Long Live

Chapter Eight

“To be yourself in a world that is constantly trying to make you something else is the greatest accomplishment.”  ― Ralph Waldo Emerson

Three weeks later…

     I had gotten off the hook with my parents with a warning, surprisingly. I had to be home by nine every evening, but otherwise everything was well at home. My mom ignored me, and my dad was doing everything he could to get her to talk to me. He’d tell her things about how I made dinner that night or make suggestions that we go out to the zoo. The only reply he would get was a shrug. After a week of her silent treatment he gave up on the idea of getting her to talk, and soon our family dinners were eaten in complete silence except for the sound of our silverware hitting the plates.

     I hadn’t seen too much of Dylan and Crispin over the three weeks, they had told me that they were busy with other things and would come see me as soon as they could. Dylan had gotten his haircut and looked like a completely different person. You could see his chocolate brown eyes and his squared jaw now. He had also turned the majority of his fat into muscle; he wasn’t the next Abercrombie & Fitch model, but he didn’t look half bad.

     Crispin was the same as ever, he looked a little more tired than usual, but he explained that it was from all his all-nighters with Dylan. He would be leaving back for London in a few weeks, and was cramming as many things as he could into his schedule. We had gone to a waterpark one of the few times I saw them over the three weeks. Dylan and Crispin had enjoyed racing each other around the lazy river and down the waterslides while I had laid sunning myself on the lounge chairs by the wave pool; that is until they both decided to grab either end of the chair and dump me into the wave pool. When I had gotten out, it is safe to say I wasn’t a happy camper.

       The other times that I had seen them we just walked around or sat at the dog park watching Chewbacca and Luke play together and sniff the other dogs. It was simple and relaxing. None of us were really up for any type of extravagant adventure like our previous one.  

      “You looking forward to go back to London?” I had asked Crispin one day when we were sitting at the dog park.

      “Somewhat. I’ll miss you and Dylan though.”

      “We’ll miss you too,” I gave him a reassuring smile.

     “Speak for yourself,” Dylan sniffed. I elbowed him in the ribs, and laughed, and smiled at Crispin, “you know I’ll miss you.”

     “How could you not miss this dashing face?” Crispin did a model-like expression which sent us all into a fit of laughter.

     I hadn’t heard anything from Xana in weeks. Neither of us had attempted to contact one another, and when I had seen her in town in passing, we both acted like the other wasn’t even there. We had come to a mutual understanding that our friendship had ended. It wasn’t necessarily on bad terms, but it wasn’t like we were going to talk to each other anytime soon or make up. I wasn’t upset about it, and Xana would find a replacement for me easily.

     Crispin and Dylan had asked a few times if I was still friends with Xana and I merely shrugged it off, saying that we hadn’t spoken to one another in a while, and were happier that way. Dylan and Crispin just nodded in response and went back to whatever they were doing at the time to annoy the other.

***

     “You sure this is the right way?” I asked Dylan for what felt like the hundredth time that day. We were looking for a place to throw Crispin his farewell party. Although it would be us three and Cindy, we still wanted to do something special for Crispin to make him feel appreciated on his way home to London in a few weeks.