Some Kind of Magic

We spent a good hour and a half out on the boat, just sitting in the middle of the lake. Robbie was our designated boat driver because he was the only one who knew how, and had his license. We girls were just sitting back and relaxing but Broderick, Dylan and Robbie were having some sort of competition for who could swim the fastest and the furthest. Robbie won every time, but according to Elsie he had been a competitive swimmer for several years. Dylan just got lucky because he had really strong arms and legs, and came in a very close second. Being in the water certainly cooled them right down because even though above water was extremely warm, actually being in it or under it was freezing cold. All three of them came out shivering but Elsie and I felt the need to cool off, since we were sitting right in clear view of the Sun, and we were sweating. Emma refused to get wet though, which made me wonder why she even brought her bathing suit. Once the boys were back on the boat, Elsie took my hand as we stood on the edge, and then jumped in. I felt my body parts go numb because of how cold it was. I quickly got back on the boat and vowed not to do that ever again. Elsie was cursing when her head reappeared before she got the twins to grab her arms and pull her out. Then she ran down to the boat cabin and grabbed three towels so she could warm up. I just sat back in my seat and let the Sun do its thing.

Around seven thirty, Elsie’s parents called us in to eat. As I put my plate together, I took the chance to scope out the three rooms in view; dining room, living room and kitchen. The dining room sat more people than were actually here, which was surprising since Elsie’s family only consisted of her, her mother and her father but I guess they wanted to prepare themselves in case they had visitors or family gatherings up at the cottage instead of at their house in the city. I didn’t blame them for it, though; the cottage was very traditional but still maintained that new, stylish look. The kitchen looked to have been redone recently and when I asked Elsie’s mother, she confirmed it. It led right into the dining area and both rooms had the same light hardwood floor. The counter surfaces were black marble over frighteningly white cabinets, and led all the way around the kitchen walls and also through the middle for a small island. All of the appliances were black as well to match the rest, and the walls were painted a very dull green. From the left side, it led out to the parlour, which was overlooked by the study upstairs. It was the only room in the house that was two floors high. The couch was pressed against the back wall closest to the water, where a large window had been added; that also took up the height of two floors, but ended a little short because of the roof cutting it off. To the right before the kitchen entrance was a door that lead out to the balcony overlooking the private lake we had just taken the boat out on. To get right out to the patio below the balcony, or to reach the docks we had to go down through the basement and out that door instead.

The Sun was hidden by the time we had finished eating, which was just past eight because of all the heavy discussions we got into; our food had gone cold since we were distracted from eating. Elsie’s parents already knew so much about Emma, Broderick, Dylan and Robbie so they took the time to ask more questions about me. All five of my friends answered most of their questions, like what classes I had or how band was going for me, how I had met everyone or if I was involved in any other school activities. When it came to my family life, they left that for me to answer. Then her parents began to ask us all about our romantic lives, and if we were involved with anyone. Elsie looked humiliated, Emma giggled and said no, Robbie just laughed and shrugged his shoulders, Broderick answered honestly that he had a girlfriend, and Dylan became very quiet. As for me, I just said “nothing’s really happened with him, so no”. This made everyone gape at me, probably because they hadn’t expected little ol’ Isabelle to be interested in anyone or to have a guy friend outside of the three already sitting at the table.

“We are so talking about this tonight,” Elsie said.

And she kept to her word. By the time her parents had gone to sleep at eleven, the six of us went out to the backyard, now bundled up because along with the moon came quite the autumn chill. We were all wearing our pajamas, but I was curled up on a lawn chair with a heavy sweater around the fire Elsie’s father had set up for us while the boys were roasting marshmallows for smores. This was the ultimate relaxation, and after the first near-two months of feeling like a Martian at Westwood, I needed it. I think we all did.

“So who’s this guy?” Elsie asked me, grabbing two gram crackers and a piece of chocolate. Dylan lifted the roasted marshmallow up to her and she smiled at him, slipping it off the stick and placing it in the middle of her sandwich. He grabbed a few more and slid them down the stick, then placed them all over the fire.

“Just a friend,” I replied. “I don’t want to think too much of it. I don’t even know if he likes me.”

“Well do you think he does?” Broderick asked, rubbing his arm in an attempt to get warm.

“I don’t know,” I repeated with a slight laugh to my voice. “That’s something I’ve been trying to figure out for a while now.”

Emma—who had brought her knees up on the chair in front of her and thrown a blanket over the bottom half of her body—lifted her head and looked at me. “Is it the guy I think it is?”

“That depends,” I said. “Who do you think it is?”

I could tell by the look in her eyes that she understood I didn’t want her to say Ryan’s name, in fear of getting teased so she just said “the strep throat guy”, referring to how he had brought soup to my house when I was sick. Of course, without specifying, this caused Broderick to think she was talking about him.

He looked at me with wide eyes. “Strep throat guy—is that me?”

Emma cackled long and hard. “Yes, Broderick. It’s you that we’re talking about,” she joked.

I giggled. “Yeah, I’ve got a huge crush on you.”

Elsie slapped her legs and roared with laughter. “Can you imagine if she did? That would be the most awkward couple ever.”

“Thanks,” Broderick said sarcastically, but smiled anyway. He handed me a marshmallow and I put it on top of my chocolate slice.

“Thank you,” I said to him and he nodded, sitting down next to me and holding the barbeque fork between his legs so it wouldn’t burn him while he roasted the rest of the marshmallows. I took a bite of my smores bar and glimpsed across the fire at Dylan, who was watching me curiously. I didn’t know what that look was in his eyes, I had never seen it before; maybe he was wondering who I was interested in, or maybe it was because he was inquiring whether or not I was into Broderick. Either way, the way he was watching me made me a little uncomfortable, so I broke the eye contact first and looked away. This caused Dylan to turn back to the fire and focus on the marshmallows, which he had unfortunately burnt because he wasn’t paying attention.

“How are you and Annalisse anyway, Brod?” Robbie asked, popping one into his mouth. Elsie kicked him in the shin and glared, but he just put his arms out and lifted his shoulders, not understanding. Then when he caught on, he handed her another marshmallow and she began putting her sandwich together.

“We’re good. She wasn’t too fond of the idea that I would be up here with you guys,” Broderick said, sitting back and rubbing his forehead. “She’s really paranoid. It gets a little annoying sometimes, actually."

“Then why are you dating her?” Emma asked with an edge to her voice, which made us all look at her in surprise. “You can’t survive with a girlfriend who doesn’t trust you. If she’s the type of person who wants to know where you are and who you’re with 24/7, how are you guys going to last? You need some space, even if she doesn’t think so.”

Broderick shifted in his seat and looked over at me. I shrugged, not knowing what to say and by the looks on their faces, no one else did either. We were all silent for several minutes, stunned because we hadn’t expected Emma to say anything about Annalisse or to give advice on Broderick’s relationship with her. Finally, Robbie spoke up just to get conversation rolling again.

“Damn,” he said. “Emma, since when did you become so clued in to dating?”

“What are you talking about? I’ve always been clued in,” she argued.

“Right,” Elsie said, giving Emma a dramatic roll of her eyes and a smile. Emma opened her mouth to argue but Robbie jumped in again.

“Hey, let’s play truth or dare!” he suggested and everyone groaned, except for me. I had never played the game before and even though I knew how to, I had was still yet to try it with someone. “Oh, re-lax. What’re you wimps so scared of? It’s just a game. And it’s not like we have anything better to do.”

“I guess.” Elsie was the first to give in and she rubbed the palms of her hands on her legs. “All right, Dylan, truth or dare?”

He frowned. “Don’t you try to drag me into this.”

“Awh, come on! Get into the spirit,” I laughed. He looked at me, not expecting my outburst, and sighed.

“Fine. Truth,” he said, taking the easy way out.

“Lame,” Robbie whispered but Dylan ignored him.

“Is it true that you were in love with your last girlfriend?” Elsie asked him and Broderick whistled.

“Sensitive topic. Change the question, change it,” he encouraged. I glanced at Dylan questioningly but he just leaned back, put his elbows on the arms of the chair and lifted his shoulders.

“I wouldn’t say I was in love,” he said. “But I liked her the most.”

“Okay, now you go,” Elsie said, crossing her legs.

Dylan looked at his brother and smirked. “Truth or dare, Rob?” he asked, and got a scoff as a reply.

“Don’t try to pull that wicked-brother trick on me. It won’t work. I’ll do anything you throw at me so dare,” Robbie replied confidently.

“Go jump in the lake.”

Robbie’s face went slack as he looked from Dylan, to the water, and then back to Dylan one last time but this time with desperately pleading eyes. “Really?” he asked and Dylan nodded. “Okay, I’ll just . . . go jump in the water then.” He stood up hesitantly, pulled off his jeans to leave him in his boxers, and lifted his long-sleeve shift over his head. He left them on his chair and walked down to the dock. He was trying to stall as much as possible and dipped his toe into the water. “Shit!” we all heard him howl. Then he leapt as far as he could, remained underwater for a good five seconds before his head popped back and he let out a scream of agony. We all burst out laughing.

“A little cold there, Rob?” Broderick called to him.

“Freaking freezing!” he yelled back, grabbing hold of the edge of the dock and pulling himself up. He laid there on the wooden platform, trying to catch his breath and Emma, being the sympathetic soul that she was, grabbed his clothes and her blanket and met up with him. He changed quickly and she wrapped the blanket around his shoulders. He waddled over to the circle again and turned around with his butt to the fire.

“Don’t burn yourself,” Elsie giggled.

“Always looking out for me, aren’t you, Elsie?”

“Until the day I die.”

“How sweet.” He sat down again and exhaled. “That was hell. Whose turn is it now?”

“That’s up to you,” Broderick replied.

“Hm.” Robbie scanned the five of us, but since Dylan had just given him one, he couldn’t return it until his next turn, unless Dylan got him again. “Isabelle,” he said finally and smiled. “Truth or dare?”

“Truth please,” I replied, choosing the simpler route first to work myself up to a dare. I wasn’t quite ready for it yet and if they were anything like the task given to Robbie just moments ago, I was in for one hell of a night.

“Is it true that you’ve had more than three boyfriends since you turned thirteen?” he asked. Where had he heard that? Was that something that was going around? Then I remembered it didn’t have to be true; it just had to be something I would need to answer to about whether his made-up situation was true or not.

“I’ve never had a boyfriend,” I replied and Elsie leaned forward.

“What?”

“You haven’t?” Dylan asked and I shook my head. Emma was smiling all proud, because she already knew that.

“I didn’t know it was that big of a deal,” I murmured, a little confused.

“It’s not, it’s just . . . surprising, I guess,” Robbie responded. “We had no idea you were so innocent.”

“What? I’m not innocent,” I objected.

“You kind of are,” Elsie laughed.

“No I’m not.”

Robbie scoffed. “You are. No sense in denying it.”

“I’m not!”

“Have you ever smoked weed?”

I frowned. “I thought this was just a one-question type of deal. What’s with the third degree?”

“Answer,” Robbie demanded.

I sat back, crossed my arms. “No, I haven’t.”

“Have you ever drunk something with alcohol in it?”

“No, and that’s illegal when you’re sixteen—”

“Have you ever done anything sexual with someone before?”

“No!”

“Isabelle, you are innocent as hell,” Robbie concluded with a smile.

“I’m just safe,” I persisted.

“Innocent,” he corrected me. “You know, it’s really not a bad thing so don’t take it the wrong way. There’s nothing to be ashamed about.”

“Why would I be ashamed?”

“I’m just saying,” he shrugged. “Lots of guys actually like girls who are innocent. They think it’s endearing.”

“Yeah, or an opportunity to turn a good girl bad,” Elsie muttered under her breath but we all heard her despite her best efforts to keep it quiet. “What Robbie’s trying to say is that it won’t kill you to get a little crazy now and again. I bet if we played ‘Never Have I Ever’ with you, you’d still have all of your fingers raised by the time we got out.”

I was baffled. “What’s ‘Never Have I Ever’?”

She widened her eyes at Dylan. “Oh my God.”

He sat forward and clasped his hands together over his knees. “Look, these two aren’t good at explaining things so let me try; you definitely are the most innocent person out of the six of us in terms of what you have or haven’t done but it’s not a bad thing, even though Robbie makes it out to be. Some people think they’re boring because they haven’t done as much as others have but think of it as an opportunity. You have a clean slate so you don’t have to worry about any bad past catching up with you and biting you in the ass. As for me, I think the fact that you’re so youthful is actually really cute and I’m sure if you asked any other guy out there, they’d tell you the exact same thing.”

I smiled at him, flattered. The way he put it was definitely better than Robbie’s choice of words.

“Dylan, that’s so sweet,” Emma said. “When did you become such a romantic?”

“There’s still a lot you don’t know about me,” he replied casually, leaning back in his chair again.

“Robbie’s not necessarily saying that we’ve done that stuff; we haven’t. Getting high or drunk isn’t the only way to have fun and he knows that. He just wants to get inside your head,” Broderick said, tapping just above my ear. “But in my opinion, I actually think that in terms of innocence, you and Emma are tied.”

“That’s true,” Elsie said, looking over at said-girl, who blushed hardcore now.

“I don’t know about that,” Robbie argued. “She’s had boyfriends before, and she’s kind of a badass as well, despite how she hides behind that good-girl exterior. And even though she hasn’t kissed anyone yet, I wouldn’t put her in the same category at Isabelle. She is practically the definition of innocent.”

I glared at him. “Wow, you just keep bashing through walls, don’t you?”

He grinned at me. “Stubbornness is something we both share.”

“We should get to bed,” Emma said, standing up and grabbing my hand suddenly. “Big day tomorrow, you know?”

“Really?” Broderick asked.

“Yeah, we’re going into town to explore,” Elsie answered back, pushing herself out of her chair and joining us as Emma pulled me up the lawn.

“What’s there to explore?” Robbie yawned, putting his hands behind his head and closing his eyes. “We’ve gone through it a thousand times. All it is, is this one road around the lake with a bunch of stores.”

“It’s cute. That’s what it is,” Elsie argued. “Don’t come in too late, Robbie. I don’t want to wake up because of you.”

He sighed. “Yes, dear.” She rolled her eyes and ran up to us.

I knew they were just joking around with each other but I couldn’t help but think about how adorable of a couple they would be. Everyone saw it, and they were perfect for one another. It was times like those that made me really wonder why in the world they weren’t together.



The next morning I stumbled into the kitchen, eyes half shut from being so tired, still in my pajamas, hair a tangled mess, only to find Broderick leaning over a jug of water with something lumpy inside while he pounded at it with a potato masher. I rubbed my eyes and blinked a few times so I could actually see, and also to make sure that I was actually witnessing such a thing.

“Piece of shit. Come on,” he growled and when he spotted me at the doorway, squinting at him, he paused. “I’m trying to make orange juice and all they had was the frozen stuff, but it won’t break apart.”

“Scintillating,” I said, walking over and sitting at the island where there were three stools set up on the one side of it. “Can I get some of that when you’re done with it?”

He nodded and began pushing against it once more, grunting and groaning. This was when Dylan walked in, shirtless—again—with damp hair and a towel thrown over his shoulders. “If you need to use the shower, you might want to go in now. Once Robbie wakes up, he spends like, an hour in there.”

“Which is weird considering he is a boy,” Broderick said, tapping the potato masher against the jug and putting it in the sink. Dylan raised his eyebrows.

“What were you doing?” he asked.

“Making orange juice. Do you want some?” He held up the jug but Dylan just stared. Finally, he shrugged and came over to sit beside me.

“Sure, thanks.”

“So how far away are we from town?” I inquired.

“Not nearly as long of a drive as yesterday,” Dylan replied. “Maybe twenty minutes or so. And Broderick, I’m driving this time.”

Broderick sighed. “Okay. Just don’t get my car dirty,” He said, grabbing three glasses out of the cabinet and placing them on the counter. Then he poured out the juice and slid them over to us. I took a small sip and then put it down again, rubbing my eyes.

“I’m so tired,” I moaned. “I should have slept in more.”

“It’s nine o’clock,” Broderick said, cocking a brow expertly. “How late do you usually sleep in?”

“Clearly later than you do, judging by your tone,” I said.

“Broderick’s an early riser. For him, eight is sleeping in,” Dylan pointed out.

“It’s good practice,” he argued.

"For what?"

"For when I get a job."

I finished off my glass of juice while the two of them chatted and excused myself to have a shower. I grabbed my hair dryer from my bag, my small shampoo bottles and all the clothes I was going to need for the day but since I didn’t know what the weather was going to be like, I stuck with a flower printed high-waist skirt and a white tank top tucked into it. After I had had my shower, I pushed my hair back with a black hair band because it was so curly today and it was bothering me. Usually I didn’t have that problem, but when it was humid my hair would get fairly big and take up a lot of space, and it was already halfway down my back so that made it even worse. I walked out of the bathroom and found that everyone was now awake. Elsie and Emma both had showers at night, and Broderick had been fully dressed when I saw him first thing because he had claimed the shower before Dylan did.

Robbie took it after I did, and then Elsie’s parents came out of their bedroom and told us we were going into town for breakfast. This weekend vacation was already turning out to be more fun than some of the trips I had taken with my family, because all they did was argue with each other. I felt so at peace here, and nothing was going to stress me out; not even the fact that when I got home, I had to finish a six page essay for English. I wondered how Elsie was coming along with hers but I wasn’t going to ask because I couldn’t have cared less about school work at the moment. After Robbie had joined us in the living room, everyone finished getting ready—Dylan put on a shirt, the girls put their purse essentials together and we all grabbed our shoes and piled into the car. This time, instead of Broderick driving, Elsie’s father did even though Dylan had offered. The seating arrangement had changed so now it was the girls in one car, and the boys in the other. This way, conversation wasn’t nearly as uncomfortable.

We pulled into the parking lot of a single-floored log restaurant right by the water. We sat inside because all of the tables outside on the deck were taken. Apparently the town we were in, Pinedale, was a popular tourist spot but I had never even heard of it until I found out Elsie had a cottage down here. Now I understood why people liked it so much; not only was it a beautiful and quiet town, it had the most charming downtown district I had ever seen. It was almost as if I had stepped into the French Quarter of New Orleans because it looked just like that, except without all the flooding. We had to wait a good half an hour before a table was available for us because it was so busy. Elsie said that crowds this size were normal though, because where we were had the best food she had ever eaten and with all the times that she had come here, that was pretty much everything on their menu. However, more people began to pile in and she started to notice it was the busiest she had ever seen it.

By the time we actually got to eat, it was relatively late, but I was totally stuffed when we finished around half past eleven. Elsie’s parents paid for all of us and once we had left, we split up to walk around the town. Elsie and Robbie went down to the pier because they wanted to go jet skiing, her parents walked up the hill to one of the department stores because they had to look for a new bedspread, new curtains and new kitchen utensils for their house back in the city. They were hoping to do some renovating there as well by Christmas Eve, so they were starting with the small stuff. We all guessed they would end up buying more than they planned, and would spend most of their day doing just that. Dylan, Broderick, Emma and I stayed downtown though, and decided to do some window shopping. Emma and Broderick stuck together most of the time and they couldn’t stop whining about wanting to play miniature golf, but it wasn’t opened until noon. So they had to wait, and they did not like that idea. Dylan and I stopped in a few antique shops and admired the knickknacks but we were all using up our time to buy souvenirs for our family and friends, and of course, something for ourselves. We definitely didn’t have anything like this in our city; I had never spent so little time in such a small place and felt so at home, and I saw where Elsie was coming from when she said that her best summers were spent down here. There didn’t look to be much to do, but there actually was, depending on the time of the year. They had a number of festivals and carnivals, water sports and recreational activities all over town, and I could see myself spending the entire day down here, or more. We had chosen a good weekend to visit, because apparently it was their “Festival of Lights”, so when the Sun would set and the night would creep in, they would put on a fantastic fireworks spectacle. No wonder Elsie had said it was busier than usual.

The minute I spotted a baby store, I ran into it and picked out something I though Chris would like, which turned out to be a pair of flats made specifically for pregnant mothers, a few outfits that would work on a baby of either gender, a purple dress in case she decided to get out of the house with Blade, and a chocolate bar. Broderick must have thought I was looking for myself, because he froze up and started asking questions about whether or not I was sure I hadn’t been with a guy before. Then when Emma explained that Christabelle was the one who was expecting a child, he unclenched. I wondered about him sometimes. As for Blade, he was a little harder to shop for and after buying gifts for him for over ten years, it got a little difficult to think of something new. So I got him a set of five ties, a bottle of cologne, and a box of Nanaimo bars. I was running out of ideas and after a while, I just started grabbing things I thought he would like—thank God I had saved up money. For my mother, I got her an address book and a fancy pen, because after what she had said to Ryan I wasn’t too pleased with her and didn’t feel like dropping over thirty dollars on her as a souvenir. I was being overly generous with everyone else too, but they hadn’t royally pissed me off. Then for my father, I bought him a new wallet and a book on tourism in Italy that I thought he might want to read when we came to visit him. Judging by the email he had sent me, he wasn’t getting much leisure time where he could spend it actually enjoying the city. All he did was work, so I was hoping this would be some sort of an influence for him to get out there and travel. I didn’t want to leave Abel alone without something because he really was the world’s best dog and seeing me probably wouldn’t make him as happy as I had hoped, so I picked up two new toys for him; one in the shape of a gorilla and the other just a giant purple and green ball with a squeaker inside of it. Those would keep him amused for at least three weeks, before he tore them both to bits. He was a good dog, but that didn’t mean he wasn’t vicious when it came to playing with his toys. I really wanted to buy Ryan something after how sweet he had been to me since the moment I met him, so when I was in the book store, I spotted “The Idiot” and thought of the conversation I had had with him that one time about the novels he liked to read. I was hoping he didn’t own it, but he had only said he read it, so I grabbed that and H.G. Wells’ “The Time Machine”. As I was buying them, I saw a bookmark with Harry Houdini on it, and couldn’t resist getting that for him as well. As for buying myself something, I picked up a teddy bear with a t-shirt on it that said "I Love Pinedale", because that was really all I needed.

I was carrying five separate bags, and they weren’t exactly light-weight but suddenly I saw Elsie’s father walking down the street toward the car and so I called him out and asked him if I could put my bags in. He was already heading that way because both he and Elsie’s mother were beginning to buy things, and they couldn’t carry it around all day so they needed the car. I tossed my bags in the trunk and thanked him before I caught up to Emma, Broderick and Dylan again and he drove away.

After the four of us had played a round of mini-putt for Emma and Broderick’s benefit, we went for a walk further down the boardwalk. We came to a portion of downtown that was so jam-packed, it was causing people to stick side by side to each other.

“What’s going on?” I asked, lifting my sunglasses to take a better look. They weren’t much help when the trees were shading me, and everything just got really dark.

“I’m not sure. That might be the farmer’s market,” Dylan said, putting his hands in his shorts pockets.

“It is. My parents actually used to come here all the time with me so they could buy the fruit,” Broderick said. Dylan looked at him and frowned.

“If you’ve been here before, then why the hell did you get lost?” he asked. I smirked at Broderick, equally curious but he just ducked his head down and quickened his pace so he didn’t have to answer.

“Guys! I think we should go in. They have a bakery and that chocolate croissant is calling my name,” Emma said, her mouth watering.

“But we just ate,” I said. The truth was that I really didn’t want to eat anything so close to dinner time, because I didn’t want to spoil it or have to throw half of it out from a moment of weakness. Emma looked at her watch.

“It’s five o’clock,” she objected. “The last time we ate was like, six hours ago and seriously . . . smell that.” She grabbed me by the shoulders and pulled me in front of her to the entrance of the market. “Smell it and try to tell me that you’re not tempted.”

I inhaled and the scent of newly baked bread shot up my nose. I felt my lips go dry because it smelled so good. “I don’t know, Em,” I said. “I’ve really abused my purse today. I don’t think it could stand another purchase.”

“How much do you have left?”

“About twenty dollars,” I said. “I don’t want to waste it on something like that though.”

“Waste?” Broderick asked, gaping at me.

“Okay, spend. Sorry,” I said, lifting my hands up beside my head.

“How much have you used already?” Emma asked.

“I’m not sure on the exact amount but way over one hundred.”

“I’ll buy something for you. Just, can we please go in? If we don’t, I will cry and I can guarantee you of that,” she begged. Dylan put a hand on both of our backs and gave us a light shove toward the doors.

“Get in. No crying on the boardwalk,” he said. Broderick held the door opened for us and that tantalizing smell hypnotized me again. It was going to be hard to resist this.

“Do you want anything?” Dylan asked me as we waited in the long line-up.

I shook my head. “I’m okay, thanks. I’m just going to go grab us a table,” and I started to walk away but he seized my wrist and pulled me back.

“Iz, I don’t mind buying you something if you want it. I’ve hardly gotten anyone souvenirs yet and I still have plenty of money. Plus, I’m pretty sure it’ll kill you if you have to watch us all eat while you have nothing,” he smiled. “So tell me what you’d like and I’ll get it for you.”

I looked from him to the display case, my mouth opened slightly because I didn’t know what else to say. “That one, please,” I said, pointing to a cheese bun. “Dylan?”

“Hm?”

“Thank you. I’ll pay you back.”

He shook his head firmly. “No way. This is on me, don’t worry about it.”

“Dylan—”

“Go find a seat,” he laughed. “We’ll be there soon.”

I walked stiffly over to an empty table by the window and waited for the three of them. The bakery was actually lower than the sidewalk so we had to step down a set of stairs to get inside and right before the door was a little walkway we could have taken if we wanted to sit outside, but that was filled like the restaurant had been that morning. And right next to that was the sidewalk. Everyone walking past would have to look down to spot us but all-in-all, it was a very cool layout. If only I had brought my camera with me, because I sure would have had some great pictures to show Blade and Christabelle when I went back home.

When Dylan came over, he sat down beside me and passed me my bun. He had bought himself some sort of lime smoothie, or at least that was what it looked like to me so while he was working on getting the straw out of the wrapper, I smiled at him.

“Thanks, Dee,” I said. He stopped where he was, taken aback and looked up at me.

“What?”

“I said thank you,” I answered.

“No, the nickname,” he corrected me. “I’ve never heard you use it before.”

I shrugged. “I’m trying something new. Should I call you something else?”

“No, what you have is fine,” he laughed. “I just didn’t know you were going to call me anything other than Dylan.”

I was about to reply but Emma and Broderick came over with their food and launched into a discussion about what else they wanted to do before we left the downtown region tonight. I looked at Dylan and he just smiled at me, and then tuned back in to what Emma was saying. It was about a half an hour later when somehow, out of the entire five blocks of stores and activities downtown, Elsie and Robbie found us. They walked into the bakery, their hair damp and pleased smiles on their faces. Clearly they had enjoyed their time out on the water. They noticed us almost immediately and rushed over.

“There you guys are! We’ve been looking all over for you,” Elsie said, a little out of breath. “We’ve got to go now. We’re heading back to the cottage.”

Emma’s jaw dropped. “Seriously? But I’m still not done my shopping!” she protested and Robbie laughed.

“We’re coming back. It’s just that Elsie’s parents made reservations for dinner at the restaurant where we had breakfast, but they’re not until seven-thirty so we’re going home to get changed and freshen up,” he explained. “We need it. We’re covered in lake water.”

“We can smell it,” Emma said, tapping her nose.

“So let’s go. They’re waiting for us,” Elsie said, heading for the door. We all grabbed our bags and left the bakery, walking up the concrete stairs and down the sidewalk while we reminisced about our day out. When we got to the car, Elsie’s mother and father were waiting by the car. Her dad tossed the car keys to Broderick and told him that he had to follow instructions if he was going to drive the car. We all laughed, knowing he was just kidding around with him but poor Broderick looked horribly embarrassed. He got into the car and drove off first, while our car followed closely behind.

As soon as we arrived, Elsie raced into the bathroom to have a shower, while Robbie was forced to stay off the carpet so he wouldn’t be dripping everywhere. I got changed into a pink summer dress with a white band around the waist. It was supposed to be a nice night, unlike yesterday so we didn’t have to worry about burning hot or freezing cold weather. Emma helped me with my hair because it was far too large to leave it all down. I actually liked my curly hair, but not like this, so she took the front parts where it was the worst and pulled them to the back. She took the clip she had had in her hair during the day and placed it in mine. Then she applied some hairspray and stepped back to admire her work.

“What do you think?” she asked and I grinned.

Now I could see my curls without being annoyed with how big they were.

“I love it. Thanks for helping me out,” I said. “But don’t you need this clip?”

She shook her head. “I’m straightening my hair. Don’t worry about it.”

I left the room so she could change and went into the living room, where Broderick and Dylan were seated watching television. They were both changed into a fresh pair of clothes. I sat down next to Dylan and joined them for the half an hour we had before we needed to leave. Elsie’s parents came out of their room at the same time Elsie herself ran in front of us with her hair flowing down her back and a towel wrapped around her body.

“Forgot my clothes!” she screamed and Broderick and Dylan both covered their eyes, squirming in their seats and groaning. I snorted in amusement and took this opportunity to change the television channel. Finally when everyone was ready, we drove back out to the restaurant and because of our reservations, we got to sit on the terrace outside, looking across the lake while we ate.

The Sun was relatively low now, not completely set but creating a gorgeous contrast of purple, yellow and orange in the sky. If I was relaxed before, it was nothing compared to this. A light breeze blew over the water, so gentle that it wouldn’t have even made a piece of paper move. We took our time eating instead of rushing like we had done at breakfast, because we really didn’t have anywhere to be between now and the time the fireworks went off at ten-thirty. When we finished at quarter to nine, I agreed I would walk through town with Emma so she could do last-minute shopping for her step-mother and Amelia, since she had already gotten her father's and Karlee's. Most of the stores were closed, so she had to get simple gifts like a teddy bear, a few post cards and a mug with her step-mother's name on it, but they hadn’t expected or asked for much; they’d be grateful that she brought them anything home. She’d also grabbed a package of salt water taffy, which was surprising considering I had never heard of any store in Ontario selling it. It must have been shipped in but if I had noticed it earlier, I would have bought it because it was so rare. Once she was set, she stuffed her purchase bag into her overly large purse and we met the group back at the water. We managed to find a spot to sit right on the docks but it had been difficult since there were so many people also looking. We wouldn’t have all fit if the couple beside us hadn’t scooting down to make room for us, which we were all very thankful for.

And after the fireworks when we were all piling back into the car and getting ready for bed, I couldn’t help but feel a little sad. It was going to be the last night at Elsie’s cottage and by four o’clock tomorrow afternoon, we would be taking our trip to return to the real world. Being here, however short it was, had been a fantastic vacation that I wasn’t ready to finish with. A weekend had never felt so wonderful, or so short.

I was dreading going back home; not only because of my essay, but because I would have to leave Pinedale behind and it was, by far, one of the best vacations I had ever taken.



“I’m home!” I called to my family as I stepped through the front door, pulling my suitcase behind me and holding my gift bags off my left arm. Blade, Christabelle and my mother all came around the corner, yelling out how happy they were to see me and how they had missed me. Chris hugged me first and Blade took my bags off of my hands, placing them on the bench against the wall.

“Welcome back! You have to tell us all about your trip later, okay? Are you happy to be home?” Chris asked.

“Of course,” I smiled. I was lying; I could have stayed away from home for another year if I got the chance. I would have missed my family obviously, but being in such a serene environment and then coming back to the busy city life was not a good transition. When I woke up that morning, I felt like I was moving out of my own home, and when I told Elsie, she just laughed and said that the next time they came up, they’d definitely be bringing all of us again, and not just for the weekend.

“Sit down. I got you guys some gifts,” I said.

“I can’t stay. I have to go back to work,” my mother said, looking down at her phone. “Just leave it on the table for me and I’ll get to it later.” She kissed me on the cheek and sped out the door. I frowned as I watched her leave so suddenly and turned back to Christabelle and Blade, who looked upset.

"Well that was rude," I deadpanned.

“Ah, don’t worry about mom, Iz. You know how she’s a workaholic,” Blade said, waving it off.

“Yeah. But we’ll take our gifts,” Christabelle grinned.

I laughed and grabbed their bags. “Okay, here you go,” I said, handing them off. The two of them looked like children on Christmas day as they went into the living room to sit down and open their gifts. I sat in front of them on the foot stool so I could watch. Blade pulled out his ties first and chuckled.

“I’ve needed these. Chris tells me to get new ones every day,” he said.

“That’s because you should—oh my God, this is gorgeous.” She lifted the long purple dress out of the bag and gasped.

“It’s a one-size-fits-all type of dress so you don’t have to worry about it being too small or anything,” I smiled. “And it stretches. I thought you would need it in case you decided to have a night out with Blade instead of being cooped up in this place all the time. And you can wear it after the pregnancy too, because it’s adjustable.” Her eyes watered, which made mine go wide. “Did I make a bad choice?”

“No! Oh gosh, of course not. I love it,” she said, and reached forward to pull me into a tight hug. “Thank you so much! It means a lot to me that you’d spend this kind of money on me.”

I shook my head. “It’s no problem. But your present’s not done, you know.” She pulled away, shocked.

“Really?”

Blade held up the bottle of cologne. “I’ve seen this stuff advertised. How did you know I wanted it?”

I didn’t, I thought but opted not to say anything like that. “Lucky guess.” I also didn’t want to leave Blade empty-handed after getting Christabelle more than I got for him, especially since he was my brother, so I moved two of the unisex outfits for the baby to his bag, and left Christabelle with the other two. Then they had an even amount of gifts from me.

Christabelle pulled out the shoes next and slipped them on immediately, while Blade opened the box of Nanaimo bars and ate one. Then he offered them to both me and his wife, and because I was hungry and she was pregnant, we both took one. Christabelle got her chocolate bar out next, which probably made her even happier than the dress had. Not only was it her favourite, but it was double the size of a normal one, so she’d have an even bigger smile on her face. Her eating habits had improved drastically when she read one of the baby books and learned that what she eats during pregnancy could put her baby’s health in danger if she didn’t try her best to eat healthy, so the chocolate bar was a much-needed treat for her after five weeks of nothing but salad for lunch. Finally, they both reached for the baby clothes at the same time, and I wasn’t sure if I had ever seen their mouths so wide. They were practically radiating happiness.

“Isabelle, thank you so much for these,” Christabelle said, looking at all of her gifts on her lap. “We weren’t even expecting you to get us anything. I mean, a postcard would have been great but this is just . . .”

“It’s very generous,” Blade filled in for her and she nodded.

“Yes. You must have spent a fortune on everything,” she said. “Do you still have a fair amount of money?” I didn’t, but I wasn’t going to let them feel bad because I decided to get them so many souvenirs. After all, it had been my choice. So I nodded and told them I did. “Because if you don’t, we can reimburse you, right Blade?” she asked.

“Absolutely,” he agreed.

I shook my head. “Don’t even think about it. I still have money. I just wanted to bring you guys a little something back and I know that being pregnant really cuts down how much you can do so I thought these may cheer you up, sort of,” I shrugged. “Anyway, I hope you guys like them.”

“We love them,” Blade laughed, standing up and pulling me into a hug. I squeezed him back tightly until he pulled away and glanced over his shoulder at the other three bags at the door. “So one of them is moms, I’m assuming that you got something for dad but what about the last one?” he asked me, putting his hands on his hips.

“Oh, that’s for Ryan,” I responded and when Christabelle raised her eyebrows, surprised, I went on. “Yeah, he’s been a really great friend lately, especially when I had strep throat so I thought bringing him back something would be a nice way of saying ‘thank you’.” She and Blade looked at each other, both of them grinning. “What?” I asked.

“He actually came by yesterday to drop something off for you,” she said. Blade went into the kitchen and sorted through the mail, until he turned around again with an envelope in his hand. When he walked back over, he passed it to me and, with an oddly suspicious expression on my face, I took it and slid a finger under the flap to open it. Then I pulled out a small ticket to the Victoria Theatre downtown, and the card underneath it;



“What does it say?” Chris asked.

I smiled and looked back up at them. “It says I’ve got a date.”