Later on my parents and I watched the play. They enjoyed it but they agreed that it was highly unlikely that Ezra came up with it on his own. For dinner my parents took me to Rusty 'O Brien's, also known as Rusty's. It was the local hangout since it was the only restaraunt in Mount Horizon. We were just starting our deserts when Mom and Dad asked me the one question I wasn't expecting. "Honey- you've been doing so well at Horizon and we're so proud of you." Mom started, "And we talked to Peter and he said it's up to you."
I nodded not really understanding what Mom was getting at. But Dad cleared it up for me. "We want you to come back home."
I was shocked. Of course I wanted to go home! It was home. My friends were there. Josh was there. But what about Ezra and all my friends at Horizon? "Y . . .yeah, I want to go back home!"
"Oh good!" Mom said excitedly, hugging me. "We were hoping you'd say that."
"When can I can go?" I asked. I was asking so I'd know how much time I had with Ezra. And everyone else, of course.
Dad took on his serious tone. "At the end of the school year." I nodded. One week. I had one week left with everyone.
When we got back to Horizon Mom and Dad dropped me off then headed back home. We only lived at the bottom of the mountain. About an hour long drive. I waved goodbye and Peter came up to me. "Did you're parents tell you?" he asked.
I nodded, not looking at him. "I told them I wanted to go home." I turned to face him. "Do you think that was the right thing to do? I mean, I know I'd be going home anyway for summer break but do you think I should go back to my regular school next year?"
"It's really up to you." He told me. "But if you're asking if I think you're ready the answer is yes. You've really grown in the last 5 weeks. I think you're ready to face anything."
"Thanks." I told him, "That means a lot to me." Peter hugged me. It was then that I decided there were two things I still needed to deal with. I walked into the administration building and asked to use the phone. I dialed in the number after getting permission and waited until his voice came over the phone. "Hello?" he asked.
"Josh!" I cried. "It's me. It's . . . It's Liv."
Josh seemed kind of worried when he replied, "Liv? Wh . . .what's up?"
"Don't worry." I teased him, "I'm- how did you put?- all better?"
I could hear him sigh out of relief. "Something like that." He laughed. It was one of my favorite sounds in the world.
"So, I'm coming home in a week and I thought we should talk before then. Just so, you know, everything taken care of. Out of the way."
"Sure." he said, "What do you want to take care of?"
I stopped for a second before replying, "Crystal." Josh was mine and Crystal's other best friend. When Crystal died he was sad for a long time. Even until I left. I didn't know if he was okay after it. "It's just that I've moved on from it and I didn't know if you have."
"Oh, Liv." I could hear the smile in his voice, "Yeah, I have. I have been for a year. You were so upset about it that you couldn't see I was okay, I guess."
"Oh." I said. That surprised me. "Okay then. That takes care of that. So- how have you been."
Josh and I proceeded to talk about everything under the sun. From basketball to school to the Lord of the Rings movies. Neither of us liked them very much. I was having so much fun I didn't realize it was fifteen minutes til curfew. "Josh- I have to go. It's lights out at 11." We said goodbye and I walked up to my cabin. When I got to my stairs Ezra came out of his cabin next door. "Hey." he said. "Where've you been?"
"On the phone." I told him.
His eyes widened, "For over an hour? We're not allowed to be on the phone for that long."
My eyes narrowed, "Yeah, you're right. I wondered why no one kicked me off." I though it over for a second, "Oh well. Hey- guess what."
"Umm . . . Twinkies have green filling because of Shrek 2 coming out?" he asked.
I looked at him quizically. "No. Well- yeah. But that's not what I was going to tell you. I'm going home!"
"You're going home?" he sounded depressed.
I bit my lip and a thought came to me. "Stay here. I'll be back in a second." I ran into my cabin and got my bag of candy. When I went back outside Ezra was standing on my porch. "Let's talk." I said. We sat on the stair and I opened the bag, "Want some?"
"I'm in heaven." he said. He instantly grabbed a handful of smarties and started eating them. "Now, what were you saying about home?"
I put a swedish fish in my mouth. "My parents asked me tonight if I wanted to go home and I said yes." I told him. We were both quiet for a long time. Neither of us knew what to say. I wanted to tell him everything would be all right and we could be together a lot. I wanted to say that nothing would change but I wasn't sure of any of it. Finally I said, "You're probably mad at me but you have to understand. I want to be with you and everyone else here but I want to go home. I want to sleep in my room . . . without 4 other girls hogging the bathroom. I want to be with my family."
"I'm not mad at you. If I had the chance to go home- to a normal family, that is- I would go in an instant. I'm just going to miss you."
I pushed some stones around with my foot. "I'm going to miss you, too." I practically fell into him when I went to hug him. I just held onto him like I was leaving tomorrow instead of the end of the week. Eventually Peter came to make sure we were all in our cabins and we had to leave. Before he went into his cabin Ezra kissed me on the cheek with Peter watching! It was a pretty good feeling especially since Peter let it slide. Man was I going to miss this place.