Second Chance: November 4

The story starts here

Karin stayed in the bathroom for as long as she could manage. When she exited, she saw Jay sitting at the table with Michelle. She considered turning around and hiding in the one of the stalls until the place closed and then sneaking out after everyone was gone. It was such a childish idea, she thought. All you have to do is act like an adult, she told herself. She felt around her waist to be sure that all of her clothes were in place and nothing was sticking out where it didn’t belong, and then she held her head high and walked back to the table. Just act like an adult, that’s all.

“Jay! Do they still call you Jay? Or do you go by Jacob or Jake, or something else nowadays?” Karin blurted out before she even sat back down. She saw Michelle’s eyes go wide, and thought to herself sarcastically, that was real smooth.

“My friends still call me Jay,” he answered, smiling at her. “But, most people call me Mr. Palmer.” Karin looked at his disarming smile and couldn’t help but relax. He caught Kelley’s attention and ordered them another round of drinks.

“So, Michelle was just telling me that you lost a friend today,” Jay said.

“Yeah,” Karin turned away from his gaze and looked down at the table.

“Sorry, that was a bad play,” he said. “Let me try again. Remember the night we met?” Karin looked up from the table and her eyes met his.

“Of course I do,” she answered softly.

“I’ll never forget that night,” Michelle said. “I lost my virginity at that party.” Karin blushed, but Jay didn’t seem bothered by Michelle’s openness.

“It was a pretty wild night,” Jay said. “It took half the football team about seven hours to get the place cleaned up, remember?” Karin nodded. She remembered.

“My parents still have no idea how really crazy it got.”

As Jay and Michelle continued to reminisce and tell stories of the crazy antics at their graduation party, Karin sat quietly with her own memories of that night. She had turned eighteen that spring, she’d graduated in the top ten of her class, thanks to all the help and encouragement of Mrs. Marquette, and she had colleges trying to recruit her. The whole world was an open door.

Karin had stayed away from parties because she’d heard her mother’s stories of the ways that young men used drugs and alcohol to get a girl into trouble and how just one mistake in one night could turn a girl’s life upside down. She watched her mother continue to struggle every day with her addiction, and she wanted no part of that life. But, this was graduation and her best friend really wanted to go to the after party. So, she agreed to be Michelle’s designated driver, and she followed the map out to an empty field in Lavine township, just outside Dunewood.

“I’m Jay,” he said, and just like that, all her inhibitions were lost. The casual way he shifted his head, like he was always trying to get a better view of her, and the way he stood so close she could smell him… it made her body take over for her mind.

“Karin.” she said. “You’re not in our class, are you?”

“No,” he said. “I graduated last year from Lavine Country School.”

“Oh, so you must live near here?”

“Yep, that house at the top of the hill over there,” he answered and pointed to a white Colonial style home off in the distance.

“Wow. Is this your land then?”

“Well, my grandfather’s technically.”

“So, does he know you’re letting people party here?”

“Sort of. Chad Peterson works for him and asked if he could invite some friends out here for a bonfire after graduation. Grandfather said yes, and then put me in charge of making sure things don’t get out of control.”

“Oh, well I guess we’re babysitting together then, because I’m here to make sure my best friend Michelle doesn’t get out of control.”

“It sounds like I’m in good company,” Jay said, laughing. And, the night went on like this. They talked and talked through the night. As people left for home or passed out on the grass, Jay and Karin kept talking and before she knew it she was sitting on a hill overlooking the field and watching the sun come up over the groves of apple and cherry trees that filled the landscape. Michelle and her boyfriend were lying on a blanket nearby, sound asleep.

“I’ve lived in Dunewood my whole life,” Karin said. “I’ve seen thousands of sunsets at the beach, but I’ve never seen a sunrise. It’s beautiful.”

“Yes, it is.” Jay replied, but he wasn’t looking at the sky. He was looking at her.

More than a decade later, in one fateful night at a local bar called Finnegan’s, there he was, and he was still looking only at her.

“Well, it’s always fun to talk about old times, but we should probably get going.” Karin said, rejoining Jay and Michelle’s conversation.

“It’s early,” Michelle said. “Besides, the Irish dancers haven’t even done amateur hour yet. I’m still waiting for my turn to get up there and give it a try.”

“So, you like Irish dancing?” Jay asked her.

“I like the dancer’s hands on my hips while they’re teaching me,” Michelle said laughing. Jay laughed too, and Karin just shook her head at her friend.

“How about you, Karin, are you going to give it a try too?” Jay asked.

“No, I just like to watch,” she said.

“I bet you didn’t know she was a voyeur,” Michelle said to Jay and winked at Karin.

“I did know that you need about a dozen ten dollar drinks before you use ten dollar words,” Karin said, teasing Michelle back.

“Oooh, they are getting ready for amateur hour,” Michelle said, excitedly as the music stopped playing and the emcee took the microphone.

“Ok,” Karin replied. “After this, I need to head home though. I have a lot of work to do tomorrow.”

“Alright,” Michelle answered, obviously disappointed. But, she was the first to volunteer when the emcee called for “students of the dance.”

“So, the thing I remember most about that night,” Jay said, leaning toward Karin “is that you loved the sunrise.” Karin met Jay’s gaze.

“Yes, I remember that too,” she said.

“And, I remember you took me to see my first sunset that same night,” Jay said. He smiled at her and she couldn’t help but smile back.

“It was a pretty amazing day.” Karin admitted.

“A pretty amazing couple of days, I think,” Jay said. Karin smiled again.

“Yeah,” Karin nodded her head.

“You were probably the best thing that ever happened to me,” Jay said. Karin sat up straight in her chair.

“You know that is exactly what you said to me when you ended it?” Karin said.

“It was true then, and it’s still true,” he said. “And, for the record, I didn’t end it.”

“You stopped calling me and went back to your ex-girlfriend…”

“It wasn’t quite like that.”

“Well, I guess there are some things that we don’t remember quite the same,” Karin said and stood up. She grabbed her purse and waved to Michelle.

"Look, Jay, it was nice to see you and catch up and all, but I have to get back to my real life." Karin said and then she turned and mouthed "I'm going." to Michelle.

“Karin,” Jay’s voice was right behind her. “You don’t have to leave. I was just going anyway.” She turned around to tell him that wasn’t necessary, but he was already walking out the front door of the club.

Want to know what happens next? Go here.