The BSC Legacy – Book 4: Adolescence Passing
By: CNJ
PG-13
10: The Nation's Capital
Mona:
Kristy and Claudia were the
only ones of all of us in the BSC who have ever been to Washington, DC.
So we along with most of the seniors leaped at the chance to spend spring
break in the nation's capital. We pooled together the money from our BSC
treasury, added whatever money we'd saved from our various part-time jobs
and paid for our share of the trip. While we were gone, our trainees would
run the club. Vanessa would be the stand-in for Kristy and the others would
fill in just the way they did during the great flu epidemic back in February.
Once that was set, all of us then went on the bus along with our classmates.
The weather was warming up for good now. In some ways, Washington was a
lot like New York City, but with more open grass.
"Wow..." Stacey gasped as
we arrived at the Mall and saw the Monument later in the week after seeing
so many other things and even discovering a Hard Rock Cafe here. The Mall
isn't like your usual cluster of stores. The Mall is a flat grassy area
where concerts are sometimes played or rallies held. The Vietnam protests
and the women's movement marches were held here back in the sixties and
seventies. So were a lot of civil rights movements. Just a few years ago,
a huge gay rights rally was also held here as well as a several pro-choice
rallies. Walking around the Mall, we could see several memorials standing
near the edges. The Monument itself is about as tall as the Statue of Liberty!
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Later on that day, we ate
a picnic lunch on the grass...most of the kids. I saw red hair in the distance
and recognized Katie Shannon from my old school, Burkeview.
"Katie!" I called. She looked
around, bewildered a minute, then saw me, grinned and came over to us.
"You all remember Katie
Shannon, right?" I asked my friends and we all greeted each other. Katie
sat with us and we talked. It turned out that her school, Burkeview, was
also sponsoring a similar class trip.
"I'm going to Georgetown
U. next year," Katie told us.
"Oh, good," I nodded. "Good
luck there. I'm going to Staten U. in New York City. So's Mary Anne. So...how's
everyone at Burkeview? How're the Five R Us?"
"They're doing all right.
Liza's deciding whether to go to Portlowe U in New York or Granite U in
Minnesota and Christie's deciding between MIT and Aberdine. Whitney's headed
to MIT and Dekeisha's picked New York U."
"Hey, I'm going to Granite
U next year," Claudia chimed in. "Maybe if Liza goes there, I'll see her
there."
"I'm thinking of Aberdine
too," Stacey put in.
"Is Whitney still seeing
Curtis Trowbridge?" I asked. Katie nodded.
"I'm going to miss Connecticut,
but I think it'll be exciting living here," Katie told us.
"I'm going to miss it too,"
Stacey looked down and twirled the straw in her soda. Of all of us, she
was still having the hardest time dealing with leaving for college.
"You know the BIG clique
at Burkeview is defunct now," Katie went on.
"So's the In clique at Stoneybrook
High," I said. I hadn't thought about them in a long time, probably because
one, they were out of commission and two because for most of this year,
these past few months especially, we'd all been so absorbed in getting
ready for graduation and making college plans. Memories of the cliques
tyrannizing our schools were now like another time, almost as if it had
all happened in another school altogether. "Last year, after the Storm,
Ms. Silverbein suspended the troublemakers for two weeks and banned them
from the stadiums and the teams."
"Good for her," Katie sipped
her soda. "At Burkeview. they didn't get suspended, but they were also
kicked off the teams."
"We're training the next
generation of the BSC," Kristy told Katie. "Our former charges...some of
them are in middle school now, so when we leave in the fall, they'll take
over the club."
"Hey, that's a great idea,"
Katie sat back. "I like how you gals know how to stick together. You all
are like a legacy in Stoneybrook. The BSC legacy."
"Thanks..." Mary Anne finished
her candy bar. "Are things improving with the girls at Burkeview...they're
being treated more fairly now...their sports getting as much attentions
as the boys'?"
"I think so," Katie nodded.
"The girls' soccer team is getting more funding next year to be more on
par with the boys' football team. They've needed supplies for years and
for a long time, it was just the boys getting the supplies, but that's
changing now."
"Oh, fantastic," Mary Anne
nodded.
"Swell," Abby added. "Aaaall
right, who's ready for the Air and Space Museum?"
"Me!" Stacey and Claudia
called.
"Want to come?" Kristy asked
Katie.
"I'd love to, but my friends
are on the way and I told them I'd meet them by the Monument. Bye, good
seeing you again!" Katie called, standing up and heading in that direction.
"Bye..." We all called as
we stood up and gathered our things.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Mary Anne:
Seeing the White House on
Friday was a neat experience. I was half-hoping we'd see one of the Senators,
especially Hillary Clinton, but we didn't They never let the public
in the living quarters of the White House and I don't blame them. Later
on that night, the night before we were to head back home again, a whole
bunch of us seniors caught the subway out to the Potomac River and had
a picnic with a campfire and all. As we ate, I gazed at the blossoms all
around. I know that Washington has a Cherry Blossom Festival every spring,
but I think this year, it was over two weeks ago. There was still a sweet
smell of cherry blossoms all over the area. In some ways, spring here was
a lot like Connecticut, except our trees at home don't bud until May.
"Can you imagine living
in the White House?" Stacey asked.
"I just remembered something
funny Mom told my sister and me about the Reagan years...back when the
Russian-American summits were going on back in the eighties." Abby cracked
up a little. "Mom read that Nancy Reagan was always criticizing Raisa Gorbachev
and once Nancy was giving Raisa a tour of the White House. Raisa was really
nervous and uncomfortable and a reporter asked her if she'd ever like to
live in the White House and Raisa said something like that it was too much
of a museum." We all laughed.
"Yeah, Mom told me about
that too," Kristy added. "Nancy had the reputation for making anyone nervous
and uncomfortable. When Raisa said that, Nancy got all huffy and insulted."
We whooped with more laughter at that.
"I think the Reagans were
sore because it was mostly the Gorbachevs who ended that awful Cold War,"
Dawn put in.
"I'm so glad they did,"
I said softly. We'd studied the Cold War and the summits in history back
in freshman and sophomore years. We got quiet a minute and I had to shiver
thinking about the hostility between two countries. Human stupidity almost
destroyed humanity. Even though the Cold War is over, there's still stupidity
going on in other countries like the Middle East today.
"Anybody want a dip in the
river?" David Amesworth asked, breaking the mood some.
"YEEAAAH!" Several kids
jumped up.
"Isn't it..." I started
to ask. ...kind of strong? I finished in my thoughts, looking worriedly
over the huge river. Kristy saw my worried look and told me, "Hey, it sounds
like fun. At night, the current's not too strong. Want to try?" she stood
up and pulled off her sweater.
"N-no thanks..." I stuttered,
feeling worried lines starting in my forehead. Some kids took off their
things and dove right into that dark, deep water. Kristy dashed in and
as I watched nervously, she and David raced all the way down to the Virginia
shore.
"Don't worry, she'll be
fine," Mona patted my hand. I tried to relax and let out a shaky breath,
turning back to the group of kids who'd stayed on shore. Most of the group,
however, was cheering on the Potomac swimmers. I peered out nervously from
time to time. After about ten minutes, all the swimmers, I guess got cold
and came back on shore and got dressed again. But I didn't see Kristy or
David.
"Where're Kristy and David?"
I asked, trying not to sound shaky.
"I think they're..." Caitlin
finished putting on her shirt and peered out into the water. I fought back
tears. What if they...just then I heard laughter on the far side of the
shore and Kristy came running onto the bank, howling with laughter. David
hauled out of the water and followed, bellowing with laughter himself.
"I WON!" Kristy crowed.
"I know..." David panted
as they got dressed. "I left my shoes on." I was trembling and tears of
relief spilled over my face. I felt a brief flash of anger, then relief
washed over me as I ran over to Kristy and hugged her.
"Hey, hey, what's the matter,
Mary Anne?" Kristy asked, sounding surprised.
"P-please...please..." I
sobbed into her shoulder. "D-don't ever scare me like that again."
"Heyy, it's all right..."
Kristy stroked my hair.
"Is she all right?" someone
asked.
"She was just a bit nervous
about some of us going into the water at night," Mona told them.
"Heyyy, sorry I scared you..."
Kristy kept an arm around me as we sat down by the fire and I wiped my
eyes. As it got later, we talked some more, getting quieter now. It was
almost midnight by the time we headed back to the subway and headed back
to our hotel. Tomorrow, we'd were heading back to Connecticut and next
week, we'd be getting measured for our caps and gowns. Countdown to graduation,
I thought as I drifted off to sleep.
Author's note: I certainly hope you've enjoyed reading The BSC Legacy! The next six chapters will be their countdown to graduation, then there will be one final chapter which will be their graduation night. That will wrap up their high school years, as well as their senior year and this story. Soo, hang on for their countdown to graduation and their big final night of high school!