“How about some curly fries?”
“Anything for the birthday girl.”
The waiter came by our table. I didn’t look up at him until I heard his voice. He was tall with a cute, friendly face.
“Hello. I’m Austin. I’ll be your waiter tonight. Care to order your drinks first while you decide on what you would like for dinner?”
“Sure,” Mom and I answered back simultaneously.
“I’ll have the peach iced tea,” I said, looking straight at him.
“Good choice,” he said quickly and smiled. “And how about you, ma’am?” he asked Mom politely.
“That sounds refreshing. I’ll have the same, but could you take our orders too?”
“Sure, what would you like?”
“The house special burger for my daughter, with curly fries, and I’ll have your cob salad with chicken.”
“Thank you. I’ll be back with your drinks first.”
As he walked away, Mom giggled like a teenager gloating over a cute guy. “I saw the way he was looking at you, honey.”
“Mom!” I hissed quietly, leaning against the table with a shy smile on my face. Although I was flattered, I felt uncomfortable talking to her about guys.
“Whaaaat?” she asked. “Can’t a mom say something when a good-looking guy seems interested in her beautiful daughter?”
“No, especially not on her birthday,” I whispered.
“All right,” she surrendered and changed the subject, becoming serious.
She leaned toward me as if she was going to tell me a secret. “How are you, honey? I mean, you look so tired these days. Is everything all right?” She placed her right hand over my left hand that was resting on the table.
I wasn’t all right. I was hiding a secret, a kind of secret I couldn’t even share with my mom. “I’m fine, Mom,” I answered, unable to look her in the eyes.
“Honey, you can tell me anything. You know that, don’t you? We didn’t get to talk much after Claudia’s death. How are you dealing with it?”
“Of course I’m sad, and I miss her, but it’s a bit easier to let her go since our friendship had drifted apart. I know she will always be a part of me, but I’m dealing with it, so don’t worry,” I reassured her, forcing a smile on my face. “Don’t worry too much, it’s not good for your skin,” I teased, trying to lighten the mood. “But seriously, I’m fine. Better than I thought I would be.” And that was the truth. When Claudia had given me the last hug in my dream, I was able to let her go in peace.
Mom squeezed my hand before letting go. “Okay, take it easy. I don’t like seeing you like this.”
Did I look that bad? I didn’t even notice.
Austin came to our table with our food, smiling. “Let me know what else I can help you with.”
“Ketchup and Tabasco, please?” I asked.
“Anything for you. I’ll be right back.” His tone was flirtatious.
I shyly looked down as he left.
“I told you he’s interested,” Mom teased.
“Mom,” I said, feeling my face get warm.
“He has a nice, toned body too,” she added.
Before I could say anything, Austin returned. “Here you go.” He placed the ketchup and Tabasco bottles gently on the table. “Anything else I can do for you?”
“No, thank you,” I responded. I noticed his smile as he walked away.
Mom and I had such a wonderful time eating and bonding that we promised to do it more often. As I lay in bed that night, I stared out the window, recapping what a peaceful night I’d had. I was wishing it hadn’t ended so quickly. Then thoughts of Michael burned through my mind, as they always did when he was away. I rubbed the crystal necklace he gave me as if I was rubbing a magic lamp, wishing for him to appear. He was my first thought as I woke in the morning and my last thought as I fell asleep at night.
Looking in the darkness, I could see a few glittering stars, and wondered if Michael was looking at them too. I couldn’t help but be amazed every time I thought of him. Why me? What was so special about me that I was able to cross over from my dream to his world?
The next day, after church, Patty and I went to work. Sundays were usually slow, but it was fun for us because we got to catch up on our gossip and even try on a few new clothes.
“I have something else to give you,” Patty said, gleaming.
“Another gift? But you already got me something,” I said, thinking about the dress she got for me on my birthday.
Patty looked very nervous and started to play with her hair. That told me that she was up to something. “Okay, it’s not new. In fact, I’m just letting you borrow it. I… well…I knew you wouldn’t go, so I’m making you go ’cause you’re my best friend…and…I really would like for you to be there.”
“Where?” I was short with her, wondering what on earth she was talking about.
“Camping! I know you don’t like camping, but—”
I didn’t let her finish. “That’s right.” I agreed quickly, and pretended to be busy with the cash register.
“Come on, Claudia. It will be fun. It’s only for two days. Please!” She begged with her hands clasped together.
“You know I don’t like bugs, bears, and especially snakes!” I grumbled with a disgusted look, envisioning the night I got attacked by Julia, the demonic snake.
She gave me a pleading look. “You’ll be sleeping with me, and I’ll take care of you.”
“Bathrooms?” I asked.
“For sure, toilets and hot showers. I promise.” She gave me the sign of the cross.
“I’ll think about it.” I said, to get her off my back.
“Well, don’t think too hard because…you see…I kind of…sort of told Mrs. Lee that we needed next weekend off.”
“You did what?” I was furious. I hated it when she made decisions for me without consulting me.
“I’m sorry, but I really want you to go. I know you’ll have a wonderful time, and plus, when will we get this opportunity again? I know your mom will be fine with it since we would be going with our church youth group.”
“It’s not my mom I’m worried about. You can’t mention a word to Gamma.”
“Don’t worry; I know how protective she is of you. A bit too much, if you ask me.”
“She’s just old-fashioned. But seriously, I don’t want her to know. She’ll get really upset and I don’t want to disappoint her.”
“What are you going to tell Gamma? What excuse are you going to give her for not being at church on Sunday?” Patty asked, worried for me.
“I don’t know. I guess I’ll tell her that I’m sick or something, and Mom will have to cover for me. We just have to be careful and not mention the word ‘camping’ around her,” I said, already feeling guilty for contemplating the lie I was going to tell Gamma.
“Don’t worry. I’m not doing anything to ruin our chance of going camping together. You turned me down several times before. I know it’s because Gamma thinks it’s too dangerous, but it’s not. I’ve been so many times, and I’m in one piece.”
I frowned, wondering if this was a good idea. “All right then, I’ll go since you took such great efforts to arrange all this,” I said, debating whether I should be mad at her or thanking her.
“Open!” she said with a huge grin. She placed an oversized box in front of me.
I was hesitant to open it, but I did as told. It was a dark brown sleeping bag that looked very warm. I didn’t bother to take it out, knowing I would have to fold it back into the box.
“Sorry it’s not new, but you know how expensive these things are.”
“Yes, I do. I have tons of these,” I said sarcastically. “But don’t worry, I promise to take good care of it, and I’ll return it back in mint condition,” I said, this time more obligingly.
“So, are you going to bring him?” she asked, as curiosity sparkled in her eyes.
“What?” She completely caught me off guard.
&n
bsp; “Michael. Did you forget about him already?”
She had no idea how much he was embedded in my head. “No. He won’t be going.” My voice was low.
“Oh, that’s too bad.” She looked disappointed and strolled away.
Several customers walked in, and we went back to work. We were busy, which was odd for a Sunday, but I didn’t mind because it distracted me from my thoughts of him.
Chapter 11
Mom was thrilled that I was going camping with Patty. We agreed not to mention the word “camping” to Gamma and that Mom would tell her that I was too sick to attend church. I felt bad about lying to her, but I knew she would be adamant that I shouldn’t go. Patty was right. She was always overprotective; more than Mom ever was. Patty had asked me to go camping with her several times before and I might have gone, but Gamma insisted that it was not a good idea. I wasn’t allowed to do anything that was considered dangerous in her eyes. Regardless, I obeyed because she was my godmother, and I didn’t want to start a fight about something that I would eventually be able to choose for myself.
“Over here!” Patty waved her hand.
I tossed a small black duffel bag over my left shoulder, tucked Patty’s sleeping bag under my other arm, and casually walked toward her. “Hello,” I said and hugged everyone standing near Patty.
“Glad you could make it, Claudia,” John said with a smile.
“If Patty snores too loudly, you can come to my tent.” Chris was flirtatious.
“That’s not funny.” Patty frowned while looking irritated. “I don’t snore!” She crossed her arms.
Something about snoring made females seem less attractive, and Patty was not going to allow that to cross anyone’s mind about her. I spoke in Patty’s defense. “You won’t get a visit from me, Chris. Patty doesn’t snore.” Patty looked my way with a smile to say thanks.
“Let’s go! Last one on the bus does the dishes the first night!” Andrew, our camp director, joked to get us on the bus.
“Come on, Claudia!” Patty linked my arm to hers, pulling me toward the bus. “I hate doing the dishes.”
“I’m walking as fast as I can.” I reshuffled the bag on my shoulder. “I have extra weight on me,” I said, insinuating that it was her fault.
“Wimp,” she teased and pulled me even faster.
“Don’t forget to take the front seat,” I reminded her while we placed our things inside the storage compartment of the bus. Patty knew I suffered from motion sickness, particularly in the back seat. Being car sick was not how I wanted to start this trip.
As I climbed the steps, excitement ran through me. I had never been on a tour bus like this before. Patty had told me that Andrew rented a Greyhound bus, but I wouldn’t have imagined it to be this spacious or look so nice. It even had a bathroom in the back.
“Here,” she said as she patted the first seat on the bus.
I plunked myself down next to her, taking the window seat.
After the last person got on, Andrew counted heads to make sure everyone was on board. “Twenty and I make twenty-one. Great! Let’s get going.” He motioned the bus driver to start moving. He sat at the only empty seat available, which was right across from Patty. I knew she was thrilled since he was her secret crush that only I knew about. It was her ultimate secret, something so sacred to her that I could dangle it over her head if I were that kind of friend. I could feel Patty stiffen uncomfortably.
I whispered in her ear. “He doesn’t know, so lighten up, or he’ll sense something is wrong.”
She nodded and loosened up and even started a conversation with him. While everyone was having fun laughing and chatting, my thoughts were elsewhere. Feeling slightly carsick from the bumpy ride, I placed my head against the window. I didn’t realize I was drifting off to sleep.
Darkness surrounded me. I didn’t know where I was. Then out of nowhere, my friend Claudia Emerson appeared and started speaking to me. “Claudia, why don’t you come home? I need you. Why did you leave me? Don’t you care?” she asked.
I took a few steps toward her, even though the sight of her frightened me. She looked so pale and ghostlike.
“What are you talking about? I am where I belong. This is home,” I replied.
“No, you’re wrong. You belong in my world.”
“I don’t understand.” I walked right up to her to calm her down, but she snatched both of my wrists with so much strength that I shrieked in pain.
“Stop! You’re hurting me!” She didn’t let go, and the pain was excruciating. I didn’t care at this point whether I was using good manners to a dead person and I shouted, “You’re dead! Go away!”
At that moment, Claudia’s face transformed into an unrecognizable man’s face. His face expressed intense anger, and if looks could kill, he would have done it. There was a deep, sharp tone to his voice; it sounded familiar, almost like Julia’s, but huskier.
“We’re coming! We’re coming!” he said over and over. I knew I was dreaming, and I wanted out. I tried screaming, but I had no voice. Drifting in and out of a dreamlike state, I fought with every part of my body to get myself to wake up from this nightmare. He was fading away, but the image of his face was permanently etched in my head.
Someone was shaking me. “Claudia, Claudia, are you all right? Wake up!”
“Patty,” I spoke softly as I awoke to a few of my friends sitting near me, looking concerned.
“We’re almost there. You were dreaming. Wow! It must have been some wild dream. Everything okay?”
“Yeah, I’m fine…thanks,” I said, feeling self-conscious. I wasn’t fine; the nightmare made me nervous for the rest of the ride to the campsite. I kept replaying it in my head, trying to find the meaning behind the dream. Nothing made sense, and I couldn’t shake the image of the man’s face.
It took us two hours to get there, and it was all a blur to me. As I stepped off the bus, the whole uncomfortable idea of camping started fading away. We grabbed our gear and headed toward the campground.
The bathroom, with hot showers, was located on the campground just as Patty promised. There were picnic tables and tents that looked spacious enough for four campers. I was happy to see only a few trees and shrubs. I disliked shrubs because they provided a home for snakes and insects. The weather was just perfect, not too hot and not too cold.
“So what do you think?” Patty nudged my shoulder.
“Not bad. Not bad at all. In fact, I may like it here.” I pointed to the tents that were scattered around the campfire. “Who put up the tents? Or are they up all the time?”
Patty chuckled lightly. “Mike, the other camp director and his friends left early this morning to get the tents ready for us. Believe me, it can take hours to put up the tents,” she explained, leading the way to ours.
Patty unzipped the front of our khaki tent, and I followed her in. It was spacious, yet it felt cozy. Although I knew we were exposed to whatever was out there, like bears, snakes, and who knows what, being inside the tent somehow made me feel safe. As Patty placed her bags down, so did I. Then I copied Patty as she unrolled her sleeping bag, seeing as I didn’t know if there was a proper technique to unrolling one. After all, it was my very first time.
“Here.” She grabbed something out of her bag and tossed it to me. “I brought this for you.”
It was a flashlight. It fumbled in my hands and I nearly dropped it, not realizing how big it was. Useless thing, I thought, reminded of that dreadful night when one went right through the black fog. Then again, it did provide some light. Patty’s flashlight was mega big.
“You can light the whole campground with this thing,” I said as I turned it on and off.
“That’s the point. It gets really dark here, but no one can miss you with my flashlight…not that you would get lost, but just in case you need to use the bathroom in the middle of the night or something.”
“You know you’re coming with me, even if I have to wake you up in the middle of the night, right?”
I asked matter-of-factly.
“Of course. I promised I would take care of you. Now let me unpack some of this stuff.” She reached into her bag again. “Here,” she said again and tossed more items at me.
“Thanks,” I said, picking them up. “Sunscreen…need that…bug spray? Yuck! But I guess I need that too.”
“Oh, here, I almost forgot,” she said and tossed me several packs of something.
This time I caught them. They were giant chewy Sweet Tarts. “Oh my gosh! You brought my favorite candy!” I squealed. Any feelings of irritation toward her for bringing me camping disappeared. She was always thoughtful, whether the thoughtfulness was to my liking or not.
“I had to make it up to you somehow,” she said, smiling. “Let’s go. We need to meet the others by the campfire.”
We all gathered around the campfire while the blue group was getting dinner ready. Andrew gave us some rules to follow, “Stay in the tents you were assigned. Don’t wander by yourself, and especially don’t go into that area.” He pointed to the woods to the left that looked to be about a mile from here. “It says to keep out, so do as the sign says. Is that clear to everyone?”
We all agreed. “Yes!”
As I was thinking to myself that I would never go in there, Marie said it aloud. “I wouldn’t go in there if someone paid me. It looks deadly.”
Marie was like a perfect doll; perfect skin, perfect body, perfect clothes, and even her hair was perfectly silky and shiny. Others made fun of her behind her back, saying that she practically lived in the bathroom. What she lacked most was the confidence to be herself. She was very competitive and had to be the best at everything. Her need to have the last word irked all of us.
“I dare you to go in there tonight,” John teased.
“No way!” Marie replied back. “It looks like something straight out of a scary movie. Why don’t you?”
“I’ll go if you pay me a million dollars,” John suggested playfully.
“That’s enough. I want you to stay out, and if I hear of or see anyone even going near that area, I’ll send you home.” Andrew looked as serious as he sounded.