Favorite Chapter from in 6 Weeks

My steps made loud echos in the dark as I crossed over the wooden bridge, and down the familiar path that I had ventured along so many times before, with Cole. The dark has been something that's scared me since childhood. I thought it would have been one of those typical childhood things people grow out of like picking your nose or telling boys they have cooties. But no, not me. You never know what's out there when it's completely pitch black. The snapping of the twigs beneath my flip flops, and the creaking of the trees made me antsy. What is that? Is that a bat? Good lord girl, just get a grip. The thoughts were racing through my head. Okay, one foot in front of the other. Breathe in, breathe out. I was practically running down the path at this point.
"Abbey!" I hadn't paid attention to where I was going in my haste, but I had somehow made it into the clearing in what seemed like quicker then usual. Cole was jogging towards me. He had on a white button up shirt, and dark blue jeans. He looked good, and my heart started beating even faster, which honestly I did not know was possible at this point. "Cole," I smiled as he swept me off the ground into a tight hug. My feet had left the sand. His familiar smell of mint and a hint of chlorine enveloped me. I breathed in deeply, I could stay here, like this, forever. He put me down, pulled back, and smiled down upon me, "Why are you shaking so much?"
"The dark. I absolutely hate the dark," I said turning to look back at the woods. He wrapped me in yet another hug as I let out an involuntary shudder. "Come on, I have something for you." I followed him to the pier we always sat on. The waves were calm tonight; they gently made their way to the sand, and lapped the shore gently. The moon was hanging low in the sky, big and bright as ever. It was the picture of a perfect Summer night. Except it wasn't. I knew my dad's birthday was going to hit me hard, and I had spent weeks trying to figure out how I was going to get myself through this day. I knew I couldn't lock myself in my cabin to cry, I had to keep busy, and I just knew I had to be with Cole. He was the only thing in my life that could make me smile, even when it felt like it was the most difficult thing in the world to do. Words couldn't explain how thankful I was that I ran into him earlier today. I stopped to clear my thoughts as he made his way ahead to our spot. "You okay?" He asked, walking back to give me a kiss. I managed a small smile. We then made our way to the end of the pier together. There was a blanket set up and a grocery shopping bag next to it. The moon shined off the plastic exterior making patters onto the pier. Cole laughed as he noticed my gaze locked on the bag. "Here sit."
I obliged taking a seat on the corner of the blanket closest to the water. "I know today is a rough day for you, and all day you've been hearing the I'm sorry's and the I'm here for you's. And I want you to know that I am really sorry you have to go through this but I am glad it's during camp so I can be here for you." I looked out into the water, and opened my eyes as wide as possible, thinking that maybe that would stop the tears from falling. I didn't want to start crying because I didn't know how long it would be until i'd be able to stop this time. Cupping his hand under my chin he turned my head towards him and kissed me softly first on the lips, and then on the forehead. my cheeks were wet and I knew my attempts to keep the tears from spilling hadn't worked. I rubbed my nose with the back of my hand, "Gross," I said sniffling again. I knew I had to look a mess with blotchy eyes, and frizzy hair piled into a bun on the top of my head. I didn't care, and I knew Cole didn't either. I gave him another small smile, "Thank you." I nudged the bag with my foot, and my toes touched something cold and wet within, "So what's in the bag?" Cole laughed and drew the bag close to him to prevent me from peaking.
"So story time about little Cole for ya." He reached his hand into the bag, "When I was in the 3rd grade I had to switch schools because of the divorce. At my new school I didn't get along with the other kids, and I was bullied everyday for being the smallest and runtiest kid." i imagined little Cole running around on the playground, trying to stand up to the bullies. This made me smile, if only they could see him now. Cole continued, "I didn't hit my growth spurt until the summer before high school if you're wondering." he said with a wink. "Thank the lord. But anyways, I was bullied constantly. my mom's always been the hard-ass in the family; I guess that's what being a principle in an inner-city school gets ya. She would always just tell me that I gotta stick in there and tough it out. Things will get better. She wasn't the type to call the teacher and set up a meeting, or call the other boys moms to tell them about their son's behaviors." He paused to take a deep breath. "She also had a hard time showing affection so her way of doing so was to leave me a note on the kitchen counter for whenever I'd get out of school. It'd say there's something in the fridge if you had a rough day. And inside would be the stuff to make a root beer float." Cole now took his hand out of the bag along with a bottle of root beer, a carton of vanillia ice cream, and 2 blue plastic cups. "Root beer floats," he repeated, "My moms answers to lifes problems."
I laughed, "This is wonderful."
He took my hands in his, "Look Abbey. I know there's no amount of words that can bring your dad back, and when everything's been said that can be said, sometimes all you need is a little pick me up...like a root beer float. At least this is the theory according to my mom." I leaned forward and gave him a peck on the cheek. He opened the ice cream, and assembled the root beer floats. He looked up to give me a huge grin, "And not to brag or anything but i'm probably the greatest float maker out there. Think such a thing exists?" I gave him a playful shove, "probably not. I mean all your doing is pouring root beer into a cup." He gasped and pretended to be outraged that I would say such a thing about his skill. "Now look here, Miss Sommers. It is an art," Cole began to pour the root beer. "You have to hold the cup at the exact angle otherwise you'll get too much foam or-"
He stopped mid sentence. There was a whoosh and the root beer all of a sudden began gushing out the sides of the cup. "eek!" I rolled to the side to get out of the way and then scooted over to cole so I was at his side. He calmly continued, "Or you get a root beer avalanche like that." I snorted and then clapped my hand over my mouth. Cole turned to look at me with wide eyes, and I knew my expression had to mirror his astonished expression exactly. [on a side note - in the beginning of camp they do an exercise about what they hope to gain and abbey says that she wants to be able to snort when she laughs again.] And then, I was kissing him. I put my hand on the back of his neck and pulled him into me. I gave him a real kiss. There aren't very many things in the world that can make me forget the pain but in that moment I felt like a normal 18 year old girl was supposed to feel. I didn't feel like "Poor Abbey." For once nothing else, no feelings or nothing, seemed to exist. All I felt was Cole kissing me back, fiercely. His arms were wrapped tightly around me. Suddenly he was pulling away from me. We were silent for a moment while we caught our breath. It was me that decided to break it, "So how about those rootbeer floats?" I grinned. He handed one of the cups over too me. The side of the cup was sticky, the ice cream was melting, and all the foam was gone. But to me, it was perfect. "I almost forgot!" Cole exclaimed reaching back into the bag. He withdrew 2 crazy straws. The neon colored ones, with all the loops that I loved as a child. "Dibs on blue!" I yelled snatching it out of his hand. I had so many conflicting emotions running through me as I sipped on my root beer float. How could a devastating day be wonderful all at the same time? Wasn't I supposed to be in mourning?" I sighed and put my cup down. Things will never be the same, but little moments like this are proof that life goes on and you just gotta go long with it. "What are you thinking?" Cole asked as he tucked a loose strand of my hair behind my ear.
"Alot of things." I lay back on the blanket and gazed up at the stars. There was just something magical about stars in the country. They were the brightest I've ever seen and here shooting ones weren't such a rare occurrence. I remembered reading somewhere that stars are openings in the heavens where our loved ones look down upon us. This made my heart ache. I turned to my left. Cole had laid down beside me. I don't know how long we were like that in silence. I shifted my body so I was now pressed into his side, using his chest as a pillow. "I miss him so much," I whispered. Cole began rubbing my back, and I had a sudden memory flash into my mind.
I was 4 years old and I was getting ready for bath time. My mom grabbed towels and followed me into the downstairs one, but the tub was being occupied by 6 large turkeys that were unthawing. I asked my mom what they were doing and she laughed as she explained, "Daddy's having his birthday picnic tomorrow and the turkeys are too cold to attend, so this bath is a way to warm them up." My memory of this has always been a little fuzzy, but thanks to family reunions and holidys I've heard it so many times that it would forever stick in my memory. Later on that night I had snuck out of bed, favorite blanket thrown over my shoulder, and I made my way to the bathroom. I was trying to hoist the turkeys out of the tub and onto the floor. I don't know how long I had been trying but my dad had heard the splashing and came downstairs to ask what I was doing. I explained that the turkeys were cold and needed to be warmed up. I had a much easier plan then the bath tub, I told him. my dad helped me move all the turkeys onto the floor and together we covered them with my blanket. He even agreed to read them a bed-time story before ushering me back up to my bed, and assuring me that yes the turkeys would be warm enough with just one blanket and that he would keep an eye on them just in case.
This story had always made me smile, and telling it to Cole had the same effect on me. It made me happy to show cole a glimpse of how great my dad was. We lost track of time as he wanted to hear more about my dad. His phone began beeping as he was telling me another story about his childhood, this one not involving root beer floats. "Uh-oh kiddo," he said silencing his alarm. "We gotta go, it's midnight." He pushed the debris from our night aside saying that he'd come back for it in the morning. I got up to follow him back to the cabins.
It was midnight. A new day. I had survived my dad's first birthday without him. I bent down quickly, grabbed the blue straw out of my empty cup, and shoved it into my pocket. Cole was the reason I made ie through the day, and even though I knew I wouldn't forget, it was nice to have something to help you remember. I ran to catch up with him, laced my fingers with his, and let him lead me out of the woods and back to camp.