Remember Me, I'm...

By Sonnet Golightly

"Remember Me, I'm..." is told separately by four very different characters to make up one hilarious story. After the death of their former guidance councilor, Diane Jefferson organizes a high school reunion only a few days after the funeral to better suit the schedules of her former classmates.
Relive the late 1990's with Tom, Shelley, Diane, and Anthony as they are forced to face the embarrassment, heartache, and glory days of their past in order to let go of their high school days and move on in their futures.
Find out what became of the jocks, cheerleaders, head volunteers, stoners, misfits, and the cool older guy that only seemed to be friends with high school kids.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Sonnet Golightly
• Release date: Jul 2, 2012
• ISBN: 9780988137202

Sonnet Golightly

Please follow me on Twitter or look me up on Wattpad to learn more about me. Remember Me,I'm... is my first novel, I also enjoy writing short stories and poetry, my other love is art. Please sample Remember Me, I'm... and don't be shy about letting me know what you think. There is some language some people may find offensive.

Book preview

Chapter One- Tom

It’s not working out, Tom. Miranda said sighing. She took a sip of her water and then folded her hands on top of the white tablecloth.

The truth is this news did not surprise me. It did not upset me either; I prefer when women break up with me. There is no guilt, no crying, and no drinks thrown in my face. I dated a girl when I was in college who threw her drink in my lap when I told her we should start seeing other people. I had to take the bus home and it looked as though I had wet my pants. The entire way home people kept pointing and whispering. Ever since then, whenever I want to break up with a woman I begin to act distant and sometimes rude until they get so annoyed they break up with me. It looked as though my scheme had finally worked on Miranda.

I looked casually around the restaurant.

Really? I pretended to be surprised. Listen, Miranda, if there is anything I have done wrong…

Tom, it’s just that you’re so…

This is the part where she, like all the other women I've had break up with me, says that I have been distant, selfish, arrogant, ignorant, or just not as sweet as I was when we first started dating.

…immature.

Immature?! Now I really was surprised. I could not believe Miranda thought I was immature; she was seven years younger than me.

Immature? I continued. You’re only twenty-one, and you still live with your parents!

I knew you would have a hard time accepting this, she patted my hand empathetically.

I knew you would have a hard time accepting this, I repeated her in a mocking tone.

Miranda took her hand off mine and shook her head with disapproval.

This is exactly what I’m talking about. Ten year olds talk like that. Besides, all you ever think about is yourself. And don’t think I don’t know what’s going on; you’ve been acting all distant and aloof so that I break up with you. Aren’t you a little old for that sort of behavior?

I was absolutely speechless, the fact that she clued in to my little game caught me completely off guard.

The waiter came to our table and began to clear our plates. Miranda raised her eyebrow and looked at me expectantly while she drummed her fingernails on the table. She clearly wanted me to ask for the bill. I really wish more women would have the courtesy to dump me before dinner and at least save me a few dollars. I pretended to be completely oblivious to Miranda.

Tom? She said annoyed and then gestured toward the waiter.

Oh right, I said and Miranda relaxed a little. Could we please see the dessert menu?

Right away, the waiter said. He took our empty dishes and left our table.

You are unbelievable, Miranda rolled her eyes. Do you really think I would want dessert after breaking up with you?

It didn’t stop you from ordering a twelve dollar meal beforehand!

Whatever, she rolled her eyes again. I’m leaving; don’t even bother driving me home. I’ll just get my dad to pick me up.

Oh yeah, get your dad to pick you up, that’s real mature! I called after her but she just walked away without looking back.

The waiter returned to the table and set a dessert menu in front of me. I recommend the cheesecake. He said.

The waiter was around sixteen or seventeen. I had come to this restaurant so many times I had come to know him by name.

I don’t actually want dessert, I explained. I was just trying to piss my date off.

Another break up date? The waiter asked.

Yeah, you guys must think I’m loser by now.

Nah, the girls that dump you are way hotter than the girls that dump me.

Thanks Garth.

No problem, he said. How about I just bring you your bill?

I’m not sure why I was so upset about my break up with Miranda. I knew we were going to break up.

There was nothing wrong with Miranda, she is a nice person and very attractive, she has amazing olive skin and gorgeous green eyes and as my father would say legs that won’t quit. I just got tired of being with her. So why should I have cared if she thought I was immature? Why did I even let our relationship drag on as long as it did in the first place? And why was I still thinking about it while I was driving to my parents’ house the following evening?

Every Sunday evening I drive to my parents’ house to have dinner with them. My mother and father still lived in the house I grew up in. They have been raising my fifteen year old cousin Courtney since my Aunt Linda died of ovarian cancer four years earlier. Since then, my mother has been paranoid of anything that could cause cancer. She never leaves the house without sunscreen and she avoids anyone who smokes. She eats healthier than anyone I know; she only buys food, soap, and shampoo that qualify as organic because she thinks additives and preservatives are what make people sick.

I turned my cell phone off before I walked through the side door into the kitchen where Courtney was doing her homework at the kitchen table.

Aunt Lindsay! Courtney called, Tom’s home!

My mother walked upstairs from the laundry room with a basket of folded laundry resting on her hip.

Oh, hi honey. I’m just going to put these clothes away and I’ll be right back. We’ll have dinner as soon as Anthony gets here.

Anthony’s coming? My mother did not seem to hear me so I looked at Courtney.

Anthony’s coming? But Anthony never comes over.

Courtney only shrugged her shoulders.

It was my understanding that teenage girls never shut up, but Courtney was usually quiet and shy. Most of the time, she wore a pair of pink headphones so she could listen to music instead of having a conversation.

My mother returned to the kitchen, He’ll be here any minute, she said. Your father is picking him up from the airport.

My older brother Anthony rarely visits us because he is usually travelling. He plays guitar in an indie rock band that did not seem to be going anywhere. His band kept changing their name every time they fired their lead singer in order to hire a new one. Anthony was thirty years old and still had not realized that it was time to give up and settle for a real job.

What’s the occasion?

What do you mean? My mother asked.

Anthony never visits, not even at Christmas. Is something going on?

Well, she began, I have two things to tell you. She handed me a white envelope. It’s an invitation to your high school reunion, she told me before I had a chance to read it.

Already? It’s only been, I thought for a moment. Wow. It’s been ten years since I graduated. Man, I feel old, but isn’t ten years a little soon to have a reunion?That’s the other thing I have to tell you. I already told Anthony over the phone and that is why he’s coming home for a visit. Edward Kelly died.

Chapter Two- Shelley

I woke up early on Sunday morning face down in a heap of designer, white linen. I was in Paulo’s apartment. I had promised myself the evening before that I was not going to spend another night with him. But, here I was, hung over on a Sunday morning in Paulo’s slightly too perfect bedroom.

He had a king sized bed with white sheets, white pillow cases, and something he calls a duvet, also white. Even his walls, curtains, and carpet were a spotless white. The sun shining through the window in the morning was more than I could bare.

I rolled over and put my forearm in front of my face to shield my eyes from the sunlight. I looked at Paulo who was still sleeping; I was beginning to think he chose an all white bedroom in order to compliment his tan.

It was no secret why I was dating Paulo. He was tall and muscular with tanned skin and dark wavy hair. His teeth were perfectly straight and his eyes were a deep brown. He was a model who took his career very seriously. I thought he would be a nice change, before I started dating Paulo I basically just kept getting my heart broken over and over again by dirt bag musicians in go nowhere rock bands and I just did not want to be a twenty-seven year old groupie. When I go to concerts now I look around the audience and I see seventeen year old girls with black tube tops and dyed hair. They show off their newly tattooed ankles and recently pierced tongues. I’ve outgrown them, but I haven’t found a new group to grow in to. I knew there had to be a phase in between jailbait and cougar; I just had no idea where to find it.

Although I thought Paulo was going to be a nice change, we had only been dating for five months and we had already reached the point where everything he does annoys me.

Most of his time is spent in the salon getting his chest waxed and his eyebrows tweezed and his skin tanned. The tanning thing irritates me the most, he lives within walking distance to the beach so why does he waste time lying in a tanning bed?

He is also always switching diets, at this time it was this low carb diet. The only things I had seen him consume are grilled chicken, salmon, romaine lettuce, and water. He always tries to get me on the same diet he is on and when I remind him that I do not eat meat he always responds with they did a study and the vegetarian diet doesn’t help you lose weight or that is so ten years ago, Shelley.

Everything we do revolves around his job, we never stay out late because he can’t risk having dark circles under his eyes and we never go to restaurants because of Paulo’s insane eating habits. The time we can spend together is often compromised because of his unpredictable work schedule.

I actually should not complain about his job because it is how Paulo and I met. I run a small business with my friend Hannah that makes skin and hair care products and recently we started a line for men and needed models for our advertisements. I tried to keep our relationship secret since dating someone who works for you is unprofessional. Unfortunately, the novelty of a secret relationship soon wears off and then all you are left with is a six foot metro-sexual with designer sheets.

I slowly climbed out of bed and got dressed in silence so as not to wake up Paulo. I crept down the hall to the living room and wrote Paulo a quick note explaining I was breaking up with him and asking him to please not call me. I know breaking up with someone in a note is low, but a face to face break up is too difficult for my passive-aggressive personality.

I picked up my sandals and my purse and took a quick look around to make sure I had not forgotten anything and quietly slipped out the door. I put my sandals on as I waited for the elevator and managed to leave Paulo’s apartment without having to see anyone except the doorman. As I was walking up the street away from Paulo’s apartment, I phoned my business partner, Hannah.

Hi Shelley, she said sleepily.

Hey Hannah, can you meet me at Novelteas?

Is that the place near Paulo’s building? Hannah sighed.

Yeah, but he won’t be there, I promise.

Okay, I’ll be there in a half hour.

Alright, peace.

Whatever, Hannah said before hanging up. I could practically hear her rolling her eyes.

Novelteas was a quiet tea house with Jazz music lightly playing on the stereo. It was dimly lit and served caffeine and therefore was the perfect cure for my hangover. Now I just had to figure out what to do for a half hour while I waited for Hannah. In high school, I could spend hours alone writing poetry, lyrics, and journal entries. But of course that was ten years ago. Since then I had dropped out of school to work long hours in minimum wage jobs. Eventually I crashed and burned and ended up sponging off my oldest brother, Lance, until I finished high school and clawed my way through college. I joined an exchange program so I could go to school in California for a year. I ended up moving to Los Angeles permanently where I met Hannah and came up with this crazy idea to start a business making all natural, animal friendly skin and hair care products. Our first two years in business were brutal, we worked constantly and the only money we did make went right back into the business or to pay back our loans, we even lived together in a small apartment to save money on rent. Now that we have just finished our fourth fiscal year we are finally making a comfortable income and can afford separate apartments.

When Hannah walked into Novelteas she sat down across from me and set her laptop down on the table.

So, she said. Do you want to make small talk first or are you just going to get straight to the point and tell me what you’re doing up this early on a Sunday morning?

I broke up with Paulo.

Oh, what happened?

We got into another argument last night, so this morning I left him a break up note while he was still sleeping and just left.

You broke up with him with a note? Oh Shelley, that is low, even if he is a whiney jerk you still should have told him to his face.

I can’t, every time I try he somehow talks me out of it, besides you know I don’t like confrontation.

Didn’t I warn you dating someone like Paulo is a bad idea? You know you only liked him for the way he looks and that he agreed to keep your relationship secret.

Secrets are more fun.

Just hope he takes the break up well, Shelley. What if we want to work with him again? I don’t even know why I’m repeating all this, I already warned you about dating him when I first found out.

I really thought it would work out. I lied.

I know, let’s face it, it was the longest relationship you’ve had since I’ve known you, but we all make mistakes and I’m here to talk about it with you. That’s why you called me to meet you here, right?

Yeah, to talk, I’m going to be going away for a few days.

When’s this?

I’m leaving tomorrow morning.

What? Shelley, why didn’t you tell me before?

Because, I sighed impatiently. I just decided it a half hour ago.

Seriously Shelley, what’s wrong with you? You’ve been acting so strangely lately? Are you on drugs or something or is this just one of your annual birthday freak-outs?

Wait, what?

Well last year you made this big ordeal about not dating musicians anymore and said it was time for you to get serious and the year before that… Hannah trailed off. Shelley, what’s wrong?

I completely forgot my birthday is tomorrow.

Wow, maybe you do need a vacation. Where are you going anyway?

I’m going to stay with my brother for a few days; I need to spend some time in my hometown.

But you hate your hometown, you’re always complaining about it and anyone you know who lives there.

In all honesty, I had this terrible dream about a girl I went to school with and it just made me feel like I need to back to Canada for a few days, maybe see if she’s okay.

That’s the dumbest thing I’ve ever heard. Hannah said dryly. You’re just going to pick up and go to Canada because you had a bad dream? Have you even let your brother know you’re coming to visit yet?

I shook my head ‘no’.

Hannah sighed, Just promise to be back before next Monday.

Obviously, you know I would never miss an important meeting. Besides you can call or message me the entire time I’m away.

You know I worry about you. Spontaneously breaking up with Paulo and then just taking off to Canada only giving me a day’s notice. That’s just not like you.

Perhaps if Hannah had known me before college she would know that this sort of behavior was exactly like me. As a matter of fact a spontaneous break up and a decision without warning was how I ended up moving to Los Angeles in the first place.

Chapter Three- Diane

As soon as I learned about the death of Mr. Kelly I set to work helping Mrs. Kelly to notify the former students of my high school about his funeral. It seemed like a practical idea to build the high school reunions of every class that graduated in the years that Mr. Kelly worked for my high school. It was a big project but of course I did not mind, I just wish it was under better circumstances.

Mr. Kelly was a guidance councilor at our school who also coached the football team. He was an important asset to our school and a friend to the community. Mr. Kelly began having heart problems at a relatively young age, but ironically everyone always said he had a heart of gold. I believe he would have only been sixty-one this summer, had it not been for his untimely death.

Once all the details had been planned, and the plan had been set into motion, I found time to start feeling anxious about the reunion. I still see people from my high school on a fairly regular basis except for a large number of people who moved away after graduation. I was worried about the reunion because I was afraid everyone was going to ask me where Jack was. He did not plan on attending the reunion or the funeral because he had just begun his new job in Alberta and could not take time off to come to Ontario. Everyone in town is aware of our divorce; it is just not something I am use to talking about. Instead, when I run into people at the grocery store they give me a pained smile and ask how ya doin’, Diane? And when I answer, I’m good, thanks. And yourself? they respond No really, how ya doin’ Diane? or If you need anything, don’t hesitate to ask.

I’m sure they mean well, but sometimes I wish everyone would just leave me alone.

I never expected to be divorced, especially at twenty seven years old. I thought Jack and I would grow old together and eventually die together. We met in high school and started dating in grade eleven. Originally I had a crush on Jack’s best friend, Tommy Andrew’s.

Tommy asked out my best friend, Crystal Kent, instead of me. At first I was a little hurt but I went with Crystal on a double date with Tommy and his best friend Jack.

My mother always says life has a way of working itself out and that God always has a plan. Back then,