CHAPTER TWO
Chase
THE FOLLOWING YEARS, AFTER WE lost Cadence were tough. I didn’t just lose my twin and best friend; I lost my other half. I didn’t know how to exist or function without her. Cadence was the better half of me, and without her around to ground me I was lost and out of control. I had no one to pull my head in when I was being a jerk. No one to tell me that I was a big meanie-head—her favorite word. No one to tell me that I needed to apologize for hurting someone’s feelings. I’d lash out at anyone and everyone. Ma and Pa were at a loss as to what to do with me. I started to push them away, just like I did with everyone else.
My loneliness was my penance for failing Cadence. I was to suffer and deal with her loss on my own. All my free time was spent in the cemetery, sitting next to Cadence’s grave. I’d lay there for hours and hours talking to her. I’d talk to her like I used to—it was the only time I felt free and happy.
This behavior went on for three years. It was when I was fourteen that the Fitzgerald’s came to town. With their arrival things, well, I started to change. Their son, Rooney, was my age and immediately we hit it off. He filled the void left by Cadence, and for the first time since we’d lost her, I felt like me again.
Rooney and I quickly became best friends and every day I thanked my lucky stars for sending me a great friend like Rooney Fitzgerald. I had a best friend again, and I was on my way to becoming happy Chase again. Happy like I was when Cadence was alive. Slowly the happy-go-lucky Chase Archibald was re-emerging, and I had Rooney Fitzgerald to thank for that. I know Ma and Pa appreciated him and his family coming to town because they were starting to wonder if I would ever get over the loss of my sister.
Rooney and I used to get into mischief, much like Cadence and me, but now that we were older, our antics were that much greater. I was part of a twosome again—it felt great. It went from Cadence and Chase are at it again, to Rooney and Chase are at it again. Our families became fast friends. You could always find us at each other’s house, or out together. Over the years our bond deepened, we were more like brothers than friends. The night I confessed everything about Cadence and her death to him, we became inseparable.
It was a Saturday night, and I was sleeping over at Rooney’s house. I told him everything about that fateful day and how I felt about the loss of Cadence. “Rooney, it was my fault she died. If I had just gone with her, she wouldn’t have jumped in without checking.” I explained my guilt, the grief, and my outbursts. He didn’t judge, he just listened and that’s what I needed most. I didn’t need to hear ‘It’s not your fault’ or ‘It will get easier with time’ or ‘You need to adjust your attitude.’ He just listened, like Cadence used to. She and I would sneak into each other’s room late at night and we’d listen to each other. And that’s what I felt with Rooney; it was like Cadence had sent him to guide me. It was in that moment I knew, that no matter what, Rooney and I would always have each other’s back.
After that night, something in me changed. I’d found my person again and the good Chase from before was back. Ma and Pa were relieved to have their good son back. Well, until I hit my later teenage years, but what teenager didn’t give their parents grief? I remember when I was sixteen, just before my seventeenth birthday, Ma and I were on the front porch, sitting on her favorite swing. She and I were having a chat over coffee. She leaned over and placed her cup onto the railing, and when she turned toward me, I knew I was in for what I liked to call a ‘Ma lecture.’ Smiling at her, I cheekily said, “Yes, Ma?”
“Don’t take that attitude with me, Chase Archibald.” Shit, she used both names. This wasn’t going to just be a lecture; it was a serious Ma chat. “Now, you know I love you more than anything in this world, but, Chase dear, you need to keep it in your pants.” My eyes bugged out of my head, I wasn’t expecting a conversation like this. “Word around town is that you are bit of a…” She leaned toward me and whispered, “…manwhore.” Leaning back again, she continued, “I know, I was once young too…”
“Ma, I don’t need to know that,” I scoffed as images of my Ma and Pa flashed before my eyes.
She raised her hand at me. “No, I’m talking and you will listen. Now, from the talk around town, you are…how should I say this? You are spreading you wings. Yes, that’s such a nicer way to say it, and I don’t condone that. But I also know that you are a man, and if you are anything like your father…”
“Please shoot me now,” I interrupted and again I was given the eye from Ma. “Sorry, go on,” I added.
“Now, just tell me you are being safe. I’m too young to be a grandma, although I do want to be one someday, preferably after you finish college. But in the meantime, please be careful. And whatever you do, please don’t hook up with that Sandy Monkton, because if I have to organize a wedding or be forced to spend the holidays with anyone, I don’t want it to be her and her momma.”
“Ma, I cannot believe you’d say that about sweet old Mrs. Monkton.” We both looked at each other and burst out laughing. There is nothing sweet about Mrs. Monkton, or Sandy for that matter.
“Sweet and Monkton do not go together in a sentence—ever—Chase. But please, keep it in your pants…or at least be discreet about it.”
Nodding, I said, “I promise, Ma. I’ll be more discreet.”
Reaching over, she squeezed my hand. “Chase, you are so much like your Pa; footloose and fancy free. It’s no wonder the girls are lining up. Just make sure you choose someone who is worthy of the Archibald name. It’s a lot to live up to, trust me, I know.”
“Ma, you were built for this life. You and Pa are meant to be together. You guys are like biscuits and gravy, perfect together.”
“You are just as corny as your father.” She reached over and cupped my cheek. “I love you, Chase.”
“Love you too, Ma.” I leaned over and hugged her tightly.
People teased me about my relationship with Ma and Pa, but when you’ve suffered a loss like we did, it changed everything and it brought us closer together…once I stopped being a dumbass. My attitude nearly destroyed our family, and we had already lost so much. “So, can I go to the party at Sandy’s? I promise not to do anything with her, but I can’t promise that I won’t end up with someone tonight.”
Ma smacked me in the arm. “Yes, you can go, but no making me a grandma and no drinking.”
“I promise to not do one of those things tonight.” I winked at her before I stood up, kissed her forehead and said, “Later, Ma.”
“Bye, Chase, have a good night.”
As I raced down the stairs, I passed Pa. He slapped me on the back and said, “Have a good night, son.”
“Thanks, Pa,” I yelled as I climbed into my Jeep and headed out to the party…where I behaved, sort of.
* * *
After my ‘don’t make me a grandma yet’ chat with Ma, I changed my habits. I studied harder and unsurprisingly, my grades got better, as did my life. Sure, I was still a ladies’ man, I just kept it hidden and didn’t flaunt it. I took heed of Ma’s advice and, as promised, I stayed away from Sandy Monkton, which wasn’t all that hard because I really didn’t want to go there. Besides, she definitely wasn’t worthy of the Archibald name.
Before I knew it, I was graduating from high school and awaiting my acceptance to college. Graduation was a bittersweet occasion, because even though I was happy to be finished, a part of me was sad that Cadence wasn’t there with me. Luckily, I had Rooney by my side, and the graduation party was one that will go down in history. Well, what I remember of it anyway. But when you wake with Wendy Jacobs in the barn, you know you had a great night.
The day after the party, Ma and Pa took me on a graduation trip, just the three of us. It was the perfect way to celebrate. One night, when I was getting ready for dinner, I thought back over my life and I smiled. I was lucky to have had such a great upbringing. Sure, it helped to be an Archibald, but aside from my last name I had many people looking out for me.
Looking back, I see that the night I confessed all to Rooney was the turning point and the beginning of me becoming who I was today. Closely followed by my uncomfortable chat with Ma…that my life changed, for the better.
I was lucky to have two pivotal moments that set me on the correct path. I had a best friend, who was with me through thick and thin. I had two great parents, who I could chat to about anything and everything. We could talk about serious political events, or we could chat about totally random and sometimes very inappropriate things too, but it was natural, it was us. My parents were proud of me and I knew that Cadence would have been proud too. I vowed to myself to always make them proud, and I did…until that one fateful time in college.