looked similar to the dress he had for Genevieve. He smiled to himself and Genevieve saw that.

“What?” she asked, holding a bowl full of sweets under her arm and stroking Jack with her second hand.

“Nothing. Just… the night is beautiful…” he responded, not to give out anything too early.

“It sure is. Come on, Jared” she encouraged Jared to sit with her and Jack.

While eating some sweets, Jared and Genevieve were talking and laughing so hard, that Genevieve even shed some tears because of that.

“Okay, now admit that…” started Jared unpacking a coconut bonbon; “you wouldn’t have such fun in Kingston High”

“Yeah, that’s true…” she responded, also unpacking some sweet –

a strawberry jelly; “at least I don’t have to watch all these happy couples cuddling to some slow song”

Jared swallowed the bonbon and looked at Genevieve.

“What do you mean?” he asked.

“You know. We were supposed to have a party. The Pumpkin Dance, that’s how they called it. And I know Rebecca would bring Liam and I would be probably leaning against the wall and looking pathetically. Like a loser. Wishing not to come and make a fool of myself as a result”