The Summer I Ran Into My Childhood Best Friend

Departure

"Kathryn....." I heard somewhere whisper as if through a tunnel, "Wake up sleepy head..."

"Oh stop being so nice about it," I heard someone else say.

"No, Mariza, don't!"

               There was a sudden sharp pain in my ribs and the feeling of a 130 pound bag of sand thrown on me all at once. Flinging my eyes open, I looked around to see that Mariza had decided to completely envolope me in a MMA wrestling move.

"All you had to do was shake me awake, jackass," I mumbled as I shimmied out from underneath her.

"This way was much more fun," she said with an evil grin on her face, "Now hurry up! We have to leave within the next 45 minutes to catch our plane."

             Shit, I thought to myself as I bolted to the bathroom to take a quick shower. After leaving the school yesterday I had spent the rest of the day going over Mariza, Ashley and Jills house's to help them pack. Of course that left me packing my things until 12 at night while they all slept in my bed sound asleep.

             Quickly getting out of my 5 minute shower, I threw my favorite pair of jean shorts on with my comfy Track sweatshirt and a pair of simple brown flip-flops, giving up completely on my hair as i left it down to air dry. Racing down the stairs, I saw my bags already by the door and my three friends talking to my mother in the kitchen.

"Honey arent you going to be cold in that on the plane?" my mother said, eyeing my cut off jean shorts.

"Don't worry mom, I'll be fine. It's going to be 90 degrees when we land in Tampa," I replied rolling my eyes.

"Ya mommacita, were all wearing shorts too," Jill said as she pointed to both Mariza and Ashleys jean shorts.

"Oh I'm just going to miss you all so much!" my mother wailed with tears suddenly streaming down her face.

"Woah Mom, you know we'll be back before the summer ends."

"But it's so far away!"

"We will make sure to skype you almost every night," Ashley added, obviously trying to lighten the mood.

"You better, or I'll come down there to say hello-"

"No, no, no," I said quickly, "No need to rush into those kind of descions."

"Just making sure," my mom said satisfied, "Well you four need to get going, I already had Ann pack your bags in the car. I think she left for Jareds house while we were talking."

            Jared was Ann's boyfriend of almost a year now. He was like a little brother to me and i was actually the one to introduce them. He was cute and dorky, perfect match to my sisters annoying goofy attitude. Although, I was kind of surprised she left without saying goodbye...I hadnt even realized she was up.

            Getting my purse from the front closet, I made sure I had my phone, credit card, some cash, the keys to the new house, and my favorite pair of gold tinted avaitors. Doing a quick check list with Ashley, Jill and Mariza to make sure they had everything, we were all ready to head out.

"Just promise to skype me when you get there?" she said in a quivering voice.

"I promise mom," i replied with a smile.

            Giving my mom a huge hug and kiss, I said a quick 'i love you' before closing the door on her teary eyed face and hopping into the car with my three best friends. I started my Red Jeep Wrangler sport and blasted the stereo as I pulled out of the driveway, laughing as I heard Jills awful voice singing along to the lyrics of the song from the back-seat.

             30 minutes later the four of us were standing at the gate to our plane talking to my father, waiting for them to let us board. My nerves kept rising with every minute that passed and Evan still hadnt showed up. Even with several 'oh it's okay' from Mariza, Ashley and Jill, I new something was wrong.

"Sweet heart, I'm not going to see you until August, least you can do is pay attention to the conversation," my father said in what sounded like a sincere tone.

"God, hes not even our father and were saying more to him then you are," Ashley said sarcastically.

Ignoring the jibe, I turned to my father and said, "Sorry daddy, I guess I'm just a little nervous."

"Its all okay, I'm just going to miss you a lot more then I thought I was," he said smiling.

"I'm gunna miss you a lot too dad," I muttered as I gave him a huge hug, holding back tears that were threatening to escape my eyes.

"Hey bud," I heard Mariza say softly, "There calling us to get on the plane."

"Okay," I said a bit shakily, "I'm coming."

              Giving my dad one last hug, I headed towards the plane with Mariza by my side and Jill & Ashley following not far behind. Before walking down the long hallway, I looked back and waved to my dad one last time before furvently looking around for Evan.

Giving me a small pat on the back, Jill said, "Kathryn, I don't think he's coming."

"He would have been here by now," Ashley added.

            Just as I turned around, my phone began to buzz from within my purse. Looking at the caller I.D. I saw that it was none other than Evan. A bit pissed off, I clicked answer and said, "So decided to ditch me."

"I'm sorry," he said in a rough voice, "It was a long night."

"Did you go to that class party?....Evan how hungover are you?"

"I'm pretty bad Kathryn...but hey we need to talk," he said almost guiltily.

"I can't talk Evan, I'm bording the plane. I'll skype you when I get to the house."

"Wait, no-"

          Before he could say anything else I jabbed the 'End" button, hanging up on him mid-sentence.

"Ugh, screw him," I said angrily, " Let's go start our summer in Florida."

        Linking our arms together, my three best friends and I raced off to what was hopefully going to be the best summer yet.