My Butterfly

had been waiting to tell her.
    “Hey, remember prom night our senior year and you said that you only had one wish in life?” I asked her.
    She laughed.
    “For New Milford to get a pizza place,” she said, bobbing her head.
    Her gaze was straight ahead, and a pretty smile lingered on her lips.
    “Well…,” I said.
    “No,” she exclaimed, quickly angling her face back toward mine.
    “Yes,” I confirmed.
    She shoved my shoulder. It moved me only slightly, but it did cause my smile to grow wider.
    “I can’t believe it,” she shouted.
    “Believe,” I said.
    “Where?” she asked.
    “Downtown, next to the movie theater,” I said.
    Her mouth was slightly frozen open. It looked sexy and playful all at the same time.
    “Have you been?” she asked.
    Her excitement made me laugh.
    “I have,” I said, nodding my head. “It’s good.”
    “I have to go,” she exclaimed and then paused.
    I watched her stare fall to the shoes dangling from her fingertips.
    “Next time,” she said, as her wide smile began to fade.
    I nodded my head and felt my grin vanishing too.
    “Next time,” I softly agreed.
    There was silence for a moment again. And my eyes fell onto the dress she was wearing. It was green. It matched her pretty eyes. But it also reminded me of the green dress she wore to homecoming our junior year. We stayed up all night that night—her in my arms—and watched the sun come up in the morning.
    “You’re in too many of my memories, Jules,” I said, as a grin fought its way back to my lips again.
    Her eyes instantly fell into mine. And then, slowly, her eyebrows drew closer together and one corner of her mouth faintly rose.
    “I have that same problem,” she said, softly laughing into the subtle breeze.
    I held my gaze in her eyes, until her stare broke and returned to her hands and her shoes, now slowly swaying from side to side. Then, I sucked in a deep breath of cool air, and at the same time, felt my smile wane.
    “How do you like it out there?” I asked.
    I watched as her chest rose and then fell.
    “It’s beautiful,” she said, sending me a quick glance.
    A wide smile had returned to her face.
    “But a different kind of beautiful than here,” she continued. “I mean, there’s a lot of traffic and a lot of people. But the ocean is perfect, and there are mountains, and there’s an orange tree in my neighbor’s front yard.”
    “An orange tree, really?” I asked.
    Her pretty eyes were big.
    “I know, that’s what I said,” she exclaimed, nodding her head.
    She looked so happy all of a sudden.
    “And school?” I asked.
    She laughed.
    “It’s school—on steroids,” she said. “I just never thought that I could cram this much stuff into my brain at one time. It’s so much stuff.”
    She emphasized the so, but she was smiling as she said it.
    “You like it though?” I asked.
    She nodded again.
    “I do,” she said.
    She paused then.
    “What about you?” she asked. “How’s the job going?”
    I nodded my head before I spoke.
    “It’s great,” I said and meant it. “There’s always something going on. I like that about it.”
    “Please, God, tell me there hasn’t been any more close calls,” she demanded.
    I watched her eyelids fall over her eyes and her hand rush to her chest and cover her heart. Then, I softly chuckled to myself.
    “No,” I reassured her. “No close calls, knock on wood.”
    I knocked on the wooden arm of the bench.
    “But I’ve also got my guardian angel,” I said, touching my hand to my heart.
    She found my eyes again and smiled.
    “There you are,” a voice suddenly called out from behind us. “You ready? You promised. This song.”
    My eyes traveled toward the voice, as a girl with auburn hair planted her feet directly in front of Jules and me. She was smiling wide, and her head was cocked playfully in my direction. I glanced back at Julia and then back at the girl. And in that time, the girl’s eyes had fallen on Jules.
    “Uh, Taylor,” I stuttered, trying to remember her name again. “This is Julia. Julia, this is Taylor.”
    I watched as Julia’s eyes widened a little and her lips fell slightly open.
    “Taylor,” Julia repeated then, as if she were remembering something.
    Taylor extended her hand.
    “Nice to meet you,” she said, in a Missouri-Bootheel twang.
    Julia raised her hand to meet Taylor’s. Her smile was poised.
    “You ready?” Taylor asked again, quickly redirecting her attention to me.
    Everything in