When You Know

13 - You have everything? PJs? Toothbrush? Hairbrush? Boardshorts? Underwear?

We finally unpacked our things by the weekend, with everyone helping after school and work each night. My room felt more like it was really mine with all my things, like the tattered, knitted whale that I'd had my whole life which always lived on my bed. The rest of the house, too, felt more familiar once Ruben convinced Mum to put up some of her old artwork on the walls, and she found places for all her indoor plants. She loved that there were so many windows in the house providing natural light for her plant babies.

"She really has made this place feel more alive, hasn't she?" I overheard Jet say to Ruben as I was walking downstairs on Friday night. "Like, it was great before, obviously; but she's just made it better and more homey, you know what I mean?"

"She's a goddamn angel, and she makes me feel more alive every single second of the day," replied Ruben with a smirk.

"Alright, gross. I don't need to be hearing about that shit, man," whined Jet.

"Does your hormonal, teenaged mind ever escape from the gutter it lives it every second of the day, Jetty?" Ruben asked, chuckling in sync with Jet.

"Did yours have anywhere else better to be at almost-seventeen?" Maybe they both knew of different types of gutters to the ones I did.

Ruben and Jet laughed again. "Touché, Jetty. Touché."

"You know, I always used to wonder why I never really saw you dating, apart from that one you were with when I first met you—who I didn't like, by the way," said Jet confidently, clearly unafraid of whatever reaction Ruben might have about him not liking his ex-girlfriend. "And I think now I've seen you with Sadie, I finally understand it—none of them would ever compare."

"You can't force things that aren't meant to be, Jet. And when you know what it feels like to love someone like I love Sadie, you don't forget it, no matter how much time passes."

I walked out to see Ruben ruffling Jet's hair and Jet just letting him do it, like he truly enjoyed having his long, dark brown hair dangling and knotting all over his face.

"Oh. Hey, little dude. You ready to get going?" Jet said, noticing me when I stepped into the room, and causing Ruben to stop messing around with him. I felt a little bad for interrupting them.

It was the weekend of Tanner and Morgan's wedding, and the boys and girls were splitting up for a few days before the ceremony and party on Sunday afternoon—the boys were going camping and surfing Friday and Saturday night, and the girls were going to be at Morgan's house having an afternoon tea on Saturday because Morgan was always really tired nowadays and just wanted something small in the comfort of her own home. She was now only a couple weeks off having her baby, so I think it was fair that she just wanted to be at home.

Mum was going to be staying with her to help her get everything ready for the party, and to help Morgan's mother finish her dress, which she left to the last minute because she was afraid that she would grow even bigger and not fit into it. Personally, I believe that was a very smart decision because she was growing bigger by the day, and I was quite surprised this baby hadn't decided to come out sooner—it must be getting pretty squishy in there. I was smart enough not to say this to her, though, as Mum advised that I didn't and kept my mouth zipped. Tanner wasn't always as smart as I was and sometimes said the wrong thing which made her upset and aggro.

I was excited to be spending time with the boys, especially when they said we were going camping and surfing; but I was also kind of nervous because it was a long time to be away from Mum, and I had never been camping before, and I sucked at surfing. I really sucked. Ruben had tried to get me to stand up a few times already over the past month, but I just couldn't get it. It frustrated me so much, but I was determined to give it one more shot before I gave up altogether. Mum always said it was better to try something and fail than give up entirely.