” My mom counters.To tell the truth I’m not sure where I stand on the whole affair. I don’t have any plans and lots of my friends are heading o...f to college or have jobs and plans so the idea of escaping to someplace else this summer, particularly once all the rumors about what happened start flying through town, is appealing. Which is how my mom won the argument. I graduated on Saturday, with all the gossip circulating through the ceremony about what me and Nolan were supposedly doing on. He had made himself scarce at the party, after our initial confrontation. Maybe I had judged him unfairly, after all Ashley must see something in him. I unlocked the door, opened it and flipped on the kitchen light. Obviously I was the first one home. I opened the fridge and poured myself an iced tea, walked into the family room and sat down. It was nice to have complete silence, it had been an exhausting day, both physically and mentally. I leaned back on the sofa, closed my eyes enjoying the. I’d gone through ten years of school with many of them. I was registered.“Ari? Is that really you?” read the email note. “Are you really coming home for the party?” There was no signature. All I had was the return email address. Cassie Clinton Jones. My one-time next door neighbor and playmate in the woods that joined our houses. I still considered Cassie to be my first girlfriend, back before I understood what a girlfriend was.A Long Time Ago: A Walk in the WoodsEntertainment out in the. Unfortunately, your mother, in her lucid moments, seems to be serious about this agreement.’ ‘You are saying she wants you to arrange for her death?’ ‘Yes, I’m afraid so. On that basis, I almost welcome my visits with her when she is not quite lucid enough to raise the issue with me. It’s a very private matter between the two of us. As far as I know, you are the only other person who has ever been told. I think I can cope with it just by visiting with her—I usually check with Lois and don’t go.