Smooth Sailing

September 5, 2018

September 5, 2018

That Wednesday seemed like it would be nothing out of the ordinary. My life had already fallen apart - I was convinced that nothing could ever get better or worse. The rest of my junior year, and the rest of my life, would be just like this. Véro was the only interesting thing in my life at this point. The yacht club and sailing were both lost causes.

The day after the last yacht club party of the season, my parents, my grandparents, and the Reinharts all formally quit the yacht club. Mr. Stafford did nothing to stop them. It seemed like he didn't care if two of the families that had founded Clearwater Lake Yacht Club left - it was more important that he had his way. Eden was shocked when Mr. Stafford didn't say anything about our departure, but Mom and Dad didn't seem surprised at all. "It's just how he is," Dad said. "Greg doesn't care about anything but himself."

"So you're just going to leave?" I replied. "You're not going to do anything about it?"

"What's the point?" Dad said. "Besides, we already tried that with the Pigglyville protest, and that didn't do anything."

It was no use arguing with my dad. He wouldn't change his mind, and I wouldn't change mine. By the end of the day, we had all formally withdrawn from the Clearwater Lake Yacht Club. Over the next several days, I tried to find some way to undo what Mom and Dad had already done. I asked about joining another yacht club, even if it wouldn't truly be the same, but all of them were too far away to be practical. I asked about creating our own yacht club, but there simply wasn't enough room in Clearwater Lake for two yacht clubs. Tuesday night, I even tried to lie about my age and register myself for the yacht club, but Dad caught me and took away my computer for the rest of the day. By Wednesday, I was out of ideas. It seemed like I would never be able to sail again.

I went through the school day as usual, but at that point, I was just going through the motions. Everett, on the other hand, seemed totally unaffected by our decision to leave. He hung around Louis and attempted to flirt with senior girls as if nothing at all had happened. I wished that I could bring myself not to care, but I loved sailing too much. I went to each of my classes, and when I got to fifth period, I complained to Véro about the situation.

"It's killing me," I told her. "The only reason that I'm not in the yacht club anymore is because the adults can't get along."

"That does seem unfair," Véro said.

"It's all Mr. Stafford's fault," I complained. "He's single handedly destroying Clearwater Lake Yacht Club."

Eden arrived in the cafeteria, sat down at our table, and said, "What's this about the yacht club?"

"Sylvie is mad that her family left," Véro said.

"I'm mad too, but it will work out," Eden said.

"How?" I asked. "I've tried everything already."

"You could get a membership on your own," Véro suggested.

"You have to be eighteen for that, and before you ask, I already tried lying about my age," I said. "It's hopeless. I'm not going to be able to sail next summer."

"Why are you so worried about this?" Véro asked. "It's next summer."

"Sailing's the most important thing in my life, aside from you..." I said.

"That's sweet of you, Sylvie," Véro said with a smile.

"...and it always has been," I finished. "It means more to me than almost anything else, and I don't know what I'll do with my life if I'm not sailing. There's this huge hole in my life, Véro. I don't know how to fill it."