Clair Bridge

Chapter 1

Clair Bridge was running down the school hall, trying to make it to her English class. She was running late on her first day of school! As she rushed in to her seat she was thinking about what her grandma would say about being late. Clair and her brother Nick lived with their grandparents ever since her parents died in a car accident 4 years ago. Their grandma had just found a job at West Lake Christian Middle School, it so happened that she was teaching 8^th grade (Clair’s grade). But Clair was fine with it since Gran had been home-schooling her & her brother since her parents’ death.

    Her brother who was 6 just started home-schooling last year and had never been to school. As Clair slipped in the last chair she could find in class she saw her grandma give one of those looks which meant “I’ll have a talk with you later”.  After English class, Math class, and Social Studies, it was finally time for lunch!

    “I’m starving”, said one of Clair’s classmates.

    “I know, me too”, said Clair.

    “I never asked your name,” said the girl, “I’m Nichole Winters!”

    “Oh, nice to meet you, I’m Clair. I’m Mrs. Bridges granddaughter.”

“That is so cool to have a grandma working at the school”, said Nichole, “Do you go to West Lake Baptist Church? I haven’t seen you before.”

  “No, I go down the road to Glory Road Baptist Church” said Clair.

    “Cool, I’ve only been there once for their Vacation Bible School and it was really fun!”

   “So do you have any siblings?” asked Nichole.

   “Just one, his name is Nick,”

     “What grade?” asked Nichole.

     “Second.”

    “Ok, cool, I need to meet him some time”, said Nichole. “Come with me I need to introduce you to my twin brother!”

    They walked down a few tables to where some of the boys sat.

    “Mathew, come here!” she hollered.

    “What is it sis?” he said.

    ”Come meet my friend Clair!”

    “Hello” said Clair.

    “Howdy, “ replied Mathew, “you new in town? Haven’t seen you before.”

    “No I’m just new to the school, I used to be homeschooled!”

    “Awesome, I always thought it would be cool to be homeschooled!”

    “Yeah, it is,” said Clair, “So you guys are twins? That is so cool.”

   Now that she looked closer she could tell they had the same dirty blond hair and freckles, but she noticed that Mathew had dark eyes instead of Hazel like Nichole’s!

     “Well I guess it is,” replied Nichole, ”but I wish we were not in the same grade because that means I am with him 24/7.”

   “Hey, that was insulting,” said Mathew.

   Clair laughed,”Yeah I don’t suppose I would want Nick to be in my grade ether!”

    “Well we better leave Matt to talk with his buddies.” Nichole said sarcastically.

   “Okie-dokie” said Clair.

   They went to another table and sat down, as Clair sat down she saw a girl sitting alone in a far corner.

  ”Hey Nichole, do you know that girl over there?”

   “Nope,” replied Nichole.

   “I think we should go say hello, she looks lonely”, said Clair.

    “I couldn’t agree more!” said Nichole with a smile.

    Clair and Nichole walked over and put their lunch trays down on the table.

   “Do you mind if we sit here? We saw you sitting alone, and thought you could use some company” said Nichole.

 “I-I guess you could sit here, if you want”, replied the girl shyly.

 “Is this your first day?” asked Clair,”This is my first day here.”

 “Yes, it is,” said the girl.

 “What is your name?” asked Nichole.

“It’s Victoria- Victoria Stanly.

” It is so nice to meet you Victoria”, said Clair.

 “I love your hair! It is such a pretty color!” said Clair as she looked at Victoria’s strawberry blond hair in a bun; she thought it was way prettier than her dark chestnut brown hair. And she had bright green eyes which Clair greatly envied! She didn’t dislike her blue eyes, but she had always liked green better.

  “Thanks!” said Victoria, ”my mom’s is the same color!”

    “Do you look like your mom Clair?” asked Nichole.

 Clair looked at her shoes- “well uh, I’m not quite sure; she died four years ago, so it is hard to remember what she looks like. My grandma says I look more like my dad.”

  “I’m so sorry,” said Nichole.

“Yeah, me too,” said Victoria.

 “So it’s just you, your dad, and Nick right?”

“Well uh, actually my dad died too,” replied Clair.

    That was too much for Clair to handle. She put her head on the table and started crying.

 “I’m so sorry”

 “That must have been so hard for you!”

Victoria and Nichole scooted their chairs next to hers.

 “Thanks guys,” said Clair,” it’s just that I miss them so much, I sometimes can’t even remember exactly what they look like.

 Clair looked at down her Beautiful blue scarf she had decided to wear to school.

“This scarf I am wearing was from my parents! They gave it to me only a few days before they died!” Clair started crying again.

“It is very pretty,” said Nichole, “your parents must have loved you so much!”

Clair sniffled back some tears and said, “ Yes they did, and I loved them too! You all have been really nice to me, I was so nervous about my first day of school and you all have been real kind, I really hope we will be great friends!”

    ” you all are the ones who came to me,” said Victoria. “I was really nervous about my first day of school too, but you guys have been really friendly, I was afraid that nobody was going to talk to me.”

 “Me three,” said Nichole,” I’m really glad you all came to West Lake this year!”

 Bliiiing! The bell rang.

 “Guess it’s time to get back to class!”

 I’ll beat you to the lockers,” said Nichole,”last one there is a rotten egg.”

 “You’re on,” replied Clair.

~

     “So how was school kids?” asked Gran.

They were driving on their way back from school.

“It was way better than I expected,” said Clair, “I made two new friends!”

“Oh, good!” said Gran,” I’ve wanted you to get some more, I know you have been lonely lately.”

“Yeah, I really have been, my only friend was Dianna, and we haven’t been talking lately. She seems like she does not like me anymore. She keeps on hanging out with all the other girls.”

“Well honey I’m sure she still likes you, it’s just that she is questioning things in her life right now. You know how hard it was for her when her parents divorced, just try to be a friend to her, even though she hasn’t been the best one to you. You may never be the greatest friends in life, but I know you can help her!”

“Thanks Gran,” Clair said, ”I’ll try to be nicer!”

   “I want to talk, I want to talk!” said Nick in the back seat.

Gran laughed.

“Ok, your turn Nick,” said Gran.

“Well I made these two good friends; their names are Robby and Danny. They love trains just like me! Robby wants to be a pilot when he grows up; he likes air-plains more than trains.” said Nick.

“Wow! Sounds like you had lots of fun,” said Clair.

 “Yep, I did, and guess what Gran.”

“What?” replied Gran.

 “My teacher said that I was really smart!” said Nick.

“Well good for you Nick, I told you, you would do great in school!”

Nick beamed with pride.

   Once they arrived home, Clair got the mail from the mail-box and brought it in to her grandpa.

 “Grandpa, I’m home.”

 “How was school?”

“It was great.” said Clair.

“I’m glad; I was wondering how you would like it.”

“Ok, well I got to go to my homework.” said Clair.

“Ok, if you need any help you just say so.” said grandpa.

“Sure thing,” replied Clair.

     She ran upstairs. She wanted to get her homework done as soon as possible, she hated homework, and she still really wanted to read the rest of this awesome book she started the day before. After homework, dinner, and some reading Clair sat down for their nightly devotions.

    Grandpa opened his Bible to Eph. 4:32, “Be ye kind one to another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, even as God for Christ’s sake hath forgiven you.”

 “We need to always forgive others no matter what they have done. When we hold bitterness against someone it is hurting us more than them. Bitterness is a horrible thing, it is like a disease, and once we have it in our heart it can spread until we are totally full of hatred and deceit. Thankfully though there is a remedy and that is Jesus! Jesus had the power to heal anything! After talking a little bit longer Grandpa closed out the devotions in prayer - “Dear heavenly Father, we thank you for this day, we thank you that Clair and Nick had a wonderful day in school, and we ask you to help them to grow in you. Please help us to forgive others as you have forgiven us. In Jesus name we pray, Amen.”

~

    That night as Clair was sleeping in bed she kept on thinking back on what her grandpa had said about forgiveness, and she was also thinking back four years ago when she saw her parents die. It started when their pastor had asked Mr. and Mrs. Martin to take the teens on a field trip; the Martins had said that they had some other plans so they asked Clair's parents if they could take the teens instead. Her parents said yes. On the day of the trip, Clair’s parents decided to take Clair along; as they were driving down the main highway to where they were going one of the teens whose name was Robert started a game of catch with his buddies, after a while it started a lot of commotion. Clair’s father who was driving the bus, turned around to settle the boys down, his eyes coming off the road in front of him. Clair’s mom had screamed, “John, watch out!” and in less than a second a huge semi came crashing through the dashboard. Glass chattered, kid’s screamed and then it was silent.

    It was all over in a matter of seconds. Clair looked up to the driver’s seat to see her parents laying still, blood sliding down their forehead, it was a sight Clair would never forget! The doctors said that Clair’s parents had died suddenly, only a few teens in the front of the bus were injured, but nothing serious. Clair had never truly forgiven Robert, the boy who had made her father turn his head to stop him.

   She saw Robert every Sunday and Wednesday. No one probably knew she was angry because she kept it in, but deep down she knew she blamed Robert for her parent’s death. With a tear on her cheek Clair whispered softly in the night, “Oh God, I know you would want me to forgive him, but I can’t- at least not yet. “

 

Chapter 2

    Clair had decided to walk home on the way back from school the next day; it was such a beautiful day! As she took the last turn to her house she saw a small box on the side of the road.

    “I wonder what that is doing there,” thought Clair.

     She decided that she would go check it out.

    When she looked inside she saw two of the cutest kittens she had ever saw, the one was white with tan stripes on it, and the other one was as white and as fluffy as clouds.

     “Oh, they are so cute, who would leave such cute creatures here. I’ve got to take them home.”

       She stuffed the kittens into her jean jacket’s pocket. She did not know if her grandparents would want any pets so she decided she  would hide them until she knew they would want to keep them.

     When she got home, she saw her grandpa sleeping on his favorite chair in the living room. She tip-toed up the stairs, and as she was rounding the corner to her room…

     “Hey Clair!”

      “Ahhhhh,” screamed Clair.

Clair screamed at the sudden encounter.

     “Sorry I scared you,” Nick said, “I was wondering when you would get here, it took you forever.

    “Nick, you scared the daylights out of me,” said Clair gasping for breath.

    “Sorry,” said Nick.

     Clair rushed into her room and closed the door.

     “Whew that was a close one!” she thought, ”I need to be more careful. “

    Clair put the kittens in the closet, and went down stairs to get them some milk.

       “I hope grandma won’t be in the kitchen” she thought.

     Thankfully Gran was weeding in the back yard garden. Clair rushed upstairs again to give the kittens milk.

      “Here you go little guys”. The kittens lapped up the milk quickly. 

    “Oh you poor things, you’re starving!” Clair gave them some more.

     “Ok, now I need to name you, little guys.” Let’s see, I’ll name the boy with the tan stripes- Cluster, and the white, fluffy girl-Clouds! Two perfect names!”

                                           ~

    “Guys you won’t believe what I found on the way back from school the other day!”

     “Let me guess, um, I’m thinking, I’m thinking, I know! A new flat-screen TV with high definition!” said Matt.

“No silly,” replied Clair.

   “Tell us!” said Nichole and Victoria at the same time.

    “I found two little kittens in a box on my street corner!”

“That is so cool, I love kittens!” said Victoria.

    “What did you name them?” asked Nichole.

 “Their names are Cluster and Clouds,” replied Clair.

   “Cool names,” said Matt.

    “Thanks!”

    “I wish I could get one, but my parents hate cats!” said Victoria, “you are so lucky, that your grandparents let you get them!”

     “Yeah well about that, my grandparents don’t know about them yet,” replied Clair with shame.

     “What!”

   “Don’t freak out, I’m going to tell them, just not yet. I’m not sure if they would let me keep them or not,” said Clair.

    “I still think you should tell them,” said Matt.

    “I will.”

     “Well if you don’t tell them soon, they’re bound to find out,” said Nichole.

     “I know, I know. I’ll tell them soon.”

     “Hey guys, did you hear about one of the kids getting the flu yesterday….” Clair said trying to get them onto a new subject.

      Everyone forgot all about the conversation and kept on talking, but Clair couldn’t help feeling guilty about not telling her grandparents about the kittens.

                                            ~

       Victoria and Clair walked home together since they only lived a few blocks apart.

       “So why did you come to West Lake this year?” Clair asked Victoria.

       “My parents decided that I should come to West Lake, because I’ve been going to public school my whole life, and they thought that a Christian school would be better for me“, replied Victoria.

       “Were you upset to leave your school?” asked Clair.

       “I didn’t have any friends there, so I was not that upset,” said Victoria. “I’m so glad that I met you and Nichole, you all are so nice.”

      “Thanks,” said Clair. “I’m glad I met you and Nichole too! Do you play any instruments Victoria?” asked Clair.

      “No, I’m more into sports, I love volley-ball. It’s the best!” replied Victoria. What about you,” she asked.

     “I’ve played the piano for five years,” said Clair.  After my parents died I played it a lot more, it kind of comforted me.”

    “You should sign up for the music part in the Beauty and the Beast play coming up next month, I heard Mr. Patrick, who’s in charge of the play say he needs someone to play the piano for the play’s music!” said Victoria.

    “Really, that sounds so fun, I would love to do it!” said Clair.

    “Go for it!” said Victoria.

    “I think I will, I’ll go ask Mr. Patrick about it tomorrow!” said Clair.

    “You are so brave, I would be way too nervous to go up there in front of all those people.” said Victoria.

    “I used to be too, but I learned if I ask God to help me, it usually turns out ok,” said Clair. “So what else do you like doing besides volley-ball?” Clair asked Victoria.

      “Photography! I want to be a photographer when I grow up!”

     “That is so cool!” said Clair.

     “What do you want to be when you grow up?” Victoria asked Clair.

     “Well I love to read and write, so I’d probably want to be a writer, but I’m not totally certain yet.” replied Clair.

   “I wish I liked to read, my mom always says I need to read more,” said Victoria. They were standing by the corner of the street Victoria had to take to get to her house. “Well I got to go, I’ll see you tomorrow!”

     “Ok, bye!” 

    When Clair walked through her front door the wonderful aroma of fresh baked cookies reached her nose.

    “Yum! Gran are you making cookies?”

     “Yes dear, I just finished my first batch. Come have some” Gran said.

    Clair sat down at the kitchen table, and saw Nick gulping down his last bit of milk.

     “Hey Nick, how was school?” asked Clair.

      “It was great,” said Nick.

    And then he went running up the stairs to his room to probably play with his toy trains.

     “How was school Clair,” Gran asked.

    “It was good,” said Clair.

    “I’m so glad,” said Gran,” me and your Grandpa love you so much, and we want to make you as happy as possible.”

     Clair was stabbed with a pain of guilt. She almost told her Gran all about the kittens, but decided not to; she needed to keep it secret until she knew it was safe.

     “Thanks Gran,” said Clair, “you and Grandpa make me very happy, and I love you all too.”

    “Thanks, sweetie,” said Gran, “I saw that you are friends with Nichole Winters and Victoria Stanly. That is a good choice as they are really nice young girls.”

     “Thanks Gran, well I need to go upstairs and do my homework. I’m going to take some milk up to drink.

     She headed up the stairs.

     When Clair got to her room, she gave the kittens some of the milk.

    She had left them in her walk-in-closet, with a ball to play with; she also had put some sand in a shoe box for them to do their business. 

     “Hey little guys, do you like your new room? It’s a lot better than a box on the street isn’t it!”

    Clouds came up and cuddled on her lab, and purred.

     “You are so sweet aren’t you!” said Clair,” I don’t like picking favorites, but I think you’ve won me over.

      Clair cuddled with the kittens a little longer, read her book for an hour, and then she headed down for dinner when she heard her Gran calling her.

      “Clair please set the table!” said Gran.

      “Yes, ma'am,” replied Clair. “What are we eating?”

     “Chicken spaghetti,” said Gran.

       “Yes! My favorite,” said Clair.

      “Nick, please wake Grandpa up from his nap for dinner,” said Gran.

     “Ok Gran”.

      Once everyone was sitting at the table, grandpa said “grace” and they all started eating.

     “How was everyone’s day?” said Grandpa.

      “It was great,” said Nick, “we had pizza for lunch!”

     “Sounds exciting.”

     “What about you Clair?” asked Grandpa.

     “It was real good, I was wondering if you all would be ok if I played the piano for a Beauty and the Beast play at school next month. Victoria said that Mr. Patrick, our schools’ drama director, was looking for someone to do it.” said Clair.

    “If Mr. Patrick accepts you, which I’m sure he will, you have my permission for you to do it,” said Grandpa.

     “Thank you so much,” said Clair, “Oh, by the way-me and some kids were talking about pets today and I was wondering if you like them and all.” said Clair.

    “Well, yes I guess I like animals,” said grandpa.

    “Can we get a pet grandpa? I love pets! Oh, please I really want one!” begged Nick.

     “Well if we did get a pet it would be a big responsibility, and you would have to work really hard. I do not think now is the time for one, maybe in a few years,” replied Grandpa.

     “Please,” Nick begs again.

     “We are done talking about it Nick, please finish eating your food,” said Grandpa in a firm voice.

    Clair’s heart sank; there was no way she could keep the kittens now.

                                              ~ 

They all had devotions after Gran and Clair cleaned up dinner, and since they were finished Clair was heading up stairs to go to bed when her grandpa called her.

     “Clair, please come here,” he said.

     “Coming Grandpa,” Clair said.

     She went into the living room where she saw him sitting on the sofa.

     Please come here, and sit by me,” he said.

     “What on earth does he want?” wondered Clair.

      Clair sat down.

   “You seem like something is bothering you Clair, is something wrong?”

    “No,” replied Clair.

   Her grandpa just sat there quietly for a minute.

     “Clair,” he said breaking the silence.

    “Yes,” she said.

    “Today when you were at school I was upstairs when I heard a noise in your room.“

     “Oh no, he found out!” thought Clair.

     “I looked inside and looked around, and did not see anything; I was about to leave when I heard it again. I opened your closet door and you know what I found?”

  Silence

 “I found two little kittens.”

 “Clair, how long have you been hiding them?”

      “Only two days,” replied Clair meekly.

    “Well that would have given you enough time to tell me and your grandma! We have given you plenty of opportunities to tell us!  You have hurt us very badly, because you did not tell us until now. We trusted you, and now it is going to take a while for you to regain that trust. Why did you not tell us?”

   “I was afraid you would not let me have them,” said Clair. She had tears flowing down her face from shame and guilt.

     “Clair,” her grandpa said,” you should always remember that we will do what we think is best for you. You should never hide anything from us.”

     “I know, I’m sorry.” cried Clair, “I’m truly sorry to have hurt you grandpa! Please forgive me!”

    “I forgive you Clair, but there is also someone else you should ask for forgiveness-God. God hates sin, and lying is sinning!”

   “Yes sir,” said Clair.

 “Now go upstairs to your room for bed. We will discuss what we will do about the kittens and your punishment in the morning.”

      Clair headed up to bed. After Clair had made sure the kittens were ready for bed, she knelt at her bed for prayer.

    “Dear God, I’m so sorry for not telling my grandparents about the kittens, it was wrong of me. I should have known that when we lie, it only makes matters worse. Lord, I really love the kittens, especially Clouds and I know this is real selfish of me since I do not deserve to keep them, but it would be really hard for me to get rid of them. So please give me strength to give them up if I have too, which I probably will. Thank you for everything you do, and help me never to hide things from my grandparents again, Amen.”

                                             ~

 The next day was Saturday so most of Clair’s family slept in late, but Clair got up early anxious about what the day would bring. She sat in her closet with the kittens for about an hour before she heard her Gran get up, and head downstairs to make breakfast. Clair hurried down the stairs to help her.

     “Good morning Gran!” said Clair.

      “Good morning,” Grandma said. They finished making a breakfast of biscuits and gravy in silence.

     “Gran must be really mad at me, she hasn’t said a word!” thought Clair.

     After breakfast Grandpa called everyone over into the living room.

   “Clair, go get the kittens please” he said.

   “Yes sir,” said Clair. When she got back down with the kittens, Nick went on and on about how cute they were, and how much he wanted to keep them.

    “Nick,” said Grandpa sternly.

    “Yes sir!?,” asked Nick.

“Please sit down and listen.” Grandpa said.

  Nick sat down.

 “Clair,” Grandpa started,” me and your grandma talked a great deal last night, and we came upon a conclusion for your punishment. Mrs. Madison, our neighbor was talking to me the other day about how lonely she has been since her husband died; she said that if she had a pet to keep her company she would feel so much better, preferably a cat. Yesterday when I found the kittens in your closet I immediately thought of her. I have decided that as punishment, you must pick one kitten that you will give to Mrs. Madison. You may keep the other one.”

    “Oh, Grandpa! Thank you so much!” said Clair. “I…”

     “I’m not finished,” interrupted Grandpa. “You will also be grounded from any reading, electronics, and TV for a week,” said Grandpa.

    “Yes sir,” said Clair then looking at her Gran she said, “Gran, can I say something?”

     “Yes, dear.” replied Gran.

     “I just wanted to tell you I’m sorry for lying to you, please forgive me!”

     “Of course I will forgive you!” said Gran. She got up from where she was sitting and gave Clair a big hug.

    ” I love you.”

    “I love you too!” 

~

      That afternoon Clair took Cluster down the road to Mrs. Madison. When Mrs. Madison found out that Clair had brought her a cat, she cried with thanks.

      “Thank you so much Clair. I have been so lonely lately and this is just what I needed! I will take good care of her!”

        Clair felt so good about giving Cluster to Mrs. Madison she knew that Mrs. Madison needed him much more than she did, and she still had Clouds!

    “Thank you God for letting me find that box of kittens. It has taught me a lesson about not lying, and it has made another person’s life much sweeter!”

  

 

Chapter 3

“Mr. Patrick, my name is Clair Bridge and I heard you were looking for someone to play the piano in the upcoming Beauty and the Beast play.”

“Oh, yes I was looking for someone to do the job, do you have a piece that you would like to play so I can see how well you do?”

“Yes,” replied Clair. They were sitting in the school’s theater where Mr. Patrick had just taken auditions. Clair headed up the stairs to the piano. She sat down and played the “Entertainer”. Once she was finished with the song, she stood and bowed.

“Bravo,” said Mr. Patrick,” that was very impressive. I was about ready to give up on finding someone to play the piano; I thought I would have to do it myself. I am very glad I found you!”
“Thank you sir!” said Clair.

“You will be doing three songs for the play- two of which the actors will be singing to, so you are going to need to get the timing just right! No pressure. “

Mr. Patrick handed the music sheets to Clair.

“Thank you so much, I will try to not let you down!” said Clair.

“Just try your hardest, and I will be happy with that!” said Mr. Patrick

             ~

“You got accepted, awesome!”

Clair, Victoria, and Nichole were talking on Nichole’s front porch. Clair’s grandparents had dropped her off, to spend the afternoon with Nichole and Victoria.

“Yep, I’m so excited! But I am so nervous; Mr. Patrick said I had to work so hard on my timing because the kids in the play are singing to it!”

“You will do GREAT!” said Victoria with enthusiasm.

“Thanks, I hope I will do well!” said Clair,” I’m going to have to practice a lot!”

“Hey guys, you want to do some hoops with me?” Matt said, peeking his head through the front door.

“Sure!” said Clair.

They played two on two - Victoria and Matt on a team, and Clair and Nichole on a team. The score ended up being 18 to 16, Clair and Nichole being the winners.

After basketball they all went in to get some lemonade and cookies from Nichole’s mom. A few minutes later Clair’s Gran picked her up. When they got home Clair helped Gran set the table, and then they sat down to eat.

“Guess what guys,” asked Clair.

“What?” Asked Grandpa,” I hope it is good news!”

“It’s great news!” said Clair. “I got accepted to do the play’s music, and I am so excited, but I am also so nervous!”
“You will do great!” said Grandpa and Gran.

“Yeah Clair, you are like the world’s best piano player!” said Nick.

Clair giggled. “Thanks for the support, Nick. But I do not think I am even close to being the best piano player in the world!”

After dinner Clair and her grandparents played a game while Nick went to bed. They played UNO attack and Grandpa won.

“Thanks grandpa that was a lot of fun! Next time I’m going to beat you!”
“Well you can try, but you will never beat me! I am the king of UNO attack!”
“We will see about that,” said Clair with a smirk. “You know what they say- pride cometh before the fall!”

“Alright, well get to bed, church is in the morning and you need to get up early.”
Clair gave her grandpa and her Gran a goodnight hug and headed up for bed. She wanted to get a good night sleep, so she could get up early to take a shower and get dressed up for church.

                                             ~

When Clair went to her Sunday school class she was surprised to see Dianna there, because she had not been coming lately. Dianna was standing with some of the older girls. As soon as Clair saw Dianna the first thing she noticed was that Dianna had dyed the front part of her hair green!

“Oh no!” thought Clair,”Dianna has gotten in with the wrong crowd again!”

Clair had known Dianna since they were both very little. They used to be the best of friends, but when Dianna was ten her parents divorced, and Dianna had changed a lot. She did not hang out with Clair as much. She had been angry at God and everyone around her. At school she got in with the wrong crowd and had robbed a local general store. Dianna’s mom had sent her to a home for girls, Dianna was there for one year but it did not seem to help. She had just returned a few months ago and had been ignoring Clair more than ever.

“Hey Dianna,” said Clair,” I have not seen you for a while, I’ve missed you.

Dianna smirked.

“Yeah, whatever. I’m sure you did.” said Dianna

“Seriously, I did miss you!” said Clair with sadness. “In fact I’ve missed you for four years. You have not been the same forever, and I miss the old Dianna. I do not like the “new” you.“

“Well I do not care what you think,” bellowed Dianna. “I am going to be like this forever if you like it or not!” Dianna said not a whole octave higher.
   Dianna stomped off to the other side of the room. The room was silent and everyone was staring at Clair and Dianna. Clair sat down in her seat with a slump. She missed Dianna, and was so sad that she was not living for the Lord like she should. As Clair was walking out the door she saw Robert coming her way.

“I hope he is not coming over here. I surely do not want to talk to him!” thought Clair.

Clair had tried to avoid Robert whenever possible. It was so hard to look at him, and not tell him how much she was angry at him, and that she blamed him for her parent’s death.

“Hey Clair, what’s up? He asked.

Clair stared at the wall.

“Not much,” said Clair. And then she added grudgingly to be polite.  “What about you?”

“Well I’m having my seventeenth birthday in three weeks- September 5^th at my house, and I was wondering if you would like to come?” Robert asked.

“I don’t know” said Clair,” I will have to ask my grandparents.” Clair noted to herself not to mention it to her grandparents because she was sure they would make her go.

                                         ~

On Clair’s way out of church she overheard Dianna talking to one of the older girls from her class.

“So… are you coming?” the girl was asking Dianna.

Clair remembered her name was Sarah.

“Yes, I’m coming! I did not tell my mom, so I’m going to sneak out of my bedroom window. I might be a little late.” said Dianna

“Great! I am so excited. This party is going to be wild!” said Sarah.

“Oh great, Dianna is sneaking out! She is going to get into so much trouble!” thought Clair.  She sent up a prayer to God that He would keep Dianna safe.

“Please help her to find her way back to you somehow, Lord.”

On the drive home from church Gran asked Clair if Robert had asked her about his birthday party.

“His mother came to me and asked me if you could come, I said you would be glad too! Aren’t you excited!” asked Gran.

Clair sat silent in the back seat. “Why did this have to happen?” Clair thought.

“Yeah, real excited,” said Clair in a far away voice. She was thinking how horrible it would be to have to be with Robert for a whole day. Maybe she could act sick or deathly ill?

“Well I’m glad you are going you haven’t gone to a birthday party for so long!” said Gran.

“Uh-huh” muttered Clair.

                                        ~

The next day at school Nichole announced that she and Matt were having a birthday party.

“My mamma told me and Matt that we could both invite two friends, and I picked you two!” said Nichole to Victoria and Clair, “Matt invited one of his friends from our church whose name is Cody and Zachary from our school.

“Thank you so much for inviting me!” said Victoria with excitement, “I have not been invited to a party for like a year!”

“It is going to be so fun!” exclaimed Nichole. “We are going to play a whole bunch of games and everything!”

“When is it?” asked Clair.

“In three weeks!” said Nichole.

“Maybe it is the same day as Robert’s party! Then I wouldn’t have to go to his!” thought Clair excitedly.

“What is the date?” asked Clair quickly.

“The 6^th of September,” said Nichole.

“Only a day off!” exclaimed Clair with disappointment.

“What’s only a day off?” asked Nichole. “Is something wrong?”

“Oh, no” said Clair, “I am really excited about your party, I can’t believe you are turning fourteen! I’ll be fourteen in two months I can’t wait!”

After all her classes, Clair practiced her piano with Mr. Patrick.

“God has given you a gift, Miss Clair,” said Mr. Patrick when she finished practicing,” you have learned your piece very good so far, I know you will do great!”

“Thanks!” said Clair,” I have been practicing! You know what they say- practice makes perfect.”

“Very true,” said Mr. Patrick, “well I will see you next Monday to see how you have improved!”

“Ok, thanks!”

Clair’s grandpa picked her up a few minutes later.

“Hey Grandpa!” said Clair,” I did not know you were picking me up. Where is Gran, I thought that I would go back with her?”

“Oh, Gran is fine. I just thought I would pick you up, and take you for some ice-cream!”
“Awesome, thanks Grandpa, I l-o-v-e ice-cream!”
    When they got to the ice-cream parlor Clair ordered a mint chocolate chip ice-cream cone, her favorite!

“So Gran told me that you have made some new friends at school. I have been busy lately and haven’t got to talk to you lately, so I thought I would bring you here so we could catch up!”

“Thanks, Grandpa! I always like talking to you. My new friends are Nichole and Victoria, they are real nice! I’m really glad I met them, because I’ve been really lonely lately.”

“I know you have been, sweetie. I know it has been hard on you that Dianna has gone down the wrong path, you both used to be such good friends.”

Clair choked.

“You are right, Grandpa. I’ve been trying to hide it, but I miss Dianna a lot. I just am so worried that she is going to ruin her life!” Clair wiped away some tears that were falling down her cheek.

“We need to pray to God to help her,” Grandpa said.

“I pray for her every day,” said Clair.

“Well I’m glad that you are trusting the Lord in this.” said Grandpa, “Well to get on a more cheerful subject, how are you and your friends doing?”

“Great! Nichole and Matt are having a birthday party in three weeks! I am really excited and I was wondering if I could go?”

“I’ll talk to your Gran about it, but you will probably be able to go!” said Grandpa.

“Yippee!” said Clair,” I can’t wait.”

Chapter 4

   Clair jumped out of bed; she was late for school again! Her alarm clock had been going off for half an hour.  Clair could sleep through anything, and she hated mornings! She scrambled over to her closet to get her clothes. Clouds jumped out of the closet.

“You poor thing,” said Clair, “I’ve left you in the closet all night!

 Clair hurried to the bathroom, combed her hair, brushed her teeth, and put some makeup on.

  “Clair!” Gran called, “are you awake; it’s time to go! I will be waiting in the car!”
   “Coming, Gran,” yelled Clair.

  She ran down the stairs grabbed her back-pack and jumped into the car.

“I made it!” Clair exclaimed when she got to school two minutes before her first class started. When she walked into her class, she went to her seat and sat down, Matt’s best friend Zachary turned around in his seat in front of Clair. He opened his mouth to say something, but then he busted out laughing. All of the other kids in the class looked our way and then they were laughing too.

“Oh great!” thought Clair, “what did I do now?”

 Nichole came up to Clair and whispered in her ear-

“Your shirt is on inside out and backwards!” she said.

Clair looked down at her shirt and blushed.

“Oops!” she said, “I was in a hurry for school this morning.”
And then she ran out of the classroom and went to the bathroom to reverse her shirt.

“I am such an idiot,” thought Clair.

  When Clair got back to class everyone had stopped laughing and was doing their work. The teacher Mrs. Harper was staring at Clair with an icy glare.

“You are late,” she stated bluntly, “you will receive ten demerits!”

  Clair glanced at the clock it was 8:32- two minutes past starting time, the teacher must have thought she just arrived.

  “But….”

“No buts, young lady!” said Mrs. Harper,” you will receive 10 demerits and that is final!”
  “Yes, ma’am,” stammered Clair.

  “This is the worst school day ever!” Clair thought angrily, “I have never gotten demerits in my life, and I wasn’t even late!

  Clair was sitting in her seat listening to the lesson, when someone handed her a letter it read-

Dear Clair,

Sorry I embarrassed you, I feel really bad. Hope you forgive me.

With much regret,

Zackary

  Clair felt relieved; she wrote back to Zackary saying it was fine and that she did not have hurt feelings.

The rest of the school day went by as usual, but Clair was still a little upset about the demerits. She knew her Gran would have a fit when she found out!

  Nichole came up to Clair after school.

“I’m sorry about what happened in class today,” Nichole said, “I hope you aren’t really mad, I’m so angry at Zack for saying that to you. I thought he was a real nice boy!” Nichole said the last sentence with more sadness.

   Clair laughed.

  “I am fine, and for the record Zackary apologized and said he did not mean to hurt my feelings, so you can go right back on thinking he is a nice boy!”

  Nichole blushed.

  “Well I’m glad he apologized!” Nichole said, “Well I got to go, the bus is leaving!”

  Nichole rushed over to the bus and got on.

                                                     ~

    The next day Gran took Clair to go birthday shopping for Nichole, Matt, and Robert. Clair picked out Nichole a pair of red shoes that she overheard Nichole say she wanted for her birthday, she got Matt a baseball helmet that he had been saying he needed. When it came to picking out something for Robert, Clair had no idea what to get him!
   “Gran, can you just give him some money?” Clair complained, “I do not know what to get him.”

  “Money is not as special as a gift, just pick out something you think he will like.”

   “I don’t care what he likes” Clair grumbled under her breath for her Gran would not hear, but unfortunately Gran did hear!

“Clair Bridge!” Gran gasped, “How could you say such a thing!”

“Um…” Clair searched for the right words, “um, I didn’t really mean it that way I…”

“Clair,” Gran said quietly, “please try to be kinder to Robert.

 Clair stood in silence and did not reply.

They finally decided to get Robert an x-box game, since Robert’s mom had suggested it as a good gift idea. Apparently Robert enjoyed video games.

                                              ~

  A few days later Clair, her grandparents, and Nick decided to go to their neighborhood’s indoor public pool. Clair loved to swim, and was thrilled with the idea! Nick had been learning to swim and they decided that today would be a good day for Clair to teach him a little more about swimming!

   After a while Nick got better and better at swimming until he could do a really good dog paddle! Nick and Clair got out of the pool for a few moments to take a rest.

   “Grandpa and I are going to go get a snack from the snack bar, do not go back into the pool until we get back!” Gran told Clair and Nick.

  After Clair’s grandparents left, Clair got on her Gran’s Kindle to read a book. After a few moments Clair was fully enjoying her book and she did not pay attention to what was going on around her.

“Clair, where is Nick?” asked Gran when she returned.

 Clair looked around dazed. “Um, I’m not quite sure!” Clair said.

“Oh, dear!” said Gran, “I hope he is not in the pool!
  Fear shot through Clair, she jumped out of her chair and went to look at the pool’s edge. There at the bottom of the pool struggling to reach the surface was Nick.

Gran let out an ear-splitting scream.

Clair jumped into the pool.

Clair struggled to pull Nick out of the pool and as soon as they reached the surface she checked Nick.

Nick was cold, unconscious, and deathly still.

  “Call 911,” somebody yelled.

“He is not breathing,” yelled someone else.

Everything was a daze.

“How could this have happened?” wondered Clair, “This is all my fault! He has to be ok! Oh, God please make him ok!

                                                ~

   The ambulance came quickly and Grandpa drove Clair to the hospital. Nick’s lifeless form kept popping into Clair’s head.

“He is going to be ok; he’s going to be alright!” Grandpa kept on saying.

Clair wanted to believe him, but the way he said it made her feel like he did not believe it himself.

“Is he going to live?” grandpa asked the doctor when they finally arrived at the hospital.

“I believe that he will,” was the doctor’s reply, “his lungs are filled with water, and he might have damage to his vocal cord, but we are not all the way sure yet!”

“But he is going to live, right?” Clair asked.

“Yes, he is going to live.”

Clair crumbled into a ball and started bawling. Her brother had almost died, and it would have been all her fault! Gran wrapped her arms around Clair, and whispered in her hear, “It’s going to be all right honey, it’s going to be all right!”

Clair cried for a few more minutes and then she fell into a deep sleep.

                                         ~

The next morning Clair went into her brother’s room to check on him. He was lying in a bed, looking weak and tired.

“How are you doing buddy?” chocked out Clair.

“Fine, sis” Nick said in a squeaky voice barely noticeable.

Clair tried to hold in her tears.

“How are you feeling?” she asked.

“It hearts real bad to talk!” said Nick, “I feel like I still have water in my throat and it hurts real bad.

Nick looked up at Clair with his big brown eyes, and they began to overflow with tears.

“It was so scary Clair!” Nick said, “It was like my life was going to end! The doctor said it is amazing that I am still alive!”

Clair could not take it any longer; she burst out in tears and climbed into the bed with Nick.

“I am s-so sorry!” Clair stammered, “it was a-all my fault, I should have b-been watching you better! Please forgive me!”

Clair leaned her head on Nick’s shoulder and sobbed.

“Clair!” said Nick,” It wasn’t your fault! And even if it had been your fault, I still would have forgiven you! ”

                                               ~

  Nick came home a week later and was as good as new! He fully recovered and was back to his old talkative and silly self!

Clair thanked God again and again for letting her brother live, she had already lost her parents and she could not bear to lose her brother!

Chapter 5

 “Clair, are you ready?” asked Gran.

 “Um…. one minute Gran” said Clair.

  Clair was standing looking at her reflection in the mirror- she was wearing a denim dress with pretty, but casual flats and her beautiful blue scarf that her parents had given her. She had put her hair up in a stylish bun.

 When she got down stairs Gran commented on how pretty Clair looked.

“Oh, Clair! You are growing up so fast!” said Gran,” you are growing into such a pretty young lady!”

 Clair blushed.

“Thank you Gran!” she said.

Clair jumped into the front seat of the car next to Gran, and they drove off to Robert’s house.

“I hope we aren’t there long,” thought Clair. She was regretting every minute of the party.

 Gran dropped Clair off at the house; Clair climbed up the steps and rang the door-bell.

Ring-ding-dong

“Oh Clair, thanks so much for coming, I didn’t know if you would arrive or not!” said Robert standing at the door.

Clair gave him a fake smile. 

“Well I’m here! Am I the first one?”

“Actually yes you are!”
Clair’s smile turned into a frown, “oh,” she replied, and walked inside the house.

“Welcome Clair!” said Robert’s mom, “just take a seat on the couch and make yourself feel at home.

“Thanks,” mumbled Clair.

“This is going to be a long day!” Clair thought to herself.

~

 A few minutes later a few more teens arrived. They played games, ate cake and ice-cream, and had a NERF war in the back yard.

Overall it was a pretty fun party even thought Clair did not want to admit it to herself. She was still full of anger towards Robert, but she always tried to hide it.

That night Clair laid in her bed, she kept on having a tugging on her heart to forgive Robert. But how could she? It was his fault her parents were dead. She missed her parents so much!

Clair rolled up in a ball and let silent tears flow down her cheeks. Bitterness burned in her heart.

The next morning Clair got ready for her next party. She was so excited about this one! She could not wait to give Nichole and Matt their gifts! She hoped they liked them!

~

“Clair! Come in, come in!” said Mrs. Winters.

Inside Clair saw that Zack and Victoria were already there. And Cody arrived shortly after her.

“I am so excited about my birthday!” exclaimed Nichole.

“I just know we are going to have tons of fun!” said Victoria.

“Time to eat!” yelled Mrs. Winters from the kitchen.

The boys went running to the kitchen, with the girls at their heels.

They had hot dogs, chips, and soda.

 “I wonder why they call these things soft drinks?” asked Matt looking at the can of soda in his hand, “they are so not soft!”

Everybody laughed.

“You are seriously retarded!” said Cody.

“What!? I’m serious!” exclaimed Matt,” it is such a stupid name.”
 Everybody just rolled their eyes.

After they ate they went outside to play bobbing for apples.

They played boys against girls, and the girls won! At the end of the game every one was soaking wet!

“That was so fun!” said Zack.

“I know!” said everyone else at the same time.

After they played a few more games, they all went in for cake and ice-cream!

“This cake is delicious!” said Victoria, “who made it?”

“I did!” exclaimed Nichole.

“Wow!” exclaimed Zack, “it is really good!”

Nichole blushed

“Do you make cakes a lot?” asked Clair.

“Yes, I love to bake! I would love to have my own baking show on TV! It’s my dream to be a baker when I grow up. I also love to decorate cakes! My mom let me have lessons.”

“That is so cool!” said Clair.

“I wish I liked to bake!” said Cody, “but I would only enjoy eating it!”

After dessert Nichole and Matt opened presents.

When Nichole opened the red shoes that Clair had gotten her, she squealed with delight!
“Thank you so much!”

Clair gleamed; she was so glad that she had picked out the perfect gift.

When Matt opened his gift he was equally excited.

“Thanks, Clair!” said Matt, “I love it!”

After the gifts Clair, Nichole, and Victoria went up to Nichole’s room to talk while the boys played video games.

“Thanks guys for coming!” said Nichole, “I am so glad that I got to make such awesome friends with you!”

“I’m glad too!” said Victoria, “I was so lonely before I met you guys! I am so glad my parents took me out of public school and put me at West Lake! You all have been so kind to me!”

“Well I am so glad I got to meet you guys too!” said Clair, “You all have been great friends so far, and I hope it is like that forever! You all are the only friends I have. I used to have a close friend named Dianna, but she has turned away from God.”

“Well let’s make a promise!” said Nichole, “a promise to be best friends forever!”

“I promise!”

“Me too!”
“I promise also!”

~

 “How was the party?” asked Gran.

“It was so fun!” said Clair, “I’m so glad you decided to teach at West Lake! I have made some really great friends!”

“Well I am so glad that you have made some great, new friends! Oh and I was going to tell you that Mrs. Madison was wondering if you could water her flowers and take care of Cluster for a few days, while she is out of town.”

“Really!? I would be glad to! I can’t wait; I will be able to spend more time with Clover now! Maybe I can bring Clouds over so they can play with each other!”

“That is a good idea, Clair. You can go over to Mrs. Madison’s right now to tell her you will take the job.”

“Ok, bye!”

  Clair went over to Mrs. Madison’s and she got the job! Mrs. Madison was going to pay her $2 dollars a day for her work! Clair was so excited she was doing something she loved to do, plus she got paid for it! Today was a wonderful day!

Chapter 6

Clair was running down the street to Mrs. Madison’s house with Clouds in her arms, she was bringing him over to Mrs. Madison’s house so he could play with Cluster. Clair placed Clouds next to Cluster on the screened-in front porch before she hurried off to water Mrs. Madison’s flowers. Mrs. Madison had tons of flowers and it took Clair quite a while to get them all done. When she finally got to the last patch of flowers, she wiped a bead of sweat coming down her face, and inhaled some air.

“Whew!” Clair sighed, “I am finally done!”

Clair walked back to the front porch, so she could play with the kittens for a few seconds. When she got to the front porch the kittens were gone.

“Where did they go?” wondered Clair.

Clair looked all over the porch and yard for the kittens.

After searching for several minutes Clair sat down in the grass, sweat freely coming down her face. A bee buzzed by and Clair tried to slap it.

“Where are they?” Clair huffed out.

Meowwwwwww.

Clair stood up and looked around.

“Clouds!? Cluster!? Where are you?”
  Clair heard the kittens purr again and looked up above her. There was Clouds sitting on a high tree branch with his beady eyes staring down at her pleading for help!

“Clouds! What happened to you, how did you get up there? Where is Cluster?”

As if being called Cluster came into a clearing of the tree’s branches, and leaped down to the ground.

“Oh Cluster!” said Clair kneeling down to pick him up, “I was looking all over for you.”

Clair looked back up to the tree to see that Clouds was still firmly in his spot on the tree.

“Clouds get down here!” yelled Clair.

Meowwwwww!

“Uhhhh!” screamed Clair, “who ever heard of a cat scared of heights? Get down here! Cats will ALWAYS land on their feet!”
Clouds sat still on the branch staring at Clair.

“Fine!” Clair hollered, “I will just climb up myself and get you!”

Clair carefully climbed up the tree until she finally reached the branch next to the one Clouds was on. Clair stood up on the branch with one hand holding on to it, and the other reaching for Clouds.

“I’ve almost got you,” Clair whispered to Clouds.

Reaching out a little farther Clair’s grip slipped from the branch!

 Clair screamed.

 She jumped to the branch that Clouds was on, Clouds hissed and jumped out of the way as quick as possible! Clair gripped the branch and held on, her feet dangling in the air!

“Help!” she screamed, her hands were painfully hurting and she knew she could not hold on much longer!

“He—“before Clair could call for help once more her hands gave way and before she could blink she had hit the ground- hard! Shooting pains ran through her whole body!  But the thing that hurt the worst was her left wrist! She had landed on it! Clair tried to move it but the pain was too overwhelming! Tears came into her eyes.

“I must get home,” she thought to herself.

 Slowly getting up she cradled her injured wrist with her unharmed right arm. Clair commanded the cats to get on the porch; which thankfully they obeyed! Clair leaned her back against the door to close it but she winced in pain, her whole body ached! When Clair finally reached the door to her house her gran called her.

“Clair can you come help me bake some cookies?”

Clair slid to the floor.

“Clair!?” Gran asked as she walked into the front hall, “Clair!” she gasped in horror! “What happened, what happened?” Gran knelt beside Clair.

“I fell!” Clair managed to say.

“Oh dear!” said Gran, she sprung into action; we must take you to the hospital! What hurts? Is it your wrist?” asked Gran eyeing Clair holding her wrist.

“Yes,” said Clair, “but I don’t want to go to the hospital! Not ever!”

“Clair stop!” said Gran, “you need treatment for your arm and that is the only place we can get treatment! Your arm might be broken!”

“They didn’t treat my parents! They didn’t save them! They just let them die without even trying!” said Clair in an angry voice.

“Clair, it was too late for your parents they were already to far gone! Noe stop being stubborn and let’s go!” Gran said in a kind but firm voice.

“Fine!”

~

 Clair found out that her wrist was broken all the way through; the bone had literally broken in two! Clair was devastated! If her wrist did not heal in time for the school’s play she wouldn’t be able to play! When she arrived at school the next day, Nichole and Victoria came running up to Clair.

“What happened?”

“Are you OK?”

“Can I sign your cast?”

Clair smiled up to her best friends, “I’m fine, and I fell out of a tree! And yes you can sign my cast!”
“Did it hurt?” asked Nichole.

Clair laughed bitterly, “Uh, yeah when you break your wrist it usually hurts!”
 Nichole blushed, “yeah, that was a totally dumb question!”

“No it’s OK,” Clair sighed, “I’m sorry guys I have been a little short tempered today, it’s just that if my wrist does not heal in time for the play I will not be able to do my part!”
“Oh my goodness!” gasped Victoria, “ I so didn’t even think about that!”

“I’m going to have to tell Mr. Patrick!” said Clair with a frown, “he’ll probably pick somebody else!”

Nichole put her arm over Clair’s shoulder, “there is no way that Mr. Patrick would pick another pianist to do our most amazing performance of the year! The only one capable of performing such an amazing piece of music would be the one and only Clair Bridge!” Nichole said the last sentence with bravado.

Clair giggled, “I’m not quite sure about that, but thanks for that amazing speech of encouragement!

“Anytime!”

After the rest of classes Clair headed to the auditorium where her next lesson was to be held.

“Ah! Clair, how have you been?” Mr. Patrick’s voice dropped when he saw the cast on Clair’s wrist.

Clair gave him a nervous smile, “as you can see not very well.”

“Uh, huh.” Mr. Patrick said absently.

“What are we going to do?”

“Well the only thing I can do, Clair you are by far the best student I have ever had; you were the only one I could completely trust to play the piano for the play! But since your wrist is broken I am going to have to find someone else to practice the pieces for the play in case you do not heal in time!”

Clair’s face fell.

“This doesn’t mean you cannot play, if you heal in time I will gladly give you back the position!”

“But…” stammered Clair, “if I do get better on time that will be right before the play! I won’t have a lot of time to practice!”

“How much have you memorized of it?” asked Mr. Patrick.

Clair looked at her shoes, “uh, all of it but that doesn’t mean…”

“Clair,” interrupted Mr. Patrick, “I know you will be able to do it, I just don’t know if your arm will heal in time! But have faith in yourself; I know you will be able to do this if it does heal!”

Clair gave him a faint smile, “OK”

~

 Sunday arrived quickly and Clair was paying close attention to the message her church’s teen director was teaching on, it was entitled “The Truth Will Set You Free.” They had just recently got a new teen director and Clair really enjoyed hearing the sermons from him! He had a way of really touching your heart with the gospel!

“How was teen class?” asked Gran after Sunday School when Clair walked into the main auditorium.
“It was really great! I really enjoy our new youth director’s sermons!”
“I’m glad!” Gran said smiling; she was glad that her granddaughter was growing in Christ more and more! She wanted Clair to serve God when she grew up more than anything!”

After the morning service Clair headed out the back door to go sit and wait for her Grandparents in the car. As she was walking she heard a soft voice talking not far away. Clair walked over to the sound, when she turned a corner she saw Dianna chatting on the phone in an angry voice. Clair walked back and stood against the wall listening to Dianna.

“It is so unfair how she is treating me…” Dianna said, after a pause she continued, “I’m so sick of it! She isn’t going to treat me this way anymore! It’s like I’m a prisoner in my own house! I’m leaving! I’ll sneak out Friday night; I’ll stay over in that old gas station over on South Street! Come meet me in the morning and pick me up! It’s time for me to live the life I want to live!”

Clair gasped in horror! This couldn’t be happening! Dianna was going to run away!

Dianna crossed the corner where Clair was standing in shock.

Dianna gasped in surprise, and then in an angry rage she walked up to Clair and grabbed her by the arm, “what did you hear?”

“Not... much!” Clair stammered terrified from Dianna’s angry eyes beating into her head.

“How much?” Dianna said angrily gritting her teeth.

“I heard enough to know that what you are doing is wrong! Your life will never turn out good if you don’t let God control it!”
Dianna shoved Clair into the wall, “if you tell anyone about this I swear I will make your life miserable!”

“Dianna…”

“Shut up, Clair! You don’t understand anything! Just stay out of my life!”

~

Clair tossed and turned that night in her bed as the event with Dianna kept on popping into her mind. What was she going to do? She was scared, really scared. What if she told on Dianna? She knew Dianna and she knew that Dianna would get even one way or another! If she kept it secret Dianna’s life could be ruined! It was practically either her life or Dianna’s!

“Why do these things always have to happen to me?” Clair moaned.

Chapter 7

“Hello, this is Mrs. Bridge speaking,” Gran said after she picked up the phone that was ringing. Clair sat by her Gran reading a book.

“Oh, no! That is awful!” a frown quickly came to Gran’s face.

Clair put her book down and sat listening carefully to the conversation; she could hear a lady crying on the other end of the phone.

“I’ll be praying for you! I’m sure it’s not as bad as it seems! I’m sure you all will find her!” said Gran, after a few last words Gran hung up the phone, a very worried and sad expression was on her face.

“What’s wrong?” asked Clair “is everything all right? Who was that?”

“Sweetie, that was Dianna’s mom…,” Gran replied

Clair’s face turned ashen and her stomach started hurting.

“ … She said Dianna has run away!…”

“…They don’t know where she went and they have called the police to help find her…”

Clair was barely listening, she gripped the chair she was sitting in and tried to keep silent.

“ … I know this must be hard on you…”

“But did Dianna ever say anything that might have given a clue to where she was?”

Clair snapped to attention, “what am I going to do?” thought Clair, “should I tell her? No! If Dianna found out I told them she would never forgive me!”

Clair looked at her Gran, “um, no not that I can remember.”

Gran sighed, “OK, we just really need to pray for her to be found. She could ruin her life, who knows what kind of people she is out with.”

“Yes, ma’am,” said Clair.

Clair hurried up the stairs, tears falling down her cheeks; she slid to the floor in her room and fought with herself,

 “Should I tell her?”

“Of course you should tell her, you should never lie; you're only protecting yourself!

“No! You shouldn’t tell her!”

“If you tell her she will get revenge, she could ruin your life!”

“STOP!” Clair screamed to herself, looking up she said, “I don’t know what to do Lord, what should I do?”

“The truth shall set you free!” A lightning bolt hit Clair, how could she have forgotten what her teen pastor had told her about always telling the truth no matter what the consequences.

Clair bundled in a ball and started crying again, she decided that telling the truth was the only thing she could do!

~

“Gran?”

“Yes dear?” asked Gran, who was sitting on the living room couch reading her Bible when Clair came down.

“Um… I have something to tell you!”
Gran looked up; Clair’s eyes were full of tears.
“Whatever is the matter?” asked Gran in concern.

Clair started crying sad tears, “I lied! I’m so sorry!” Clair ran to her Gran tears flowing down her cheeks as she put her head in her Gran’s lap.

“I know where Dianna is! She ran away to the old gas station Friday night to meet up with one of her friends! She said she was tired of her life and that she wanted to do whatever she wanted too! I’m sorry I didn’t tell you before but she told me if I ever told anybody she would never forgive me!” Clair gasped out. A huge burden lifted off her heart. She felt so much better now that she had told the truth. Her youth pastor was right- the truth will set you free.

Gran stared at Clair in surprise, but after she got over her shock she gave Clair a hug, “I’m really glad you told me Clair! You did the right thing!”

Gran hurried over to get her phone, she had to notify Dianna’s mom right away to tell her where she was!

~

 They found Dianna the next morning over at her friend’s house having a party. When they found Dianna the next morning, Dianna was defiant and resisted going back home! But they finally convinced her to come back with them.

   When Clair went to school the next day she was down cast and gloomy, things weren’t going so well, first she broke her wrist, and now she might not be able to play the piano for the play, and now Dianna and her were most likely arch enemies! Could anything else possibly happen?

“Hey you!” someone hollered.

Clair snapped out of her thoughts and looked up. Standing right in front of her was Jonas- the school bully who had been expelled five times this year.

“Oh great!” thought Clair, “just when I thought my week couldn’t get worse this has to happen!”

“What do you want?” said Clair rolling her eyes.

“Why are you on my property of the school? Anyone as unpopular as you is forbidden to walk down this hall!” said Jonas with a snarl.
Clair looked around her and realized that while she was caught up in her thoughts she had walked down the hall where all the popular kids had their lockers. She never walked this way. In fact most kids didn’t since they were afraid of getting bullied!”

“Uh, sorry! I wasn’t paying attention!” Clair stammered out.

“Well you better start paying attention! What is your name?” asked Jonas.

Clair stared, she really didn’t want to tell him her name, and maybe she should just keep walking and ignore him.

“What’s it to you?” asked a new voice.

Clair whirled around to see Matt standing behind her with an angry expression on his face. Victoria stood behind him looking a little frightened, with Nichole beside her, eyes full of excitement watching the scene in front of her.

“Who are you?” asked Jonas, eyes prodding into Matt.

“My name is Matthew, I don’t recall what yours was, could you please remind me!?”

A few kids snickered.

Jonas growled in anger.

Matt clenched his fist.

“If you don’t mind, me and my friends would like to get through so if you could please move, we would be much obliged!” said Matt.

“Fine!” said Jonas, “But if I see you all in this hall way again, I’ll…”
“OK,” interrupted Matt, and he pulled Clair out of the hallway with Nichole and Victoria following.

Jonas stared at them with an angry scowl on his face.

“That was epic!” hollered Nichole, “you sure showed him!”

“Yeah that was really brave!” said Victoria.

“Thanks Matt!” said Clair, “that was really kind of you.”

Matt smiled, “that’s what friends are for!”

~

Clair sat in the car on the way to church Wednesday night. She was kind of scared about facing Dianna at church, would she be mad? “OK, that is a dumb question,” Clair thought to herself, “obviously she would be mad! In her eyes I just ruined her life, when actually I saved her for a few more weeks!”

Clair sighed.

“What’s wrong?” asked Grandpa, turning his head to Clair.

“Nothing,” said Clair absently.

“That is a lie, I’ve known you all your life and I know when something is wrong!” said Grandpa.

Clair smiled, “nothing really serious grandpa!”
“Sweetie, if it makes you sad then it’s serious!” he said.

“It’s just that it is really sad that Dianna has gone away from God.”

“There is still hope! Just pray about it!” Grandpa said.

“I have, and I will!” said Clair.

 When they got to church Clair peeked at where Dianna and her mother usually sat to see if they were there tonight. When she looked over she saw a man sitting by Dianna’s mother. Clair quickly recognized the man and nudged her Gran.

“Gran, look over to where Dianna is sitting! Isn’t that her dad!” asked Clair in surprise.

“Oh my!” said Gran, “why, yes it is! He must have come home when he heard about Dianna running away!”
“Are they back together? Oh, that would be so great! I mean that was the reason Dianna started turning away from God in the first place! It was because her parents were divorced and…”

“Clair!” said Gran, “quiet down, people can hear you!”

Clair didn’t say anything else but she kept on thinking about how great it would be if Dianna’s parents would get back together. What Dianna needed was her family back together again! Maybe just maybe all of Clair’s prayers for her friend were finally becoming reality!

Chapter 8

 The next couple of weeks Dianna’s father was at church sitting next to his family every service! Clair was so happy for Dianna, but she still wasn’t sure if it was going to stay that way. For all she knew Dianna could probably be still mad at her! Clair kept on telling herself that she would go up and say hello to Dianna, but she never got enough courage to do it.

Anyway Clair was full of excitement about her Birthday in a week! She could barely contain herself! She was going to be fourteen!

Clair and her Gran were sitting on the coach going over birthday ideas one evening.

“Clair, I think you should invite Dianna to your birthday!” Gran suggested.

Clair kept looking at Party City’s catalog and without looking up she said “I don’t think she would want to come.”

“Well you don’t know until you ask!” said Gran.

Clair looked up, “Gran, I really don’t think that she will come!”

“Well I’m going to ask her mother if she can come!” said Gran stubbornly.

Clair moaned, “She won’t want to come!”
Gran walked off to the kitchen totally ignoring Clair.

Gran picked up the phone and dialed Dianna’s mother’s phone.

“Hello! It’s Mrs. Bridge; I was just calling to see if Dianna would like to come to Clair’s birthday party next Thursday?” Gran said when Dianna’s mother answered the phone.

Clair mumbled some kind of negative comment and laid back on the couch.

“What if Dianna did come?” thought Clair, “she could be mean to Victoria and Nichole, and make everything dreary! Oh, never mind. She won’t want to come anyway!”

“Clair, guess what!?” Said Gran reentering the living room.

“What!?” asked Clair holding her breath.

“Dianna’s mom asked Dianna if she would like to come and she said “yes”!” said Gran with a huge smile plastered on her face.

Clair’s stomach dropped.

“Great, just great!” mumbled out Clair.

            ~

“How is your arm Clair?” asked Mr. Patrick while passing Clair in the hallway.

“I’m going to the doctor next week to see when I can get it off! Hopefully it will be before the recital!” said Clair.

“I hope it heals soon! The recital is in three weeks, and I would still love to have you do the piece! My student who is supposed to play is very nervous and does not want to do the piece at all!”

“I sure hope I get my cast off in time for the play too!” said Clair with concern.

When it was time for lunch Clair ran to the table where Victoria, Nichole, Matt, and Zack sat.

“Guess what guys!” she said with a bright smile.

“What?” asked all of them at the same time.

Clair pulled a pile of birthday invitations out of her backpack, “you all are invited to my birthday party!”

“Oh yeah!” squealed Nichole, “I love birthday parties!”
“Thanks for the invitation!” said Zack, “I think I will definitely be able to come!”

“Thanks for inviting me Clair,” smiled Victoria, “that was really sweet of you! I can’t wait!”
“I’ll so be there!” said Matt.

“I’m so glad!’ said Clair with enthusiasm, “it’s going to be so fun!”
“Gran helped me plan it, we're going to have tons of fun! Gran has tons of games for us, and there’s going to be pizza…”

“Pizza! OK, yeah I’m so going to be there! Can’t miss out on pizza!” Interrupted Zack.

Clair laughed, “Yes, there will be pizza, and we will have cupcakes and ice-cream!”

“What kind of cupcakes?” asked Matt.

Victoria laughed, “Is that all you boys talk about? Every conversation has to include food!”

“YEAH, pretty much,” said Matt.

“The cupcakes will be chocolate since that is my favorite.” Said Clair answering Matt’s question.
“Yummy! I would prefer strawberry, but chocolate works too!” said Matt.

Nichole punched Matt in the arm, “it’s not your birthday idiot!”

“Ouch!” hollered Matt rubbing his arm.

“Baby!” said Nichole.

 Matt gave Nichole an evil look.

Everyone broke out in a fit of laughter.

“OK, one more thing guys,” said Clair after everyone stopped laughing, “One of my old friends from my church is coming too, and her name is Dianna. I just thought that I would tell you all!”

“Oh, OK!” said Victoria, “sounds cool!”
“I can’t wait to meet her!” said Nichole.

Zack groaned and looked at Matt, “we are so totally outnumbered by girls!”

“Oh, I almost forgot!” said Clair, “Gran thought about that and she said that you can invite Cody so that way it kind of evens up the number.”

“Cool! I will so do that!” said Matt, “I’ll tell you if he can come!”

~

Thursday morning Clair got dressed for her big day! She wore her blue scarf that her parents had given her. Looking at the scarf, tears started falling out of Clair’s eyes.

“Oh, I miss you both so much! If only you all could have lived long enough to be at my birthday!” Clair went on her bed and cried silently.

A few moments later Clair heard the front door ring. Wiping away her tears she went down stairs to meet her guest. To her surprise the first one there was Dianna.

“Oh, uh… hey Dianna!” Clair managed out.

“Hey,” said Dianna and walked into the living room.

“Um… my other friends from school are coming so I guess we are going to wait for them before we start any games!” said Clair trying to sound cheerful.

“OK, cool!” was all Dianna said.

Clair decided to ask a question that she had been wondering about for a while now.

“Um… so I saw your dad sitting at church with you all! Were you glad to see him? I know he’s been gone a long time!”
A sad look shadowed Dianna’s face, her eyes started to swell up with threatening tears, “ could we maybe talk about this another time?” she asked turning her face.

“Of course!” said Clair and without realizing what she was doing she gave Dianna a hug, “I’m praying for you!” she said.

“Ding, dong, ding” the doorbell went off.

Clair jumped up and went to let her guests in; Nichole, Matt, and Cody had just arrived.

“Hey guys!” said Clair, I have someone to introduce you all to!”
Matt, Cody, Nichole, this is my friend Dianna!” said Clair pointing to Dianna who was still sitting on the chair.

“It is so nice to meet you!” said Nichole, and then she went up and gave Dianna a hug.

Dianna stumbled back in surprise, when she regained her posture she said, “you too.” but the way she said it was not near as friendly as Nichole.

~

The party went great over all. Clair got tons of great presents and had a great time! But something about Dianna kept bothering her. She realized something that she had not realized before- Dianna was hurting, and her hurt was turning into bitterness towards the ones she loved! Clair was determined to try as hard as she possibly could to be a better friend to Dianna. She just had too!

The next day was the day that Clair was to go to the doctor’s office to get her arm checked up! Maybe she would be able to get it off in time for the recital! She sent up a prayer to God, to please let her get off her cast in time for the play!

~

“Well it looks to me that this cast is ready to come off, it has healed quite nicely,” said Clair’s doctor.

“What?! Really?!” asked Clair, she couldn’t believe her ears.

“Yes, your wrist is healed, but you still need to be very careful with it! No physical activity for at least two weeks! That means no sports!” said the doctor.

“What about the piano? Can I play the piano?” asked Clair.

“Yes, I believe that would be fine!” said the doctor.

Clair jumped out of her seat, “I can’t believe it! I can’t wait to tell Mr. Patrick that I’ll be able to be in the play! Thank you Lord!”

The night of the play when all of the kids acting for the play arrived they started practicing, Clair had never practiced with them since her wrist had been broken so she was really nervous, but she got through the whole thing only messing up once and it wasn’t that noticeable! They practiced for about an hour before the real thing. After practice everyone went to the dressing room to get dressed. Clair dressed up very beautifully; she wore a gorgeous blue taffeta dress, with pearl earrings and a matching necklace that she had gotten from her grandpa for her birthday. Clair was so excited and nervous at the same time she didn’t know what to do with herself!

Then it was her moment. Her first piece was the song that Belle sings while shopping in the market. Clair played perfectly through all the songs! Then it was time for the last song. The one where Belle and the Beast danced at the ball!

Clair inhaled some fresh air and exhaled slowly, this was her time to shine. Clair placed her hands on the keys counted to three and started playing. The beautiful music filled the auditorium in a loud, clear melody. Clair smiled; she loved the sound of the music floating up from her hands! Playing the piano was something she loved doing more than anything in the world!

After the play Clair ran down to meet her grandparents.

“Oh, honey! That was beautiful! Just beautiful!” said Gran.

Clair smiled, “thanks!”
“Clair I know that your parents would have been so proud of you if they could have seen you up there! You are turning into a beautiful young lady and you have an amazing talent!”

Tears picked at Clair’s eyes, “thank you so much Gran! That means more to me then you will ever know!”

Clair ran up to her Gran and gave her a hug, turning to her grandpa she gave him a hug too.

“I’m proud of you darling!” Grandpa said, “You mean the world to me!”

“You mean the world to me too!”

Chapter 9

Clair walked over to the lunch table at school to go sit with her friends when all of her morning classes were done, today had been a busy day since they had been assigned lots of tests! When Clair walked over to the table she saw that Victoria was not present.

“Where is Victoria?” Clair asked Nichole.

“I don’t know!” said Nichole,” I was just about to ask you the same thing!”

Clair frowned, “I hope she is not sick or anything!”

“She probably just has the flu!” said Zack, “I had it a few weeks ago.”
“Well I hope she is OK, and nothing serious happened!”

“I’m sure she’s fine!” said Matt reassuringly.

“Maybe we should stop by her house after school Clair!” said Nichole, “just to make sure everything’s fine!”
“Good Idea! I ‘ll have to ask my Gran for permission but I’m sure she’ll let me since she only lives two blocks from my house!”

~

After school Clair and Nichole walked down the street to Victoria’s house. When they got there they realized that there was no car in the drive-way.

“They must not be home.” said Clair disappointed.

“Let’s still knock on the door! You never know, their car could have broken down and is at the body shop!”

The girl’s walked up to the front door and rang the doorbell.

Silence.

“Maybe the bell doesn’t work! Try knocking,” said Nichole hopefully.

They knocked. Still no response.

“This is strange,” said Nichole.

“They could just be out of town!” suggested Clair.

“Victoria would have diffidently told us if they were!”

“Well, they might just be out grocery shopping, who knows!” said Clair.

“Something suspicious is definitely going on here!” said Nichole squinting her eyes in concentration.

Clair laughed, “OK, Miss Nancy Drew!”

Nichole huffed.

“You always have to be so snoopy!” said Clair, “Oh, I have a perfect name for you- Snoopy!”

Nichole rolled her eyes and laughed, “I always loved Charlie Brown and Snoopy; they used to be my favorite cartoon characters.

Clair rolled her eyes, “come on, I’m sure Victoria will be back at school tomorrow!

~

But Victoria would not be back the next day or for a long time for that matter! Mrs. Bridge got a call late that night from Victoria’s mom, Mrs. Stanly, who had called to say that Victoria was sick, very sick! She said that Victoria was at the I.C.U. with a serious case of Pneumonia. Victoria has very weak lungs and when she got Pneumonia she couldn’t breathe. Mrs. Stanly rushed her to the hospital where they had been all day.

“We must go see her!” cried out Clair in concern, “will she be OK? Is it that serious? I thought that Pneumonia wasn’t a serious sickness.”

“We can’t go see her tonight; it’s way too late! We will go see her in the morning. And you're right Clair, in most cases Pneumonia is not a serious illness but in rare occasions it can be.”

“Could she die?” asked Clair quietly.

“Mrs. Stanly said that she might not make it,” said Gran sorrowfully.

Tears fell down Clair’s cheeks, “NO! This can’t be true! Why does everybody I love always get hurt? We need to go see her tonight! She might not make it till morning!”

“Clair,” said Gran quietly,” we can’t go to night! It is already 11 o’clock. Grandpa will take you in the morning even though it’s a school day, I would go but I need to be there to teach my class!”

“But…” started Clair more tears coming into her eyes, “she’s my friend!”

“Oh, Clair “said Gran tears starting to flow from her eyes. She gave Clair a hug, “she might be OK Clair, just have hope! She might make it!”

“What’s going on?”

Gran and Clair turned around to see Nick standing on the stairs in his P.J.’S.

“What are you doing up Nick?” asked Gran.

“I heard Clair crying!” said Nick.

Nick walked up to Clair, “why you crying? I always hate it when you cry Clair!”

“Oh, Nick!” Clair gave him a big bear hug and looked him in the eye, “I’m crying Nick, because my best friend might be dying!” Clair choked on her words.

“Like I almost did?” asked Nick.

“Yes, Nick!” said Clair, terrible memories of when Nick almost drowned flashed in her mind.

“But I didn’t die; so maybe your friend won’t die ether!”

“You're right Nick,” said Gran, “Victoria might not die! We just need to pray for her to live! We need to have faith!”
               ~

That morning Clair’s Grandpa took her to the hospital to see Victoria; Nichole had been able to come too, since her mom had let her skip school to be able to come! Clair’s eyes were puffy from exhaustion from staying up all night crying, praying, and hoping that Victoria would make it.

Thankfully when they arrived at the hospital they let Victoria have visitors, and she was awake.

“Victoria! I’ve missed you!” said Nichole as soon as she saw her and went running to the bed to give her a gentle hug.

Clair stood back and stared at her friend lying still in the bed, tubes injected in her arm in several places, and an oxygen mask on her nose to help her breathe.

“Oh, Lord, please make her be OK! She’s my best friend!” prayed Clair silently.

“Hey, Victoria!” said Clair trying to make her voice as steady and cheerful as possible.

Victoria gave them a faint smile, “thanks for coming to see me!” said Victoria in an unrecognizable voice so quiet it could barely be heard.

“We wouldn’t miss it! I mean you are like our Best friend- ever!” said Nichole, “School was so boring yesterday without you!”

Victoria gave a faint laugh, “don’t be silly, you two were always the ones to make things interesting! I was just always too shy to make things funny and fun!”

“That is so not true!” said Clair, “you were always there to encourage us, and you have always been so sweet! You just being there made everyone happy!”

“Yeah!” said Nichole, “I sometimes wish that I was more thoughtful like you! I mean you have always been so sweet to everyone! Everyone likes you, as soon as they get to know you!”

Victoria smiled, “that is one of the sweetest things anyone ever told me!”

Clair and Nichole smiled.

“Well you better get better soon!” said Nichole with a smile.

Victoria’s eyes filled with tears, “I hope I do too!”

The girls talked a little longer and then the doctor came in and told them they had to leave.

“Bye, Victoria! Hopefully I’ll be able to see you tomorrow!” tears blurred Clair’s vision, “you’ll never know how much of a friend you have been to me!”

“You will never know how great of a friend you have been to me Clair! You have always been so kind to me!” said Victoria tears spilling rapidly down her cheeks.

“Just get better-OK! You need to fight this! You have to get better! Promise me you’ll fight this!”

“I’ll try!” said Victoria.

“NO, you need to promise me that you will fight it!”

“I will!” said Victoria, “I will!”

When Clair exited the room tears were falling down her cheeks like a waterfall, wiping them away Clair walked over to where Nichole was standing a few feet away. As Clair neared she saw tears in Nichole’s eyes. As soon as Nichole saw Clair nearing, she quickly wiped them away. Clair was surprised to see Nichole crying; in the hospital room she seemed so strong.
“Nichole,” said Clair.

“Yeah,” she asked.

“Are you OK,”

“Of course!” Said Nichole but still more tears came to her eyes before she could wipe them away Clair gave her a hug.

Looking her in the eye she said, “Nichole I know you are trying to be strong by masking your feelling but it’s OK to cry! My Gran always said that crying was not a sign of weakness!”

Nichole started to shake and cry, “I’ve been trying to take it, but I just can’t! She can’t die; you and she are the only friends I’ve ever had!”

~

One week passed and Victoria was the same; not worse, but not any better either. Clair and Victoria had to keep on going to school, but on most evenings they would still go and talk with her about any new things happening at school.

One evening Clair was sitting in her room doing homework when the phone rang but knowing her Gran would get it she ignored it and kept on doing her work.
“Clair come here!” said Gran a few minutes later.

“Coming!” Clair ran down the steps, “yes?”

Gran had a huge smile on her face, “Mrs. Stanly just called!”
Clair held her breath.

“Victoria is recovering! The doctors said that she will live!”

Clair was speechless.

"thank God!” was all that she could finally manage to say!

Chapter 10

Over the next couple of days Clair still went to go see Victoria in the hospital while she fully recovered.

“I still can’t believe you are all right!” said Clair with excitement.

“I promised you I would fight!” said Nichole softly, still being weak from her sickness, “I always keep my promises!”
Tears came into Clair’s eyes, “yes, you always do! And I am so glad that you did!”

A few days later Victoria was fully recovered and going back to school.

“I can’t believe that I was out of school for four weeks!” said Victoria the first day back.

“It felt a lot longer to us!” said Nichole, “school days were twice as long and boring without you!”

Victoria laughed, “I doubt that!”

“Truly it was!” said Clair, “and I can’t wait till fall break! I can’t believe it is in three weeks! I am so excited!”

“Yeah, me too!” said Matt, “our family is going down to Myrtle Beach for vacation I can’t wait to surf on the waves!”

Nichole snorted and laughed, “Don’t listen to him; Matt has no clue how to surf! Last time we went to Myrtle Beach he tried to learn how to surf and right when he thought he was getting the hang of it this HUGE wave came crashing on top of him and he came to the shore sputtering and spitting salt water out of his mouth and screaming “Ow! My eyes, my eyes! They are burning! Somebody I need a towel!”

Everybody burst out laughing at Nichole’s hilarious demonstration of Matt’s day at the beach. Except Matt of course He looked like he was going to die of embarrassment and he gave his sister an evil “I’ll get you back” look.

“That’s not exactly how it happened,” grumbled Matt.

“So do you all go down to Myrtle Beach every time for vacation?” asked Clair.

“Yes, we have always gone there for as long as I can remember!”Said Nichole.

Clair sighed, “I wish my grandparents would take us on vacation! I haven’t been on a vacation since my parents died!” tears started to prick at her eyes.

“You should ask them to take you!” said Victoria, “I’m sure they would at least consider it!”

“I would but I don’t want them to feel like they have too, I mean my Gran really hates traveling!” Said Clair with a sigh.

“Well you never know!” said Zack speaking up, “They might want to take one this year!”

“I guess I could ask.” Said Clair, “but I’ll just have to wait for a good time!”

~

Later that evening when Clair sat down for supper she decided that she would mention the idea of taking a vacation when the subject of fall break came up.

“So are you kids ready for fall break?” asked Gran.

“Yes!” shouted Nick with excitement, “I can’t wait!”

“Uh… Grandpa, Gran. Could we possibly take a vacation?” said Clair.

Grandpa looked at her with surprise, “Well I’ll be, I was just going to say something about going on a vacation for fall break.”

“Really!?” asked Clair with a smile, “You all were thinking about it?”
“Well we thought that you all could use a vacation I mean you all haven’t  had one since… well you know.” Said Gran softly.

“We thought that we should give camping a try! What do you guys think? We were looking through campsites and we found a really nice one in Alabama. There’s water-falls, tubing, and horseback riding!”

Clair gleamed with happiness, “that would be awesome!”

“Yeah, I’ve always wanted to ride horses!” said Nick a smile on his face, “Have you ever ridden a horse Clair?”

“Yes!” said Clair, “and it is so fun! I absolutely love it! I know you will too!”

“Well it’s settled then we’re going on a vacation this year!” said Gran.

“This is going to be the best fall break-EVER!” Shouted Nick.

~

The next three weeks passed by quickly until it was finally time to leave to go to Alabama. Clair’s Grandpa had bought a large tent for the trip- Gran and he would be sleeping in cots while Clair and Nick slept in a mattress on the ground.

When they arrived at the campsite the weather was dreary and downcast.

“Is it going to rain?” asked Nick.

“I hope not!” said Grandpa with a nervous glance towards the sky, “But if it does we better hurry up and get this tent up! Because I’m sure it won’t be any fun setting it up in the rain!”
Everybody helped get the tent up but before they could get all of the supplies into the tent it started to pour down raining!

“What about the cots and the mattress?” said Clair when they all huddled into the tent to keep out of the rain.

“If we go get them now they’ll be soaking wet! We’ll have to wait till the rain stops.”
But the rain kept on pouring all night. Thankfully they had been able to bring the blankets in before it started to rain. Without the cots and mattress they all had to sleep on the hard ground.

   That morning Clair woke up early with a very, very sore back.

“Oh! That was the worst night sleep I have ever had! That ground is so hard!”

Gran slightly chuckled, “you think you had it hard? Me and your grandpa are way older than you and believe me when I say it- I feel like I just got hit by a bus!”

Grandpa moaned, “Maybe this camping idea wasn’t a very good one!”

“Don’t say that Grandpa!” said Nick waking up, “we won’t have to sleep on the floor again! It stopped raining.”
Clair looked out the window to see that the rain had ceased, “ooh! Good, I’m going to go get dressed for the day!”

Clair went running out the door and then…

Her feet slid out from under her and she slipped into a huge puddle of mud.

“Ha! Ha! Ha!” Nick was laughing so hard he couldn’t breathe, “That is what happens when you are in a hurry! I can’t believe you forgot to put shoes on plus you forgot that it had rained all night!”

Clair blushed scarlet and then looked at herself, she was covered with mud from head to toe.

Gran laughed, “I think you might want to also take a shower!”

Clair huffed and walked the rest of the way to the car to get her clothes then she walked down to the shower house.

Opening the door she encountered a young pretty blond hair girl who looked all neat and tidy.

“Ahhh!” the girl screamed when she saw Clair,

 “What on earth happened to you?” asked the girl in disgust.

Clair wished she could climb in a hole and disappear.

“I fell.” Was all Clair managed to say,

“I see,” said the girl with a smirk.

The girl’s mom walked out of the stall.

“Oh, Heather please pass me the…” The lady stopped once seeing Clair,

“Oh my,” Was all that she said.

“Excuse me!” said Clair hotly, and she marched off towards one of the stalls. The lady jumped out of the way when Clair neared her.

“My goodness!” Clair heard the lady say before taking her daughter out of the building and walking off.

Clair looked at herself in the mirror and frowned, she looked like a monster. No wonder the girl named Heather screamed.

After showering Clair walked back to the campsite with high hopes that the day would get better.

~

Thankfully the day improved quite nicely, her grandparents took them tubing on the river and it was so fun! After tubing they went into a little café to have lunch.

“Can we go swimming after this?” asked Nick.

Clair gasped, “no!” she shouted.

Gran looked at Clair, “he is going to have to learn how to swim sometime Clair.”

“NO!” said Clair again, “he should never go into a pool again!”
Nick made a sad face, “But I really want to!” he complained.

“Clair everything will be fine!” said Grandpa reassuringly.

Clair trembled slightly, “But…”
Nick reached for her hand and smiled, “everything will be fine!”

~

Everything went fine when they all went to go swimming, in fact Nick was learning to swim real swell! Clair just couldn’t get over the fact that he had almost drowned once! Every time Nick went under the water for a few seconds she went frantic and always was there to help him up, even though he was always fine.

Over the next few days Clair had tons of fun! This was such a great vacation.

“WOW!” said Nick one day when they were passing by a huge fancy R.V. in one of the campsites, “that is so cool!”

Clair looked out her window and saw a family standing out by the R.V.

“Those are the mean rich people from the shower house!” said Clair recognizing Heather and her mother.

“Who?” asked Gran?

“Oh, never mind!” said Clair, “they are just really snobby annoying people!”
“Clair!” said Grandpa, “that is quite unfriendly to say!”

“Well they are quite unfriendly!” huffed out Clair.

  Later that day Gran decided that they should go horseback riding.

“YEAHY!” Shouted Nick, “Let’s go!”
When they arrived at the stables the guy running the place told Clair and Nick to go pick out their horses.

 Clair entered the stables and right away she spotted the horse she wanted it was a beautiful black horse with a white main.

Clair ran up to the horse but before she reached him she heard a familiar voice.

“Mother, I want that pretty black one! The one that girl is after, you’ll let me get it won’t you?” Heather asked her mother.

“Of course, darling,” said Heather’s mother.

Clair started boiling in anger, “how dare she command to have the horse that I had already picked!?” she thought to herself.
Heather walked up to Clair, “I pick this horse! Choose another one!”

“I picked this one first,” said Clair as nice as she possibly could.

“Wait! I know you,” said Heather, “you were that girl at the shower house full of mud!”

Clair blushed, “YEAH, I was.”

Heather laughed, “Well my mother told me I could get this horse so hand him over!”

Clair sniffed; “Fine!” she said hotly, “take him!”

Clair handed over the reins to Heather.

“What’s the use?” thought Clair, “I shouldn’t fight over the horse with her. That wouldn’t be the Christian thing to do. To bad Nichole wasn’t here, she would give this girl a piece on her mind!”

Clair smiled at the thought.

Clair walked off and picked another horse, a chestnut bay named Snazzle.

After a few minutes of preparing, the leader of the group took all of the kids and teens on a trail through the woods. Clair had ridden before and was quite good at it, but form the look of it Heather had never ridden a day of her life! She kept on swinging back in forth like a tree in the wind.

“She is going to fall off!’ Clair kept on saying to herself.

But Heather managed to stay on. After the trail ended the leader took all of them back to the stables to get off. Clair got off of her horse with ease then looking behind her she saw one of the helpers trying to help Heather off.

“Go away!” she snarled, “I can get down myself.

“Are you sure?” asked the man.

“Yes, I’m…” Heather started getting off her horse but before she could finish her foot got caught in the stirrup and she dropped into a huge mud puddle on the ground.

“Ahh!” she screamed dangling to the horse her hair, face and torso covered in mud and manure.

Clair started laughing so hard she couldn’t breathe.

“Look… who’s… covered in… mud... now!” she managed to say to Heather before she started to laugh hysterically again.

“You...you!” screamed Heather, “You are just a nasty little brat!”

When Heather finally disentangled herself from the horse she marched out of the stable and went crying into her mother’s arms.

~

The final day of their vacation came quickly and Clair was sad to see it end.

“We need to do this again next year!” she said to her Grandparents on their way home.

“It was so fun!” said Nick.

“It sure was!” smiled Grandpa then with a laugh he said, “Besides having to sleep on the ground the first day.”
Everybody laughed. Clair lied back on her seat and slowly fell asleep.

    Chapter 11

That next Sunday Clair decided to try to be extra friendly to Dianna, she figured Dianna would still back away from her but she had to try! Dianna needed a friend.

“Hey Dianna!” Clair said waving to her.

“Hey, Clair,” said Dianna with a smile.

Clair was a little surprised with her kind reply but smiled.

“Can I sit by you?” she asked Dianna.

Dianna looked a little hesitant, “Sure.”

Clair smiled and sat down by Dianna.

Their teen director gave a powerful lesson on the power of prayer and Clair really enjoyed it! She knew firsthand how powerful prayer could be. God had answered so many of her prayers before, she should be truly thankful for Him answering them!

When all of the teens were exiting from class Robert came up to Clair.
“ Clair?” he asked.

Clair stiffened up, “yes,” she asked flatly.

“Could I uh… maybe talk to you about something after church?”

Clair was taken back in surprise, “well I would, but I have to go home right after church,” Clair used for an excuse.

“Well, OK,” said Robert looking disappointed, “maybe next Sunday.”

“Maybe,” said Clair and then she hurried out of the classroom.

During the whole service Clair kept on thinking back about what Robert had said to her.

“What did he want to talk about? What did he want?”

Clair began to think that she should meet him after church, “No! I don’t want to talk to him about anything!” Clair thought stubbornly.

After church Clair quickly went to the car before Robert would talk to her again. On their way home Gran said:

“Clair, me and Dianna’s mom were talking and she wanted to know if you would like to have a sleepover with Dianna, I told her that you would!”

Clair looked up in surprise, “Dianna wants me to come over?” asked Clair.

Gran smiled, “yes,”
Clair was very surprised at this, “well I uh… I guess that is good!”

Clair was actually glad that Dianna had invited her over, maybe Dianna wasn’t mad at her after all! Clair smiled; maybe she was going to finally get her friend back!

~

“Welcome, Clair!” Said Dianna’s mother when Clair knocked on Dianna’s door the night of their sleepover.

“Hey!”

“Come on in!” said Dianna’s mom ushering Clair into the house. Clair looked around the house, she hadn’t been over to Dianna’s house for years. The thought hurt Clair, oh how she missed Dianna!

“Dianna is upstairs,” said Dianna’s mom, “do you still know the way?”

“Yes.” said Clair and she went running up the steps.

“Oh, Clair!” said Dianna when she saw Clair, “come on in!”

Clair was shocked about how much kinder Dianna was being.

Clair and Dianna played a few board games, ate some pizza rolls and watched Tangled. After a while they crawled into bed. They were silent for a while and then Dianna said, “Clair, I have something I have wanted to say to you for a while now!”

Clair rolled over to look at Dianna. She could tell that she had tears in her eyes, “what is it?” asked Clair.

“I want to tell you that I am so sorry for the way I have treated you! I know that I have been so mean to you for years now. And yet you still tried to be my friend.”
“ I…” started Clair.

“I’m not finished,” said Dianna, “ever since my father left me and my mom I held bitterness in my heart! Bitterness towards God and my father. I didn’t understand why he left us!” Tears started to fall swiftly down Dianna’s cheeks, “I was angry at everyone! I didn’t want anything to do with you because you were always trying to talk about God and stuff. I started hanging out with the wrong kind of people and I was mean and rebellious to my mom! I’m really sorry for that now though…”

Clair gave Dianna a hug when Dianna started crying so hard she could barely talk.

“I finally decided that I wanted to live life my way,” Dianna continued, “I decided to run away! Thankfully you heard me and practically saved my life. I was mad at you at the time but now I am so thankful! When my dad found out that I had run away he came home! At first I was angry at him, and I wouldn’t forgive him! But he is staying with us now Clair! He and my mom are going to get remarried!” said Dianna with a faint smile.

“He said he found his way back to God! He told me that God was merciful to him and forgave him for leaving us and then he asked me to forgive him! I did Clair! And now I feel so much better! I also asked God to forgive me for my anger and unforgiveness! And He has. What I’m asking you Clair, I know it is a lot to ask but will you forgive me?”

Tears came to Clair’s eyes, “Of course I will!” said Clair.

Dianna’s face turned into a huge grin. Dianna reached over and gave Clair a hug.

“I’ve finally got my friend back!” thought Clair.

~

Clair was so happy that Dianna had finally decided to get back into God’s will for her life! God had really answered all of Clair’s prayers for her friend! But Clair had another thing on her mind. After talking to Dianna, Clair carried a huge burden of guilt! While her friend had learned how to forgive, Clair was still bitter and unforgiving to Robert. Clair kept on telling herself to forgive him, but yet she still could not bring her heart to do it!

That Wednesday as Clair was sitting on her pew, she heard somebody come and sit next to her. She looked over to the person and gasped in surprise when she saw it was Robert.

“Why won’t he just leave me alone!?!” thought Clair.

They sat in silence for a few moments.

“How are you Clair?” asked Robert softly breaking the silence.

“Fine, I guess,” mumbled Clair.

“Good” was all Robert said and then he walked off.

“What was that all about?” wondered Clair.

Clair looked at where Robert was sitting; on the pew was a letter with her name on it.

Clair snatched it up and read it:

Dear Clair,

        Please meet me out back after church. I have something very important to tell you! Please come! I mean it.

                Robert

Clair stared at the paper in aggravation, “what was so important that he wanted to talk to her about?” Clair crumbled up the letter and put it in her dress pocket.

Clair walked to the back after church to meet Robert; her grandparents were talking to some friends anyway. She might as well check out what this important matter was that Robert wanted to talk about.

“You came!” said Robert when he saw her.

“Well you asked me to, didn’t you?” asked Clair rolling her eyes.

Robert sighed and combed his hands through his hair.

“So… what do you want?” asked Clair impatiently.

“Clair, I…” a deep sadness came into Robert’s eyes, “I know you are mad at me. I have always known.”

Clair stared at him in surprise.

“The fact is Clair,” Robert said, “I am mad at myself. I know that you blame me for your parent’s death! I blame myself too! I mean it Clair! I never meant for it to happen. Not a day goes by without me remembering that bus swerve off the road, your parents. Your parents just laying there, still and unmoving.”

Robert’s eyes were full of tears making him choke on his words, “Clair I can’t ever forgive myself! I have lived with guilt these four years! Can you ever forgive me? I know I shouldn’t be asking that! I know you have a right to be mad at me! I…I just…”

Clair’s eyes had now swelled up with tears, “I thought you didn’t even care!” said Clair, “I thought you weren’t even sorry!”
“ I was… I am!” said Robert, “If I could change anything it would be me throwing that ball to my buddies. I didn’t even think! I would never have thought…” Robert started crying again. Clair had never seen a boy cry and she was shocked to see how sorry and sad Robert really was.

“Is he really, truly sorry?’ thought Clair, “maybe he has suffered as I have! I have held bitterness against him, but he has carried it against himself!”

“Clair…” started Robert again, “even if you do not forgive me, I am sorry! I am so sorry!”

“I…” started Clair.

“Clair!” shouted her Gran from the other side of the building, “Clair, we are leaving!”

Clair wiped away the tears from her eyes, “I must go,” said Clair to Robert without meeting his eyes.

“Clair!” yelled Robert. But Clair was already running as fast as she could towards the car.

~

“Is something wrong Clair,” asked Grandpa later that day, both her Gran and Grandpa had been asking her the same question all day.
“I’m fine!” said Clair, “I’m just tired! I think I’m going to go to bed!”

“Already!?!” asked Gran, “It is only eight o’clock!”

“Yeah,” said Clair walking up the stairs to her bedroom, “I’ll see you in the morning.

  Clair collapsed onto her bed and started crying. Clouds crawled up on her and purred on her chest. Clair pet Clouds softly for a long time. She laid that way until late into the night. The day’s events kept on flashing through her mind.

“Oh, God!” Said Clair, “Help me! Please help me; I don’t know what to do!”

Clair decided to get up and read her Bible and the first verse she opened to was Luke 17: 3-4 -Take heed to yourselves: If thy brother trespass against thee, rebuke him; and if he repent, forgive him. And if he trespass against thee seven times in a day, and seven times in a day turn again to thee, saying, I repent; thou shalt forgive him.

Clair looked at the verses silently, a little tear pricked her eye and fell down her cheek then looking up she whispered into the night, “I forgive him! I forgive him God! And please God forgive me for holding bitterness! I am so sorry!”

When Clair finished praying a peace washed over her and she finally was able to fall asleep.

~

Forgiveness

When Jesus died upon the cross
His words rang clear and true,
"Father, please forgive them,
For they know not what they do."
As the Precious Lamb of God
Christ wants me to see:
Forgiving is the power
That sets my spirit free!
Forgiveness is God's wondrous gift
That sets my spirit free!

Brenda Terrell