Triforce

Her hair was different. I remember the day she dyed it hot pink after we watched Scott Pilgrim in my basement. Now, staring at me from across the glass jewelry cabinet, I hardly recognized her. A natural brunette, she looked beautiful. More mature, but in a good way. The look of disbelief smeared across her face tells me she didn't recognize me, either.

If she had recognized me, I'm willing to bet she wouldn't have asked for my help.

Flagging me down from the other end of the store, I realized it was her as I caught a glance of her wrist, waving effortlessly through the air, trying to get my attention. When we were eighteen, it seem like the perfect idea to get matching Triforce tattoos. Zelda had been our game. Thankfully, I could hide mine on the back of my shoulder. She obviously hadn't attempted to cover hers up. Not yet, at least.

The line work was shit. We knew it then, and we were simultaneously reminded of it now. It didn't matter when we were teenagers. The act of defiance and the "artwork" made it too cool to care. I watch her tuck her hands into her pockets, astonished that here and now, we are together again.

"Stacy! How are you?" I ask, salesman smile plastered across my flushed face. Get me out of here.

"Nick... Hey!" she says, equally dumfounded. She shoots a quick glance at the man standing next to her, taking his hand in her own. "You're working here now?"

"Yup," I say, squishing my lips together, nodding slowly. "Better than working at the Red Lobster," I say, swinging my arm with a thumbs-up." What's happening right now? "What are you up to?" I ask, completely unsure as to how I should act in this moment. Get out of my store, please.

"We're just... walking the mall. Kind of... gathering information," she says, looking down into the jewelry case. "We were just over at the Kay Jewelers and decided we'd stop in here next. Oh, sorry," she mumbles, looking again to the man on her right. "How rude... Nick, this is Shawn, my boyfriend." She lets his hand go so he can shake mine. "We dated for a few years in high school," she says, gesturing across the glass at me.

"Oh, the Legend of Link guy? Nice to meet you, man," he says. He smiles as he pushes the hair off of his forehead. His hand crushes mine as we shake.

You jackass.

I think back on all of the moments she left me feeling like I couldn't trust her, only to end up back in the same boat hours later. We were both too forgiving at times. But in the end, I couldn't get away fast enough.

"Nice to meet you, man." Steam rises from my chest, bubbling toward the collar of my wrinkled dress shirt. "So, gathering information, nice." What a dumb comment. "Maybe I can... help you find something?" I sputter.

"Sure. That would be great!" she says, over-enthusiastically. She looks down into the jewelry case again.

Please, please ask to see a necklace or a pair of earrings. "What can I help you find?"

"We're looking to see a few of your rings. Solitaire settings, mainly."

Nope, not today. Please, don't do this. "Absolutely. Buying a gift for someone?" I ask, trying to hide the fact that I'm not sure how much longer I can keep this up.

"No..." she starts slowly. "We're looking for an engagement ring."

There it is.

The memories, all of the best and the worst of them, all rush through my mind as I stare back at someone from so long ago. I think of moments in the past where I believed this would be us, one day. And then I see other memories, painful ones, that make me wish I had never known her. It feels so foreign, to know someone so closely, to care so deeply for someone, to then push them out of your life and try your best to forget them. Here and now, I can't believe it's come full circle. She's reentered my life with just enough venom to cut deep.

"Ah, wonderful. So happy for you two," I mutter under my breath. "Well, this should be a fun experience for all three of us. May I suggest you start at the far end of the counter? We keep our smaller diamonds down at that end of the store," I motion, avoiding the glare Stacy drills into my forehead.

"Nice one," she smirks. "Believe me, this is as awkward for me as it is for you."

"I doubt that, Stacy. I really, really doubt that. You messed me up, bad. And now you're just waltzing into my store pretending nothing happened."

"Your store, like you own the place," she snorts. "Nice one. We were in high school! You haven't grown up at all in the past thirteen years? You haven't gotten over one mistake, a mistake that was probably for the best, if we're being really honest? Come on, Nick. Grow up."

"Grow up?" I ask, clenching my jaw tightly. "Grow up?"

"What am I saying? We both know you'll never grow up. Never move on. You're thirty-one and you're working at a jewelry store in the mall..." she says slowly.

"Well you're thirty-one and you're buying an engagement ring from the mall! No one actually buys an engagement ring from a store in the mall! No one!"

"We weren't even going to buy one today!" she shouts back at me. Everyone in the store stares. My manager sticks her head out from the back. "Let's go, Shawn," she whispers. "Great to see you, Nick."

I slam my hands onto the glass counter, staring down into the case at the sparkling rings. Like a bad dream, she was here, and then, gone. I look up just in time to watch the Triforce exit the store, hand in hand with her fiance-to-be.