~ Chapter 20: Going back to Norwood. ~

        The next day, Damon and I left home to drive to Norwood. I had never come back to my hometown before and I was kind of anxious. Damon and I had packed things to stay over for the night, so that we could go to the cemetery on the following day. This was going to be an intense couple of days but I was feeling ready to face it. I had had a sort of nervous breakdown but I think I was feeling better now. I was trying to think about something else than Damon’s death so that I wouldn’t start feeling depressed again.

We arrived there early so we got settled in the coffee shop while waiting for Kara, who came just a minute after. When I saw her, it felt like the time had stopped for a second. She hadn’t changed, except for her hair, that she had cut short. She looked really good!

“Oh my gosh, you guys, it feels so weird!” She exclaimed when she was close to our table. “You haven’t changed.”

“Neither have you.” Damon said while looking at her.

She sat with us and we ordered.

“Wow, I can’t believe this…” Kara started after seconds of silence.

“Yeah, it’s so strange!”

“So, you guys are a couple now?” She asked.

Damon and I nodded and he took my hand under the table, which made me smile.

“Yeah, everyone knew it was going to happen sometime.” Kara confessed. “But then everyone moved out or…You know…”

The crash. Everyone had died or moved out.

“But I’m so glad that it happened. It proves that it was meant to be.”

“You’re right.” Damon approved.

I smiled. Damon was so sweet! We talked a lot. After five years, there were so many things to say we didn’t know where to start! She asked about Seth and I showed her a picture. She wouldn’t believe it was him. When we were living in Norwood, pretty much everyone knew Seth, especially my friends. He was like the funny little guy that everyone liked. He was making everyone laugh and didn’t miss a chance to fool around. I remember the grandmas worshiped him. They used to call him “precious” and to give him candy or stuff like that every now and then. So he was kind of like the mascot or the little favorite in town.

My friends also really liked him and when they would come over, he was always there to crash in the party. Even when we were trying out some nail polish, he would come in the room and chat with one of the girls. He wouldn’t leave until he would have made someone laugh.

We left the café three hours after. I thanked Damon, because, without him, I wouldn’t have seen Kara again and I was really glad I had. We weren’t the same because we were more mature and had other things to talk about like college for example, but it still felt like we were back to five years ago. And man it felt good!

After hanging out in town with Kara, she had to leave us. We would see each other the next day too. Then, Damon and I walked around and stopped in front of my old house. The outside walls had been repainted in white. But except for that, it was the same. It felt so weird, like being in a time capsule! Damon took my hand when he understood how it was making me feel. And that would be sad. And nostalgic. I was able to remember every single thing we had done in that garden, or how we had climbed up that tree and fell. Andrew had broken his arm like that.

“Excuse me but… What are you doing in front of my house?” A boy asked.

I jumped with surprise and turned around. The boy was probably around fifteen and was standing here with an inquisitive look, the arms crossed on his chest.

“It used to be my house and I just wanted to see it again while I was back in town, I’m sorry…” I explained.

“Oh really!” He seemed interested now. “Do you want to check inside?”

“I wouldn’t want to bother you…”

“No, it’s ok, my parents aren’t home. Come on in. I’m Chris, by the way.”

Damon and I gave him our names and we followed him inside. I was a little excited, even though I knew it wasn’t going to be the same as it used to be. Chris opened the door and gave us a little tour of the house. Everything had changed so it felt like it was a completely different home than the one in which I used to live. When we came in the room that used to be my bedroom, I stayed a little longer. I closed my eyes and tried to think of where my bed or my desk used to be. Then I opened my eyes and saw Chris’s room, decorated completely differently. But it was cool too so I was glad to see my old room was well treated.

Chris offered us to stay for dinner but we told him we had to go back to the hotel early so after thanking him again, we left my old house, that really wasn’t mine anymore.

We met Kara again the next day and we walked around town before stopping in a park. We talked about things and others.

“Do you remember the treasure we had buried in that park?” Kara asked at some point.

“Yeah! It was filled with pastas necklaces and fake rings!”

“Everyone had put a nice jewel in it… But we never tried to find it again after that.”

“We should totally try to find it!” Damon said, excited.

Kara and I agreed. She said she would go find a shovel so she left then came back with one.

“I really have no idea where we buried it…” I confessed, looking around the park.

“Me neither. Let’s try here first then we’ll do another place.”

We draw a limit and dug up for a long time without finding anything.

“We didn’t burry it deep so I guess it’s not here.” Kara said, a little sweaty and tired.

“It was like ten years ago so maybe it’s deeper now.”

We dug up a little deeper but there still wasn’t anything. We searched in another place then stopped, completely exhausted, to rest and eat.

“You know, it’s part of the list. Find a treasure, I mean.” Damon said to me. “I thought I would check it while saying you’re the treasure I found but that way it’s going to be more real.”

I smiled and kissed him. Then we got back to work and dug a little more. And finally after two hours of hard digging, Damon screamed.

“I found it!!!”

Kara and I ran to him and he brandished the jewelry box like it was an amazing treasure or something. The three of us sat and looked at the box for a few seconds.

“Open it!” Kara exclaimed, excited.

Damon lifted up the lid and got out the first pasta necklace with a smile. Then he read the name on the pastas. Mila. We stayed quiet for a few seconds, while looking at the necklace. Then she got out a ring and read the thing that was written inside.

“This is the ring I want to give Sarah when we’ll get married.”

I felt tears in my eyes but managed to keep them in. I think the three of us were having a hard time trying not to cry. We remembered how Andrew used to have a major crush on Sarah and swearing someday they would live in the same house and everything. But they never got the chance to make it true.

Kara got out the other “treasures” of the box and saved the best for the end : it was a ring and inside, there was written “This is the ring Leah will wear when we’ll get older and have kids.” I couldn’t help myself but cry. It was just so cute.

“Andrew and I made those rings together when we were little. And we had made a pact to come dig them up when we would get married.” Damon explained, teary-eyed too. “I miss all of them so much…”

“Me too.”

We stayed silent and I wiped away my tears.

“I think we should burry the treasure back where it was.” I said then.

The both agreed to do it so we put everything back in the box and buried it again. Then we left the park, not really feeling like talking or even less laughing.

Damon and I drove Kara back to her house and we stopped in front of it.

“Well… That was an intense day…” Kara said.

“Totally.”

“But it was really good seeing you guys again.”

We talked a little more and agreed to call each other soon. Then she went out of the car to get home and we went back to the hotel, after checking Find a treasure out of the list.

The next day was even more emotional. Damon and I bought flowers than went in the cemetery. He took my hand and asked me again if I was sure I wanted to go. I said yes and followed him in. He stopped in front of the first grave, Sarah’s, and put red flowers down because red was her favorite color at the time. We didn’t say anything but just stayed a long time in front of every grave to remember a memory of every one of our friends. It was so sad, I couldn’t help myself but cry. I saw Damon wiping away a tear too when he passed in front of Andrew’s grave. They used to be really close friends and he had an even harder time loosing him.

We stayed a long time and I tried to chase the idea that Damon would soon be in a grave too. It was just making me want to cry even more. I think Damon was realizing that too but neither of us said anything and we left the cemetery after leaving flowers at every one of our friend’s graves.

(Hey guys! I posted this on my profile but I don't know if you've seen it so I'll put it here too: A little update on The Bucket List: so I finished rereading and ordering what I had wrote a year or two ago (I think it was more like 2 but I'm not sure) in chapters and I have written 37 chapters total but I haven't finished the story and still have chapters to write now. Problem is, it's my exam period and so I really want to write, and I do (I just finished chapter 38 actually) but I should be focusing on studying and everything so I want to know if you'd rather have the 36 first chapters uploaded at once now (because they're already written) or one each week to leave me time to write the end and not have you guys wait from chapter 36 for a long time because I'll be busy.

Anyway let me know if you happen to read this what you'd prefer and thanks for reading/voting/commenting :D)