Page 41 of Take Me Slowly: part 2
"Yeah. I mean, I guess so," Holly said slowly. "It still might not be true, though. You don't know for sure?"
"No," I admitted. "I don't. I felt like you should know in case it is. So I'm not dropping a bombshell on you later."
"I was just recovering from the four boyfriends part," Holly said. "I can't decide if I'm too drunk or too sober for this conversation." She ended the last word on a laugh.
"Me too." I took another gulp of wine. "I'm still trying to make sense of it all myself." If that was even possible. Some day I might look back and this would be nothing, but right now it was…everything.
"You remember some things about Aurora Hollow," Whitney said slowly. "Do you remember any of us?" She gestured around the table.
"I don't know," I said. "My earliest memory is my mother yelling at me for dropping a cupcake on the carpet." I frowned. "I couldn't figure out why she was so angry. That was in Vancouver."
"You would have been at school here for a little while," Whitney said. "Maybe in the classroom where you helped me out that day, with the art class. You don't remember that place?"
I frowned deeper and thought back, but eventually shook my head. "No, I don't. It seemed familiar, but it looked like every other classroom I've been in."
"Right," Whitney said thoughtfully. "But you might have been there long enough to be in a class photo."
I sat up higher and stared at her. "I might have." Why hadn't I thought of that? "Do you know where I could find one?"
"My mother would have some, but they're probably right in the back of the attic," Fiona said regretfully.
"We don't have any, we had a house fire," Holly said softly.
I shot her a sympathetic look and a faint smile which she responded to with a shrug.
"It was a long time ago."
"The school would have them," Whitney said. "Come on, let's go and look." She hopped down from her stool.
I stared at her. "Now?"
"You really want to wait until Monday?" She cocked her head at me. "I have keys. It's only a five minute walk now the snow has all melted again."
"I…" I was eager, but scared at the same time. Scared of what I might see in those photos, or what I mightnotsee. Although, this could put the whole matter to rest tonight. I might not needthe results of the DNA test. An hour from now, I could know more about my past. Another piece of the puzzle in place.
"Let's do it," I said finally. I finished the last of my wine and followed her toward the door, waving at Connor and Riley who sat at a table with some of their friends, to let them know I was leaving.
Connor nodded and let his gaze linger on my mouth before returning to his conversation.
"I feel like a secret agent," Fiona said from behind me. "Sneaking out on a secret mission."
Holly, who was right behind her, giggled. "Super secret, sneaking out in front of all these people."
Fiona snorted. "Hey, don't ruin the moment." She was smiling at the same time. She hurried to catch up, so all four of us were walking together, in a line.
"We definitely aren't subtle," Whitney said. "All of us are too cute to be subtle."
"Amen to that," Fiona said.
"Whitney over there speaking truths," Holly agreed.
"Whitney always speaks truths," Whitney said. "Whitney is very wise."
"Whitney is talking about herself in third person," Fiona pointed out. "Some people would say that's weird."
"Some people can fuck off," Whitney laughed. "We all know how cool I am."
"Yeah, we do." Holly tripped over a crack in the sidewalk and Fiona had to grab her to stop her from falling. "I think I might be on the 'too drunk' side of things after all." She giggled.
