Forever Changed

  “Don’t worry, babe. You got this. Besides, you’re only human. If it makes you feel any better, I wanted to break my no-violence vow in there,” he chuckled, dropping a kiss on the top of my head.

  Kassandra was quiet on the drive back to my complex. I knew she was worried about Lacey’s mom running her big mouth. I wished we could spend more time together, but I knew she had plans with her family that evening.

  “Are we still on for tomorrow?” I asked doubtfully, considering the next day was the day before Christmas Eve.

  “I think so,” she said, still obviously worried her mom would know by then. “I’ll text you. What should I wear anyway?”

  “Warm clothes. We’ll be outside all morning,” I said, parking next to her SUV.

  “Where are we going again?” she pried.

  “Me to know, and you to find out,” I teased, grabbing her bags from the trunk of the car and stowing them in her Explorer.

  “No fun,” she pouted.

  “Come on, surprises are good,” I laughed, dropping a kiss on her lips. “Text me, okay?” She nodded, though her eyes were clouded over with worry.

  “Don’t worry. Maybe that hag won’t say anything. You did a pretty convincing job, making it seem like your mom already knows.”

  “I hope so,” she said, closing her door.

  “It’ll be fine,” I mouthed as she pulled away.

  I grabbed my own crap from the car and headed upstairs. I was pissed that our day had been ruined. For our sake, I hope I was right, that Lacey’s mom wouldn’t say anything.

  I was determined not to let Lacey or her mom ruin the holidays which were going to be stressful enough anyway. Mom and Megan were ready and waiting by the time I got home. I thought Megan was going to barrel over me the way she ran at me like she was launched from a sling-shot. She was obviously excited.

  “You look cute, Peanut,” I said, taking in her Christmas Minnie Mouse shirt and matching hair bow. "Let me stow these in my room and then I’ll be ready to go,” I said, holding up my bags.

  “We have time,” Mom said. “Did you have fun today?”

  I gave an apprehensive laugh. “Well, as much fun as you can have at the mall the week of Christmas,” I said, heading for the stairs.

  “You think that’s bad, wait until we get to Disney,” she teased.

  “Ugh, don’t remind me,” I called down the stairs.

  I stowed the bags in the back of my closest and snagged my favorite hoodie from its hanger and headed back down the stairs.

  “Peanut’s shirt is really cute. Looks like someone was busy today, huh?” I teased my mom as we headed out. She had mad sewing skills and probably whipped up the one-of-a-kind shirt and bow in less than a few hours.

  She laughed. “What’s the Magic Kingdom without a Mickey or Minnie shirt?” she said, pulling out of the driveway.

  “You did a good job,” I said, fiddling with the radio until I found a song I liked.

  “I could have made you one,” she teased.

  “Umm no, I’m good, but thanks. So what time are Grandma and Donna going to be here tomorrow?”

  “Around dinnertime,” she said grimacing.

  “Why are they coming again?” I asked confused. We normally spent New Year’s with them on our way home from skiing in North Carolina every year.

  “To make my life hell,” she muttered for my ears only. “They said they didn’t want us to be alone.”

  “Well, that ought to be a zip-a-dee-do-da time,” I joked, turning up the radio.

  “Oh clever,” she said sarcastically.

  The parking lot for the Magic Kingdom was packed. We cruised along with the long line of cars that snaked through the lot, following the waving directions of the multiple attendants that guided everyone to the available parking spots.

  “You’re in charge of remembering where we parked, Peanut,” I teased. “Simba-65, remember that or we’ll have to walk home later.” Mom and I both grabbed a hand and we swung Megan up onto the tram and we slid across the row of seats. The cool wind whipped our hair into our faces as the tram roared toward the ticketing center. I zipped up my hoodie, wishing I had thought to bring gloves. I reached over to zip up Megan also, but Mom had beaten me to it. We looked at each other and smiled. It was so nice to have her being the mom again.

  The night was as fun as I hoped it would be, so much fun in fact, that I didn’t think about Lacey or her mom once the entire time. We avoided the bigger rides since Mom didn’t like the roller coaster-type rides, and Megan was too short anyway. Instead, we rode the People Mover a couple of times, and then the Haunted Mansion. We had to watch Mickey’s PhilharMagic Show, and of course ride all Megan’s favorites in Fantasy land. Finally, we secured our spot on Main Street to watch the parade while drinking hot chocolate. Mom even bought us Mickey Mouse mittens for fun.

  We were all exhausted by the time the grand finale float glided by us. Mom and I took turns carrying Megan out of the park as we followed the crowd to the Monorail. She was out before we had even pulled out of the parking lot to head home.

  “Can you pick up your grandma and Donna from the airport tomorrow afternoon?” Mom asked once we had merged onto I-4.

  “Sure, I have plans in the morning, but should be good to go afterward. What time does their plane land?”

  “Six, I think. What do you have planned for tomorrow?”

  “Just hanging out and stuff,” I answered truthfully since Maddon hadn’t divulged where we were going.

  “You know, I’m going to want to meet these new friends eventually,” she said, emphasizing the words.

  “I know Mom,” I said, looking out at the blackness that cloaked the landscape.

  “Soon?” she added.

  I nodded, not bothering to answer. If Lacey’s mom got to her first, introductions would be a moot point anyway.

  ***

  I was still tired from our late evening at Disney World when I met Maddon the next morning.

  “You look nice,” he said, unlocking my door for me.

  “Thanks,” I said, setting my purse and the small gift bag containing his present on the floorboard so he wouldn’t see it. “So do you, but that’s nothing new.”

  “You’ve checked me out before?” he asked, sliding into the driver’s seat.

  “Come on, like you don’t know girls check you out.”

  “Well sure, I know I’m hot,” he said, blowing on his fingernails and buffing them on his shirt.

  “Smoking hot. I’m surprised the seat doesn’t burst up in flames underneath you,” I teased, knowing he was making a show of being cocky.

  “Did you just say I have a smoking ass?” he asked, raising his eyebrows at me suggestively.

  “Uh, no Mr. Egomaniac, but okay, if it makes you feel better, yeah you do.” I giggled.

  “For that compliment, my lovely disillusioned friend, I’ll treat you to a breakfast of champions,” he said pulling through the drive-thru of McDonald’s. “What would you like?”

  “Oh yay,” I said studying the menu. “I want one of their caramel frappes and a hash brown.”

  “Ick, you like those coffee drinks?”

  “I’d get an IV hooked up to them if they’d let me,” I joked.

  “Not me. I’m a more milk kind of guy. You know, milk does a body good? Whereas, your poison will stunt your growth. Not that that seems to be an issue yet,” he flirted, sweeping his eyes down my body.

  “No, I haven’t had many complaints in that category,” I flirted back boldly. I was curvier than most of my old friends with a chest that almost doubled the size of any of the other cheerleaders. Lacey used to snidely remark that she liked that her boobs didn’t bounce around like mine, but it always came across as pure jealousy. Not that she had anything to be jealous of. I would have traded both my boobs for the endlessly long, thin, tanned legs she sported. I would never admit it in front of her now, but all bitchiness aside, Lacey is gorgeous.

  “Maybe coffee isn’t
that bad for you after all,” he said, letting his eyes linger.

  I socked him in the arm laughing. “Stop being a perv and get us to this secret destination of yours.” I said, taking a big swig of my frappe.

  “Yes, ma’am,” he laughed also.

  He merged onto the highway and headed east. I was dying to know where we were going, but bit my tongue from asking again. Ten minutes later, he exited off the highway, veering into Orange City.

  I sat confused, trying to think of a place in Orange City we could be visiting. The only thing I really knew about Orange City was that my friends and I passed it on the way to Daytona Beach. I remember stopping at a gas station there with Colton last summer, but it was more of a "merge off and merge" on kind of situation, since the gas station had been located right off the highway exit.

  A few minutes later, he turned onto a road named French Avenue. The street held mostly an odd assortment of older and newer houses. I wondered if maybe we were visiting someone he knew. A mile up the road, he turned left into the Blue Springs State Park.

  “A park?” I asked, wondering why we had driven twenty miles out of our way when we had plenty of parks near us.

  “Not just any park,” he said, hopping out of the driver’s seat.

  I followed suit, shivering slightly from the cool breeze and the aftereffects of the frappe I had downed.

  “Come on, you’re gonna love this,” he said, linking his fingers with mine and dragging me toward a trail. We walked in silence. I took in the overgrown trees covered in moss and other vegetation that surrounded us as we made our way down the path. After a few minutes, the path finally opened up to a crystal-clear-spring-fed lake. We navigated the steep embankment that led down to the water’s edge to take a closer look. It was almost like being at an aquarium. Peering into the water, I saw a turtle swimming toward us, and several fish darting around the bottom of the spring, nipping at the dirt.

  “I can’t believe how crystal-clear it is,” I said, turning to him in amazement. I was startled to see he was studying me instead of the underwater wildlife in front of us. “What?” I asked, paranoid.

  “Nothing, you’re just cute when you see something that catches your interest.”

  “Yeah, I’ve always been a visual person," I admitted. “I love seeing things out of the ordinary.

  “Well, in that case, come with me, because this isn’t why we came here today,” he said, grabbing my chilled hand in his.

  “It’s not?” I asked, puzzled.

  “No,” he said, leading me toward a dock that jutted out over the water. There was a large sign that read: No lifeguard on duty. Swim at your own risk. I hope he didn’t have some crazy idea that we were going to go swimming.

  “Um, you know I didn’t bring my suit,” I said as we approached the edge of the dock.

  “Who needs suits, darling? There’s no one around,” he said, indicating the deserted area around us.

  “Whatever, it’s way too cold to go swimming,” I said.

  “Nah, it’s spring fed, so it’s a toasty seventy-two degrees. It’ll be practically tropical in there compared to the brisk fifty-nine degrees it is outside today,” he countered.

  “Well, as much as I’m sure you’d love it, I think there’s a law against going skinny-dipping,” I said, grasping for straws.

  He barreled over laughing at my expense. “Come here, I wanted to show you this,” he said, pointing in the water at the end of the dock.

  “Not funny,” I said, not wanting to admit how relieved I was.

  “Ha-ha, it kind of was. You should have seen your face. Now, come see why I really brought you here,” he said.

  “Fine, but this better not be some elaborate plan to push me in so you can get me out of my clothes.”

  “Now, why didn’t I think of that?” he joked. “Kidding! Come on, trust me.”

  I joined him, cautiously holding his arm in a death grip. If I was going in, so was he.

  “Look,” he said, pointing down in the water.

  Peering down, I gasped out loud as a huge grey shape passed beneath the water under us.

  “What was that?” I asked shocked.

  He laughed. “It’s a manatee.”

  “Like at Sea World?” I asked, kneeling down so I could get a closer look.

  “Exactly, they swim south when the water temperatures drop during the winter.”

  “It’s huge,” I said. “Oh look, there’s another one,” I said, pointing just beyond the dock.

  He laughed again. “Believe me, there’s more than just these two. Blue Springs is a popular hangout for them. If you’re lucky maybe you’ll see a baby one.”

  “Eeeeeeep, that would be so cool,” I said, dropping down to sit on the edge of the dock so I could get a better look. “They kind of look like an oversized walrus without the tusk and those whiskery things.”

  “Yeah, they do. I like how they seem so carefree and lazy, like they don’t have a care in the world.”

  “How did you find this place? I’ve lived here my whole life and never even knew it existed.”

  “My aunt used to bring me once a year after we first moved here. I pitched a fit, though, the year I turned fifteen, saying I was too old to go to a park with my aunt. I never admitted it to her, but I rode three buses that year, by myself, so I could see them. I haven’t missed a year yet.”

  “Wow, who would have thought Rocker-boy Maddon would be a big old softie,” I teased. “Boy, was I wrong about you.”

  “Story of my life,” he said, coming up to sit behind me and wrapping his arms around my waist.

  “Thanks for bringing me here,” I said, trying not to show how much I enjoyed his closeness.

  “It’s the one place that’s always made me forget the crap in my life, and I wanted to share it with you,” he said, nuzzling my neck.

  “I can see why you like it,” I said, dropping my head to the side. “Oh look, it’s a baby one,” I said, sitting forward so suddenly, I would have tumbled into the water if not for his arms anchoring me against him.

  “Careful, or you’ll be taking that swim after all,” he chided.

  “That’s okay, I trust you won’t let me fall,” I said, leaning back against his chest.

  “No, I won’t ever let you fall,” he said, trailing light kisses along my cheekbone. I turned my head so that our lips would meet. He deepened the kiss, parting my lips with his tongue as we explored each other’s mouths. He spread his fingers over my ribcage, gently massaging through my shirt. We broke apart when we heard approaching voices.

  “Look, there they are,” a young girl’s voice rang out as she ran to the water’s edge to look at the manatees.

  “Bethany, wait,” her frantic mother called, still a good distance away.

  Maddon and I watched as if in slow motion as the girl toppled off the edge into the deep water below. Her mom screamed and broke into a run as Maddon and I scrambled to our feet. Without pausing, he leaped into the water after her as Bethany’s mom dropped to her knees at the edge of the drop off. A confused man carrying an infant carrier raced to her side. Time stood still as we waited for Maddon to drag her to the surface. Only moments passed since Maddon had jumped in the water when they broke the surface. Bethany was crying and choking at the same time, which was at least a good sign that she was breathing. Her father reached down, dragging a still-crying Bethany up onto the grass. Once Bethany was safely stowed in her teary eyed mom’s arms, he reached down and hauled Maddon out in one swift move.

  “Man, I don’t know what to say,” he said, holding back his own tears as he reached to shake Maddon’s hand, but wound up dragging him in for a hug of gratitude. “Thank you so much,” he choked out. “She always seems to be two steps ahead of her mom and me.”

  “No prob, man. No harm, no foul,” Maddon said, smiling at him. “I’m just glad all those swim lessons paid off,” he added, sending a wink my way.

  “What about your wallet or cell phone? We’ll replace
anything that got ruined,” he said.

  “I left them in the car on the off chance my girl got aggravated with me and pushed me in the water,” Maddon joked.

  “Well, you’re already wet,” I said, mocking like I would push him in again.

  He retaliated by wrapping his wet dripping arms around me.

  “Eww, you’re all wet,” I gripped.

  “Well, we can’t thank you enough,” the guy said, chuckling at our bantering. “I guess we’re headed home to change some clothes,” he added as his wife stripped their two-year-old down and wrapped her in her own jacket before scooping her up.

  “Thank you so much,” she said with tears streaming down her cheek as she gave Maddon and awkward one-armed hug.

  “No problem, I’m glad we were here. I’ve always called this place lucky and I guess today proved that,” Maddon said good-naturedly, linking his fingers with mine.

  “Sorry about your clothes. Hopefully, you don’t live too far,” she said as a cool breeze picked that moment to blow through the trees.

  “I carry extra clothes with me in my trunk.”

  “Wow, you’re like a real-life superhero, always prepared,” she said. “You’re a lucky girl,” she added, shooting me a wink.

  “Hear that, sweets? She thinks I’m a superhero. Who needs Thor when you have this?” He said, flexing a wet muscle.

  “Oh brother, now I won’t be able to get him in the car, his head will be too big,” I joked.

  Bethany’s parents laughed as we all headed to the parking area.

  “I want manatees,” Bethany said, obviously recovered from her near drowning that had taken years off her parents' lives.

  “We have to go home and get new clothes, pumpkin, since you forgot to put on the brakes,” her father teased as he buckled her into her car seat.

  “Thanks again, man. Words can’t describe how grateful we are,” he said, shaking Maddon’s hand again.

  “Glad I could help,” Maddon answered sincerely.

  “So, now you can add superhero to your attributes list?” I quipped.