The Summer Obsession

“You tell them that our lives can change with every breath we take…and tell them to hold on like hell to what they’ve got: each other and a mother who would die for them and almost did… You tell them we’ve all got meanness in us, but we’ve got goodness too. And the only thing we’ve got worth living for is the good. And that’s why we’ve got to make sure we pass it on.”

Sniffle—“I love this movie.”—Sniffle.

It was great, it was heartfelt, but obviously it wasn’t The Princess and the Frog. Don’t get me wrong, though, I did end up forcing Grant to watch it with me once I was finally capable of tearing the attention of that overgrown kid away from his precious video game bonding time with my nephew. After the two of us had gotten comfortable upon my floral print comforter-key word being on and not under since the latter would have been a compromising position to put two hormonal teenagers in, even if the bedroom door had been left wide open and accessible to my parental units-it was amusing for me to discover that Grant seemed to be just as concerned with the budding romance of Tiana and Prince Naveen as I was. And so, he willingly stayed with me all ninety-seven minutes in counting. He smiled sheepishly right along with me through the adorable parts and awkwardly patted my back in a consoling manner when I cried, much like I always do when Ray the firefly dies. I hate it when people die. I always have, but it seems to bother me much more now that I know what loss personally feels like. Grant probably realized that whilst watching me dry heave and go through one of those “Ugly Cries,” as Oprah likes to call them, whilst sitting right beside of him. But that was yesterday, not today, and I definitely was not about to call him up and annoy him just because I couldn’t sit through Where the Heart is without having yet another emotional breakdown.

I let out a loud, slow sigh, and the only noise that seemed to be able to interrupt it was the agitated bark of my sole companion, rather than the conversation playing out upon my television screen.

“Sorry, Novalee.” I whispered, fingers tentatively reaching out to stroke the soft fur of my tiny little cuddle-buddy. It was obvious that I disrupted her sleep with my boisterous cries of anguish. One might think that since we were watching the movie in which existed her fictional namesake, she might have been more awake…but Sugar gliders are nocturnal, and I doubt a chick-flick is ever going to be able to change that.

Even at the sound of my voice, Novalee refused to crack her wide, doe eyes open to the full extent of their circumference and instead had begun to lull back into a blissful sleep. It almost seemed wrong of her to be so content and carefree given the circumstances. Or maybe it was just wrong for me to be holding her whilst she was as such. It was for her to be in my room, in my life – especially when Summer wasn’t anymore.

You see, Novalee was an early birthday present for me that I had received on my big sister’s birthday. The concept of such a thing occurring might seem a little wack, but honestly the only reason I got her in the first place was because of timing. My parents and I just so happened to have visited a pet store that day, and with Novalee and me it was love at first sight. I had to have her, and it was simply a matter of convenience that mom had gotten her paycheck recently and could afford to buy a Sugar glider in comparison to two months from then, when my actual birthday would roll around, that paycheck money would have already run out, and my family wouldn’t be able to afford much of anything.

I was extremely happy that day, but Summer wasn’t. The birthday present she had received, an eloquent necklace from a high-priced jewelry store, was lovely and all, but it hadn’t actually been what she had wanted. She hadn’t made the effort to tell anybody, but she had apparently always wanted a Sugar glider and it just wasn’t fair to her that I had gotten one. I felt really badly about it and apologized, but Summer didn’t care. She wouldn’t talk to me for weeks. So, the least I could have done was name my new pet something Summer would like. It just so happens to be a fact that along with being a favorite of mine, Where the Heart is was my sister’s absolute favorite movie of all time. I knew that, and so Novalee Mack the Sugar glider was heralded into my family. And eventually, Summer hadn’t been able to resist Novalee’s cuteness any longer and forgave me, forgave mom and dad, and forgave Murphy’s Law for no longer allowing her to get everything she’d ever wanted and then some. It’s probably crazy of me, now that she’s gone to be surrounding myself with things that she loved. But it helps—

“Summer, the phone’s for you. . .”

Suddenly my mother was looming in the doorway, her eyes not glancing up from the fluffy fibers of my eggshell colored carpet in order to notice my tear-stained face.

I half-expected her to look up suddenly, gasp at my disheveled appearance, and embrace me, but I knew better than that; especially when my mother didn’t seem to care enough to bother to correct the miscalling of my sister’s name.

“Oh, really? If the phone’s for Summer, then why did they ask for Aubrey?” I muttered under my breath. Of course even if she failed to pick up on what I was trying to say, mom still managed to hear me.

“Don’t back-sass me, young lady, or you’ll be grounded from talking on this phone and I’ll block this-I’ll block this, Keith guy’s number!” Her tone was strict, but nevertheless my mother’s bitchy attitude had managed to suddenly brighten my awful day.

Keith didn’t exist, but Keegan did.

And that was enough for me to ignore the fact that mom and dad had never been very good with names.