From Me to You [Complete]

43

I have three close friends, and because there are four of us, we acquired the nickname 'Fab Four' from my family –mainly Andy. Well, we also have a mutual love for The Beatles. Over the years, we have perfected the art of calling each other using multiple lines. First, I call Monica, then she uses her double line to call Izzy, and Izzy uses her double line to add Marie-Claire, who we call MC for short.

While I wait for Monica to add Izzy and MC, I marvel at how much I have to tell my friends. MC, as the melodramatic one, will have the biggest reactions to my fainting spell, and sneaking around with Michael behind our parents' backs. Izzy will be most interested in how our parents are handling the situation, and also never admit to wanting to live vicariously through me while I have whatever I have with Michael. She is lucky since she'll get a fuller account in the letter I have for her. Monica will probably gloss over the near-death experience, and focus solely on the way Michael and I have gotten to know each other. Over the years I've gotten good at knowing exactly what they all want to hear about most.

"MANDY?!" MC's excitement is already clear as she joins the call. "How are you? What's been happening? How's Michael? Where-"

"Okay, that's definitely three questions. You've hit your limit, MC," Izzy breaks in, coming to my rescue just in time.

I laugh, settling down comfortably on the bench positioned next to the phone, and realize how much I miss my friends who I usually see more often during the school year. "Thanks, Izzy." I smile. "I'm good. Tired, though. Happening? Hm... Too much to summarize. Michael is good too. We, uh...kissed?" I'm cut off as all three of them congratulate me and talk over each other asking for details. I laugh again, glad that someone wants to hear the juicy details about what Michael and I have been up to for the past few days.

"Alright, alright," I say, and they eventually settle down. In my mind I visualize the intense self-control MC has to use to stop herself from continually asking questions.

I start answering their questions, keeping out little tidbits that I think might be more fun to talk about later on one-on-one. As I thought, Monica whisks over how my parents are handling us being together, and wants to hear about exactly what happened on the beach on Monday. Eventually the moment Michael and I first kissed comes up, and I know I'll have to go through this moment with MC alone in much more detail in the future. Izzy reminds me that I need to write as much as possible about the situation with my parents in my next letter, so I make a mental note to add more to the letter I'm currently writing. Finally, they all get the chance to share some information about what they've been up to while I've been at the Lyons' cottage.

Monica is the most rebellious of my friends. She has been keeping up with all the gossip about others we go to school with, and she's always able to get to almost any party happening at home. We rely on her to keep us in the know about anyone and everything that she thinks should be common knowledge –like who is going out with who. Izzy just got back from staying with her dad in New York, where he took her to several museums and art galleries. She enjoyed it, and I'm sure I'll hear more about it in her next letter. MC is working this summer as a kid's day camp counselor, which I am positive she is amazing at. I was lucky to call on a Thursday since that's her day off. Inevitably we get off topic and I realize that I don't have any quarters left to feed the pay phone.

"I miss you!" MC says for the third time.

"I miss you too," I say, meaning it, although I smile at her persistency.

"What about me?" says Izzy.

"And me!" Monica adds.

"Well, I dunno..." I tease. "It's pretty nice around here, might not end up coming home."

"You would never!" MC says incredulously. She isn't great at sarcasm.

"You know she's just joking, MC!" Monica says with a laugh.

"I know," MC asks in a slightly smaller voice. "I was just...checking."

"Checking...of course." I can visualize Izzy's eye roll.

"I'll be home from here on Saturday, but we'll have to get together on Sunday or Monday. We're going to an anniversary party at my great aunt and uncle's place right after we get back. I'm not sure when it ends," I reply to MC, which is exactly what I said before I left.

"Okay," MC answers, "call us."

There's silence for a minute, but a wonderfully normal and comfortable silence between friends.

"Ready?" Monica asks.

"Yep."

"Sure thing."

"Yes," I say, then nearly miss my chance to ask, "Wait! Which one?"

"You can't remember?" Izzy asks, and her sarcasm is almost unbelievable.

"Well..." I say, feeling bad. A tradition between us, ever since Andy's first mention of making our group name Fab Four, is that we sing the last line of a Beatles song before we hang up after one of our four person phone calls. We spent an entire sleepover researching Beatles songs and getting them in alphabetical order so that we wouldn't make any mistakes. After that night we started with Across the Universe, and made our way down the alphabet. I am not positive about where we were last time we talked, but I think somewhere mid-alphabet. "Are we in M?"

"Yes," say Monica, "Remember now?"

"I think so."

"I hope so," Izzy intones, and Monica laughs.

"Alright, now. Everybody ready?" she repeats, and we give her the affirmative. "One, two, three."

"The magical mystery tour is dying to take you away, dying to take you away, take you today," we sing in perfect unison, and then we all hang up at the same time. I smile to myself, singing Magical Mystery Tour softly under my breath.

"Fab Four?" asks a voice beside my ear and I literally jump off of the bench in surprise.

Cursing, I whirl around to see Andy straddling the bench with a grin from ear to ear. "Scare you?" he asks casually.

I swallow, breathing kind of heavily. "Definitely not," I say sarcastically, "I'm still sitting right beside you." Recovering slightly from the shock of his voice in my ear, my eyebrows crease. "What are you doing here?"

"I'm happy to see you, too," he says, frowning dramatically, as he unfolds his long legs to stand up from the bench.

I roll my eyes. "Well, you did greet me so nicely."

He grins again. "Thought so," he says, stretching his arms above his head –like he needs to be any taller. "Rob and I were asked to come get you, and commandeer your mission to the convenience store," he answers to my earlier question.

Looking around the parking lot and gas station for Robert, and not seeing him anywhere, I reply, "Well, you seem to have suffered a casualty on the way here." And at Andy's confused look, add, "Robert's missing."

"Oh." His face relaxes. "He went into the store to look for Michael. There they are. With some short guy," he adds.

Indeed Mick looks short for his age, standing between Robert and Michael, since he must be years older than Robert. I wave over, and Robert waves back. He turns the other two in our direction. Michael carries a bag in each hand, one much smaller than the other. I have a feeling that one is for me, and look forward to whatever candy he was able to get. Robert carries a bag as well, maybe Alice thought of something else she needed. When they make it over to us, Robert and Andy turn to each other intensely, and say in unison, "Mission accomplished." I personally think they play way too many video games.