Free The Cat That Went to Homecoming by Julie Otzelberger Page A

about
the pain my dad put me through after leaving my mom, and how I just
found out that he didn’t even care enough for me to send my mom
support. Then I told him how and why I detached myself from Cindy,
and how much I regretted that.
    Brandon stood from the chair and offered a
hand to help me up. “Well let’s fix that and head over to Cindy’s.
I’m very close to her, and I can tell you that she is very fond of
you.”
    Brandon and I were the last two to arrive at
Cindy’s house. I was so nervous that I chewed the ends of my nails
down until my fingers bled as we walked around the house to the
back yard. I was so thankful I decided to wear the t-shirt over my
swim suit. I found myself tugging at the bottom of it, trying to
stretch it down over my butt before we rounded the corner. Who
would I find sitting back there? Would Darcel and her evil minions
be waiting to pounce on me?
    Mrs. Haskel was the first to greet me. She
was pouring ice into a cooler when she looked up and saw me.
    “Ellen! It’s been a long time, how are you
dear?” she asked as she offered me a hug.
    “Hi, Mrs. Haskel, it’s good to see you
again,” I said to her as we hugged.
    She held me out in front of her and looked me
over. I suddenly felt awkward and uneasy.
    “Ellen, you’re all grown up and you sure are
a beauty!” she said, probably just trying to be nice. I knew I
wasn’t beautiful, but it was nice to have two people say it to me
in one day. I thanked her.
    She offered Brandon and me a soda and called
out for Cindy who was in the pool with Sarah and Margaret.
    “Look who’s here, Cindy!” Mrs. Haskel called
out. Cindy waved at us and told us to get in the pool. Oh brother!
That meant I had to take off my shorts and t-shirt. I felt pretty
confident in the swim suit when I tried it on in the dressing room,
and in the shelter of my own bedroom, but suddenly I didn’t feel so
courageous.
    “Come on,” Brandon said as he tugged me
towards the pool. Momentarily, I considered hopping in fully
dressed, but quickly decided that was a bad idea. I wouldn’t have
any dry clothes to put on after we were finished in the pool.
Brandon pulled his shirt over his head and tossed it aside as he
climbed the ladder. Mrs. Haskel shook her head and walked over,
picking up Brandon’s shirt. “I’ll take your clothes for you and put
them on a lawn chair. You do have a swim suit on, right?”
    I nodded, took a deep breath, and pulled off
my shorts and shirt. I handed them to Mrs. Haskel and wound my arms
around myself in an attempt to hide. I made my way to the ladder
and started to climb, my legs shaking a little in apprehension. I
sat on the top platform of the ladder and dangled my feet in the
water while I had my arms wrapped around my trunk. Brandon swam up
to me and pulled me in the water by my feet. Splash!
    Wow! It was cold! The shock of sinking into
the cool water made me forget my insecurity and when I surfaced, I
scolded Brandon who was laughing hysterically.
    “I like that suit, Ellen, where did you get
it?” Margaret asked.
    “Me, too,” added Sarah, “I love tankinis, but
they’re hard to find.” Sarah had swum over to me to get a closer
look at my suit. I really wanted them to focus on something other
than me and my suit, and I think Brandon sensed that because he
said “Geez, enough with the fashion talk, let’s play some water
volleyball!”
    Cindy set up a floating net in the center of
the pool and we split into teams. We decided that whoever was with
Brandon had an unfair advantage since Brandon was a guy, so it was
three on two, Cindy and Brandon against Sara, Margaret, and me.
    Somehow in the midst of playing in the pool,
I forgot all my insecurities and dropped my guard. I was enjoying
myself immensely! We played for hours, switching teams around,
taking breaks between games to just float on air mattresses, and to
slide down the slide.
    Mrs. Haskel made burgers for lunch and after
we ate, we all laid out on beach