Changing You ✦ The Sequel

Chapter 8 {R}

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We didn't sleep much that night, half an hour at most. We spent the time drying and telling stories by the campfire, set up air mattresses in the living room until we all had a place to get comfortable, and being the teenagers we were we played games like Truth or Dare and Never Have I Ever until we were crying from laughter.

It was a night to never forget. A night we could let go of the stress, worries and negativity. A night when we were just us, a group of friends having fun and enjoying life together.

But it was also the closure of an era. The final inches of the long, tough road we had walked together. And most of all, it was the postponement of the inevitable.

When Zach, Jack and I arrived at Daniel's house that Sunday evening, him and his parents were just placing the last boxes in the large moving truck they had hired.

The house looked empty without its curtains, furniture and pictures on the walls. Abandoned even, almost as if it represented the hollow feeling inside my chest.

Daniel, Lexa and their parents joined us as we watched the truck with all their stuff and memories take off, heading towards their new destination.

"No turning back now," Lexa mumbled, pursing her lips into a thin line.

Keri Seavey turned to us, her kind eyes scanning over me and Jack. "I remember the first time you guys came here," she said with a warm smile. "Oh God, they were getting under each other's skin all the time."

I joined Jack, Daniel and Lexa in their lighthearted laughs as the four of us recalled perfectly well how annoyed and fed up we were with each other the first time we hung out.

"Wait, really?" Zach commented surprisedly.

Keri nodded without hesitation. "Oh yes, really," she chuckled. "Just imagine them as seven, eight years old, right?"

"She was this short," Jack smirked at Zach, holding his hand just inches above the ground. "And she always wore two ridiculous ponytails like this." He brought his hands up to this curls and pulled his hair into two fake ponytails at both sides of his head.

I swatted his arm, a blush coating my cheeks. "Like you were any better, mister I-got-spikes-so-sharp-I'll-prick-your-eyes-out."

"Ha, she got you, bro," Daniel laughed, a wide smile beaming on his face as he remembered Jack's former haircut.

"Oh, don't let me get started about you, babyface," Jack retorted back with a grin, making all of us laugh.

"Okay, so Lexa brought Riley home to play, and Jack was here to hang out with Daniel," Keri continued, her eyes twinkling with amusement. "The girls were having their girl-time, I think you were drawing and crafting or something? Anyway, they were busy doing their own thing, but the guys wanted to join them."

"We weren't allowed to, though," Jack added, pouting. "The bitches locked us out."

"So it turned to annoying the living hell out of them, as payback," Daniel joined in with a proud grin.

Keri threw her head back. "Oh, it drove me crazy the whole afternoon. "Mom, Daniel won't leave us alone!" "Mom, the guys are being stupid!" "Mom, can you please make them go away?" Literally, every five minutes."

She shook her head, caught up in the memory. "Until the girls decided they wanted to play Twister and it wasn't working out with just the two of them. Finally, the boys got their way and they could join them. And when I went upstairs to see if they hadn't smashed each other's heads in, the four of them were smiling and laughing and having a good time."