Christy’s brother came over to her open door and said, “Scoot over. I want to sit on that side.”
“You can sit on the other side. I’m already here.”
“You always get to sit there.”
“So?”
“So it’s behind Mom’s seat, and there’s more legroom. Dad pushes his seat back so far it gives me leg cramps.”
“Oh, David, you don’t get leg cramps.”
“I do too!”
“Well, my legs are longer than yours, and I’m already sitting here, so you go sit on the other side. The drive’s not that far anyway.”
Their mom called from behind the car where she and Dad were still trying to fit everything in the trunk. “David and Christy, stop your arguing. I’ll sit in the backseat. You can sit in the front, David.”
He gave Christy a smirk, which she thought was about the worst thing anyone could have done to her at the moment. Christy pursed her lips together, working very hard not to let the words she wanted to say slip out. She drew in a deep breath and tried to calm down. It took her a minute before she felt as if her rampaging emotions had subsided. She prayed silently. Then she murmured, “David, I’m sorry. I’ll try to be nice.”
He turned around in the seat and looked at her as if trying to make sure she was serious. “Me too,” he mumbled after a moment.
Christy pulled her brush and hair clip from her bag and worked on her hair, getting it off her neck. The day was already hot. Too hot to be sitting in the car in the sunshine.
When her parents finally were settled in the car and her dad had backed the vehicle out of the driveway, it seemed to grow hotter before the air conditioning finally kicked in. At last, coolness could be felt in the backseat.
“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.
15
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 wate
r 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.
16
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.
Christy was thrilled.
“Sara, you guys keep an eye on David, and we’ll meet all of you here in an hour, okay?”
David and the girls took off, and Christy suddenly felt shy around Matt. They walked side by side on the hot pavement through the park, and the scent of chlorine seemed to surround them. Christy was sure her skin had never been so “bleached” in pool water before, but with so many people, she knew the water needed to be extra clean. She guessed her hair would have a green tinge by the day’s end. For all she knew, it already could be turning green. She wondered if Matt would notice such a thing as green hair.
“Are you having a good time?” Matt was looking at her closely.
“Yes, I’m having a great time. Are you?”
Matt nodded and motioned for her to go first into the Adventure River. He followed her into the water, and soon they were bobbing leisurely along in their big blue inner tubes.
Matt reached over and took hold of the handle on the side of Christy’s inner tube.
“Don’t tip me over!” Christy cried.
“I’m not going to,” Matt said. He pulled his inner tube right next to Christy’s and said, “Okay. Do you want to hear the whole story about Melissa?”
Christy felt her emotions nosedive. Now that she was finally alone with Matt, she certainly didn’t want to talk about Melissa. But she nodded politely and said, “Sure.”
“I asked Melissa to go with me to homecoming our junior year, and you would think it was the royal event of the decade. It was a much bigger deal to everyone than I think it should have been, and I didn’t have a very good time.”
“So you and Melissa used to go out?” Christy asked.
“Just that one time. That was it. Except ever since, she seems to think I owe her another dance or something.” Matt leaned closer to Christy’s inner tube and said, “Can I tell you something?”
Christy nodded and gave him an expression of sincere honesty. She wanted him to know he could trust her with his secrets.
“That’s been my total dating experience. I’ve been interested in different girls now and then, but because of sports and work, I never had any time to develop a social life. Then, when I became a Christian, the selection of girls who believed the same way I did went down to zero.”
“Can I ask you something?” Christy asked.
“Of course.”
“Why did you go out with Melissa in the first place? I mean, did you both really like each other, or did you think it was going to be a one-time thing?”
“I didn’t know what it was going to be. Paula told me Melissa liked me at the beginning of our junior year,” Matt said. “Paula was the one who convinced me to ask Melissa to the homecoming dance.”
Christy didn’t mean to, but she laughed.
“What?” Matt said. “What did I say?”
“I’m sorry, Matt. I was just thinking that if it hadn’t been for Paula, how would you ever know any girls liked you?”
“I knew you liked me,” he said. “Before Paula even told me, I knew.”
“Oh? And just how did you know that?” Christy asked, playfully splashing the water with her toes.
“You used to chase me,” Matt said.
“I used to chase you?”
“Yeah. Don’t you remember? In third grade at first recess, you used to chase me around the schoolyard. I’d come up to you and tag you on the shoulder, and then you would chase me.”
“That’s right,” Christy said. “How could I have forgotten that? You used to always say, ‘Eeny meeny boo boo,’ whatever that meant.”
Matt laughed. “That’s right. Where did I come up with that?”
They both laughed, and Christy said, “And that’s how you knew I liked you?”
“Yep,” Matt said.
“But you never liked me back,” Christy said, watching Matt’s expression for a response.
“I never said that.” His eyes were fixed on hers, and his jaw was set. Matt let go of the handle on her inner tube and reached for Christy’s hand. The gesture surprised Christy, but she didn’t pull back. Under the warm summer sun, drenched with the scent of chlorine, Christy and Matt floated do
wn the Adventure River, hand in hand.
17
hristy felt as if her childhood dream was coming true. Only now it was ten years after she had first dreamed of holding hands with Matthew Kingsley while floating down some imaginary, lazy river. Christy didn’t know what to say, or even if she should say anything.
“When I heard you were coming,” Matt said after a moment, “I wanted to see you because I wondered how much you had changed.”
“Have I changed a lot?” Christy heard a nervous twitch in her voice and wondered if Matt noticed it.
“In some ways you haven’t changed at all. And in the ways you have changed, well, all those changes have been for the better.” Then quickly Matt added, “You do know, don’t you, that I have a crush on you, Christy Miller?”
Christy was so surprised at Matt’s declaration that she scooped up a handful of water and splashed him, saying, “You do not, Matthew Kingsley!”
“How do you know?” he said. “You can’t see inside me to know what I’m feeling.”
The wounded expression on Matt’s face made Christy bite her lip. How could she have discredited his feelings like that? She knew exactly what it felt like to have a crush. She knew how painful it was to have your crush revealed and then to have that person dismiss it with rude carelessness. She would have hurt him less if she had blurted out that she would rather kiss a toad, the way he had dismissed her crush years ago. But what she had just done was worse. He had confessed his feelings to her, and she had invalidated them in one breath.
Matt let go of her hand as they approached the Adventure River’s exit.
“I’m sorry,” Christy said. She felt awful. Worse than awful. Terrible. No, horrible. She felt horrible. She exited the water and hurried to catch up with Matt. Her wet feet flapped against the hot pavement as she tried to keep up with his stride.
“Matt, will you stop a minute?”