Johnny took one last look around his cabin, took a deep breath and sighed. He stayed in this room every summer for the past 4 years, but this year was special. He had some of the most wonderful memories spent here that summer and he was sad to leave.
He exited the cabin and put on his black sunglasses. It was about 7:00 a.m. and the sun was already shining bright in the clear sky. He could feel the chill of fall start to creep in the air, but it wasn't cold enough to put on his leather jacket, so he slung it over his shoulder and walked down the path to the other staff cabins.
After the short walk down the path, he came to his friend, Penny's, cabin. It was different from the one he stayed in. It was actually split into 2 rooms and had 2 different doors. Penny's room was the door to the right.
He knocked lightly on the door and Penny answered with a smile, "Hey Johnny!" She gave her long time friend a big hug and then walked back into the room, holding open the door for Johnny to follow her in.
Johnny left the door open to let some of the nice breeze flow into the room. He took a seat in an empty chair that was beside the bed and watched as Penny continued to pack all her belongings into her luggage. Johnny couldn't believe how many bags a female dance instructor needed for all the different costume dresses she had and silently thanked God that he was a man.
Penny took some of her long, floor length gowns and put them on hangers, then hung them on a nail on the wall and grabbed her garment bag from off her bed.
"So, are you going back home?" Penny asked Johnny as she unzipped the garment bag and proceeded to put the dresses in it.
"Yeah. I'm uh, probably going to work with my uncle a little, painting houses. Just until I can contact my regular clients and get back into dancing," he replied, looking down at his hands as he fiddled his fingers a bit.
Penny glanced over to her friend and smiled briefly to herself. She could tell he had other things on his mind besides what job he would do.
Johnny looked up and asked, "What about you? Where are you going?"
"Well, my studio apartment is vacant again. I called my old landlord and he is holding it for me," she replied as she smoothed her dresses in the garment bag before zipping the bag up, "Dr. Houseman says I can start dancing again full time in about 2 weeks."
"That's good, so you'll be close to home," Johnny said, trying to put some excitement into his voice. But the mention of Dr. Houseman only brought back to his mind one person, Baby.
Penny walked over to her bed and sat down, facing Johnny. She put her hand over the hand he had resting on his knee, "Has she left yet?"
Johnny looked up to Penny briefly, then looked away and to the floor quickly as he replied, "No not yet. I don't think check out is until 10:00 a.m. I'm making my way over there…" He didn't finish the sentence, because he was about to end it with 'to say goodbye' and he didn't want to say it out loud.
Penny nodded and smiled slightly, "So, do you think you'll see her anytime during the year?"
Johnny cleared his throat before answering, "I don't know. She is going to be in college in Massachusetts. I'll be back home in Jersey."
"Yeah, but that is pretty close. Only about a 2 hour drive," Penny said, trying to sound encouraging and positive.
Johnny just shook his head, "Yeah, but, I don't know," he stood up and paced the room before continuing, "I think I caused enough of an uproar in her life. I wouldn't want to distract her from her classes or anything."
"Well," Penny said, adjusting herself a bit on the bed, "Just give her your number and see what happens."
Johnny walked over to the wall near the front door and leaned forward against it using his hand to support him. For the first time in his life, he met someone who he actually cared about and who cared about him, and in a few hours, she would be gone.
"She is something else," Penny finally said after a short length of silence, "She is a wonderful person. And so is her father."
Johnny nodded his head and agreed in a soft voice, "Yeah."
He then stood up straight and turned to Penny, "Well I better go. I'm not sure what time they plan on leaving so…"
Penny nodded and stood up and gave Johnny a big hug, "I'll see you in a few weeks, when we are both settled." Johnny nodded and kissed her cheek, then left her to finish her packing.
Baby woke up around 8:00 a.m to the sound of someone shouting through a bull horn, "Rise and shine sleepyheads! We did our final send off last night and what a show it was! Now it is time to pack it up and head home!"
Baby buried her face into her pillow and shook her head. She was still so tired and just wanted to sleep a few hours longer, but she knew they had to pack everything up so they could return home. It would be at least a 4-hour drive back to New York.
Slowly, she crawled out of bed and got dressed before she pulled out her suitcase and started packing. Lisa walked into the room, already primped and polished as she usually was. Lisa saw the depressed look on Baby's face and knew what she must have been feeling. She went over and gave Baby a hug as she said, "Cheer up, I am sure you will see him through the year."
Baby smiled to her sister, "Thanks Lisa. I hope so." But really, Baby wasn't sure if she would see Johnny again. It was the only time in her life that she felt pessimistic.
With their bags all packed, Billy was there, ready to take their luggage to the car. And as is her usual nature, Baby helped him.
"There you go, helping me again. You know, I think Mr. Kellerman is going to replace me with you next year," Billy teased as he set a few bags into the trunk of Dr. Houseman's car. Baby laughed in reply.
After all the bags were in the trunk and they were ready to go, Billy gave Baby a hug and whispered in her ear, "Thank you for giving my cousin such a wonderful summer, and for helping out Penny."
"It was my pleasure," Baby replied, blushing slightly at just how much pleasure most of it was.
"Hey now, your not moving in on my girl, are you?"
Baby turned around to see Johnny standing behind her with a smile on his face. He was wearing black slacks with a white t-shirt, his leather jacket slung over his shoulder. The sight was all too familiar and Baby felt a little dizzy and leaned up against the car for support. She did it so casually, however, that neither of the men noticed.
Billy laughed and lightly punched Johnny on his arm, "Come on, Cuz. Why not keep it all in the family?"
Johnny laughed before gently nudging Billy along, "Get out of here, go carry a watermelon or something."
After Billy was gone, Johnny turned and looked at Baby, "Didn't we do this yesterday?" he asked, trying to keep the smile on his face but finding it hard to do so.
"Yeah, we did," Baby sighed. She couldn't hide the hurt she felt inside and she didn't want to. She hid so much this summer that she felt overwhelmed, and it was a relief to just be open and honest with her emotions.
"Look, umm, I wrote the number to my father's place down and the address," he explained, handing her a small, folded piece of paper with the information.
Baby took the paper and studied it for a minute then looked back to Johnny, "Thanks. I would give you our number, but I won't be there. I leave next week to start the orientation at Mt. Holyoke. I'm not sure what my number will be."
"That's ok," Johnny said, putting his arms around her, "You can contact me. I will be at my father's by tonight, so you can call anytime."
Baby laid her head against his chest and listened to his heartbeat. She was going to miss the protection she felt when in Johnny's arms.
"I'm going to miss you," she whispered softly to him. Johnny lifted her chin with his index finger and placed a gentle kiss on her lips.
Dr. Houseman cleared his throat as he set his medical bag in the back seat of the car. This caused Baby and Johnny's kiss to be cut short. "We need to get going honey," Dr. Houseman informed Baby, then looked to Johnny for a moment before returning to their cabin for one last look around.
"Well, I guess this is good bye. I had a great time this summer," Johnny said, rubbing her arms with his hands.
"So did I," Baby agreed.
Johnny walked Baby over to her side of the car and opened the door for her. At that moment, Baby remembered the last time he opened the door for her like that, after he broke the window out of his car because the keys were locked inside. The thought made her smile as she started to climb in the back seat.
Johnny closed the door after Baby was comfortably seated. He then walked over to Dr. Houseman and extended his hand, "It was nice to meet you, Dr. Houseman."
Dr. Houseman looked at the hand for a moment before he shook it, "Take care, son."
Johnny gave one more look to Baby, giving her a wink and a smile, before heading down the path to his own car.
Tears started to well up in Baby's eyes as she watched him go. Lisa gave her hand a comforting squeeze, wishing she had found the love that Baby found that summer. Baby smiled slightly to Lisa as the car pulled off.
Looking out the window, Baby watched the beautiful buildings and cabins of Kellermans pass by, until they were on the main road and headed home. She wiped a few stray tears that fell from her eyes and sighed deeply. It was time to think about the future and prepare herself for college.
She looked down at the piece of folded paper that Johnny had handed her, and she opened it. On it was Johnny's information, like he said, but also there was a small note that read, 'Thank you for giving me the best summer of my life. Hope to see you soon. Love, Johnny.'
Author's Note: Sorry this took so long to post. After real life stuff happened, I almost forgot about this story! Thanks to those of you who have read and commented so far. I actually have up to chapter 5 written out, but I am only going to post them sporadically. I don't have a beta, so I am rereading everything over and over again until I can give it my seal of approval. And I am my toughest critic!
Also, I realize there isn't a break when the scene switches. I keep trying to put a line at this point, or something to show that the scene is changing, but it keeps taking it out. It bothers me, but not sure how I can fix this. If you know how, please tell me!
I changed my settings so that you must be signed in to leave a review. Someone who called himself or herself 'itsallaboutme' left a comment that wasn't rude, but didn't make any sense. If you are going to leave me a review, I want to be able to ask you to elaborate if I don't understand any critics you may have given me. If you don't have an account, but would like to leave me a review, email me at hope you are enjoying everything thus far. I am happy with how the story is playing out so far, and hope that everyone else will enjoy it as well.
