“I just want to go down to the fire pits and see if my friends are there. Could I? Please?”
“ ’Course not!” Dad snapped. “It’s the middle of the night. You didn’t let Christy go out alone after dark when she stayed with you, did you?”
“Well, actually,” Aunt Marti began, “there were other young people, and—”
Bob cut in. “You like drumsticks or thighs, Norm?”
“Whatever you’ve got left. Either one is fine.”
“Christy,” Bob continued, “did you notice the new wallpaper in the den? We got it up just last week.”
“Christy was here when we were trying to decide,” Marti added, reaching for a bottle of flavored mineral water. “Do you two like orange and passion fruit?”
“Doesn’t matter. Whatever you have.” Mom’s voice sounded beyond weary. Her short, brown hair lay flat against her head, and her round figure fit snugly in the kitchen chair.
Christy realized it was hopeless. If she asked again to go out on the beach she would only cause a problem. Her uncle had conveniently helped her avoid what could have been a major confrontation. She better not press it.
Squelching all her hopes and anxious feelings deep inside, she sat with the adults, silently nibbling on a chicken drumstick. She told herself that tomorrow she could walk barefooted in the sand, and she would see all her friends; then she would feel alive again.
The next morning, Uncle Bob, wearing a Hawaiian print shirt and gray shorts, greeted her in the kitchen. “Good morning, Bright Eyes!”
“Morning!” Already dressed in her bathing suit and a big T-shirt, Christy slid into an oak chair at the table, where the sun streamed through the window like golden syrup.
“Ready for an omelette and raisin toast?” Bob asked.
“Sure!”
“It’s absolutely terrific having all of you out here. Marti and I have wanted this for years,” Bob said as he expertly flipped an omelette onto a plate.
“I don’t know if my family feels the same way,” Christy said quietly, pouring herself some orange juice from the pitcher on the table.
“Why do you say that?”
“Well, my mom has acted super strange ever since we left Wisconsin. And my dad, well, I don’t know. The trip out here was horrible, and we all said some pretty mean things. But a couple of days ago my dad said this whole move was a big mistake.”
Bob set the steaming omelette in front of Christy and said, “Don’t worry about it. He’ll change his mind after the interview today at Hollandale Dairy. You’ll see.”
“I hope so.” Christy smeared butter on her raisin toast and said in a low voice, “I kind of feel as though this is all my fault.”
“Your fault? How could other people’s moods be your fault?”
“I don’t know. Because everything is turning out so awful, and I wanted them to like California as much as I do.”
“Give them some time, Christy. Are you writing all these things down in your diary?”
“What diary?”
“I thought all teenage girls kept diaries,” Bob said.
“I don’t have one.”
“I’ll get you a diary today,” Bob promised. “You should try to write in it whenever you can. It’ll help you figure out yourself while you’re going through all these changes.”
Christy ate a few bites in silence. Why is it that I can talk to my uncle so easily, but I can’t talk to my parents? I wish I could talk to them about stuff the way I talk to Uncle Bob.
“Thanks for the omelette. I don’t think I can eat any more, though. We kind of didn’t eat a lot on our trip out here, and I think my stomach shrunk or something.”
“No problem.”
“Uncle Bob, do you mind if I take some drinks and stuff down to the beach?”
“Of course not. Help yourself.”
“I wanted to be the first one down there and surprise my old friends, if any of them are around,” Christy said, clearing her dishes.
“I meant to ask you about Todd. Did he write or call much?”
“No,” Christy said flatly. “That turkey! I wrote him three times, but I had to send the letters to his mom’s in Florida because I didn’t have the address here.”
Christy pulled a beach towel off the shelf in the laundry room and grabbed a drink and some grapes from the refrigerator. “Do you think my parents will mind if I go out on the beach? They’re still asleep, and I don’t want to wake them.”
“I’ll handle your folks. Piece of cake.” Bob winked at her, and she smiled back. “Thanks, Uncle Bob.”
“Listen, why don’t you plan on checking back in at lunchtime. The rest of the household should be up and at ’em by then.”
“Okay,” Christy agreed and headed for the sliding glass door, eager to slip out before anyone else woke up.
“Have a good time with your friends!” Bob called after her.
Christy eased her bare feet into the golden sand and hurried toward the ocean, drawn by the endless waves rolling in and out with their crashing, foaming majesty. The sky seemed to blend right into the horizon like a seamless blue robe gently draped over the world and propped up by the wild ocean breezes.
I’m here. I’ve come back, she called out silently to the clear morning sky. Then, prancing along the shoreline, she played tag with the waves, daring them to erase her footprints.
So, this is going to be my new home. Of course I’ll adjust. I’ll love going to school with all the friends I made this summer. The frustrations and agony of being uprooted and moving out here began to wear away, washed by the morning tide.
I’m here! Todd! I’m back.
Christy excitedly scanned the water for Todd’s familiar orange surfboard. Five surfers bobbed over the morning waves, but Todd wasn’t one of them. All she could do was wait. She spread out her towel, dug her toes in the sand, and settled in.
Soon a girl’s voice behind her called out, “Christy?”
She turned to see one of her summer friends, Leslie, tanned and smiling, her long, wavy hair flipping behind her in the wind.
Christy jumped up. “Hi!”
“Christy! I can’t believe it’s you!” Leslie said, giving her a hug. She propped her beach chair next to Christy’s towel and said, “So what are you doing here? This is such a surprise.”
Christy sat down and explained that her family had moved out here for good.
“I don’t believe it! When did you get here?”
“Last night. Around eight.”
“You’re kidding!” Leslie’s gray eyes grew wide. She leaned back in her low beach chair.
“No. Why?”
“Oh, you’re not going to believe this, Christy! You could’ve come to our barbecue last night. We didn’t know you were here.”
“That’s okay,” Christy said.
“No, Christy, it’s not okay. You’re going to die when I tell you!”
“What?”
“The barbecue last night was a big going-away party for Todd. He left early this morning for his mom’s in Florida!”
“No!” Christy wailed. Inside, all the dreams she had of seeing Todd again instantly shriveled up.
“If you would’ve shown up last night at the fire pit.” Leslie shook her head, and Christy forced herself to hold back the tears that begged to pour themselves out.
“I can’t believe you were here the whole time! To think that you were only a few blocks away from where we were all sitting around the campfire …” Leslie must have noticed Christy’s tears and suddenly tried to change the direction of their conversation. “You know, Todd really missed you after you left.”
Christy blinked and swallowed and blinked some more.
Leslie seemed to be searching frantically for the right thing to say. “You know, Todd told me you were the best thing that had happened to him this summer.”
“Did he really?” Christy asked in a whisper.
“Yes, he really did.” Leslie smiled and spoke more calm
ly. “I don’t know why it didn’t work out for you two to see each other last night, but don’t let it destroy you. You can drive yourself crazy living in the ‘Land of If Only.’ ”
“The what?” Christy asked, blinking and sniffing quietly.
“I heard this lady talk once about how you could spend your whole life in the ‘Land of If Only’ by always looking back and saying, ‘If only I’d done this’ or ‘If only I hadn’t done that.’ It can really mess you up if you’re always wishing things were different than they are. She said that when things happen that you don’t understand, you have to believe God is still in control and nothing happens by mistake.”
Christy looked out at the ocean and shook her head. “You make it sound so easy to trust God for everything, Leslie. I’m not sure it’s going to be that easy for me.”
“It’ll get easier the more you do it.”
Just then a voice behind them called out, “Hey! Leslie!”
They turned to see Tracy and Heather. Both girls looked the same as they had during the summer: petite Tracy with her heart-shaped face and skinny Heather with her wispy, blond hair that danced around her face.
“It is Christy!” Tracy said to Heather. “What are you doing here?”
They all hugged and began to tell Christy that she should have come to Todd’s going-away barbecue the night before.
“Save your breath,” Leslie said. “We’ve already been through all that.”
“Did you see Doug already?” Heather asked, then zipped down to the water, waving for Doug to come in from surfing.
“I wondered if that was him,” Christy said, watching the tall, broad-shouldered surfer emerge from the water. His short, sun-bleached hair stood straight up in the front. To Christy’s surprise, when Doug recognized her he ran to greet her, dropped his board, and gave her a big, saltwatery hug.
“Christy! Man, what a surprise! How are you? Wow, this is totally awesome!” Suddenly his exuberance turned to a look of disappointment. “Oh, man! You should’ve been here last night when we had the—”
A chorus of female voices cut him off. “She knows!”
“Whoa! Excu-u-use me!”
“So, tell us what’s happening, Christy. How come you’re back?” Heather asked.
For the next few hours they all sat around talking and laughing. The sun pounded their shoulders with its late summer fierceness, and the waves, like an uneven metronome, beat the shore in time with their conversation. It felt indescribably wonderful to be here. Another one of their friends, Brian, snuck up behind Heather and shook his wet hair all over her back.
“You gweek!” Heather shouted.
“Gweek?” Brian questioned.
Christy could see shy Heather beginning to blush. “Yeah, gweek!” she lashed back.
“Now there’s a new word. Did you go to the library to look up that one?”
“As a matter of fact,” Heather said slowly, obviously trying to think fast, “I went to the library and looked up gweek. It said, ‘prehistoric, total nerd-ball,’ and then it had a picture of you, Brian!”
They all burst into laughter except Brian, who said, “Okay, Heather. You asked for it!” He pulled her up by the wrists and hollered for Doug to grab her ankles. In an instant the two guys had hustled the screaming, kicking Heather down to the water and, on the count of three, tossed her in.
“Do they like each other?” Christy asked Tracy.
“Who? Brian and Heather? Who knows? They have a great time like this, but if they tried to go out it would probably be a disaster. I don’t think Brian will ever ask her out. Why ruin such a great friendship?”
“Kind of a strange way of looking at things,” Christy said.
“I don’t know. Sometimes I think dating is a strange way of looking at things. It’s so much more fun being friends with a bunch of people and all going places together,” Tracy answered matter-of-factly.
Leslie leaned over from her beach chair and said, “Tracy hasn’t fallen in love yet. Wait until she meets a guy she’s gaga over. She won’t be so crazy about group dating then.”
Heather scampered up from the beach, drenched but glowing. “I can’t believe he did that!” she stammered.
Leslie, Tracy, and Christy exchanged glances that said, “Oh, sure!”
“Come on, you guys!” Heather said. “Let’s go in the water! The guys are already out there.”
The four of them clumped together and laughed all the way to the shoreline. When Christy first encountered the Newport Beach waves at the beginning of the summer, they had intimidated her—overwhelmed her. The day she met Todd, an angry wave had rolled Christy up into a little ball and literally pitched her at Todd’s feet.
Today she faced the waves with boldness. Her tall, slender frame ran toward them, slicing into their fury with the grace and agility of a young dolphin. Bobbing above the foam on the other side of the crest, she felt as if her face and hair shimmered in the sparkling field of water diamonds.
“I love this!” She flung the words into the air.
Tracy and Heather laughed as they bobbed beside her.
“You’ve been away too long,” Tracy said.
“Come on,” yelled Heather. “Let’s catch this wave. Look at it!”
They kicked and thrashed through the water that swelled behind and before them until the mighty wave lifted them like a handful of arrows, shooting them toward the shore. Heather and Leslie rode it nearly all the way, but Christy and Tracy collided with each other, tumbling to shore like a pair of tennis shoes in the dryer. When they all caught their breath, they laughed hysterically at how the wave had pulled and twisted their hair into wild, wet, sandy styles.
“You should see your hair, Christy!” Heather squeaked like a toy mouse. “If you sprayed it purple right now, you’d have the perfect punker look!”
Christy laughed with them, patting down the stiff rooster’s comb on top of her head. Then she turned around and went back for more tumbling and bodysurfing, while the guys raced them on their body boards.
Sometime later, breathless and with their bathing suits filled with sand, they retreated to their towels. Christy reluctantly asked the time.
“Probably close to two,” Tracy said.
“Yikes! I’d better go up to the house and check in. I’ll be back later, if I can.” Christy gathered up her things and said good-bye to her friends.
Oh, how she wished Todd were with them today! Would he read her letters when he got to Florida? Would he ever write her back? Most of all, she wondered if what Leslie said was true. Did Todd really think she was the best thing that had happened to him this summer?
Christy’s mom and Aunt Marti were stretched out in lounge chairs on the front patio, shaded by a big yellow and white umbrella. Both looked up when Christy came in from the beach.
“Good morning!” Christy greeted them brightly.
“Try ‘Good afternoon,’ ” Marti said, spreading her full lips to reveal a contented smile. She looked young in her crisp white shorts and black knit top. Never before had Christy realized how much the two sisters, her mom and Aunt Marti, were worlds apart. Seeing them side by side in Marti’s domain made her mother look like the frumpiest, plainest, dullest woman in the world.
Her mother’s graying dark hair lay flat against her head, whereas Marti’s dark, full hair framed her face perfectly. Christy’s mom’s face looked wrinkled and bland, without a spot of makeup. Marti’s smooth skin was enhanced by bright lipstick and dramatic eye makeup.
Now that we’re in California, maybe Mom will let Marti change her from a farmer’s wife to a socialite, Christy thought.
Christy smoothed her towel over a patio chair and sat eye-level with her mom and aunt.
“Christy!” Mom yelped, getting a good look at her face. “Look at you! You’re burned to a crisp!”
Christy touched her cheeks. “It’s not that bad.”
“Dear, you should always use sunscreen on your face, remember?” Marti said swee
tly.
“I did,” Christy said.
“Do you need some more of the sunscreen I bought you?” Marti asked.
“Did it come off when you went in the water?” Mom said.
“Oh, this is great!” Christy teased. “Now I have two mothers telling me what to do all the time!”
“Every girl on this planet should be so fortunate,” Marti returned with her self-confident grin. “Did you have a nice time with the other young people on the beach?”
“Yes.” Christy settled back in her chair. “Some of my old friends were there, but not all of them.” She didn’t know if her aunt had said much about Todd to her mom, and she wasn’t sure she wanted to bring up the subject. Her parents might really be upset if they knew that she had gone to Disneyland alone with Todd and that he had driven. With all the franticness of moving, Christy hadn’t told her parents much about Todd.
“You should’ve met this one friend of Christy’s,” Marti said to her sister. “Absolutely a doll! The kind of teenager who makes you feel there’s hope for our future.”
That’s sweet, Aunt Marti. I didn’t know you felt that way about Todd.
“Her name was Alissa.”
Oh …
Marti touched her sister’s arm for added emphasis. “Gorgeous girl. Had a very refining effect on Christina, I’m sure.”
All the aggravating feelings Christy ever had for her aunt returned like a monstrous wave, crashing her spirits with its force. You are so clueless, Aunt Martha! Alissa has more problems than anyone I ever met! Todd and his friends were the ones who influenced me the most. Not Alissa!
“Did you see her today?” Mom asked.
“Who?”
“Alissa, this nice girl Marti liked.”
“No, she’s back in Boston at her grandmother’s.”
“You know,” Marti said, springing from her chair, “I think Bob said a letter came for you from Boston. Let me see if it’s in the den.”
Marti scampered off, and for just an instant Christy smiled at her mom. Maybe I don’t want Marti to remake you. Maybe I need you to be the plain, old mom that you are.