“Eddie, My Love”
Listen to this chapter, “Dawn of a New Day.”
The next morning dawned bright and cheerful. Sandra, Julie, and Carolyn were staying together in the same cabin; but Julie awoke to find herself alone. Glancing at her watch, she knew the reason. Hurriedly she washed and dressed and was combing her hair when Sandra came in.
“So you finally decided to get up, huh?” teased Sandra.
Ignoring the remark, Julie just said, “And where have you been so early?”
“Oh, just out messing around mostly, I guess,” Sandra answered. “Ken and I took a walk up Strawberry Creek as far as—”
“Hey, wait a minute,” interrupted Julie, just noticing the chain around Sandra’s neck. “Where and when and who and how?” she asked, pointing to the heart.
Sandra laughed. “It’s Ken’s,” she replied. “We’re not going steady, though”—then she added—“yet. It just means we’re good friends,” she explained, “really good friends. He asked me to go steady last night, but I told him I’d have to think about it. Anyway, what I came in here to tell you is—”
“Oh, sorry to interrupt you, but have you seen Carolyn?”
“Oh, yes, she’s out there working on Steve.”
“And how is Steve reacting?”
“Well, the normal way boys react to Carolyn Bullenhacker. But I don’t think she’ll go too far with Steve because he’s just not that kind.”
“Well, what’s the news that was so important when you came in here?”
“Oh,” said Sandra, “Eddy wanted me to tell you he’s sorry for everything that happened last night, and he doesn’t want you to be mad at him.”
“Oh, really?” said Julie. “What else is new?”
“Oh, Julie, he didn’t know that you didn’t want graduation night brought up. He asked me why you acted so funny about it.”
“And just what did you tell him?”
“I told him it wasn’t fair to bring up mistakes of the past.”
“What did he say?”
“He said that he really didn’t expect you to kiss him last night, although he really wanted you to. He was testing you, he said. He wanted to see if you would finally give in under great pressure.”
“Well, he pushed it just a little too far.”
“He said he realizes that now, but he just got carried away last night.”
“When did he tell you all this?”
“This morning. He tagged along after Ken and me until he made me promise I’d tell you he was sorry.”
“Well, if you see him again, tell him it takes a man to apologize face to face, will you?”
Sandra smiled. “Okay. Are you coming out now?”
“In a few minutes,” she said.
Five minutes later, Julie arrived at the mess hall in the lodge where the kids had gathered waiting to hear “Come and get it!” from the camp cook. She wandered over to the fireplace and was gazing at the burning logs when a gentle hand touched her shoulder. She turned to see Eddy. But before he could say anything—
“Okay, kids, breakfast’s ready!” Mr. Marcos called. In the same instant, all the kids scurried to find a place in line where they each got a plate, cup, and silverware and helped themselves to the steaming hot pancakes with maple syrup and butter. From there, they found places to eat along the rows of tables and benches.
Somehow, in the crowd, Julie and Eddy got lost from each other. By the time Julie had gone through line, there wasn’t room for her at the table where the rest of the gang was sitting. So she sat at the next table. All the time while she was eating, she could feel Eddy’s eyes penetrating through her. He said nothing and she didn’t say anything. Eddy just sat and stared.
By the time breakfast was over, Julie was a nervous wreck. When she had taken her dishes into the kitchen, she looked around for Sandra. Most of the kids were migrating outside to join the snowball fight, so she figured Sandra possibly had gone outside. She was getting ready to go outside when she heard someone call her name. She turned, and there stood Eddy. She turned back toward the door.
“Julie,” he called softly. “Please don’t be mad at me. About last night—I’m sorry, Julie.” He paused. “I don’t know what else to say, but I don’t want you to go and…and…” His voice trailed off. Then, seeing the piano at hand, he sat down and played. Looking at Julie, he sang, “I’m Sorry I Made You Cry,” his voice echoing in the empty hall. When he finished singing, Julie smiled warmly at him.
“Okay, Romeo,” she said, “I get the point.”
When they walked outside together, Ken, who stood with Sandra on the porch, remarked, “Oh, did you two kids finally make out, I mean make up?”
Julie glared at him in mock disgust. Ken laughed. “Oh,” Sandra said to Julie, “are you guys going with the group at ten to Pine Cove to go sledding or are you staying here and going ice skating?”
“We’re going to Pine Cove, aren’t we, Eddy?” she said, looking at him.
“I guess so,” he said, “but we, I mean all four of us, if we’re going, had better get into the kitchen and get busy. We’ve got KP duty this morning, you know.”
“Oh, Eddy,” said Julie, “don’t be so dramatic. What’s a few dishes to wash?”
“A few!” exclaimed Eddy. “A hundred and twenty-seven people ate breakfast in there this morning, and you say we’ve got ‘just a few’.”
“Well,” said Julie, “what are we standing here for? Let’s go get busy.” She started inside and Eddy followed her.
“We’ll be there in a minute,” Ken called after them. When the door shut, Ken chuckled softly. “Those kids,” he said, shaking his head.
“They aren’t so much younger than we are, remember,” Sandra said. “Julie’s a freshman, and we’re just sophomores.”
“I know,” said Ken, but they just seem so juvenile, ’cause Eddy’s just an eighth grader, I guess. I don’t see why Julie doesn’t pick on somebody her own age.”
“Well, confidentially,” Sandra said, “she has an inferiority complex.”
“But why should she?” asked Ken in surprise. “She’s just as good as anybody in the school. And when she isn’t around some squirt like Eddy, you could never tell by her actions she’s not 15—or older.”
“It’s a long story,” sighed Sandra. “Remember when Miss Delavin taught seventh grade?”
“How could I ever forget?” said Ken, throwing his hand to his head.
“Well, you came here in the last semester of that year, didn’t you? At the first of the year, someone spread some nasty little rumors about Julie. I’ll give you the details some other time, maybe. Anyway, Miss Delavin was Ella’s second cousin, and she believed practically anything Ella and Cynthia said. You can imagine Julie had a pretty hard time. And to make things worse, Dick Clarke’s dad was transferred to New York that summer. Dick had been the one who always stuck up for Julie, you know. And then, to top it all off, Miss Delavin became the eighth-grade teacher for the next year. So no wonder Julie broke down and did what she did graduation night. And ever since then, Julie’s not been the same vivacious, gay girl she used to be.”
Ken was silent for a moment as he stared blankly at the white ground. He nodded slightly to himself, then turned to Sandra. As though awakened out of a dream, he said, “I guess we’d better get in there and help those kids, huh?”
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