Cobalt Blue Summer

Chapter 17

Summer break had come and gone and had changed me in immeasurable ways. I packed the last of my belongings into my dusky blue suitcase, the same one I’d used for family vacations to Disney and years of summer church camps, and closed the top with a resigned sigh. I took a last look around Gran’s RV, thinking of the first night I’d spent there, all the things I hadn’t known then. I would never be the same girl who had walked through that door, yet I had absolutely no regrets. A battle lay before me when I returned home, a challenge I was eager to accept. Now, I had a purpose. And I knew, when that task was completed, there would be another and then another.

“All set?” Gran asked with a wavering smile, her head tilted slightly askew as she entered the room sliding the back onto her tiny, diamond stud earring.

“I think so. You?”

“No, not really,” she admitted. Tears flooded her faded grey eyes. “I sure hate to see you go . . . but I know your parents want you back.” She pulled me into a tight hug, pressing a kiss to my hair, then pushed back and waved me off. “Enough of that for now. I know I’ll be a blubbering mess at the airport. I do hope you’ll come stay with me again next summer, though. You know you’re always welcome, right?”

“Yes . . . thank you. I’ll have to work on Mom and Dad,” I winked conspiratorially

She checked her watch. “We better go, so I don’t use up everyone else’s time to say goodbye.”

Brittany and Austin drove into the snack bar parking lot at the same time as Gran and I. Gran headed inside to give me a chance to say my farewells to my new friends. Brittany approached, first, with Austin lagging behind. “I can’t believe you’re leaving today! I had no idea you’d be going so soon. What a bummer!”

“I know,” I sighed. “It was a last minute decision by my parents. They need me at home to get some stuff done before school starts.”

“That’s what Austin said. I was afraid it was because you were traumatized after Drew’s horrible accident. It must have been awful for you . . . being with him only a few minutes before and all,” she shuddered.

 I nodded noncommittally. An awkward silence ensued, so Brittany took the opportunity to break away. “Well, I’ll go in and give you two time alone. Travel safely,” she finished with a quick hug.  

“Weird how Drew turned out to be such a wolf in sheep’s clothing,” Austin observed, his eyes following Brittany as she walked away. “She still thinks he hung the moon, but, I have to say, I never really liked the guy,” he claimed, shoving his hands in his pockets.

I laughed. “Only because he wasn’t good at basketball. I don’t think that counts as great character evaluation.”

“Nah, it wasn’t just that,” he defended. “So . . . you and my brother, huh? Man, I have to say I sure didn’t see that one coming. When did it happen . . . I mean, how? Geez,” he hesitated, shaking his head in consternation.

“It didn’t . . . I mean . . . it hasn’t, not really. We aren’t together, not like that. We aren’t a couple or anything,” I denied.

He shot me a skeptical look. “You sure were doing a pretty good impression of it . . . and that Jolie lady . . . she definitely thought something was going on.”

“It’s complicated.”

“You’re about as informative as Caleb,” he huffed. “Heck, I thought you two didn’t even like each other.”

“It’s . . .”

“Complicated,” he finished for me. “Well, let me know when you figure it out, ok?” he snapped testily. Confused, I stared at him. “Sorry,” he apologized, looking down and shuffling his feet in some loose gravel. “I just don’t like that I didn’t know. It’s like you were both lying to me. I even told you he was dating that Sasha chick, and you didn’t say anything.”