Here I Come

P1

I woke earlier than usual the next morning. I lay on my bed, listening to the birds singing for nearly an hour before I finally pulled myself out of bed. When I went downstairs, I saw that Dad had fallen asleep on the couch, so I was careful not to wake him. After a quick shower, and an even more hastened breakfast, I was out the door.

Jenna drove by just five minutes later, to pick me up for my first day of school. She hadn't changed much, at least on the outside. She wore her hair long, and combined with her cheap sunglasses, she gave off a rather shady impression. 

“Hey, girl,” She said, her words a caricature of the typical teenager.

“Long time no see,” I slid into the shotgun seat as I greeted her.

“You look different,” she said bluntly.

“I guess the time away was good on me?” I asked, trying to sound like I didn’t care, but in truth  I kinda wanted her to say I’d become prettier. I know it’s superficial, but I wanted my time away to have done at least this much for me.

“You are more tanned, but what I meant was that your actions are different. Less familiar,” she said. I didn’t really understand what she was trying to say.

“Well, it was been three years. Wouldn't it be odd if I hadn’t changed?” I said with a laugh.

Jenna nodded. “You got that right, girlfriend.”

I smiled, and leaned back into the seat. It felt like some of the initial awkwardness was going away. “Is there anything I need to know that’s drastically changed?”  I asked, just looking for something to talk about. But suddenly the mood in the car shifted.

“Have you been in contact with Karter at all?” She asked me.

“We exchanged emails and stuff for about a year, but one day he stopped replying to me. After a few months of persistent messages, he returned one. It said ‘Leave me alone’. Just that. I guess I must have said something to make him mad or something. I tried apologizing, but it might be better to do it in person.”

“I think you shouldn’t.”

“Why? It’s Karter!”

“You should stay away from him.”

“Did something happen while I was gone.?”

“Well, you’ll see for yourself,” she said cryptically.

But I felt a sinking feeling. Karter had changed that much? I had missed him a lot while I was in Hawaii.

We were quiet for awhile. I’m not sure what Jenna was thinking, but I was worried about Karter.

“Did you see any whales?” Jenna asked out of the blue.

“Huh? You mean in Hawaii? No, I didn’t. It would have been nice though.”

“Mmm, it woulda. “

“But I did see a volcanic eruption. I had to stand in front of our house and pour water so we wouldn’t be covered in it.” I said this as casually as I could manage.

“They do that in Hawaii?” Jenna was always remarkably easy to fool.

“Nah, I was just joking. But I heard they do do stuff like that in Iceland.”

She reached into the dashboard, and pulled out a well worn list. I didn’t bother to suppress my smile. So she really was the same Jenna.  She unfolded the crumpled piece of paper and wrote ‘battle /w volcano in Iceland’ on it

“.....And that’s another for the bucket list!” She announced, and I giggled.

“How long is that list by now?” I asked, “You can’t possible have time to do all of them.

“Not all of them,” she allowed, “but I’m gonna try! We’re only alive for so long, so it’s best to keep our goals in sight!”

Jenna loved her bucket list. She always was adding and subtracting from it, and it was unusual to see her without some form of it close at hand.

Just then, we pulled up in front of the school. I scanned the crowds as Jenna slowly drove into the parking lot. I saw some familiar faces, some new ones. There were a lot more people than I had expected to see. The school I went to in Hawaii was not nearly this big.

“Good luck,” Jenna said, as we went our separate ways.

Choose an elective: Art or Band.

For Art, go to chapter K1.

For Band, go to _______.