This has been one of those really awesome
days, so sit back and relax – this update might take a while!
First of all, the impending arrival of exam
week didn’t get in the way of our fun, and neither did a bit of rain; since
that only passed through town while we were in classes and doing on last round
of exam review. To be fair, our exams
aren’t quite the same as the high school version of our finals; but they are
getting tougher as our teachers get us ready for the jump to the next level. Okay, that doesn’t apply to me; but you know
what I mean.
Before I get to the fun part of the report,
the top news story at school was the no-at-all-unexpected ‘official’ break-up
of Jenny and Garth. The only real
surprise there was that the their little drama dragged on all week; but for all
I know, there was some significance to Jenny for ending this month with one
boyfriend before starting June as a newly-freed single woman. There story was mainly big news because Garth
does have quite a bit of status as the only niner to play on our championship
football team; and Jenny was always one of the most popular girls in her grade
even before becoming a cheerleader. That
kind of combination is what high school legends are made of – except that isn’t
going to happen in their case. That news
definitely had something to do with why Rowen and I weren’t interested in
playing football with the guys at lunchtime, and with Garth needing to blow off
some steam; half of the guys wished they weren’t playing either – the half of
the guys playing on the other team against him!
Jenny’s break-up also had the potential of
messing up our plans for tonight too, but she’d refused Rebecca’s offer to
cancel on us so she could be there for her best friend; and made her own plans
with a few of the other cheerleaders instead.
That was a pretty good indication that she wasn’t going to have any
problems getting over Garth – especially since it sounded like they were having
something closer to a party than a wake.
We weren’t having a party tonight, but we did take the night off from
studying; and our plans to hang out together quickly evolved into an all-night
fun and camping adventure for six. Rowen
and I had already planned on doing a sleepover this morning, but we were both
happy to change that to camping when Tim suggested that we could all do that
instead. He was happy too, though his
other suggestion to set up three smaller tents instead of two bigger ones for
boys and girls was voted down by the five of us who were sure that we would
never get parental approval for coed camping quite yet.
The actual parental approval was easy
enough, and even Claire was happy to make an extra trip into town early instead
of needing to come back for Lucas at eleven or twelve o’clock. He’ll need an early ride home in the morning;
but Mom, Dad, or Violet will do that for him right after breakfast. While I’m thinking of her, Violet’s doing a
sleepover tonight too; with Dillon here with her while the third floor is
kid-free. I’ll take a wild guess that
Dillon is not sleeping in the guest room across the hall from Violet; though
his overnight bag did get put there when he first came over at dinnertime.
When we were set free from school, Michael
and I walked up toward our houses with Rebecca and Lucas while Rowen and Tim
did the rounds to drop bags off at home and check in with their parents before
meeting up with us at my house. We had
bikes ready so we could go for a ride by then; including one for Lucas and the
trailer for Ethan and Ehlana. Mom had
been at the lab for most of the day, but had left early so that she could get
the twins from KidZone and be home to do some other work around the house while
Owen went to help out at the store for the rest of the day and Andrew stayed
and finished a job they had him doing on the main office level. The camping plan came together before we went
on our ride, and Mom decided on a barbeque dinner for twelve too; though she
recruited Dad, Violet, and Dillon to help her out with that so that we’d have
time to set up tents then instead.
Our ride was Lucas’ first for doing a tour
of the construction sites, and while his mother worked on the real estate for
the new section of town; he didn’t get over there very often to see the
progress. Actually, since he’s always
helping his father out on their farm; he doesn’t usually take very much time to
just hang out with his friends. That
probably had a lot to do with why it was so easy for him to get the okay for
our camping – he rarely asks for time for himself when they’re busiest on the
farm like they are in the spring, summer, and fall. As I’ve mentioned before, every kid in a
small town like ours uses bikes by necessity, but Rebecca isn’t an enthusiast
like Michael, Tim, Rowen, and I are; and Lucas feels pretty much the same way
that she does. Some of the country teens
bike to school in good weather because it can be nearly as fast as taking the
bus; but Lucas isn’t one of them – and not just because he’s had to be there
for his younger sister and brother. They
didn’t want to ride the trails when we got to the park after our construction
site tour, so we played with Ethan and Ehlana at the playground, and all four
boys spent some time on the football field with some of the other guys too.
We had about an hour or so to play before
needing to get home, and then we went to work getting two of the bigger tents
set up by the river. Tim, Michael, and
Rebecca needed to stop in at their homes to pack a few things for the night, so
they did that then too; and we had our campground set up and ready to go by the
time dinner was ready. Ethan and Ehlana
had supervised that work; and we – the teens and kids – took our food and ate
by the river while leaving Mom, Dad, Violet, and Dillon in peace; but then Mom
and Dad took custody of my brother and sister so that we could have some
teen-only time for most of the rest of the evening. We did have to do the clean-up first while
the cooks and kids went for a walk and some more play time at the park; but
then we went for a canoe ride upriver in three canoes for nearly two hours.
That little adventure was one of the
highlights of the day, and though the gulf between grades eight and nine still
get in the way at school; that didn’t’ matter at all tonight so hanging out
with Rebecca and Lucas was as easy as playing with Rebecca and Jenny used to be
for Rowen and me back before they crossed over so far ahead of us. Lucas is a closet football fanatic, so he
gets along great with Tim; and a lot like Michael on the personality side – a
fact that Rebecca is appreciating more and more every day. The conversation time while we paddled was a
big part of why the trip was so special to me, and while we haven’t spent much
time with Lucas yet; I am definitely going to make sure that we do invite him –
and Rebecca – to do more things with us this summer. Then again, we’ll probably be doing that anyway;
since I predict that it won’t be much longer before our friends officially join
the couples’ club – though they might also be busy with their own friends then
too and not have that much time to hang out with us. I’ll keep you posted on how that works out!
The river isn’t exactly warm yet, but we
were all a bit too warm by the time we got back home again; so jumping into the
river for a swim seemed like a good idea – though we didn’t stay in the water
for very long. We were already wearing
swimsuits in case we got wet in the canoes anyway – or shorts in the case of
two of the guys. Lucas even managed to
survive that swim time without totally losing his ability to do anything while
quietly adoring Rebecca; and she was quite happy to get to spend some time with
him again when he wasn’t wearing one of his usual baggy shirts that did much
too good a job hiding the muscles and abs.
Not that Rowen and I were looking too or
anything to know that. ;^)
Dad had set up a campfire for us while we
were gone, so after putting the extra canoes and gear away and getting changed
out of wet swimsuits; we got everything we needed for that and got started on
the next-best part of our night. Ethan
and Ehlana joined us for the campfire, and that’s also when I found out that
teen-led campfires can attract a lot of neighborly attention – particularly
when the musical entertainment is particularly good. Michael and I took turns playing guitar, but
we sang quite a few duets that Rebecca, Lucas, Rowen, and Tim just let us do
without singing along. Both the guitar
playing and the duets were a first for us at a campfire, and while we had some
other teens join us for a while – including Violet, Dillon, Jake, and Stephanie
– the rest of our audience mostly stayed at home on back porches and listened
to us. As always, singing with Michael
is wonderful – and something that we both really love – even when we don’t have
much of a chance to do that together sometimes with everything we have on the
go. Hearing quiet rounds of applause
after each song from houses all along the river – including ours – was really
heart-warming too; and I’m glad that we could help our family, friends, and
neighbors to have a little extra fun tonight too.
Jake and Stephanie helped out with the
entertainment too by telling a couple of campfire stories to us, but then they
went to hang out with Violet and Dillon for a while when Mom and Dad took Ethan
and Ehlana inside and sent them off to bed for the night. Our campfire started to wind down then, but
while we put the guitar away; the six of us still stayed around the campfire
until it was nearly out – content to relax, chat, and enjoy some cuddle time. That was more than a little tentative for
Rebecca and Lucas; but the awkward and uncertain was offset by the thrill and
quiet excitement of sharing those first cuddles together.
We put the fire the rest of the way out by
twelve-thirty; cleaned up; and got ready for bed – Rebecca, Rowen, and I doing
most of that in my room before heading out to the tents. The goodnight kisses time was fun and
included a little bonus entertainment when Rebecca took the lead and made sure
that Lucas wasn’t the only boy going to bed without a kiss. As far as first kisses go, I wasn’t watching,
and won’t comment on the quality; but just the set-up with that being by the
river on a beautiful night should make the moment memorable for both of
them. I’ll certainly remember the kiss
that Michael and I shared!
Okay, kisses – but that’s mostly because we
ended up sitting on the dock and talking for quite a while before joining our
respective tent mates again. We did talk
– a little; and our friends kept themselves entertained in pairs too; though we
were last to make it into our tents.
That was more than an hour ago, and I’m
just getting to this now because it took all of us a while to wind down enough
to sleep. Rowen and I needed some quiet
girl-chat time with Rebecca that was mostly about her and Lucas too; but we
couldn’t get too fired up about that with the boys right next door to us in
their tent. That was one last little
blast of fun, though; so I don’t mind being up this late – even if that does
mean that I won’t be getting much sleep for yet another nigh.
It is time to pack up my computer and get
what nap time I can before getting on with a busy work and study weekend –
starting with sunrise Tai Chi by the river.
That may not sound like a very exciting way to either end May or start
June, but I’ll be doing that work and studying with the people I love the most;
and after a day like we’ve just finished, I’m fairly sure that I’ll be smiling
all weekend even if we don’t manage to have any play day kind of fun. I don’t want to be napping during our study
sessions, though, so it’s time to call it a night. Until next time…
…Live long and prosper, fellow Magi of the
Light!
