The chatter seemed noisier, the giggles gigglier. And Karyn, Athena, and Jocelyn each had on their bracelets. Me too!
Thanks to Karyn, breakfast today was caramel oatmeal. She’d swirled gobs of caramel syrup into her bowl, tasted it, and announced, “This is the bomb! I am an inventor!!” So Jocelyn added three beige dots to the side of her bowl. “Decoration, decoration, decoration,” she explained.
I told Trinity, “Caramel me up!”
She shook her head in semi-disgust but cheerfully transformed oatmeal into a delicious caramelly delicacy. I couldn’t wait to show this to Penny—she’d love it.
I tapped out, “When do our parents get here?”
Trinity checked her watch. “In about an hour. Gee, the week went by so fast! It always does.” She looked at the four of us and gave my hand a little rub. “I’m gonna miss you guys.” I could tell she meant it.
Athena went from giddy to frowning. “I miss my mom. But I think I’m gonna miss camp—maybe a lot.” She squeezed another huge glob of caramel into her oatmeal and stirred and stirred and stirred.
Sage looked her in the eye. “I know, Athena. It’s always hard to say goodbye to friends.”
I glanced at Karyn. Was she sniffling? I bumped her elbow with mine. Sometimes you don’t need words.
Lulu, I guess trying to lighten our mood, said, “Oh, and we meant to tell you! Everybody will receive a souvenir T-shirt and sweatshirt to take home….”
Well, that broke up our moping! Jocelyn laughed so hard she had to go to the bathroom.
Back at the cabin to do some last packing up, Sage explained a bit about the closing ceremony. Parents would sit with us on lawn chairs with little boxes of tissues placed under each chair because, apparently, they always, always cry.
“For real?” Karyn asked.
“For real!”
I knew Mom could sniffle with the best of them. She cries when we watch movies of graduations!
“I’m gonna text you all when I get home,” Karyn declared, looking teary. “Okay? That way we can all stay in touch!”
Jocelyn chanted her phone number out; she knew it by heart. I gave her my best thumbs-up, reminding myself to make sure our parents met. Athena said she was gonna ask her mom to make sure Karyn’s mom had all the info. “I’m gonna have online friends!” she squealed, bouncing on her toes. I was thinking the exact same thing. The idea that I’d have friends to talk to online almost blew me away! Then Athena ran around the room, giving us each a hug. Even Jocelyn, who wasn’t crazy about being touched, hugged her back.
Sage’s phone pinged. She glanced down. “Hey, Athena! I just got a text. Your parents have arrived at the checkin gate. Do you want to go out and greet them?”
“Super-duper!” Athena cried out. “Yes! Yes! Yes!” Then she paused, her face distraught. “Bye, guys—I hope I see you next summer!” She gave us each one more hug, and she was out the door, Sage racing after her.
And once again I thought about the possibility of coming back next summer! Oh yeah!
I looked at Karyn and Jocelyn. Karyn still looked teary, her eyes on the door Athena had just bounded out of.
“Next year?” I tapped.
They couldn’t answer quickly enough. “Yes! We have to! For sure! We gotta make a pact or something!” Karyn and Jocelyn did a fist bump. “Falcons! Falcons!” Then Jocelyn grabbed my right hand and Karyn held my left. They squeezed at the same time. Karyn was full-on crying. Jocelyn grabbed a tissue to wipe her tears. Then she grabbed another one and wiped my eyes. Yeah, we were a mess.
Karyn’s parents arrived about the same time as Jocelyn’s. One more quick round of hugs—Karyn’s strong, Jocelyn’s as light as firefly legs on my hand—and they both hurried out to the greeting area.
And then I was alone with Trinity. I looked at her, and she glanced back at me with a smile. “You’re not worried, are you?” she asked, checking her own phone for a text.
I shook my head no. But yeah, I was a little worried. Were they gonna just leave me here? Funny not funny. I thought back to the beginning of the week. Hadn’t I said the same thing when I got here? I’d been so clueless!
I took one last look around our cabin, now almost as empty as when I’d arrived. Then, the hard bunks, the dim lanterns, the well-worn wooden floor had seemed cold and uncomfortable. But this morning, with the sunshine streaming through the cabin window and the luggage packed and ready for parents to load up, it felt like I was leaving home.
And that was exactly when Trinity’s phone dinged. “They’re here!” she told me.
I let out a joyous screech, and we booked it out the cabin door. And then I saw the car, the blue SUV that Dad keeps saying he’s going to trade in soon. It’s a good thing I was strapped in—I kicked, I screeched, my arms wiggled in every direction.
They’re here!
The car had barely come to a stop when Mom jumped out. She ran over and engulfed me in a bubble-gum-flavored hug. Dad, who’d just unbuckled Penny from her seat, could barely keep ahold of her as they hurried over right behind Mom.
“Dee-Dee!” Penny wiggled out of Dad’s arms and ran to me at full speed, launching herself right onto my lap. She babbled about ice cream and Barbie and Butterscotch and Doodle. “Did you like living in the forest, Dee-Dee?”
I hugged her tight.
I wanted to tell her there were no lions or tigers, but the forest, as she called it, was both beautiful and exciting.
“Your fingernails look awesome, Dee-Dee,” Penny said as she touched each color.
I noticed Trinity grin, then take a few steps back, not interfering. Did she look a little sad? I guessed she was used to this. But I was going to miss her, for sure.
Mom kissed my forehead and Dad enveloped both me and Penny in a giant bear hug. Gee, he smelled good.
Mom, who’s pretty good at getting the most information out of me, asked the most, and the most typically mom-type questions.
“Did you have enough to eat? Was the food good?”
Yes and yes.
“How was the boat ride?”
Awesome!
“Are you traumatized by the runaway horse incident?” Her face went instantly from deliriously happy to severe and concerned.