Toby's P.O.V
Without looking back, I let my feet take me to our garden not far from our house. It was the one place that I always escape to, when I needed to breathe. I walked over and took a seat at our gazebo that was at the side amongst my mother's plants. Our place was on top of a hill and from my seat, it had a clear view of the town down below, twinkling in its city lights.
I inhaled the fresh air of the night breeze and indulged in the serenity, the music from our house muffled from the distance. I gulped down the cans of beer that I stole from the kitchen as the heated scenes from earlier, replayed in my head. I felt my phone vibrate from my pocket so I quickly swiped it out and opened it, the time showing that it was already 11.53pm. I read my notification next.
From: Zach
Where the hell are you?! Respond to my calls or texts, you dumbass! Mom and Dad called, they'll be home early from their business trip. We have to shut down the party soon.
I shook my head, turned off my phone and took another sip from my second can of beer. I didn't want this party anyway. He insisted to throw this for the 'orientation party' or for my farewell get-together whatever--when we both know that it was just an excuse and he only did this just so he could pick up some girls. He started it, might as well end it right?
But why is she here? I gazed above at the night sky, its stars glowing back right at me. I promised that I will stay away from her as long as her safety has been compromised but why are you making this hard for me? Coincidence or not, this stupid party had been such a pain in the ass. I wanted to leave this all behind as smoothly as possible. But the way I saw her face again, it's like everything in me ignited.
And it also took everything in me to keep myself together and turn my back on her the second time.
I glanced at the small garden, mom had built when we were young. It was a huge plantation back then but since my mom got busy with her work, it was now just a small garden. I remembered how simple times was before. Now, the entirety of it all is just, chaotic. I closed my eyes and felt as though it was only yesterday when my brother and I were playing catch at our backyard before it was this garden.
Zach is three years older than me and he had longer legs so I couldn't catch up to him. I tripped over a rock and fell pretty hard on the ground, resulting to me scraping my knee. I remembered crying so hard from the pain. Zach backed away, panicked as he didn't know what to do and so my mother got up from harvesting from her garden a few feet away and tended to me.
She wiped my tears, "Shhh... you're okay." I was still crying but when she kissed the spot where she had put my bandaid on and gave me a hug, I was immediately ten times better. She then walked me over to her crops and asked me to help her around to distract me from my wound. At the entrance, she had built an arc with flowers and it was beautiful!
As a kid, I was amazed at how much hard work she put into it. There were rows and rows of plants that were a healthy green, some with flowers, some with fruits. We would water it every day and I could see its progress. That was why I was always eager to help her even under the scorching sun. She told me she wanted to use fresh ingredients for her kitchen so we had basil leaves, strawberries, corn, you name it!
While she was planting some seeds, my mom handed me a small basket and instructed me to pick some tomatoes. When I have reached the tomato crops, I saw a bunch of little green tomatoes. I have not seen them before besides the red ones, I usually see. Curious, I picked one by one, not realising I have filled my entire basket. I then called for her once I was done, excited to share my amazing discovery.
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"Mommy! Look at this tomatoes! Aren't they cute? Can we use this for later?" I grinned but it soon fell when I saw her grim expression. She took one from my basket and gave me a faint smile,
"Unfortunately not. Those small tomatoes, hasn't been ripe yet. You shouldn't pick it when it haven't reach its fullest growth. Now that you took it away, it doesn't have a chance to, so we have to throw all these." My mom took the basket from my hand gently.
"I'm sorry little tomatoes, it's all my fault..." I covered my face as tears started to shed from my eyes uncontrollably.
My mom then lifted up my chin and chuckled, "Oh, you are such a crybaby! Listen my little Toby, you should remember this okay? Because of what you did, you have to reap what you sow..."
"R-Reap what, mommy?" I rubbed my eyes.
"It means... you have to suffer the consequences for your actions. The tomatoes didn't get a chance to grow and we didn't get a chance to eat them, you know?" She giggled and ruffled my hair.
"Then what should I do now?"
"Well, we can always plant these tomato seeds over here and water them and once they are grown, we can pick them! You see, just because you find them cute, doesn't mean it's okay to take them away when they are not ready... They are fragile and needs to be nurtured." My mom gave me a few seeds and nodded for me to plant them while she found another spot and covered it before watering.
I then blinked a few times and I was back into reality. I was only six then. I didn't really put much importance into it back then, only that I should pick the red tomatoes next time. But now I know, the deeper meaning into it. Mom was right. I should have listened to her. I was selfish for taking advantage of Angela and now because of what I did, I practically ruined her life.
She had lost her memories of me so I have to reap what I sow. If only I had just continued watching her from a far, she would have grown to her fullest potential. It was all my fault that I took it away from her and now I have to take responsibility for my actions and not run away from it.
I've decided that I'm going to tell her everything. I intended to not get her hurt but if I would confess to her of my humiliating actions in the past, I could give her the truth. That is the least I could do. It's what she asked for and I owe her that. And after that... yeah she would truly hate me. Like she should. I deserve it anyway.
I put down the can of beer and got up from my seat. I was about to head back to the mansion when I saw a familiar figure running towards the street. It's her! I turned towards the street Angela was in. I picked up my pace when she was getting out of my sight and shouted her name but she couldn't hear me so I ran faster to catch up to her.
I was getting close but then I heard the dreadful beeps from the car ahead of her. My heart skipped a beat. I can't let this happen again...
"Angela!" I called out to her but she stood frozen to the ground, her eyes closed. The car skidded close to her and I reached out and grabbed her body off the road, in time when the car dashed off to the spot that she was standing just moments before. We tried to catch our breath and steadied our thumping heartbeats. I was still clutched on to her. I could feel her hands were shaking so I turned her around and caressed her cheek, after.
"Angela! Are you okay?" She had her eyes closed and she opened it slowly and nodded. The concern in my expression, slowly dissipating.
"I... I remember" she muttered under her breath, her eyes widening in realization. Remember? Remember, what?
It took her about a minute to answer and during that time, my mind was whirled with questions. What does she remember? Does she remember everything?
