I sucked in my breath as I looked around the store. Find the stuff and get out, I thought.
Wriggling my way through people, I finally got to where the
toothpaste and brushes were. I just
grabbed the first things I saw and continued to find Advil.
One remaining Advil sat on the counter. Quickly, my hand shot out, and I grabbed
it. I noticed a few people mumbling
curses and giving me glares.
Finally, I reached one of the checkout lines. After half an hour, I got out of the checkout
line.
“What took you so long?” Nick asked me as I climbed into the car.
“I don’t know if you’ve ever heard of these things, but they’re
really strange. They’re called lines,” I
said with a teasing tone.
“Ooh, you’re funny,” he joked right back.
“Let’s get back. How much
time do we have left?” I asked.
“Crap! Ten minutes!” he
exclaimed.
“We’re not going to get back in time,” I said worriedly.
“Well, I have all my stuff in the car, and my ID on me, I’m sure
they’ll pick me up at your house, so we’ll just go from there,” Nick said.
“Good idea. I’m just a mile
down from the store we met at,” I said.
He looked at me and nodded.
Suddenly, it felt like I was sucked to my seat as he hit the gas and
started speeding down the long road home.
***
I felt like a balloon that had just been popped. It was like I had just woken up from the best
dream of my life and realized it was only a dream. Just when I found out that Michael liked me,
I had to leave for the shelter. And he
couldn’t come with me.
“Julie,” Mom called, knocking on my door. “It’s almost noon, honey! Are you ready?” I didn’t answer.
A moment later, the door opened, and my mom stuck her head
in. She opened her mouth to say
something, but stopped when she saw Michael.
“Michael? What are you doing
here?” she asked. Being a teacher, she
had had him in school, so she knew him pretty well.
Michael glanced at me, not sure what to say.
“I’m not going, Mom,” I said suddenly.
“What?” she demanded.
“I said I’m not going. I’m
going to stay here with Michael,” I repeated.
Michael glanced at me in shock.
“Julie, no,” he said.
“Yes. I can’t leave you
here alone. I’m staying.”
“Julie, don’t be ridiculous.
Now, come on; the bus will be here soon,” Mom said in exasperation.
“I’m serious, Mom!” I cried.
“I will not get on that bus! Not
without Michael!”
She looked from me to him in confusion, probably again wondering
why he was there in my room. He had
never been to our house before. “What
is going on here?” she asked.
I opened my mouth to answer, but before I could get the words out,
my father appeared in the doorway.
“Where’s Sammy?” he asked.
My mom turned to look at him.
“What do you mean? She’s not back
yet?” she asked, her voice rising with worry.
“No. Her car’s not in the
driveway, and she’s nowhere in the house,” he replied.
“She left to go get Julie some Advil. But that was over an hour ago!” Mom
cried.
“Mom!” Breanna suddenly yelled from the living room. “It’s coming!
I can see it on the highway!”
“Come on, Annette, we have to get going,” my dad said, pulling on
my mom’s arm. “Julie, come on.”
“No, not without Sammy!” Mom cried.
“I’m not going,” I said again, crossing my arms in defiance.
“Stop it, both of you,” my dad said sharply. “Come on, we’re leaving, with or without
Sammy.”
“Tom, how could you say that?!” mom cried in horror. “We can’t leave Sammy! She’s our daughter!”
“We’ll make sure she gets there.
But we have to leave now while we have the opportunity. Now come on.” He led Mom out of the room. “Come on, Julie, now,” he ordered
sternly.
I glared at my father.
“No,” I said firmly. “I won’t.”
My mom was still in the hall and heard that one. She turned around and came back. “Don’t you dare use that tone of voice with
your father, young lady,” she barked.
“Now come on.”
I stared at her in shock.
“You’re actually going? You’re
going without your daughter?” I cried.
I could see the guilt written all over my mother’s face. Yet, she was still being sensible. She knew that it was more important to get
the rest of us on the bus than to risk all of our lives by staying behind to
wait for Sammy.
“Stop it, Julie. You get up
and get out here, this minute!” she shouted.
Angry tears rose in my eyes.
Somehow, I knew I wasn’t going to win this one. I was going to the shelter, whether I wanted
to or not. And I was going to have to
leave not only Michael behind, but my own sister.
“Come on, Julie,” Michael said softly, standing up and taking my
arm. “You have to go. I won’t let you stay here just for me.”
I shook my head furiously.
“I don’t want to leave you though,” I protested.
“I know. But I want what’s
best for you. I care about you, and I
want you to get through this okay.
Please go. For me,” he pleaded.
I hugged him, beginning to sob. Why was this happening? Just when everything seemed to be going
perfectly, something like this had to happen.
“Julie, come on, it’s here,” my dad said gently, prying me away
from Michael.
“I love you,” I whispered tearfully to Michael.
“I love you too,” he said back.
I don’t know if he meant it or not; after all, he didn’t know me that
well, so how could he? But just hearing
him say it made me feel better. Which is
probably why he said it.
Reluctantly, I followed my parents and little sister out of the
house. Michael tagged along behind. A huge bus was parked on the street outside
our house.
Dad and Breanna walked towards it.
Mom and I hung back.
“I can’t go!” my mom suddenly cried, bursting into tears. “Not without Sammy!”
That sensibility that I had seen in her just minutes earlier had
vanished. Her mother’s instinct had
kicked in, and she was thinking with her heart, not with her brain.
My dad actually looked ready to cry himself, as he put at arm
around Mom. “I know, honey,” he said
softly, rubbing her back soothingly.
“But we can’t all stay here.
Sammy’s somewhere around here, and we can make sure she gets to the
shelter. She already has a ticket it;
she just has to get there. And if worse
comes to worse, she’ll just have to get directions and drive to the shelter
herself. But don’t you worry; we’ll
make sure she gets there. I left her a
note saying where we went and that we would call her as soon as we got to a
phone. Okay?”
My mom nodded tearfully and let my father lead her to the
bus.
“Come on, Julie,” he said, glancing back at me. I still hung back with Michael, desperate to
stay just a few minutes longer.
“Go on,” Michael said, nudging me forward. “You email me when you get there, okay?”
“Okay.”
“I’ll see you, Julie.”
“See you,” I whispered, slowly following my family to the bus,
knowing that I might not ever see him again.
***