Happy 13th Birthday, Denise!
I think that she mostly did have a happy day, but the big
tween story at her party wasn’t happy at all, and quite a scene for those of us
who were near the epicenter of Nora’s break-up with Tim.
Before I get to those details, let’s get to the morning and
afternoon news first. It was still
raining this morning, so we were indoors again for Tai Chi. Michael came over for that, but then we were
at our own homes for breakfast before meeting up again at church. Tim and Nora weren’t back to normal this
morning, but they did sit together during church and Sunday school; and were
talking to each other and their usual group of friends. He didn’t say more than a couple of words to
Michael, Rowen, or me; and just saying ‘hi’ to us earned him hard looks from
Nora that had a lot to do with why he didn’t push the issue.
While Rowen, Michael, and I were more affected by what was
going on with Tim and Nora, the spotlight for nearly everyone else was on Amy
and Jared Spencer – and their little bundle of joy, Drew. With a long line of well-wishers around them
both before and after the service, I only got to spend a few moments with them;
but Amy is doing great, and Drew is absolutely adorable. One bit of news that I picked up while
talking with them was that at least some of the incoming Grade Four kids are
upset that they’ll be getting a substitute teacher while Amy is on maternity
leave with Drew. She’s planning on
coming back in January, so they will at least get to have her for the rest of
the school year. I can relate to the
kids being disappointed, but then I only got to have Amy for my teacher for a
handful of weeks.
Denise’s party didn’t start until one-thirty, and though it
was still sprinkling lightly after church; it was clearing up by then and we
only had a couple of little showers while we were at Quarry Lake. While Mom and Dad drove Ethan and Ehlana
home, I walked with Michael to the Inn first before going home and getting
changed and ready for the party before having lunch with Mom, Dad, Violet,
Ethan, and Ehlana. Michael was set free
a bit early from the lunch shift so that he could come out to Quarry Lake with
Rowen and me; and he had time to stop in at home to change and pick up a few
things before Violet gave us a ride to the party.
There weren’t any organized games today, so after having a
little visit with Denise and her boyfriend, Kris, we went swimming and played
on the slides, rafts, and diving platforms in and around the lake. Tim and Nora got there sometime after we did,
and were busy hanging out with some of the other couples until about an hour
before Michael needed to head back to town and the buffet shift at the
Inn. Nora didn’t come with him; and we
found out tonight that his play time with us had been negotiated and
reluctantly agreed to.
Unfortunately for Tim, he apparently wasn’t supposed to have
fun while with us; and Nora wasn’t happy to see that we were having a blast
together. Since she and Vanessa didn’t
really do anything except keep an eye on us the entire time instead of playing
too; I’ll guess that how Nora was obviously feeling made Tim’s happiness even
harder for her to take – especially since he’d been comparatively subdued while
hanging out with her.
The real problems didn’t start until after Michael left for
the Inn.
Tim dutifully returned to Nora’s side as promised, and Rowen and I went
back to playing in the lake mostly on our own until going over to the picnic
pavilion that Denise’s parents had booked for the day and offered to help out
with getting everything set up for dinner.
Our offer was gratefully accepted, and that kept us busy for the half
hour until we sat down for dinner. We were
really happy to help out, and didn’t mind ending up on our own at a picnic
bench on the edge of the dinner party after nearly everyone else was either
seated or had reserved spots close to Denise.
We weren’t alone for long, though Rowen didn’t know why Tim
came and sat with us until he explained it to her later. I did know why after doing a quick memory
scan; but I won’t repeat the pair of comments that Vanessa and Nora made about
Rowen and me that earned Tim’s disgust and anger. He tried to hide that from us, and Rowen and
I both played along. That was mostly
because we didn’t want to distract anyone else from concentrating on Denise and
making her dinner party special; but also because it was more fun to enjoy the
birthday entertainment and just enjoy hanging out together.
It took nearly an hour and a half to eat, do the cake and
ice cream dessert, and have Denise open her gifts. Tim, Rowen, and I all helped out with
cleaning up, packing, and getting everything loaded into a truck and
minivan. That earned some more comments
from Nora and Vanessa, but the help was needed; and we had to wait a while
before going for one last splash in the lake before Violet was coming to pick
us up again anyway.
The big scene with Nora happened about fifteen minutes after
we’d gone into the water again. She and
Vanessa intercepted us while we were walking from the beach over to one of the
water slides; and things got ugly fast. Writing
about the details of that nasty little fight would be pointless, but I will
mention that Tim didn’t just stand there and let Nora and Vanessa blast him
without defending himself; and Rowen and I stood up for him just as he had a
few choice things to say about how badly the other girls had been treating us
for no real reason other than that he and Michael had the audacity to be
friends with, and love, two of the kindest, nicest girls that any of them knew.
You can imagine why the way he’d phrased that particular
assertion didn’t go over very well with Nora or Vanessa; and some extremely
nasty retorts were directed at all three of us.
While I still wish that I could learn to keep my mouth shut sometimes; I
don’t regret standing my ground despite the fact that it also hurt to see Nora
in tears and both girls about as angry with me as they’ve ever been.
My experience with actually witnessing break-ups is fairly limited,
but I am sure that when Nora told Tim that she was finished with him in a
blistering, minutes-long rant it ranked among the worst for tweens in our
little town. Nora also made sure that a
handful of our friends and some innocent bystanders heard that last part of the
fight; so the three of us were tween outcasts for the rest of the time we were
at the campground.
We didn’t feel like partying anymore, but we did go back
into the lake; float around; and talk quietly until it was time to meet Violet in
the parking lot. Since Tim wasn’t
expecting to get a ride home with Nora now, he came with us; and while Violet
was curious about that, she didn’t say anything about it until a little while
ago when she stopped in to chat with me on her way to bed. When we got home, Tim went to check in with
his parents first, but then came back over to hang out with us until Michael
could join us once he was done at the Inn.
While waiting for Michael, we spent a little time with Ethan
and Ehlana until Mom took them upstairs for their bath, and then we went
outside and sat on two of the benches by the river. After spending a lot of time in the water
already; we didn’t really feel like going swimming; though we did hop in with
Michael when he wanted to cool off for a few minutes after a hot evening in the
kitchen. Tim seemed to want a little
time too before he was ready to tell Michael about the fight and too-public
break-up with Nora, and just in case he wanted a little time to talk with
Michael without Rowen and I around; we went inside after our swim to get
changed and pick up snacks and drinks for four before returning to the benches
by the river.
Tim had started telling Michael about everything that had
happened at the party after he’d left; and it was obvious that Tim was still a
bit shocked at the vehement and abrupt end to his first serious
relationship. Being in shock didn’t mean
that he was devastated too. After
hearing some of the things that Nora told us and apparently believed; he’s sad,
and sorry that things were ending on such a bad note after spending a year
together that had mostly been good for both of them; but relieved too that
she’d made that final choice. If Nora
had stopped short of breaking up with him; I think he would have taken that
step anyway.
The chances that we were getting verbally bashed tonight
were high, but we didn’t do that in return.
Instead of doing anything like that, or trying to console Tim with
insincere platitudes, Michael helped him to remember some of his favorite
adventures with Nora while suggesting that Tim focus on those good memories
instead of the fights and unpleasant moments that had been sprinkled throughout
their year together. Rowen and I didn’t
have much to contribute to Michael’s little trip down memory lane, but we
offered our support and an occasional hug.
Rowen sat on the same bench with Tim while Michael and I sat together
and held hands. They were close
together, but only brushed shoulders or arms a few times. Tim looked like he appreciated her choice to
sit right next to him instead of at the other end of the bench or with Michael
and me.
Before moving on, I should be fair and point out that just
because we weren’t saying anything nasty about Nora or Vanessa that I wasn’t
thinking some bad thoughts – and I doubt I was the only one. The fact that we don’t talk trash even when
we might really want to is one of the reasons why Michael, Tim, Rowen, and I do
love each other.
That brings me to the part of our little riverside chat when
Michael pointed out to Tim the way that Nora must have interpreted his comment
about why they were friends with, and loved, Rowen and me. What was surprising for all of us was that
after being a bit stunned to look at that differently than he had at the time;
Tim admitted that he actually did love us.
Then he promised to deny it if we told anyone about that
admission. ;^)
We sat out there for quite a while before Tim was ready to
go home, and Michael went with him again tonight just in case his best friend
needed some guy talk time. There may
have been some back yard witnesses, but hopefully a full round of hugs and the
one goodnight kiss that Michael and I shared won’t be a big news story around
town tomorrow. After Rowen, Michael, and
Tim left, I went inside; gave Mom and Dad the condensed version of the party
news that we didn’t tell them while Ethan and Ehlana were with us earlier; and
then they went to bed when I came up to my room and opted for a shower instead
of a soak in the Jacuzzi.
I had been sitting in my window alcove working on my
computer for a while when Violet stopped in to get the party report. She hadn’t been surprised to hear about Tim
and Nora, or that the break-up scene had gotten nasty. Her advice for helping Tim and dealing with
Nora and Vanessa was welcomed, and though she didn’t say anything; I got the
impression that she was basing that on some information about Tim and Nora from
other sources and not just a lot more personal experience with this sort of
thing that came with living in cities and going to big schools.
While Violet went to bed after our chat, I continued working
on the family business project that has been my main work focus tonight. I finished with that about twenty minutes
ago; and wrapped up the usual nightly computer checks before getting to this
update. I’m ready to get some sleep, but
want to mention a few things that are happening this week.
First up, and most important to our future plans, is that
Aunt Grace officially starts her new job as CEO of the lab. She’ll work from home for most of the next
year until the building is completed; but she’ll have a lot to do as she works
with Uncle Adam, the construction companies, and all of our suppliers. Uncle Mark will be working at the clinic with
Uncle Adam starting tomorrow, and while they don’t plan on splitting the
practice and having Uncle Mark take half of the patients; some planning has
gone into making the integration go smoothly.
About half of Uncle Mark’s schedule for his first week is booked;
including a back-to-school check-up for me and appointments for Ethan and
Ehlana. Most of the recruits will help
to spread the word that Uncle Mark is a great doctor too – and I’m sure he’ll
be popular with some of the men and women that find it weird to have Uncle Adam
for their doctor now – like former classmates, teachers, and babysitters.
Since more than half of the college-bound students will be
leaving for school this weekend, there’s a going away party that’s mostly for
the departing seniors on Friday night.
They’re having dinner at the Inn and
then moving over to the Jacobs’ house for the rest of the evening. I guess that time has run out for me to stay
in denial. While I won’t be going to
that party, I may stop in to help out at the Inn for a while since they’ll be a
bit short-handed with so many of their teens having dinner there instead of
working.
I will be getting to spend some time with Jake and Stephanie
this week, because Michael invited me to spend the day with him and his family
on Tuesday. He doesn’t know what his
parents have planned; but we’re going to spend the entire day with Jake and
Stephanie because it’ll be Jacob and Miranda’s last chance to do that before
they leave on Saturday.
It’s late, and tomorrow could be a very interesting day if
there’s more Tim and Nora tweeirdness. I
need to wrap this up and get some sleep, so...
...until next time, this is Magi Master Cassie Proctor;
logging out!
