To Brendan, everything was all a blur. After the mall came the movies, and after the movies came a going away dinner party for the Summers. And now it is Saturday. As he stood there with the others in the lounge, it was as though he had been put on mute. What was he going to say to her?
What was he going to do without her?
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Brendan
"That's us," Mr. Summers said, setting down the newspaper and picking up a suitcase as passengers of their flight were being called. "I'm going to go back and hurry up your mother--she's in the gift shop." He rolled his eyes as he spoke to his daughter. He turned on his heel and left, dragging his luggage-on-wheels behind him.
Tate sighed and wiped her eyes, giving Pat, Robbie, Michael, both Kevins, Paul, and Ryan hugs. Once she had gotten to me, she paused. A hushed silence fell upon the guys, and they, too, turned around and wandered somewhere else.
"Brendan, I..." She bit her lip and threw her arms around my neck. I held her close, and could feel her tears soaking through my shirt. I closed my eyes, and a moment later, we pulled back from our hug.
"Tate," I said at last, looking down at her and holding both of her hands. "I'm going to miss you like you wouldn't believe."
And with that, she kissed me... and I kissed her back.
"Promise me we'll keep in touch?"
I smiled reassuringly at her. "Come on, Tate. You know that's a given."
She laughed with relief. "Yeah... yeah, I do."
I looked out through the window at her plane. "Wish you didn't have to go," I said. I didn't mean to say it out loud... it just came out.
She nodded and craned her neck to see over my shoulder. "Mom and Dad are back," she whispered.
Mr. Summers' hand clasped my shoulder, and as I turned my head to face him, I felt Tate give my hands a squeeze before letting go.
"Ready to go, Tate?" he said to her.
She raised her chin and made as if to shake her head no, but instead, she merely nodded.
Mr. Summers looked back at me. I could tell he was waiting for me to say something, but it felt as though I'd lost the ability to say anything that would make much sense.
Can't I just say goodbye and be done with it?
The guys returned and Pat put his hand on my other shoulder. "Bye, Tater Tot!" he said, raising his other hand to wave.
The guys followed suit. Pat gripped my shoulder tighter. I felt like a human squeeze-toy.
"Goodbye... Tate," I managed to get out.
"Bye, Brendan," she said softly, picking up a bag. She forced a smile and turned to walk away as her parents began to pass her by.
She looked back at us one last time before going through the metal detector.
Somehow, I grinned and gave her a quick wink.
She smiled sadly and stepped through... and soon, they were out of sight.
"You okay, Brendan?" Pat said to me, concerned.
"Of course he's not okay," Michael hissed back.
"I was just asking!" Pat replied, annoyed.
"Well, you shouldn't if you already know the answer!"
I chuckled feebly and shook my head at them. "Don't worry guys... I'm...
I'm just peachy."
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Tate
I resolved not to talk to my parents on the flight. But it was impossible as I was sitting in between them. Or maybe I just had low will power. After all, I was leaving Winnetka behind.
Staring out the window, I thought back to all the years I'd spent here in Illinois. And then I started thinking about what life in Georgia would be like. I don't think I could ever enjoy myself there... New house, new neighborhood, new friends... I can't even imagine how different it'll be.
My mind wandered over to the VHS tape that was tucked away in my bag in the overhead storage compartment. It was one of the things I couldn't trust the movers with once they started emptying out our old house and shipping them over to our new home. I even had a couple of loofas stashed in there.
"When we get home," I heard Dad say, "we're going to look up the schools and pick out your new one. I'm thinking... Georgia University. What do you think, Tate? Sound good?"
But before I could answer, my mom tugged on my sleeve as the plane started lifting off the runway. "Say goodbye to Illinois, Tate."
"Bye," I said, before turning back to face Dad. "Georgia University?"
He nodded. "It's a good school. Plus, Aunt Diane's son goes there. He can introduce you to all his friends. Maybe even some new guys." He grinned and chuckled lightly.
Frowning, I looked back out the window. Georgia University? He can't possibly be serious. But, where else would I go? I couldn't possibly...
But then an idea struck me. "Say, Dad... what do you think about DePaul University?"
He looked at me. "What, the one in Chicago? That's a ways from Georgia."
I shrugged. "It's a really good school, too, Dad. The largest Catholic university in the nation."
He knew I was up to something, but couldn't figure out my angle. "DePaul University, huh. We'll talk about it, I suppose. Largest Catholic university?"
I nodded.
"Tell you what," Dad said. "You check out Georgia University, first, and if you don't like it, we'll see about DePaul. I'd rather you go there than to a Technical College. But," he added sternly, "I'm not saying you're going to DePaul if you don't like Georgia. I have to be swayed and approve of it if you're going to live that far from home."
Well, can't say I didn't try. Aunt Diane and Ian love Georgia University. But hey, Dad wants me to get a good education at a prestigious school, right? I can only hope so... he has no idea that Brendan and Kevin just happen to attend DePaul as well. Ah, well, maybe he'll rethink his opinion about the boys once he finds out that they're going to school there.
With that in mind, it considerably lifted my spirits. Maybe the rest of this summer isn't going to be so bad. I returned to looking out the window at the clouds outside. It was really relaxing. And soon, I found myself drifting off.