Departures (11 page)

“What are we doing today?” David asked.

“We’re going to the picnic grounds at the Dells,” Mom told him. “We’ll meet the Kingsleys there and spend the day relaxing.”

Christy wondered if they would be able to relax much. She didn’t like the way things had been going so far. And if Melissa started to act like she had dibs on Matt, Christy knew she would be upset. She
wished she had never invited Melissa to come. If only she and Matt could have the whole day together, just the two of them.

When the family arrived at the picnic grounds, they had to park far away from the entrance, which meant carrying everything a farther distance. Christy helped her dad with the ice chest. They lugged the heavy beast onto the picnic grounds, then Dad suggested they set it down. “I’ll go find the Kingsleys. You sit here and wait.”

Christy sat on top of the ice chest, watching all the people who were gathering for their picnics. Smoke from barbecues laced the air with the scent of charcoal and lighter fluid. A football flew over her and was caught by a man wearing a baseball cap with a stuffed fabric fish jutting out the front of it. Twin girls on tricycles pedaled past her on the cement pathway while an older sister trotted behind them, giving instructions.

Mom and David joined Christy with their arms full of stuff. “Are we waiting here for your father?” Mom asked.

“Yes. He went to find the Kingsleys so we wouldn’t have to haul this around.”

Everywhere Christy looked she saw the colors red, white, and blue. Some groups had flags. Red, white, and blue banners flew from poles planted on their picnic tables. She noticed a woman walking past who carried a big, round watermelon in her arms. She wore a denim jumper with a white shirt and a red bandana around her neck. She had large, dangling red, white, and blue earrings and a big red, white, and blue bow in her hair.

What caught Christy’s attention was that from the bow the woman had attached a row of sparklers spread out like the silver skeleton of a fan. It seemed to Christy that the woman was begging some
little kid to come along and light those sparklers. Then what would the woman do?

Christy felt as if her emotions were sticking out today too, just begging for a flying spark to set them off. “Avoid little boys with matches,” Christy muttered to the woman as she passed. Christy knew the admonition should be for herself as well. One “spark” from Matthew Kingsley, and she would be running around like a crazy spectacle with her heart on fire.

Christy’s dad appeared through the crowd and directed them to head toward the water. He and Christy lugged the ice chest the rest of the way, and as they took the last few steps to join the Kingsleys, Christy told her emotions to duck the sparks that were about to fly in her direction. Only three feet away stood Melissa. She had both her arms around Matt’s middle and was giving him a cuddly hug.

hristy felt her heart pounding faster—and not just from carrying the bulky ice chest.
Does Melissa want to make me jealous? What is she trying to prove? Why did I ever invite her to come? Does Matt like her? What am I interrupting here?

“Hello!” Mrs. Kingsley greeted them, and a round of hellos, hugs, and chattering took place. Christy overheard Matt’s mom say something to her mom about Noah’s Ark Waterpark, and immediately David said, “Can I go too? That’s my favorite place! Please?”

Christy noticed that none of Matt’s sisters was around. She had hoped his youngest sister would keep David entertained so he wouldn’t continually be bugging Christy.

“What do you think?” Mom said, turning to Christy. “Would you two like to go? The Kingsley girls are already there.”

“Yes!” David answered for both of them.

Christy forced herself to smile at Matt and then at Melissa. The hug apparently had been a momentary expression, because they were now standing a few feet away from each other, and neither of them was acting as if they were “together.”

Was the hug merely a show for me to see when I walked up? Two can play that game, Melissa!

Christy stepped closer and was about to give Matthew Kingsley the first hug she had ever given him, when Melissa said, “I was just telling Matt good-bye.”

“Oh?” Christy said, retreating from the planned “hug attack.”

“I don’t have the money to go to Noah’s Ark. My brother and some of his friends are on the other side of the park, so I’m going to hang out with them.”

Something in Melissa’s expression made her look lost and sad. Christy hadn’t seen Melissa’s brother in a long time. But several years ago, when Paula was interested in him, he’d seemed like a hoodlum to Christy. Was that the best group for Melissa to hang out with?

Remembering the feeling of being left out, Christy found, once again, that she had compassion for Melissa. Before Christy could change her mind, she asked, “Would you like to come to the water park if we all pitched in to pay your way?”

Melissa gave Christy a long gaze. “No, but thanks anyway,” she said. Before turning to go, she asked, “Why are you being so nice to me?”

Christy shrugged. “I care about you, Melissa.” While that was true, Christy knew she didn’t care that much. She wanted to defend the ground she had covered with Matt, and her main motivation for being nice was that she kept thinking about how her friends always included everyone so no one felt left out. Without realizing it, Christy had taken on that caring quality, and sometimes she acted on it even when she felt very differently.

“Thanks,” Melissa said again. “You know, Paula said that in spite of all the things that bugged her about you and your ‘God friends,’ she really liked the way you guys tried to be nice to everyone. She was
right. You and Matt both treat me different from any of my other friends.”

Oh, Melissa, if you only knew what I was thinking a few minutes ago, you wouldn’t say I was so nice!

Before Christy knew what was happening, Melissa gave Christy a warm hug and waved good-bye to everyone as she took off to join her brother and his group.

“Can we go now?” David asked impatiently.

It took the adults a few minutes to give all the instructions as to what time the three of them were to return for the fireworks display. Mom tried to give them sandwiches to take with them, but they opted to buy food at the water park.

That turned out to be a bad choice because David hadn’t brought enough money to pay for his admission to the park. Christy was able to cover their entrance fees, but that only left them with eight dollars to spend on food. David started to plead for food right away, and Christy was hungry too since she hadn’t had breakfast.

“I have to meet my sisters at the entrance to Paradise Lagoon,” Matt said once they were inside the huge park. “How about if we all meet in half an hour at the Jungle Rapids water slide?”

David chattered nonstop as he and Christy waited in line to order some food. She knew her parents were expecting her to be with him every minute, but Christy tried to come up with a plan so David could go away and she could just be with Matt.

Christy and David ate quickly, and then Christy directed him to the entrance to Jungle Rapids. Matt was already there when they arrived, but his sisters weren’t with him. When Christy asked about
them, Matt said, “They’re doing fine. We decided we would check in again in two hours at the Paradise Lagoon.”

Two hours for you and me to baby-sit David. Great
.

David coerced Matt and Christy to go on the Jungle Rapids water slide with him. “When we used to live here, I was too little to go on this ride,” he said excitedly. “I always wanted to. This is going to be my favorite ride. I just know it.”

Their wait in line was long and hot, as the summer sun rose directly above them and beat down on their shoulders. The happy shouts and squeals from those who had reached the top of the line and were now enjoying the cool refreshment of the winding water slide served only to torture them. This day certainly didn’t seem to be going the way Christy had hoped. David even positioned himself between Matt and Christy, making sure he was the center of attention.

“You know,” Matt said, after David finally stopped talking, “I appreciate what you did with Melissa, Christy.”

“What did I do?”

“You did what that verse in John 13 says to do,” Matt said.

Christy wasn’t sure what verse he was referring to and told him she didn’t understand.

“It’s that verse that says, ‘Your love for one another will prove to the world that you are my disciples.’ I think it’s verse 35. Our Bible study group is studying John 13 through 15 this summer, and that’s the verse we were going over last week.”

Christy still wasn’t sure how that applied to Melissa. Perhaps Matt thought that by inviting Melissa to come along Christy had been showing love to her and that proved Christy was a disciple, or follower
of Christ. She knew her motives weren’t so pure, but maybe what mattered most was that she had tried and that deep down, her heart was in the right place.

They were at the top of the slide now, so any further discussion would have to wait. David had just taken off down the slide with a squeal of delight, and Christy was next.

he afternoon turned out to be one great splash after another. Christy gave up trying to be alone with Matt and started having the time of her life, even with David tagging along. Matt tried to show off his athletic abilities with daring twists and turns on some of the slides. Christy took each of them nice and safe. She didn’t have the “need for speed” that Matt and David kept joking about. She enjoyed each ride at her own pace and ignored the guys when they teased her.

“Where to next?” Matt asked after they met up with his sisters and the whole group was together for the first time. Matt’s sisters and David all spoke at once, saying they wanted to go on the Slidewinders.

“What about you, Christy?” Matt asked, looking at her warmly.

“I’d really like to go for a nice, leisurely float down the Adventure River. Would it be okay if David went with you guys, and I met you somewhere afterward?”

“I’ll go with you,” Matt said.