You Can't Break Her

Chapter thirteen: part three | July

What could they want? Did they find out that we are trouble makers? How did the news spread so far? How am I not in trouble?

How long is this phone call going to take?

A few minutes later my mom walked out with Renee under her arm. Tears streamed down my best friend's face and I was ready to fight whatever had caused her pain.

"What happened? What's the matter?" I jumped out of the car and ran over to Renee. "What did your parents want?"

She wiped her tears away with a facial tissue she had balled up in her hand. "We might be moving really far away. They'll know by tomorrow night, they said they would call to let me know."

The unfortunate news made the road trip a little less fun but we tried to push past the unpleasant aspects of a possible future and enjoy our time together. We read our books and listened to music the whole way and that was a good start.

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My dad turned onto the path and I heard the ting of a rock hitting the vehicle. "We should put our books away, this can be a bumpy ride."

My dad weaved down the narrow, rollercoaster-type dirt road that made your brain swoosh with the decent, like I stood up too fast without moving. He parked next to a tree across from their trailer and hopped out to start unpacking that vehicle.

I tried to help set up the tent for Renee and myself to sleep in but it was more trouble than I bargained for when sticks began to pop out of their slots and violently bat my face.

My dad pulled it out of my hand. "I'll do it, it takes two minutes. Watch." And like a freakin' balloon manipulating clown at a child's birthday party, he whipped the tent into a shape with a door and nothing that would lay unwarranted attack on me. "See, two minutes." He laughed and patted my shoulder. "You just needed a pro to do it for you, that's all, right Ama?"

I stuck my tongue out at him. "Yep that's it I guess." I shrugged and he walked into the fully functioning camper, where my aunt and uncle spent many summers.

I planned out what we were going to do while Renee grabbed the sleeping bags and we grabbed a suitcase each. "We have to set up the tent because we won't do it later. We can go swimming or for a walk..." I raised my hands to say I don't know. "There's not much to do here."

Her and I finished putting together our sleeping arrangements and went to the trailer to visit before we disappeared into the campgrounds until suppertime. We were greeted by my aunt and uncle with hugs and kisses on the cheek. Renee had been my best friend for a short one but she was a part of my family from the first month we started talking.

"Can we go look around?" I nudged my mom's elbow and gave her a sweet look that said we will try to be good. "Please, well be back for supper I promise. By the way, what time is dinner?" I added as if that hadn't been my first question, which it was.

My mom looked at both of us. "Yes you can, we'll be eating around six thirty so come back for six. You can help set the table." She turned to my aunt but stopped herself and pivoted back toward us. "And please be good, my sister and her husband come here every summer and know everyone, if you're brats it will get back to me."

I rolled my eyes and Renee starred at the ground while we exited the motor home. "Let's go check out the beach," I suggested when we were out in the sunshine and the breeze swept over my face.

Her and I walked the length of the park and returned twenty minutes early. We set the table for supper and played cards while we waited for everything to be ready. We ate and talked, with a satellite music station playing at a low volume in the background.

When Renee and I were done eating we begged my parents to let us go for a walk. They approved our request and we walked to a rock cluster we noticed in the daylight, that dropped off into the lake but was the perfect place to layback and become a crawling ground for bugs while watching the stars twinkle in the night sky. It was a perfect life, a wonderful and joyous time that could all come crashing to a halt the next evening but that didn't matter as we gazed up at the navy blue sheet above our heads.

We talked about our plans for visiting when she lived far away. "I'll convince my parents to drive and meet your parents half way, it'll be like nothing changed," I halfheartedly offered.

"That's a six hour drive, Ama. There's no way our parents would agree to that," Renee argued with a laugh.

I poured. "Well I'll steal the car then, we will make this work. We can't just not see each other, that won't work." My mood had flipped because I couldn't imagine losing the only person I had been able to get close to. "We should go back now. My parents might get worried." I lied. I couldn't think about her leaving anymore, it was killing me.

We walked back to our tent and I ran in to tell my parents we were back but going to stay in our tent.

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The next day we swam and walked the park for hours. We had lunch with my family at the picnic table next to the trailer and then returned to the beach to swing at the park and lazily killed time before Renee's parents called to let us know what was going on.

The telephone rang around five and everyone continued on with their card games and talking except Renee and I. We looked at each other and waited for my aunt to grab the phone. She walked slowly to the other side of the kitchen, as if she didn't know the future of the most important friendship in my life was at stake.

"Hello," she answered. She put her palm over the speaker. "Renee, it's your dad." She waited with the phone until Renee took it from her.

I went out to the picnic table because the stress and the small space were making my chest tight and breathing was already hard enough before the phone rang. I felt the table shift beneath my weight when I sat forcefully on the middle of the wooden planks.

There was no sound coming from inside and I was trying to stay in good spirits but my anxiety had gripped its nasty talons around my heart and forced me to worry just for the sake of worrying. The screen door slid open and Renee stepped out and walked over solemnly.

"We're not moving!" She squealed when she was seated next to me.

We celebrated with a can of pop and ate supper with my family. After, we returned to the beach and watched the sky once more before we packed up and headed home the next day. It was a blanket of deep blue that wrapped us up and enamoured us with it's brilliant quarter moon hung so high surrounded by dazzling stars that matched our twinkling hearts after a stressful wait to see if we would have to separate more than we already had.