Between Now and Goodbye (16 page)

'Anything?' Libby says with a slow grin.

'Yes.' Katie sighs dramatically and clasps both of her hands together, 'I'll do anything.'

'Three nights from now?' Libby asks.

'Yeah, Sunday.'

'Ok then.' Libby nods.

'You're too nice for your own good.' I warn her.

'It'll be fun.' Libby replies. 'I like music and my sister and your sister.'

'On your head be it.' I say as I pull into a space at the diner. 'Ok everyone out and if anyone throws a tantrum about not getting two helpings of ice cream, I'm looking at you Sean and Lewis, then I won't take you to ride your bikes in the park later.'

'Yes dad.' Lewis grumbles.

'Don't call me that.' I feel an instant stab on pain at being called that, at being, in any way, compared to him. Libby must notice as well because she gently places her hand on my forearm, and gives me a small smile.

'Come on, everyone out and if you all behave, then I'll buy each of you a ticket into the fun fair tomorrow night.' Libby says cheerfully.

'You really don't have to do that.' I say, because it feels like she's been helping out a lot recently.

'I know I don't, but it's a tradition that you and I go, and Julie too, if she wants to come, and this year you have the kids to watch, so they can come with us.'

'You don't have to pay though.' I reply.

'I'm loaded remember, refunded camp payment.' This time it's her who tenses up, so I move my arm from under her hand and put my hand on her arm instead.

The kids all start piling out, excitedly heading towards the diner, ushered in by Katie.

'Thanks for coming to get me.' Libby says quietly, holding my gaze.

'Don't worry about it, I'm all about rehabilitating hardened criminals.' I reply. I receive a whack in the arm as a result, but she's laughing as we get out of the car.

We get back to my house at around five and the kids all immediately race inside in hopes of reaching the TV remote first. Libby and I stay outside and sit down on the front lawn. Her picking daisies and threading them through each other to make a chain. While I talk about Julie, and she does what she's so good at doing, listening.

'I think,' Libby says once I've finally stopped talking, which takes a while because seeing Julie today has given me so much hope. 'We need to come up with a win Julie back plan, right?'

'Right.' I nod, 'but how do I win her back if she's already made up her mind?'

'Easily,' Libby shrugs, 'just remind her why she fell in love with you in the first place, but before we get to that you need to accomplish stage one.'

'Giving her distance.' I say, because from what little I know about breakups, I'm pretty sure that distance is a key component.

'No way that's an awful idea.' Libby shakes her head fast, threads another daisy onto her chain and then looks back to me, 'Phase one is to go to her. Tell her that you understand why she broke up with you, that you're willing to be friends with her like she wants, but that you also love her and won't give up on trying to get her back.'

'I thought distance made the heart grown stronger.' I point out.

'Not for Julie, for her distance makes her believe that whoever is giving her distance isn't interested, and she'll find something or someone new and shiny to pay attention to her. You need to make sure she knows that you're not ok with letting her go. If she thinks you're moving on, she'll be in a sort of...I don't want to say race, but that's kind of what it is.'

'What do you mean?'

'Well, when a couple breaks up, there's quite often this sort of unconscious race going on between the two of them to see who can be ok first. Who moves on first, who stops pining first, who gets a new boyfriend or girlfriend first.'

'That's crazy.'

'Yes, it is, but it's the brand of crazy that Julie buys. As far as she's concerned, the two of you are over and that gives her the chance to move on. You need to make sure that she knows you don't want to stop fighting for her. She'll love the attention and she'll hopefully hold off on moving on, so that she can see what you'll do to try and win her back.'

'Ok, so I think I can handle phase one. I'll go over there tomorrow and invite her to the fun fair, and I'll tell her everything you just said.'

'Good.' Libby nods.

'What's phase two?'

'That's a really simple one. Proximity.'

'Uh-huh.'

'Be around her as often as you can. Don't be all stalker outside her house at two in the morning, just...run into her and make sure each time you do, that you don't ignore her or just smile or wave. Make a point of going up to her and saying hello, don't tell her that you love her or anything, just generally chat with her. Make sure you always invite her places. If you're having a barbecue, invite her. If you're going to see a movie, ask her to come. She may not always say yes, but she'll appreciate that you're inviting her.' Libby smiles at me, 'When you're around her, don't argue with her, don't beg her to take you back, don't keep on telling her that you want her back. Phase one has taken care of that for you. She'll know you're not giving up, and then you'll be around her and she'll be reminded how amazing you are. Then you move on to phase three.'

'Ok.' It's a pretty good sounding plan at the moment, 'what's phase three?'

'Endgame,' Libby beams, 'once you've spent like...maybe a month or so in phase two and you feel it's the right time, and she hasn't moved on or pulled away, and she's still happily spending time with you. Ask her out on a date. Not just a movie at yours, or something. I'll watch the kids, and you can take her somewhere really nice. Take her to a fancy restaurant where she can eat a three course meal, and then take her dancing or to a show.'

'Three phases, that's all it'll take?' I ask hopefully.

'Yeah,' She nods, 'three phases and if it all goes to plan, she'll be yours again before the summer is out.'

'How do you come up with things like this?'

'Superpowers.' She shrugs and smiles, 'Now, though,' she stands up and loops the daisy necklace around her neck, 'I have to apply my superpowers elsewhere, because I have summer homework that I've been putting off.'

'Need any help?'

'I need someone to do it for me.' She grins.

'Bring it over and I'll help you out.'

'Aren't you busy with kids?'

'As long as I'm here with them, I can help out.'

'Well then, I'll be back in a minute.' She runs towards her house, coming back out a few minutes later with a bag full of books over her shoulder, two glasses of what I know will be her homemade lemonade, and a container full of cookies.

Twenty One – Julie

Thinking that my best friend killed her dad, and then leaving her out in the ocean to swim back to shore, was not one of my finest moments. I'll admit, that looking back on it, I should have realized that she was just joking. I just don't always get her sense of humor. She seemed so serious at the time. I should suggest to her that she goes into acting rather than cooking, because she'd surely be good at it.

The way she got so wide eyed and panicky, and how she kept saying she'd have to leave again. It all seemed so real.

In my defense, it is strange that she never mentions her dad, and it's strange that she travelled around
so much with her mom and sister before settling here. She doesn't talk about things much, especially not her dad, and so what was I supposed to think?

Ok, so maybe I wasn't supposed to egg on my friends while they pushed her to talk about it, or encouraged them while they made up stories. I also shouldn't have believed that she killed her dad. It's just that Carly and Xavier really believed it, and they were all freaked out. So when we got back to the boat, and they said we should just leave her. I didn't say yes, but I also didn't say no. Then Carly started sailing back to the docks, and I didn't tell her to stop and wait for Libby.

I knew that Libby was a good swimmer, so it's not like I left her out there to die or anything. I didn't think that she was going to kill us if we let her on the boat. I know Libby and I know she wouldn't do that. I also think that I knew, deep down, that she hadn't killed her dad, but if I'd stuck up for her, then Carly and Xavier probably would have left me out there too, and to be fair, I couldn't one hundred percent say that she hadn't killed her dad.

When I took her things back to her house, Charles had been outside and so, caught up in the moment, I felt I had to warn him. I mean I was still pretty shaken up by it all. So I'd told him everything.

Charles had burst into laughter when I finished explaining everything. When I insisted I was being serious, he just shook his head. Nothing the three of us said could make him believe that she was actually a murderer, and it was then that I started to realize how stupid I had been.

I didn't like that it was Charles laughing at me which made me realize it. It bugged me that he'd take her side. I mean yes in this case it would have been far-fetched for him to actually believe that Libby was a murderer, but he didn't even hear me out.

This though is not the point. Today has left me with two things that I need to do. The first is that I have to apologize to Libby in the best way I can. The second is that somehow I need to find out why she doesn't talk about her dad. The second one won't be so easy, so I get to work on the first.

I need to make it a really good apology, and that means that I need to go shopping. The problem is, I'm not sure what gift really says, I'm sorry I thought you were a murderer and left you to swim back to shore. Is there a gift that says that?

I feel like it's going to take more than a simple box of chocolates. No matter how much she loves chocolate, or how fancy it is. I need to do better than chocolate, that's for sure.

I think it over while I take a shower to get the salt water out of my hair. The mall is open late tonight, so I have plenty of time to wander around and find something. I just don't know what I'll be finding.

It has to be special, it has to be perfect and that means that it has to be expensive. I need her to be on my side this summer. I need her to be my friend and so far I've made her mad by bringing her home from New York the way I did. I made her mad by breaking up with Charles the way I did, and now I've made her mad by accusing her of murder and leaving her in the ocean.

I'm on a roll. I don't know what's the matter with me. Why can't I stop making Libby made at me? It's like she's a different person now. Maybe growing up is making us all a little different, because before, I could get her to do anything I wanted just by asking. I could also get her to forgive me in about two minutes flat.

I haven't entirely lost my touch. She was mad at me, but she still came out on the boat, and she gave me a lecture in the car, but by the end of our chat I know she was starting to ease up.

All I have to do is make sure she forgives me for this, because I'm not in the habit of losing friends, and I don't want to start making it my habit now.

I blow dry my hair for the second time today, and this time I straighten it and then pin it up with a generous amount of diamond tipped hairpins. Then I put on a pale pink silk blouse, with a pale pink lace skirt, a silver sequined belt, tailored pink jacket that has a ruffled lace trim, and to finish it off I grab my pink lace ankle boots, which tie up at the front with silver ribbon.

I apply a full face of make-up, and finally, after a little over an hour and a half, I'm out the door and heading to find the perfect gift, which I'll take to her place tonight.

As I pull up outside Libby's house, the first thing I notice is that she's outside Charles' house, lying on her stomach reading a textbook. Charles is sitting upright next to her, feeding April while the other kids sit around either playing with various toys, or doing what looks like homework. I cannot believe they're actually doing homework, it's summer. I know I have some to do, but just like always, I'll get it all done the week before school starts.

Actually, if I'm going to be starting a new school, then I may as well just skip it all together and enjoy all of my summer.

When I see them outside I almost keep driving. I'm not sure that I want to spend my evening with Charles and his siblings. Maybe, though, I can convince Libby to come over to my house, maybe even stay the night. Besides, I didn't just spend the past two hours shopping for the perfect gift, just to have it sit neatly wrapped on the back seat of my car.

My mind made up, I turn off the engine, slide out of the car and collect the package from the back.

'Libby.' I pause at the edge of the yard. She glances up and immediately back down at her book. Charles looks up at me too, and his eyes linger on me, and a small smile lights up his face, but it dims quickly and he looks at Libby. It's like he knows he's supposed to be mad at me because he's close with Libby, but he also wants me to know he still loves me. I smile back at him, if I can get him on side, then getting Libby's forgiveness will be simpler. I don't want to encourage him too much though, so I turn back to Libby, 'Look Libby, I know I messed up today.'