It's the next-to-last chapter, guys! This story has been an amazing journey for me as an author. Thank you for reading it, each and every one of you!
Like red on a rose: It's okay! Worry no more, all answers shall be answered! I really hope that you aren't too upset with me after this chapter…
Poncho D: Oh, no, This story has nothing to do with BTN. It's a precursor to the stories Raindrops and Season of Love plus all of the other MTM series stories that will eventually come out. As you should know, all of my HM stories are connected…
Moonlit Dreaming: Thank you, Moonie. I hope you like what I've done to poor Karen...
Awesome Rapidash: Thank you! Whee!
Sarah 303: It's perfectly alright. I'm glad you're reading now! So what happens next?.
Kountry 101: Thank you so much! I'm going to get all teary…so you'd better read the chapter now…
CHAPTER EIGHT: A Storm--Inside and Out
After the decision was made, we began to pack up our belongings immediately. The boxes we'd used to move into Mineral Town were still in the attic, so I put on some old clothes and battled through the dust and spider webs to bring them downstairs. My mom was in charge of the kitchen and her bedroom, my dad worked on beginning to clear the Market and I worked on my room. Soon I'll be sleeping on these sheets in the city. What a relief that will be! It was a shame that I had missed the summer holiday, but I would be sixteen this autumn! Rick was turning sixteen next week, but I wouldn't be here to celebrate it with him even if he had wanted me to. We were leaving on the twenty-sixth, which was three days from now.
I was already having misgivings about my decision by the next morning. As I pulled a red and gray dress over my head, I felt a pull in my stomach. Maybe I had made the wrong decision. The matter was pinching my mind the entire time I ate my breakfast. Eventually my parents noticed my silence over my oatmeal and orange juice.
"Is anything wrong, Karen? You're unusually quiet this morning." My Dad gazed at me concernedly while sipping his small amount coffee in the cup of creamer.
I piddled with my spoon to buy myself time to piece together my thoughts. "Oh…I just realized I'll miss Mineral Town a little bit when we leave…that's all."
"We don't have to go, you know. We can always unpack."
"No. No, I'm fine, really. It's probably just a bout of PMS. Ignore me." Dad nodded, sipped his coffee and said no more as I ate the last mouthfuls of oatmeal. The air was hot and muggy when I stepped out the door, holding my books tightly. Rick, of course, was not there to greet me. I was shocked, however, to find Elli waiting for me.
"Hello, Karen." She said, smiling. "I noticed that you were coming to school by yourself and I thought I'd walk with you today! Is that all right?" I, taken by surprise, nodded enthusiastically.
"Thank you." I wasn't sure what to say. Elli and I had never really spoken apart from the day when we first met and the few times I visited her at her house. When I glanced at her face, it was glowing with the strange mixture of innocence and understanding that she pulled off so well. I could never look that angelic.
She twirled and turned to me. "You're welcome. Sometimes it's just nice to have a friend to be beside." She lapsed into silence and remained quiet until we reached the church. Overhead, storm clouds were washing over the sky, muting the glare of the sun. Every so often a distant rumble of thunder was to be heard announcing it's presence. I followed behind Elli into the church, standing like a stranger right inside the door. Elli looked over her shoulder at me and frowned slightly. She inclined her head and set her books down on her desk before joining me. "You know, I share my desk with Rick and I see a lot of things that he thinks are secret."
Her words hit me like swallowing an ice cube. "Do you?" I asked her nonchalantly. "Like what?"
"Oh…" She shrugged. "Just things. Drawings, notes, et cetera." She then winked at me and wandered off to chat with Tim. I stared after her, curiosity burning the back of my brain. What kind of things has she seen and why would she mention them to me? I picked at a ruffle on my dress. Mr. Pierce chose that moment to ring the bell for class. I shuffled to the third row and took my seat beside Popuri and across from Elli and Rick. My eyes fought to flick towards Rick, but I closed them tightly.
School was let out early that day because the weather channel put a warning out to our area for a severe thunderstorm. The sky outside was dark as if evening had already descended. Popuri whimpered childishly and I patted her shoulder. Right as Mr. Pierce made his last point on the structure of dialectal sentences, I stood up. "Excuse me, sir?"
"Yes, Miss Courrege?"
"I have an announcement to make if you don't mind."
He bounced on the balls of his feet. "Not at all! Go ahead." He began cleaning the portable whiteboard as I spoke.
All eyes were focused on my person and I cleared my throat. "I thought that everyone should know that I'm moving back to Wyssh city this week." One simple sentence and my fate was sealed.
The room's females gave a collective gasp. "When? Why?" Ann queried.
"The boat comes the day after tomorrow…I'm leaving because…because I just am. But I will miss all of you guys a lot. You've been such good friends to me. Thanks." I made eye contact with them all--excluding Rick, of course. "I'll give you my phone number if you'd like. I'll have cell phone service in the city, so you can call me anytime."
Popuri scowled. "I don't want you to go! You're…you know…one of us. Didn't you have a choice?"
I reflected briefly on my answer to my parents' question. "Yes. I did." I whispered. Just then, an enormous clap of thunder resounded. Mr. Pierce said that we should all go home before it began to rain hard, so we filed out of the pews and down the aisle. It was sprinkling outside, but the wind was strong, blowing the drops pell-mell around our faces.
Ann tapped my shoulder and cocked her head. "Would you like to come down to the Inn and spend the night with me one last time? I'm gonna miss you so much…"
"Sure, Ann. I'd love to." I looked towards my house. "But I'll have to run home and ask permission first. I'll meet you there, okay?" She nodded and set off at a jog towards the Inn. I began walking to my house, but didn't get very far before my hand was grabbed.
It was Rick. His face was pale and his eyes were deeply troubled. My face became rather hostile as I turned to him. Over our heads the clouds boiled as if in some kind of Witch's cauldron. "You aren't serious about leaving, are you?" He asked in a strained voice.
"Yeah. Why would you care?"
Annoyance twisted his features. "Because you're my best friend, stupid! Of course I care!"
"Oh, I'm your best friend now, huh? What about the last three weeks? What about all the time you've spent ignoring me and saying little spiteful things when you thought I wasn't listening?"
"…Gosh, Karen! I didn't mean anything by it!" Our voices were getting louder. He glanced around at the people watching, took my hand and pulled my down the street, through Rose Square and into Mineral Beach.
I pulled my hand out of his slowly. "You didn't mean anything by it? Well it meant a heck of a lot to me!" The sky erupted above our heads and large, soaking drops of rain fell in thick sheets.
"How could you read anything into it?" His voice raised a notch. His medium-long blonde hair was soaked and plastered to his head and I could only assume that mine looked just as bad.
I raised my voice to match his. "How? You idiot. How could I not take anything by it? One moment you're my best friend in the world and the next--"
"I was always your best friend!" He roared.
"WHY DIDN'T YOU TRY ACTING LIKE IT?" I screamed back.
"WELL WHY DID YOU--" His voice cracked with emotion. "Why did you have to go and say yes to that Jonathan…?"
Suddenly it all became clear to me--like when you are searching for a word to express your feelings and the perfect thing to say surfaces all in an instant. Jonathan was why Rick had been ignoring me, regardless of how immature the reasoning. I stepped towards him. "So that's the root of this whole matter, huh? You're jealous that I paid more attention to him than to you."
"It doesn't matter."
"It matters to me." Instead of being loud, our voices were dangerously soft now. Both or our faces were streaked with rain and waterlogged strands of hair.
Rick cocked his head with facetious amusement. "Do you still like that boy?"
"No." My mouth spat out the word before I had time to think about it. "No. It was a passing nothing that I really only said yes to because…why would you ask that?"
He put his hands on my shoulders and looked at me so directly that it made my blood cold. We stood there with the warm thunderstorm rain drenching us from head to toe. I stopped scowling and finally looked him full in the eyes. My mind suddenly awoke a curiosity of what it would feel like if I lost all self-control and gave into my throbbing desire to kiss the boy in front of me. The very thought clenched my heart. I trembled and reached out my hand, lighting it gently on his cheek. He gave a start and slowly relaxed his shoulders. Time stopped for a perfect moment.
The perfect moment passed with the sizzling of a long lightning bolt worming across the sky. My hand dropped and I scampered up the stairs and out of the beach, leaving my best friend standing like a statue in the rain.
Ann had corralled Elli and Mary at the Inn by the time I reached it. She was setting out plates of sweets when I came through the door, wringing out my hair. "What happened to you, girl? You look like you went swimming."
"I-I'm sorry. It was a downpour. May I use your phone?" She nodded and I went over to it and dialed my home phone number. By the time my parents had agreed to the sleepover, Popuri arrived, carrying a pink umbrella.
"It sure is raining hard! I'm sorry that it took so long, I had to wait for my brother. He'd been at the beach! Can you believe that? He was soaked from head to toe!" The girls instantly looked at me--and at the grains of sand sticking to my shoes. Elli met my eyes and we exchanged that peculiar communication known as "Girl ESP". Elli knew where I had been.
I was awoken early the next morning, stretched out on Ann's floor. It was my mom, kneeling beside me and shaking me awake. "Karen, wake up, baby. We have to go."
"Go where?" I mumbled groggily.
She stood up, pulling me to my feet. "The boat couldn't come tomorrow so it's picking us up today. We have to go catch it, sweetie. Your father and I have been packing all night and we're ready to go."
I nodded numbly. So this was it. I was leaving now, never to return. I changed into my day clothes and left the girls sleeping on the floor. They weren't my first priority that morning. I slipped out the front door and flew down the still-wet street. The storm had cleared the sky of all clouds--it was blue and beautiful this morning. My steps brought me to the Poultry Farm. I stood outside the door and scratched my arm. After staring at his door for a minute, I left his yard sadly. What would I have said, anyway?
The boat to take us back to the city was decrepit like the one that brought us here. I looked back at my old home for a long moment, breathing the air one last time. I then ascended the gangplank behind my parents and leaned on the rail. A whistle blew and the boat chugged away contentedly, leaving behind the hick island that I'd learned to love. I watched it shrink and blew a kiss to the boy that I never said goodbye to.
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I can't be serious! She left! Oh no! What will Rick do?
