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Chapter Sixteen of Our Days As Friends
This chapter was modified 4 u, my readers. The ending was moded 2 better suit wat evry 1 wants... a story ending in DEATH(Oops big spoiler). But when u read the sequel(2 be posted soon) u will realize that it didn't end like u thought it would...Chapter Sixteen
The Last Week
“That wouldn’t make my day, being dragged off by a rouge dog.” Grampa said. “Not fun.”
“Me either.” I replied. “The rest of May was sorta suckish. So, I’m skipping ahead. A lot.”
It was the last week of fifth grade. There was no homework. All of us were collecting phone numbers and addresses so we could keep in touch over the summer.
“Heres my address and phone number.” Jane said. “Call me sometime.”
I copied it into my address book. “Ok. I'll give you my address and house number.” I stated. “If my parents get me a cell, I’ll give you that number ASAP.”
“Ev, what’s your number?” I asked.
“I don’t use my phone. But, you can email me. You have my email?” Ev asked.
“I lost it. Can you tell me again so I can put it in my address book?” I held up my sparkly gray address book.
“On email, my address is ejbspeedemon.” He said.
“How do you spell that?” I requested.
“E-j-b-s-p-e-e-d-e-m-o-n.”
“Ok. Thanks.”
“Every one get in line!” Mrs. Chandler said. It was field trip day, and we were going to the Heritage Plantation. I was eager to get there. Evan and I had made a complete recovery, so we would be going too.
“Hey, Jane, can you get a picture of the three of us with your camera?” I asked.
“Yeah! I’ll send you a copy in the mail. You can email it to Evan.” She added. All three of us smiled.
“When we board the bus, your to fill in the back first. You will be able to sit with a friend.” Mrs. Chandler announced.
Jane and I sat in one seat and Evan sat with Mike in the seat across from us. We talked the entire bus ride.
“Hey, Mike, we’re in your moms group, right?” Jane asked.
“Wouldn’t have it any other way.” Mike said. “You, Me, Liz, Ev, and Tom are in my moms group. We’ll go to . . . the maze first.”
“Ok.” We agreed. When the bus stopped, we got off and headed toward the maze. We had a map of the gardens.
When we got to the maze, we realized Mike had read the map wrong. We ended up in a maize field. Corn surrounded a tree.
“Hmm, they built a maze with corn.” Mike said. “Clever.”
“It says maize! M-a-i-z-e as in corn, Mike!” Tom said.
“Wow, Tom. Your suddenly smarter.” Jane said.
“That’s why my name is Finley.” Tom sung. We all laughed.
So, next we went out to a small pond. There was a photographer there.
“Hey! Can I use you guys real quick?” He asked. We walked up to him. “I’m a photographer for Cape Cod Magazine.”
“My grandparents get Cape Cod Magazine!” I said.
“Cool! Wanna be on the cover?” He asked.
“Totally!” I said. “What do I do?”
“Ok, so I need you to stand right there, you stand there, and you three sit on the bench.” He instructed. “Now, smile!” He took the picture.
“Ok, I need one more. You two, stand there. Now, pretend your talking. You, pick up a rock and act like your going to skip it. You two, I want one of you running and the other walking to catch up with the girls. Now, you girls, walk.” He took the second picture. “Ok, at least one of these should be featured in the July Cape Cod Magazine.” He said.
“We’ll be signing autographs in no time!” Mikes mom joked. Mrs. Bell was always nice to us, and had a pleasant sense of humor also.
We continued through the gardens around the plantation. There were birds singing and flowers of many bold and vibrant colors. Then, Jane found the spot to take a picture of us. She handed Mike the camera.
“Mike, take a picture of us. These rhododendrons are a perfect background.” Jane said.
“Ok.” Mike said. We got into position.
“CHEESE!” We yelled in unison. The flash went off.
“It’s time for lunch, kids! We have to head back to the busses to pick up your lunches.” Mrs. Bell said.
We headed toward the busses. Mrs. Bell had brought some munchies for us, So we each had a bag of chips and whatever we had packed for lunch. Jane also had five dollars for the gift shop. I laughed when I realized that we had all packed the same lunch. A peanut butter and fluff sandwich. Mike had a fluff dot on his nose. So I poked the fluff in my sandwich and dabbed a little on my nose. Everyone laughed. I laughed at myself. I noticed Jane do the same.
“We’re the white nosed Indians! Poke us if you dare!” I shouted.
“Poke.” Jane said. She poked Ev.
“I’ve been selected to join the tribe!” Evan yelled. I dabbed my fluff on his nose. He gave my a wry look, then smiled. We all laughed. At ourselves, at our noses, and just because we were friends having fun.
We all boarded the busses to go back to school. After lunch, we had gone to the labyrinth, seen a stage, and saw how a windmill worked. Everyone was abuzz with what they had done. Most of them agreed that having our pictures on Cape Cod Magazine would be cool. I thought it was an honor. When we got back, we has recess for a few minutes, got our homework, and went home.
The next day was the last full day of school. Tomorrow would be the last time I would trudge through the halls of Decas Elementary School. I was sad though. I didn’t want to leave my friends. Most of my friends were younger than I was, so I was leaving a lot of them behind. Brit, Dez, Allison, Virginia, and Abby would all be in Elementary for at least two more years. Also, I might not get as lucky and have Jane and Evan in my classes. It might be another fourth grade, where I end up in a class of bullies. I didn’t want that. So, I enjoyed it all. I made a mental note that today, Tuesday, June twentieth, I would say goodbye to them all. I would probably miss them. Some of them I most likely would never see again. We lined up to head to our award ceremony. There, we would get tons of prizes, from good grades to perfect attendance, they had awards for it all. Even if you didn’t get a trophy, everyone got a tee with the names of all the fifth graders on it.
I loved the awards I received. I asked Mrs. Chandler if I could say goodbye to my friends in other grades. She let me.
“Bye, Liz” Allison said. “I’ll miss you.” She gave me a hug. “Hey, did you know me and Travis are going to the dance together?” she asked.
“No way! Good job, girlfriend!” I said.
“Hey, only Travis calls me that.” She winked and waved. I went to Virginia and Abby’s class next.
“Bye, girls. I’ll miss you.” I said. “I most likely won’t see you again unless I stop by sometime.” I said. Virginia and Abby were in first grade.
“We’ll miss you too. Don’t forget us!” Abby said.
“Liz, can you visit us sometime?” Virginia asked.
“Yes, I’ll try.” I said. “I can’t make any promises.” They both gave me a hug.
Finally, I went back to E-10. I had to say goodbye to Evan. He said he wouldn’t be at school tomorrow, even though we only had to stay three hours.
“I’ll miss you most, Ev. Email me!” I shouted. I was near tears. I wouldn’t see him, or even hear his voice, for three months. I gave him a big hug. We sort of smiled. I turned and walked away.
When I got home, I wished I had said more. I wished I could have told him how much I cared. Most of all, I wanted to let him know he was loved. When I got home, I locked myself in my room. I couldn’t stop thinking about him. So I opened the internet and typed. I typed a poem, a song, a story. No matter how I expressed it, I told him my true feelings. I told him about everything. I knew he wouldn’t understand it at all. I didn’t even know how he would actually respond to it. But I felt stronger. I felt the nothingness become trust. My faults became my power. I felt as though the weight of doubt had been lifted from my shoulders. I then knew what it felt like to be truly happy. I knew what joy felt like. I felt as though all the depression of my life was gone with just one word. I knew what it was. It was love. I looked it over. It looked like I felt. It sounded like I felt. I knew what I was feeling now. The joys and little wonders of this beautiful life before me. I always thought the happy times were scarce and precious. I always thought I was condemned to a life of misery. But now that I had let it all out, I didn’t feel like I was lonely in a crowd any more. I felt different. I knew that a change for the better had taken place here before my very eyes. I felt that if I lost it all at this moment, that would be just ok. I would be too caught up dreaming to notice if the floor beneath me dissipated and I was left with nowhere to go. I knew the deviation was real, almost tangible in my empty hands. I realized there was more to life than it was made out to be. I spent the rest of my day living as if in a dream. Then, I finally allowed myself to cry. I was always telling myself not to cry. If I cried, I thought I would surely drown in my misery. But now, it seemed I could cry. I would be able to wash away the pain without causing more. I cried for myself, for my family, and for my misery, now washed away. But most of all, I cried for my friends. I didn’t make their lives any easier. I knew my friends would tell me, “You must stay strong. Don’t worry about us.” But, I did. I cared for them. I didn’t take friendship for granted, because I didn’t have very many friends. I knew if I didn’t care about them, I would lose the people I held so dear. I would some day stop being the one everyone hated. I knew some day, people would respect others more. But, now was far from the days when everyone would start to care. But, that was always my one hope for life.
I woke the next day feeling the difference return, knowing that I would be wonderful today. I hoped this change would last forever. I wore my favorite outfit to school that day. My old pink softball jersey and my favorite jeans somehow looked better than ever. They shone their true colors, not the dull colors I had seen a week ago. Everything seemed pure. I felt as though I was on cloud nine. I sat with Brit on the bus. She noticed the change more than I had.
“Liz, you look different. Your acting weird, too.” She said.
I laughed. “I’m just living life at its fullest.”
“You do seem much more spiritual today. A very drastic aberation has occured in you, I suspect.” She replied.
“Wow, your vocabulary has improved! Way to go!”
“You noticed? Wow, no one ever seemed to notice before.” she said. “Now I know you’ve changed. I want to know how.” She pulled a personality quiz from her backpack. “I have your results from a while ago. I want you to answer each question honestly.”
“Lets get started, then.” I finished the quiz.
“Wow.” Brit seemed shocked. “Whoa.”
“What?”
“It says here that you’ve gone from wilted to blossomed.” Brit answered. “You’ve basically gone from emo to joyous.”
When we got to school, there were only nine students in Mrs. Chandlers E-10. We lined up for gym. I smiled at Jane. She was wearing her softball jersey from the year she was on my team. We looked like we were wearing the same outfit, but her shirt had a twelve instead of an eleven on the back. She was wearing jeans similar to mine, but they were a little different. We laughed and got in line. Today, we played Capture the Flag. For Mr. Maxwell, it was Capture the Football. Jane, Evan, and I usually walked and talked while everyone else caught the football. We would occasionally show off and run and try to help, only to end up in jail. We almost always broke each other out of jail, but sometimes we would wind up the three of us in jail. But today, we didn’t have Evan. So me and Jane had a girls day. Jane and I loved girls days, but we hadn’t had one in a while. On girls days, we would walk around the perimeter of the field. We talked about stuff, like what was happening, what we were doing, and hoping to arrange some sleep overs. We walked around our side of the field.
“I hope we can get together over the summer.” I said.
“That’s what sisters do! We help each other and we stick together.”
“Sisters forever?”
“Sisters forever.”
If we were glad when we had girl time during Gym, the we must have been super glad when we found out we were having double recess. We got to talk and walk around for another forty minutes.
“Hey Jane? Are you going to stay with your dad the whole summer or only on weekends like usual?” I asked.
“Only on weekends.” Jane replied. “My dad’s girlfriend is going to take us to dinner this weekend. She’s real nice.”
“It’s good that you get along with her.”
“Why?”
“Well, if you didn’t like her, your dad would feel bad. Plus, who knows? They could get married someday and Caroline would be your step mother. If you didn’t like her, then it would cause problems with you and your dad.”
“Good point. So, what’s goin on with you?”
“Two words. Nonstop sleep overs!”
“Hey, that was three words.”
“It was?”
“Yes.”
“Oh. I feel real stupid, thinking sleep over was one word.”
“Silly.”
“I know I am.” We both laughed.
Mike ran up, panting and gasping for breath. “I just won three races.” He stumbled. He took deep breaths between words, sweat rolling off his reddened forehead. “Against Tom and Steven. They’re fast.” Mike looked like he was about to faint.
“Lets get him to the nurse.” I said. “You sound like your having a heart attack or somethin. Probably winded yourself. Badly."
We carried Mike to the nurses office. He was given an ice pack to help his head. We went back out to the recess field to talk for the remaining ten minutes.
“Mike make it to the nurse?” Mrs. Chandler asked.
“Yes. His mom is going to pick him up in a couple minutes.” I replied.
“You guys look like your having a lot of fun without Evan. Don’t you miss him?” Tom asked as we walked.
“Well, I miss him more than I ever missed Chris, so I know it will be tough to live without seeing him.” I said.
“He was a good friend, and I did have feelings for him, but I know I won’t miss him half as much as Liz will. She really cares about him. And he cares about her. He’ll miss her too. I just know it. It seems as if fate made it like this instead of the alternate.”
“What alternate?” Tom asked.
“Well, the same day Liz told Evan about her feelings, I was going to. I guess by fate I chickened out, not knowing that Liz would have him. Even though I was heart broken, I could tell it was meant to be Liz and Evan. I just never thought about why I felt that way until now. I just, understand now better than ever.”
“Wow. I never knew, Jane. So, you cheerleading again this year, Liz?” Tom said. He wasn’t very considerate of others emotions, especially not mine and Jane’s.
“No, jerk.” I said. “Jane, that’s deep. There’s a lot of emotion and care in that. And thanks for being shy.”
“I’m sorta glad too. I don’t think I’ve done anything better than bringing you and Evan together. You guys care about each other so much. I’m glad for you.”
“Me too, Jane. Me too.”
We got on our busses to go home.
“Hug.” Jane said. We hugged. “I’m gonna miss you sooo much!”
“I need a hug too.” Allison said. I gave her a hug too.
“I’m wanting a hug, too!” Mike said. Jane and I hugged him at the same time. We said goodbye. I stepped on my bus. The bus driver handed me an unfrozen ice pop. I sat down with Dezy and her friend Cheyenne.
“I’ll see you over the summer, Lizzie.” Dezy said.
“Duh! You live on my street!” I laughed.
“I’ll come over sometime.” Cheyenne said.
We arrived at my house, when I had a brilliant idea. I began to type. I wrote a story. I hopped around the room, coming up with new ideas. I bit my nails as I checked it over. I smiled as I revised it. I laughed as I retyped it. I cried as I read it. It was a story of laughs. A story of tears. Happiness. Pain. Love. It was the story of a year. I laughed as I remembered my greatest year ever. I spent the rest of the summer feeling like I had when I sent a special email to a friend.
As I finished up my story, I heard my mom gasp in the kitchen. I wondered in. She was watching the news. I listened to the report.
“This just in, a building collapsed today in Wareham. In the wreck, the bodies of two unidentified children were found. They are suspected to belong to eleven year old Evan Burhoe and twelve year old Jane Burnham, who were visiting the building when it collapsed. More details at six.”
I stopped listening. I couldn’t believe my ears. I couldn’t believe the news. I couldn’t believe my sister and my boyfriend were possibly dead. I turned a walked away.
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