“I can’t believe that you are blowing me off for some homework assignment.”
I groaned inwardly and rolled my eyes, thankful that we were on the phone and not face to face. “You know that this is important to me, Jake. I need to ace this project or I’m going to get grounded. Then we really wouldn’t be able to spend any time together.”
He let out a massive sigh on the other end of the phone. “Your parents are so lame. It’s like they don’t even remember what it’s like to be in high school.”
I smiled sadly and continued stuffing my backpack so I’d be ready to go. “I know, I know,” I told him, “hopefully after this weekend they will cut me some slack.”
“Yeah, okay. Call me later.”
After ending the call and sliding my cell phone into my pocket, I sat on the edge of the bed. The truth was I wasn’t who my friends thought I was. I wasn’t really the head cheerleader or the homecoming queen. It wasn’t really me dating Jake Harbor, star quarterback. It was all just a disguise, a distraction from the girl I knew I was deep inside; the girl that no one would want to be friends with if they knew the truth. Sometimes I even shocked myself with how well I played that role.
“Janie – are you ready to go?” My mom called from downstairs.
“Just give me a sec,” I yelled back.
I looked around my room, fearful that this was the last time I would ever see it. I always felt that way when I left. I had learned at an early age that life was fickle, an illusion of safety that could never be trusted. Pictures of my friends were tacked up on my walls, dried flowers from past occasions hung from my ceiling, and yesterdays dirty clothes spilled from my hamper. Taking a deep breath, I slung my backpack over my shoulder and backed out of my room, closing the door softly as I went.
A few minutes later and we were in the car and on the road. Four times a year we had to make this drive. Four times a year my parents pleaded with the elders to forgive my sins and let us back in. Four times a year they were denied. It was almost comforting in the predictability of it all, except that this time felt different.
“It’s going to be okay, Janie,” my dad said from the front seat, obviously sensing my mood. “It’s been five years. They are bound to have forgotten by now.”
I nodded, but didn’t voice my own thoughts out loud. They would never forget. My punishment was that neither would I.
*****
I awoke to the sound of thunder and the rustling of ferocious winds. Rain was pelting the windshield of the car and the only light was coming from the lightning punishing the skies with each electric bolt. It wasn’t like me to fall asleep. Something was wrong.
Noticing my parents were not in the car, I pushed the back door opened and braced myself against the force of the storm. We were already at the beach. I could see my parents on the edge of the pier. My mother was burying her face in her hands and my father was gesturing wildly with his arms. So much for forgetting, I thought bitterly. Then a scream tore from my throat.
A wave surged up from the ocean and turned into a massive watery hand. Without even a moment of hesitation it swung at my parents, effectively knocking them off the wooden pier and into the swirling murky water below.
The sand clung to my feet as I ran toward them, the water from the rain mixing with the soft surface and turning it into glue. “Mom,” I screamed as I ran, “Dad!” My only answer the angry howling of the wind and the occasional boom of the thunder.
Rain pelted at my scalp, pulling my long blond hair from its clip and dragging it down into my face, chocking across my throat, and dripping down my back. My muscles were screaming with the effort of running and I had to put all of my strength into getting on to that pier. My breaths began stinging as my chest begged for relief and my heart felt like it was squeezing through my ribcage.
“Mom! Dad!” I sobbed, falling to the ground and sinking into the surface. “Please, it’s my fault! Why are you punishing them?”
I pushed as hard as I could to pull myself out of the sand, but it might as well have been quicksand for all of the good it did. My arms collapsed beneath me and the tears and rain mixed together as they both ran down my face. With my adrenaline ebbing away, my vision began to blur and darkness once again pulled me under.