How odd it was, then, that when they got to Christy’s house, Christy perked up and started being bubbly, while Paula took one look at their small rented house and said, “This is where you live?” Then Paula became the moody one or tired one or whatever her problem was.
Dad suggested they order pizza, since it was late. Then Mom wouldn’t have to cook.
“Fine with me,” Mom said. “Marti sent the rest of her deli tray home, so it looks as though you can snack on leftovers for at least the first few days we’re gone.”
Dad didn’t seem to mind that they were all going without him. He listened to their exciting plans for Maui and said he’d go next time. He just had too much work at the Hollandale Dairy to be able to take off right now.
In a way she couldn’t explain, Christy admired her dad, watching him be happy for them without acting left out. She also knew that Hawaii was not her dad’s idea of the perfect vacation spot. He preferred a quiet lake and a fishing pole. They’d had many such camping vacations while she was growing up.
What she saw in her dad now was comforting. Something inside her said, Even though Dad isn’t a Hawaiian-vacation kind of person, he doesn’t try to stop us from going.
David ate three pieces of pizza, leaving all the green peppers on his plate. Paula barely nibbled on one piece before saying she felt tired.
“I’ll bet you are,” Dad said. “It’s half-past midnight where you come from. I put the roll-away in Christy’s room for you. It’s a tight squeeze, so don’t try to open the door all the way.”
Christy showed Paula where the towels were in the bathroom. At her friend’s request, she came up with an extra pillow for her and then got ready for bed while Paula occupied the bathroom.
When Paula returned to Christy’s room, she found Christy lying on her bed, reading her Bible.
“What are you reading?”
“My Bible.”
“You’re kidding. Do you do that all the time now?” Paula tossed her dirty clothes in the corner of the bedroom.
“Well, I try to every day—even if it’s only a little bit.”
Paula responded with an “Oh.” Then she slipped into her roll-away bed, fluffed up the pillows, and turned her back to Christy.
A few minutes later, Christy heard a huge yawn followed by, “Are you going to turn out the light pretty soon? Not to be rude or anything, but I’m really, really tired.”
“Oh, sure.” Christy obliged, closing her Bible and snapping off the light. “Sweet dreams, Paula. Dream about Maui—the golden beaches, the summer sun, the clear blue water … Paula?”
The only sound coming from Paula was the deep breathing of a sound sleep.
Christy stretched out under the covers, folding her hands behind her head and facing the dark bedroom ceiling. Then in a whisper, with her lips moving but no sound emerging, Christy prayed.
“Lord, I have to tell her about You, but I don’t know how. I’ve told her in letters, and last summer I told her how I gave my life to You and promised You my whole heart.
“But she doesn’t understand. I feel as though we’re so different now, Paula and I. There’s so little between us that’s the same, and before we were like twin sisters.
“I think that’s why I was so bummed out today. I wanted to be close to her like I used to be, but we’ve both changed too much.
“She needs to become a Christian, like me, and then we can be close again. I’m going to try everything I can to show her she needs to give her life to You.
“Oh, and Lord, thanks for working out everything so that we could go to Maui. Please be with Todd right now and keep him safe. Good night, Lord.”
Before she could add “amen,” Christy drifted off into a beach-and-surf island dream.
The July morning sun hit Christy’s window at 6:20 and flooded the room with light through her thin, lacy white curtains. Christy had adapted all summer by pulling the covers over her head and hovering between the real world and dreamland for at least another hour.
Paula, however, wasn’t the hovering type. She greeted the early morning sun by opening the bedroom window and unpacking her suitcase, singing softly to herself.
“What are you doing?” Christy asked the early bird.
“You’re awake? Good! Why don’t you get up and give me your opinion on which clothes I should take to Hawaii and which ones I should leave here. Remember, your aunt said we should try to take only one suitcase each. I have too much stuff, so I have to decide what I really need and what I don’t. Is it always hot in Hawaii? Or should I take jeans and sweatshirts?”
Christy pulled the covers over her head and mumbled, “I can’t believe you’re up! Do you know what time it is?”
“In Wisconsin it’s almost ten o’clock. I’d be getting ready for work right now if I were home, but I’m not! I’m in California, and tomorrow we’re going to Maui.”
Christy rolled over and pulled back the covers from her eyes. “You mean that wasn’t just an exotic dream I had last night? We really are going to Hawaii?”
Paula laughed and tossed a pillow at her. “I know! I still can’t believe it either. This is going to be the absolute best summer of my whole life! But wait a minute.”
Paula plopped herself down next to Christy’s legs at the end of her bed. “You haven’t told me anything at all about Todd since I’ve been here. I thought you’d be going on about him nonstop like you do in your letters.”
Christy propped herself up on her elbow. “I haven’t exactly had a chance to tell you much. I mean, I’m not exactly into telling my whole life story in front of my little brother, like some people I know!”
She flung back the pillow at Paula. Paula caught it, hugged it to her middle, and giggled. “Sorry about that! It’s probably good for David to realize that people, you know, kiss and stuff. He’s old enough to figure all that out, isn’t he?”
“I don’t think so. Besides, Todd is like a big brother or a cousin to David. Sometimes I think he spends more time with Todd than I do!”
“So, tell me everything. I’ve been dying to hear. Are you in love?”
Christy laughed.
“Come on!” Paula urged. “How far have you guys gone?”
“What?”
“You know. How far have you gone? Like kissing and everything.”
“Well, he’s kissed me about five times.”
“And?”
“And what?”
“What else?” Paula nudged Christy’s feet with her elbow.
“That’s all. There is nothing else.”
Paula stared at Christy a second and then, as if convinced she was telling the truth, pulled back and said, “Then something’s wrong.”
“What do you mean?”
“Think about it, Christy! You guys have known each other for more than a year, and you’ve pretty much been going together the whole time, right?”
“We’re not exactly going together.”
“You’re not going out with anyone else, are you?”
“Of course not! Paula, you know I’m not really allowed to date until I’m sixteen.”
“I’ll bet you anything Todd is going out with someone else.”
Christy gave Paula a slightly disgusted look and tried to figure out what she could be getting at.
“You don’t see it, do you? Christy! How could you be so blind? When a guy likes you, he does more than just kiss you, and more than five times in a year! If Todd really, truly loved you, he’d be much more, you know, aggressive. That’s how you can tell if a guy really likes you—by how hard he comes after you. He’s probably got another girlfriend in Newport Beach, and you’re just like the backup, girl-next-door, good friend kind of girlfriend.”
Christy knew Paula was wrong, but she didn’t feel quite awake enough to try to prove it. She’d heard these kinds of accusations from another friend months ago. The other girl’s words had awakened a fear and anxiety in Christy over Todd. She’d since become more secure in her relationship with him, even if their relationship didn’t fit anyone else’s idea of “normal.”
“You know,” Paula adjusted her position at the end of the bed, “I’m pretty surprised. All along I thought you guys were a whole lot more serious, and you just weren’t writing it in your letters in case your mom or my mom read them.”
“Paula, wait until you meet Todd. He’s not like any other guy. He would never try to push our relationship into anything more than what it is. Physically or otherwise. That’s just the kind of guy he is.”
“There is no such guy!” Paula declared. “No eighteen-year-old guy who is as good-looking and wonderful as you say he is is going to limit himself to only one girl. I still say he has another girlfriend he hasn’t told you about.”
Christy shook her head. “Wait until you meet him, Paula. You’ll see. He’s a Christian. He really loves the Lord.”
As soon as Christy mentioned the Lord, Paula ended the conversation by heading for the bathroom to get ready for the day. Christy tried to snuggle back down and get some more sleep.
Too late. Her brain was functioning at full speed, sorting through everything Paula said and throwing out most of it.
It did occur to Christy, though, that Paula had drilled her for details about her boyfriend, yet Paula hadn’t volunteered one word about any of the guys she’d mentioned in her letters over the past year.
When Paula returned to the bedroom, Christy asked, “You didn’t tell me if you have a boyfriend or not. What happened to that one guy? I forgot his name. Wasn’t he Melissa’s brother?”
“Him?” Paula looked surprised Christy would ask. “No, he’s long gone. I don’t have a boyfriend. I wanted to come to California available for all the surfers I thought you were going to introduce me to.” She looked cute and playful when she added, “Now I guess I’ll have to settle for a Hawaiian surfer.”
Christy’s mom appeared in the hallway and stuck her head into the girls’ room. “I thought I heard you girls up. Ready for some breakfast?”
That stopped the talk about guys until that afternoon, when Christy’s redheaded friend, Katie, came over. Paula and Christy were in Christy’s room packing when they suddenly heard a cheery voice say, “Okay, tell me David is great at making up fairy tales, and I’ll save myself a couple bucks.”
“Katie! Hi!” Christy said. “This is Paula. Paula, this is Katie.”
“Hi.”
“So, what did my brother do this time?”
Katie leaned against the door, her green eyes flashing from Paula back to Christy. “Dear David gave me some fairy tale about you guys going to Maui tomorrow. When I told him I didn’t believe him, he made me agree that if he was telling the truth I’d have to buy him an ice cream cone. So tell me he’s a confused little kid living in a fantasy world.”
“He is,” Christy said quickly. “But he’s also telling the truth. It’s one of my aunt’s little surprises. We leave tomorrow morning.”
From the hallway they could hear David chanting, “I told you so! I told you so!”
“I can’t believe it! Do you guys realize how lucky you are?”
“I know!” Paula jumped in and rattled off the details to a straight-faced Katie, who had lowered herself onto a corner of the roll-away bed and sat still, taking in the whole story.
Christy felt awkward. She thought about how much it must hurt Katie that Paula had suddenly shown up and taken her place as Christy’s closest friend. And now they were preparing to be whisked away to paradise and leave Katie behind.
Christy felt especially uncomfortable because last fall Marti had taken her and two other girls to Palm Springs, and Katie couldn’t go along because of her obligations as school mascot. The trip had turned into a disaster, and Christy now rarely even saw the girls she’d invited along on that adventure. But she’d promised Katie after the Palm Springs trip that she’d invite her along on the next trip Marti set up, no matter where they were going.
And now here the whole Hawaii trip had been planned to include Paula, and Katie hadn’t even been told they were going. Christy knew Katie would understand later when she got a chance to explain everything in private. She couldn’t attempt to explain things now without offending Paula, especially if it came out sounding like Christy would rather have taken Katie than her.
“That’s pretty incredible,” Katie exclaimed when Paula finished the exciting account. “I hope you guys have a good time. I sure wish I was going with you!”
Now Christy felt even worse. Those were the same things she’d said to Todd the morning he left. But she didn’t have any secrets up her sleeve like Todd had.
For one instant Christy considered asking her mom if she could call Aunt Marti and see if Katie could somehow come too. She threw the idea out when a mental picture of Mom’s face appeared. Mom would never let her ask such an expensive favor, and besides, she’d vowed long ago to never again beg her aunt for anything.
“I came over to see if you both wanted to come spend the night while Paula was here, but it looks like your social calendar is filling up too fast for me.” Katie said it good-naturedly, and Christy admired her for it.
“We’re only going to be gone a week,” Christy suggested. “Maybe we could get together when we get back, before Paula goes home.”
“Sure,” Katie agreed. “Bring back some grass skirts, and we’ll have an all-night hula contest.”
They all laughed, and then Katie graciously offered to help them pack. She pitched in with a sweet attitude.
Katie, you amaze me. If I were you, I’d be on my way home, crying by now. You are the kind of friend I want to be.
“What do you think?” Paula asked Katie. “Is it always hot there, or should I take some sweatshirts?”
“I guess I’d take one sweatshirt, just in case.”
“Then which one? I brought three. They’re all university ones. Whenever I wear them, people come up and ask if I go there, like to Michigan State or whatever. So what do you think is the coolest university to be identified with in Hawaii?” Paula laid out her three sweatshirts.
“Which one is the farthest away,” Katie suggested. “You know, it makes you look like you came a long way to see the islands.”
“I did come a long way,” Paula returned.
“Then wear the Wisconsin one and be true to your home state.”
“But the colors in the Pennsylvania one match more of my clothes.” Paula eyed the three displayed sweatshirts.
“All I know,” Christy said, folding a pair of shorts, “is you’d better decide, Paula. We are leaving in the morning!”
“Taking your tennis shoes, Christy?” Katie asked, bringing over a pair from the closet.
“I guess so. Are you, Paula?”
“We’d better, in case we go jogging. Jogging is a great way to meet guys, you know.”
“I’ll remember that.” Katie laughed at Paula’s serious advice. She placed Christy’s tennis shoes in the bottom of her suitcase and offered her own advice. “I always put my shoes and Bible in the bottom since they’re the heaviest things.”
“Good idea,” Christy said, fitting her cloth-covered Bible in next to her shoes as though she were putting together a puzzle.
“You know,” Katie said, her fair-skinned face becoming sober, “I think it’s really a God-thing that you get to go to Maui.”
“A ‘God-thing’?” Paula asked with a laugh. “What’s that?”
Katie remained serious, which didn’t happen too often. “It’s when something happens in your life, and you look at it and can’t explain how or why it happened, but you know there’s a reason for it. You know that God is doing something in your life, and it changes you. There’s no other way to explain it except to see it as a God-thing.”
“We know why this happened, though,” Paula quickly responded. “It’s because Christy’s aunt invited us to go with her.”
“Yeah, but think about it. How many people do you know who get invited to Hawaii, all expenses paid?” Katie asked. “Don’t you think it’s a God-thing, Christy? I think God’s going to do something in both of your lives while you’re over there.”
Christy wasn’t sure what a God-thing was supposed to be, but she appreciated Katie’s encouraging words. They were like a blessing from someone who could have felt hurt or left out.
A little bit later, when Paula went to the kitchen for something to drink, Katie continued her thought. “Don’t you think it’s a God-thing, Christy? I mean, I know how long you’ve been waiting for Paula to come visit, and I know how you’ve been praying that she’d become a Christian. If you ask me, this whole trip is set up so you and Todd can witness to Paula. Isn’t that kind of how you became a Christian last summer? From hearing about the Lord from Todd and another girl?”
“Sort of. Her name was Tracy. But it wasn’t so much what they said; it was more who they were. Todd and Tracy both had something I didn’t, and that’s what got me the most.”
“But didn’t they both witness to you together? I thought that’s what you told me one time when you showed me your Bible. Didn’t they both give you your Bible?”
“Yeah, but I don’t know. It wasn’t like they told me about the Lord, and I said, ‘Okay, sure I’d like to give my life to Christ.’ It was more like they kept telling me in different ways that I needed the Lord. I kind of ignored them—at first. Then later everything they’d been saying, along with some other stuff that had happened, hit me really hard. I knew I had to make a decision.”
Katie’s green eyes were serious as she said, “You know what I think? I think you shouldn’t get discouraged if Paula doesn’t hear you and Todd or understand right away when you talk about Jesus. You’ve got to give it time.”
“I know, I know.” Christy couldn’t explain it, but she felt irritated by Katie’s advice. Realizing she must sound rude, she added, “Just pray for us, okay?”
“I will,” Katie said. “I promise. And I still think this trip is a God-thing.”
After Katie left, Paula made fun of the way she had called their trip a God-thing. “Don’t you get freaked out around people who talk about God as if He were, you know, a Spirit watching over you or something?”
“Well, He kind of is, Paula,” Christy began, hoping for a chance to explain. “I think what Katie meant—”
Paula cut her off. “Oh, you don’t have to defend her, Christy. I like Katie. I think she’s really nice. I’m just saying she seemed great until she got all mystical on us.”
Just then Mom poked her head into the room. “You girls all packed? I hope you managed to get it all into one suitcase each.”
“Just about.” Christy surveyed her neatly packed suitcase. “All I need to do is put in my cosmetic bag in the morning.”
Mom stepped closer to examine their packing job. A hot pink string hung out of the side of Paula’s packed but not yet closed suitcase. Mom tugged on the string until the rest of the bikini top popped out.
“Oh my!” was all Mom said. She kept holding it up as if she were trying to figure out what to do with it. “Is this yours, Paula?”
“Yes,” Paula answered politely and without expressing any of the embarrassment Christy felt.
“Is this the swimsuit you bought yesterday?”
“Yeah.” Paula plucked the small top from Mrs. Miller’s hand and crammed it back into her suitcase, making sure all the strings were tucked in this time.
“Paula,” Mom began diplomatically, “I’m not sure your mother would approve of that suit.”
Look out, Paula! Here it comes!
Christy struggled with her feelings for both sides. If she could get up the nerve or had the right kind of figure, she’d probably want to wear a hot pink bikini too. Still, she knew her mom was about to appeal for the side of modesty, and she agreed with that side too.
“Oh, don’t worry, Mrs. Miller. I only bought this one to sunbathe in. I have my old one-piece for swimming. I bought this one because, I mean, what’s the point of going to Hawaii if you can’t come home really tan?”
Mom seemed satisfied with Paula’s reason and only gave her a warning. “I’d like you to make sure you have a T-shirt or cover-up along so you can slip it on in case you’re sunbathing and the guys show up.”
Paula smiled her agreement, and Mom let it go at that. She urged the girls to get to bed early since they’d be leaving at four in the morning for the airport. Christy couldn’t help but think that if she ever tried to bring home a bikini, her mom and dad would forbid her to ever wear it—for sunbathing or anything. Paula had gotten off easy.
Paula fell asleep quickly again that night, while Christy kept finding little things to finish up or stick into her suitcase, which she did in the dim light from the hallway so as not to disturb Paula. One of the things Christy came across as she cleaned off her desk was the mysterious letter she’d received a few days ago. She stuck it in her purse, intending to ask Paula the next morning if she’d written it. And what did the part “I thought about what you said” mean?
Christy glanced around her room in the faint light and felt pleased that she was leaving everything basically neat. She liked having things where she could find them.
The only thing left to clear away was the mound of dirty clothes the two girls had been tossing into the corner for the last two days. Christy scooped it up and carried it down to the washing machine in the garage.
As she dumped it on top of the washing machine, she saw Paula’s one-piece bathing suit wadded up and tucked in with the other dirty clothes. Christy tried to figure out why Paula would put her bathing suit in the wash, especially after telling Mom she planned to wear it while swimming instead of her new bikini.
She must have accidentally tossed it in the corner when she was sorting out her clothes. Or maybe Paula was trying to hide the suit and leave it at Christy’s so when she got to Maui she’d have no choice but to wear the bikini the whole time?
Christy leaned against the cold washing machine and thought about how the Paula she grew up with would never do something deceptive like that. Trouble was, Paula had changed. Christy wasn’t sure who this new Paula was or what she might be capable of.