Her Eyes by Jennifer Cloud, Regan Taylor

firsts.” All but one , he thought to himself. “She was a little tomboyish, but always a lady if you know what I mean. When I tried out for the football team she was right there rooting me on and I remember her being so proud of me. She was a little shy but I encouraged her to try out for cheerleading and I remember how thrilled she was when she made the team.
    "Sometimes we would mix it up. You know how it is with friends who are almost like family. Sometimes you can get a bit testy with each other, and just when it would be getting kind of harsh, one or the other of us would say, ‘I'll be your best friend,’ and, Jim, just those few little words made it all better."
    "So why didn't you marry her? What got into you?"
    "Catherine. There was only one thing I didn't do the first time with Pam.” Frank smiled, and Jim nodded like he understood. “Well, that was Catherine. She was a cheerleader, too. Of course. Catherine was all about image, even then, and I was young and stupid. Trust me, Pam was cute. A real cutie without a stitch of makeup where Catherine could have owned a make-up store and it still wouldn't be enough. When I made quarterback in my senior year, Catherine set her sights on me. We went out a few times, and she would ask about Pam. I told her Pam was my best friend. Right after the homecoming game, instead of just going to the party, Catherine got me to go with her behind the bleachers, and we had sex. It was your typical fumbling teenaged sex. Over before I knew it. That was the only thing I didn't do with Pam first and probably the only thing that I should have. I really thought I was in love with Catherine, and when I told Pam, she was hurt. I knew she was, but made like I believed her when she said she only wanted to be friends anyway.
    "After that she started getting into some mystical type things. Past lives like what Mary was talking about, ghosts, things like that. Not weird stuff, but reading serious stuff. She went to listen to that Sylvia woman a few times, got all of that James Van Praagh's books and read them over and over. I don't buy into that soul mate stuff, but she did. In fact, one time she told me that soul mates were forever loves and that just because they weren't together in one lifetime it didn't mean they wouldn't be in another."
    "You think that was crazy talk?"
    "No. Not from her. She really seemed to be studying those things. The other thing was she told me one time that she was sure she was going to die young. She just had a feeling she would die young and probably a sad death."
    "I can see how talk like that would make a fella shy away."
    "No, that's not why. She made it sound interesting. No, it was Catherine. The prettiest girl in school, and she told me she loved me. I still had my doubts about Catherine. I probably wouldn't have married her, but right before the prom, Pam moved away. It broke my heart and that made me turn to Catherine."
    "You know where she's at now? That Pam?” Jim shuffled his feet and looked at his own house, probably thinking of Mary who had to be everything to Jim.
    "Nope. Lost touch. Once Catherine and I were married, she told me my friendship with Pam was wrong, that it didn't look right. She often wondered if I didn't love Pam more. Never heard from Pam either, after the first month or so she moved away anyway. Some best friend, huh?"
    "So you don't know where she is and here you are married to a woman who was previously the nastiest woman in the neighborhood who's now flip-flopping back and forth in personality?"
    "Looks like. Jim?"
    "Yeah?"
    "You and Mary?"
    "She's my best friend, Frank. She may get close to the gloom and doom stuff, and sometimes she reminds me of the people at the gate in those Frankenstein movies, but I love her. Always have, always will.” He smiled, showing tobacco-stained teeth and a love that could never fade for his wife.
    "Thanks, Jim. Well, we'll see what the next few weeks bring, huh?"
    "Yup."
    They parted, Frank