Page 7 of Roar for Me
“Hmm? Oh, that’s Duncan Sullivan. We were in the choir and musical together. He’s the person Miss Smith asked me to help with decorations for the reunion.” Aurora rose from her office chair.
“He’s pretty cute for an old guy.”
“Are you calling me old, Kathryn Marie?” She put her hands on her hips in mock outrage.
“I wasn’t talking aboutyou!” Katie threw her hands up in defense.
“Well, he graduated in my class, so if he’s old, then I’m old.”
“I meant older thanme.” Katie laughed. “What did he look like in high school?”
“He had shorter hair, for one thing.” Aurora rubbed her chin.
“Do you have any pictures?”
“Sure, my yearbook is downstairs. Follow me.”
Aurora led Katie down the stairs and into the living room where she kept her books. Walking past the heirloom couch, she bent down and rifled through some books on the bottom shelf.
“Wow, I need to dust this weekend.”
She pulled out a large, white, hardcover book and wiped it off with her hands. She then paged through until she got to the “S”names. “Here he is.”
Katie sat on the purple velvet couch and took the book from her mom. “Ooh, and he could sing?”
“Sweetie, he had a lead in every musical. And he was in chamber choir with Miss Smith and me. Let me find that picture.” Aurora sat down next to her, but fascinated with the yearbook, Katie paged through instead of giving it up.
“Hey, look, there’s you! What’s with the headband?”
“My senior photo was taken the summer after my junior year. That was when I finally got Grandma to agree to let me grow my bangs out. So I wore a lot of headbands to keep them out of my face while they grew.”
“But you have bangsnow.”
“It’s a side bang, and it’s much more flattering than the mall bangs I had as a child. I know you’ve seen the pictures.”
“Yeah, good point.” Katie continued to flip through the pages. “Oh my gosh, this is the chamber choir! And there’s you! And there’s Miss Smith!” She paused and turned the book on its side. “‘Dear Aurora, these past seven years have been so amazing being your friend. It seems like only yesterday we met in sixth grade, and now I’ll see you in college.’ Who wrote this? I can’t read the name.”
Aurora took the book from her and peered at it. “That was my good friend, David Romero. We got close in middle school. He’d play the piano, and I’d sing. It was so much fun.” A bittersweet wave of nostalgia washed over her as she turned the book again to point him out to Katie. “There he is, the tall one with the dark hair.”
“Oh, nowheis cute!”
“He’s also not interested in women, dear.”
“Figures. How come you never mentioned him?”
“We grew apart after our first year at college when he transferred to a different school. I tried to keep in touch. But last I heard he was living in Georgia somewhere.”
“I’m sorry, Mom.”
Aurora looked at the beautiful, heartfelt message in her hands and sighed. “Like I always say, sweetheart, people change. Dave got busy at his new college, and we just stopped talking to each other. At least I have the memories.” She closed the book and hugged her daughter.
“Mom, can I ask you something?”
“Sure, what is it?”
“Did you have a crush on Mr. Sullivan?”
Aurora laughed. “Half the choir had a crush on him!”
