Love You Moore (2 page)

“
You know Kiddo, there are other boys
out there that would treat you a lot better and Billy isn’t the
only guy on Earth.” Her dad was the strong silent type, didn’t
really give an opinion on too much just sat back and watched but
when he needed to step in he did with authority and you did what he
said. With Billy he didn’t want to push the issue, he had a few
friends that would try to dominate their kids and found that that
was not the type of relationship he wanted to have with his
daughter. He would keep her safe but would let her make her own
decisions as long as no one got hurt so he just said,

“
Sweetie, I do not like seeing you hurt
like this….this roller coaster of a relationship you have, do you
really want to keep it going?”

“
No,” Abby said through the tears, “I
really don’t, he just keeps pulling me back in after he pushes me
away.”

“
Well Holly told me you were invited to
the University of Maine in Orono by her brother to stay the weekend
and check out college life, you know you will be looking to apply
in a few months and you may just want to see what UMO has to offer.
It’s only two hours away from home and that is a plus in my
book.”

Abby smiled at her dad and remembered Holly
saying her bother Cliff had asked them to come and check out his
dorm and the campus. A new and up and coming band was making the
college circuit and this would be a good time to come.

“
You’re right Dad” as she give him a
hug around his neck, “I think it would be good to get away, check
out the college, I’ll call Holly and make plans to go.”

“
That’s my girl and when those college
boys, not the older ones mind you but the freshman…maybe the
sophomores get a look at you…you will be thinking…Billy
who?”

Abby chuckled at her dad, gave him a kiss on
the cheek, and went to make plans with Holly for the weekend.

* * * * *

Chapter 2

Friday after school Holly threw her backpack
and little traveling case in the back of Abby’s car. She would stay
at Abby’s that night and they would head out to the University in
the morning. Abby was waiting for her in the car, “So any word from
Jerfkface” Holly asked with sarcasm,

“
No,” said Abby “kinda glad he was
playing the ignore card this week, didn’t really want to deal with
the drama.”

“
Good, let’s get out of here and get
the weekend started.” Holly cranked the radio and they both sang at
the top of their lungs as the pulled out of the school parking
lot.

Saturday morning they both got up at about
8:00 a.m., showered, dressed, ate a quick breakfast Abby’s mom had
made for them, they both kissed her parents good-bye

“
Cell phone fully charged?” inquired
her Dad

“
Yes all set and I have the car charger
just in case.” Replied Abby

“
I checked the oil this morning and
that’s all set”

“
Thanks Dad.” She hugged him
again.

One more quick kiss for the both of them from
Abby’s mom and headed out the door to go to UMO for the weekend.
Abby stopped for gas and noticed her mom had slipped some money in
her pocket with a note that said,

“
Have fun, be careful and we love
you.”

Abby took two 20’s from the pile of money and
filled up her Jeep Cherokee, it was a hand me down from her mom
when Abby turned 17 this past March. Her mom wanted an upgrade
although Abby had no idea why. Even though her mom did all the
errands and such she had only had the Jeep for two years and there
were only about 20,000 miles on the odometer. Her dad had put all
new tires on it when they had given it to her on her birthday and
she could still sometimes smell that New Car smell when she got in.
She paid for her gas and grabbed her and Holly a soda for the
ride.

“
Thanks Chicky” said Holly

“
You are most welcome Girly Girl”
replied Abby.

“
So” Holly said after a few minutes and
no luck finding a good song on the radio, “I hear the singer in
this band that is playing tonight is super cute.”

“
Oh good” replied Abby “because the one
thing I look for in a band is that the singer is cute, any word on
how the singing is.”

“
Nope I never thought to ask that.”
Holly joked.

They laughed as the continued North as they
hit the interstate in Hampden Holly asked,

“
So what are your plans for the
future?”

They had talked about this subject many
times, when they were seven they were going to grow up to be
Princesses and live in castles next to each other and their
Princes’ would also be best friends or even better, brothers, so
that they would finally be true sisters. By 10 they were going to
be fashion models traveling all over the world together breaking
hearts where ever they would go. Holly, in Abby’s opinion was the
epitome of beautiful, not just pretty but absolutely beautiful.
Long blonde, naturally wavy hair and slender features that would
only enhance as she got older. However, Abby wasn’t jealous, she
loved Holly as a sister and was very proud to be her friend. At 16
Holly decided she wanted to be in Public Relations and work for a
PR firm that handled Movie Stars and Rock Legends, Abby, at that
point had just starting dating Billy and was imagining getting
married right after graduation and having babies within two years
after that. There were no real thoughts on what other future she
wanted. At that point, heading to the University of Maine for a
weekend away after another break-up from Billy, Abby had no idea
where her life was headed. Possibly college, maybe getting a job at
the same bank where her dad worked, who knows really, for once in
her life she had no plan, fantasy plan or not, no plans. Abby
shrugged,

“
I really don’t know, what do you want
to do, still thinking of the PR route?” replied Abby

“
I think so.” Holly stated, “I think it
will be an awesome career choice and how exciting would it be to
meet all those famous people.”

“
True” chuckled Abby, “but how many of
those famous people reside in Maine? Of course there is Stephen
King in Bangor, Judd Nelson is from Portland and Patrick Dempsey is
from Lewiston, but I am not sure they actually use a PR Firm in
Maine, is there even a PR Firm in Maine?” she
questioned.

“
IDK” said Holly in text language
because actually saying “I don’t know” would be so 2005.

The thought of Holly moving away was actually
very frightening to Abby. To have her very best friend in the
entire world, not be 10 minutes away by car really was the worst
feeling in the world and Abby did wonder what she would do without
the person that has been there with her through good times and the
bad and especially the time when they were 14 and Abby thought she
would never recover from the tragic events that happened that
Spring. What would she do if and when their lives took them in
different directions? Abby shook her head at the thoughts and
focused on the song on the radio before she started to tear up and
put a damper on the weekend.

“
So you have no idea what you want to
do after graduation?” asked Holly again.

“
Do I actually have to make a life
choice right now this very minute?” Abby asked with laughter in her
tone.

“
No, not right this very minute but by
the time we get to Orono that would be great.” Joked
Holly

“
Oh ok then, no problem I’ll get right
on that” and they both laughed.

They turned off the interstate into Orono
after two hours of driving. Riding down Sorority Row and seeing all
the Greek letters above the front door Abby wondered if this could
be an option for her future. She made good enough grades to get
into a State College. Her parents always told her that there was
money set aside for a college education if that was what she
decided to do. They turned onto campus near Alfond Arena where
Cliff had said he would meet them and take them back to his dorm.
Holly had seen Cliff standing by the football bleachers talking on
his cell before Abby noticed him and shouted,

“
There’s Cliffy”

The car hadn’t even come to a complete stop
before she jumped out and threw her arms around him. She and Cliff
had been close for as long as Abby had known them. He was two years
her senior and there were the occasional disagreements with his
over protectiveness when it came to boys and which one of his
friends was implying to Cliff that they wanted to date his sister
but Holly appreciated that, she knew that no matter what happened
in her life Cliff would always look out for her.

He hung up his phone and yelled to her.

“
Hey Holly Bear!” he said and picked
her up so her feet were just off the ground and swung her
around,

“
How was the ride? You found the place
ok.?”

“
Yes your directions and the
navigational system led us straight here.” Holly beamed.

“
Alrighty then, let’s get moving there
are a lot I want to show you before the concert tonight.” Cliff
said as he jumped in the back seat of the Jeep.

He took them around campus and showed them
the different buildings for the lecture halls, Bennett and Lord,
and the dormitories. They had passed the Memorial Gym, the building
with the large blue M on the front where the concert would be that
night.

“
Do we know any more about the band
itself other than the lead singer being super hot?” Abby asked
remembering Holly’s description of him.

“
Not a lot,” said Cliff, “From what I
have heard around campus, Jimmy Riley, the lead singer, started out
as a song writer, was pretty good at it too and wrote songs for
some of the top names out there. I guess when you write number one
songs and you see other people getting all the glory, you want a
taste of it yourself, so he started up Burnt Chocolate.”

“
Burnt Chocolate??!!” Abby and Holly
both said at the same time, “What kind of a name is Burnt
Chocolate?” Holly said as she tipped her head to the side trying to
internally figure it out.

“
I don’t know” shrugged Cliff, “it’s
just what they call themselves”

“
What type of music do they play?” Abby
wondered aloud, thinking she would have to endure two plus hours of
head banging noise.

“
Mostly Rock I guess, maybe some Pop, I
don’t think it’s head banging Hard Rock or Bubblegum tween tunes.”
replied Cliff, knowing Abby’s distain for the type of music any
more aggressive than Aerosmith or Nickelback

Maybe it won’t be that bad Abby thought
to herself. They made it back to York Hall where Cliff lives, it’s
an upperclassman coed dorm with over 200 residents. He says it’s
very convenient because it also has a dining hall located on the
1
^st
floor. He had moved in
here after being in Gannet Hall, a first year dorm last year. They
sat on a small loveseat he and his roommate had inherited from a
friend that graduated last year. They had made their twin beds into
bunk beds to give themselves a bit more living space and Abby
wasn’t entirely sure it was 100% sturdy so she resigned herself to
the loveseat and asked Cliff how he was enjoying college
life.

“
It’s great.” He stated, “My classes
are good, I am going to major in Engineering with a minor in
Finance so it is keeping me busy.”

Cliff was smart, Abby had known that from day
one when she first met Holly’s family. Holly had invited Abby for a
sleepover after about a month after they moved to the area. Holly’s
mom wanted the house in order before they started having guests
over. Linda or Mrs. Applebee as Abby would address her was whom
Holly had gotten her looks from. Long golden blond hair that was
tied up perfectly into French Twist, she had on blue jeans and a
plain blue t-shirt and white canvas sneakers. She stood about 5’8”
and could probably rock a runway if she had the inkling. She was
just taking brownies out of the oven when Holly and Abby got off
the bus.

“
Mom, I’m home.” Holly yelled as soon
as they walked through the door of the old Captains style house
that was the standard type home for Thomaston “The Town That Went
to Sea” as the sign says as you enter town from the Rockland
side.

“
In the kitchen Holly Bear.” Her mother
yelled back.

Holly dropped her backpack and led Abby by
the hand to the kitchen where he mother was.

“
Mom this is Abby Moore, she is my very
best friend and will be for life so I think she should get used to
coming over often don’t you think?” She stated as she reached for a
brownie as her mother was pulling the plate away.

“
These are for after dinner Little
Miss.” Her mom said and bent down to give her a kiss.

“
Hello to you Abby Moore, nice to meet
you.” She gave Abby a hug after setting the plate of brownies on
top of the fridge out of Holly’s reach.

“
How was school today?” Mrs. Applebee
asked to the both of them.

“
It was fine.” Replied Holly as she sat
down at the kitchen table and motioned for Abby to do the
same.

“
Although I still haven’t figured out
what Carmen Monroe smells to make her face look the way it does.”
She and Abby laughed at that.

Mrs. Applebee looked sternly at Holly and
said,