Tollie's Garden Pt.2
Date: 1/15/2016,
Categories:
Love Stories,
Author: Sisyphus
... there and Tollie was not in the garden as usual. Janine asked me why I was so quiet and I just shrugged and mumbled, “It’s nothing and I don’t feel like talking about it.” Janine just said, “Okay, whatever.” But she kept looking at me and it was really pissing me off. Lark left a few days later and I wanted to ask Tollie if he had a good time and not appear jealous, but I was so busy with school and Tristan was trying to find out what was going on with me. I was trying to act like everything was cool with us, but it wasn’t. We held hands and we hung out and he drove me home after graduation practice and he was being sweet, but whatever was once strong in our relationship had faded and we both knew it. I was glad that Lark had left. A week went by. I was so busy with school and getting ready for graduation, I didn’t see Tollie, but he wasn’t far from my thoughts. In my mind I kept seeing him and Lark together, seeing how close they seemed and that thought kept going through my mind like a dark cloud until I squeezed my eyes closed, shaking the image of them away. It happened a lot. Finally, it was graduation day and Tollie came with my mom and then we went for a nice dinner. Mom kept talking and leaning against him and that bugged me. Tollie told us the only graduation he’d ever gone to was his own from Harvard. He said it was nice seeing me in a cap and gown, but then said he thought the speeches were boring and he could hardly stay awake. I went to a big graduation party ...
... that night, drank a lot of beer and danced like a wild nut for a while, but then got bored and asked Tristan to drive me home. I know he wanted to come in and continue our celebration, but I said I was exhausted and that was that. After he left, I went to my room. Tollie’s light was on in his apartment and I saw him standing at the window and he saw me. He opened his window and I opened mine and he shouted he wanted to show me something and for me to come down and meet him. I couldn’t imagine what was so important but was excited. I noticed it was after one and my mom wasn’t home. I know she wasn’t at work but probably had gone out on a date. I knew she had an online friend and that they had met a few times. I was sure that’s where she was and she wouldn’t be home until the next morning. I thought it was cool that she did that, even though I knew she had a crush on Tollie. Anyway, he met me at the bottom of his apartment stairs and we went into the garage part of the carriage house. It was dark and he turned on a light and there it was—a potter’s wheel like we had at camp. I couldn’t believe my eyes and was thrilled that he bought me that for my graduation present. I wanted to cry, but instead hugged him with all my strength and wanted to kiss him, I was so overwhelmed. “Why did you do that?” I asked after calming down. “I’m not sure, but I remembered you telling me you loved pottery when you were a kid and thought this might be a nice gift.” “Wow, you’re amazing—that’s so ...