Diane Young [Camp NaNoWriMo July 2014]

Diane Young [17]

17

I've noticed a few things about myself ever since Ellie died.

One of them being that I tend to latch on to people. First Ellie, then Elijah West, and now.... Tiffany. I've concluded it's a side effect of grief; when the going gets tough, the people who face the problem latch together and brave it, no matter what the circumstances.

It took a few days to clear out Ellie's room completely. The last thing we did was the drawer where she kept all her secret things. Her diary was there, and so were tons of bracelets, some even I had given her. At first, we didn't know what to do with the diary, but then Tiffany ran out of the room crying and Mrs Winters said that I should read it because from the pair of us, I should've been the first to known why Ellie jumped. I had an inkling that she had already sifted through it, though. Her eyes told me wonders.

So I took it. But I haven't read it, because if I do, I'll be invading her privacy, even though there's practically no privacy to invade any more.

I thought that I'd never see Tiffany again after this, but then she asked me for my phone number and then invited me to go play in the park with her the next day.

First we played ping pong. It was fun, I won two out of three times (I'm secretly a ping pong whizz). Then we swung on the swings, screaming like little kids on top of the world. It was great fun, actually, reminiscing back to the times when I was young and carefree and the biggest problem in my life was whether my dad was going to pick me up from school on time.

"Have you made friends with Elijah West again?" Tiffany asked me. We were still sitting on the swings, but instead of swinging, we were just drifting slowly past each other.

"Nope." I reply. "I haven't seen him in a while either."

"You guys are like stubborn mules. Just go say hello!"

"I'd rather not."

"It's easy, though."

I wrapped my arm around the metal chain on the swing. "Yeah, but like you said, I'm pretty stubborn. And I probably won't be the first to say sorry."

She rolled her eyes. "Diane! This is the twenty first century! If you're going to be a V.E.F, then you have to be ready to admit your wrongdoings and bury the hatchet."

"V.E.F?"

"Very Empowered Female."

"Why can't it be V.E.P, for Very Empowered Person?"

She shrugged. "That could work too."

I really did think about what Tiffany said. And I decided to act on it too.

That very afternoon, I knocked on the door of the West's house, hoping to become a V.E.P. Ruth answered with a smile. She was wearing goggles and holding a little pot of jelly.

"Diane!" She squealed. "Oh, I'm sorry, Diane Young! How de do?"

"You can just call me Diane. I'm fine, and yourself?"

"I'm great, but I'm seeking an even greater perhaps! So whats up, Di Young?"

I blinked, but then let go of her new nick name for me, even though it sounded terribly morbid. "I was just wondering if Elijah West was home.

She pouted. "No, sorry. I actually thought he went out with you, but I guess not.. Do want to come in for jelly?"

"No, that's okay. I don't want to impose."

She scoffed. "That's impossible! My parents adore you! Why, only a day ago, we were talking about we don't want you to actually die young as your name implies. We want you to live forever, even if forever is measured by numbered days."

"Thanks, I guess? But I really shouldn't -"

"Mommy! Diane Young is here and she's trying to leave instead of staying for jelly!"

There was a scuffle of footsteps and suddenly, Mrs West, or Audry with no E was standing at the door wearing a large smile and also holding some jelly. She didn't have the goggles to complete the look, though.

"Diane! Good to see you!"

"Hi, Audry, nice to see you too." I smiled at her.

"Now what's this I hear about you not staying for jelly?"

And that's how I ended up spending the rest of my afternoon at the West's house eating jelly and playing second player on Super Mario Bros with Ruth who insisted on calling me Di Young. But even after all this, I still didn't see Elijah West. He still wasn't at home when I left, so I decided that this day wasn't the day to apologise. Even if would make me a V.E.P.

The next day, I went to town, firstly to pick up one of these really nice smoothies from a cafe and then to buy daisies to put on Ellie's grave. I got them from the florist Elijah and I had visited that day. The same woman from then was still at the till and looked around as if to see if Elijah was around.

She looked really disappointed considering he wasn't and I couldn't really blame her. I wasn't nearly as charismatic as he was and could barely hold a conversation for more than twenty seconds.

I went to Ellie's grave, sipping on my smoothie and wondering when the summer would end. Truthfully, I was sick of summer now and I would actually rather be at school doing something than at home doing nothing. Call me crazy.

When I got to the graveyard I was surprised to see a bunch of daisies already on Ellie's grave. They were fairly fresh, meaning they'd been there for at least a day. Seeing them there got me thinking about who it could've been. I know it wasn't me, or Tiffany. Ellie's parents had no clue she loved daisies and instead put lilies on her coffin, so I ruled them out. Which left one candidate.

Suddenly, I felt a very strong need to call Elijah West and demand he meet me in front of IKEA, or the church, or anywhere else for that matter so I could just get this stupid apology over and done with. But I didn't because I didn't want to look like a grovelling mess in front of him.

Now I understand why they consider pride a sin.