What A Girl

When Life Gives You Lemons

The next few days went by way too fast for Norine and Matt.
Norine thoroughly enjoyed spending time with Bird and Rain, and she loved the friendship that she had made with Jayger and Gabe. But, more than anything, she loved the feeling that she had when she was with Matt.
The walks, the time spent in the garden, the long talks they had on the beach at night.
"Yep, Norine Perry, you're falling in love." She told herself. "And, that can not happen!"

Norine knew it was true. She was totally loosing it over Matthew Brown.
His eyes, his smile, everything about him made her happy. But, there was something deep inside of her that screamed, "Run!"

She and Matt had shared their most deepest secrets with each other. Matt had told her about his drinking problem, and how he had messed up the night before they had met.
She had told him how scared she was of falling in love again because she was terified that something would happen to them.

"Nothings gonna happen babe." Matt told her on one of their strolls through the woods. "I promice, I'll always be here for you."
Norine smiled as Matt gently kissed her forehead.
"You don't know that for sure." Norine had thought to herself.

"I think it's time for me to go back to Hoonah." Norine said, sipping a cup of coffee with Jayger, as they sat on his front porch one morning.
"Back to Hoonah?" Jayger asked, "What in the world for?"
"I don't know. I guess I just need to go. I need to get things off my mind." She said looking out over the beach.
"You mean you need to get Matt off your mind." Jayger said, looking at her knowingly. "Girl, I know how it is. These Brown men can blow your mind."
"You got that right." Norine laughed. "He has stirred up feelings in me that I never wanted to feel again. I mean, after Sean died, I swore I'd never love again. Jayger, I'm scared. I don't want to go through that again."
Jayger thought for a minute. "When I was little, I remember the first time that I ever tasted a lemon. It was so sour that I spit it out and told my Mama that I'd never eat another one. And I didn't for a long time. But, one day I was sitting by the pool with my brothers and sister and they were eating lemons. They loved them. I knew how sour they were, but seeing them eat them made me want one so bad. So I picked one up and tried it. It was still sour. It still made my face screw up. And it still made my eyes tear up. But, I ate it anyway. And I finally realized that I liked it!
That's exactally what you got to do Norine. You got to give love a second chance. Don't let a bad thing that's happened stop you from living. As much as you say that Sean loved you, girl, he wouldn't want you running away from love."
Tears filled Norine's eyes. "But you don't know how bad it hurts Jayger. You don't know what it's like to loose the man you love more than anything else in this world."
"No, I dont, but I do know that you deserve better. You deserve better than being alone and running from someone that loves you."
Norine sat her cup down. Jayger had told the truth, but she could not accept it.
"No. No I can't." She said tearfully.
"So what are you gonna do Norine? Go back to Hoonah and sleep on the beach?" Jayger knew he had said too much. He had known from day one that Norine was homeless, but he'd not said anything.
Norine stood quickly and walked away.
"Norine!" Jayger stood and called after her. "I'm sorry! I didn't mean it in a bad way!"
"I'll be okay!" Norine called back. "I just need to be alone for a minute."

Jayger put his head down . He had not intended to hurt his friend.
He felt two big hand squeeze his shoulders. Gabe had been standing at the door and heared the whole thing.
"It's okay sweetheart." He said kissing his cheek. "Just give her some time. She has a lot of things to work out."

Norine walked into the woods. The words Jayger had said still echoed in her ears. He had told the truth. She knew that Jayger was her friend and what he had said, he had said with love. It had just taken her by surprise that he knew that she was homeless. She had been since she arrived in Hoonah. It had only added to her depression.
She walked into the little clearing where Matt had taken her on several picnics. She sat down on a large rock and watched as two squirrels played in a nearby tree.
"They're so free. So happy." She thought. "But at any moment, a hunter could come through those woods and shoot one of them and then what. The one left would be lost and alone. I can't let that happen to me again."
Norine stood. "I'm just not ready!"
She walked back through the woods.
She knew what she had to do.