"I guess so. Are you, Paula?"
"We'd better, in case we go jogging. Jogging is a great way to meet guys, you know."
"I'll remember that." Katie laughed at Paula's serious advice. She placed Christy's tennis shoes in the bottom of her suitcase and offered her own advice. "I always put my shoes and Bible in the bottom since they're the heaviest things."
"Good idea," Christy said, fitting her cloth-covered Bible in next to her shoes as though she were putting together a puzzle.
"You know," Katie said, her fair-skinned face becoming sober, "I think it's really a God-thing that you get to go to Maui."
"A 'God-thing'?" Paula asked with a laugh. "What's that?"
Katie remained serious, which didn't happen too often. "It's when something happens in your life, and you look at it and can't explain how or why it happened, but you know there's a reason for it. You know that God is doing something in your life, and it changes you. There's no other way to explain it except to see it as a God-thing."
"We know why this happened, though," Paula quickly responded. "It's because Christy's aunt invited us to go with her."
"Yeah, but think about it. How many people do you know who get invited to Hawaii, all expenses paid?" Katie asked. "Don't you think it's a God-thing, Christy? I think God's going to do something in both of your lives while you're over there."
Christy wasn't sure what a God-thing was supposed to be, but she appreciated Katie's encouraging words. They were like a blessing from someone who could have felt hurt or left out.
A little bit later, when Paula went to the kitchen for something to drink, Katie continued her thought. "Don't you think it's a God-thing, Christy? I mean, I know how long you've been waiting for Paula to come visit, and I know how you've been praying that she'd become a Christian. If you ask me, this whole trip is set up so you and Todd can witness to Paula. Isn't that kind of how you became a Christian last summer? From hearing about the Lord from Todd and another girl?"
"Sort of. Her name was Tracy. But it wasn't so much what they said; it was more who they were. Todd and Tracy both had something I didn't, and that's what got me the most."
"But didn't they both witness to you together? I thought that's what you told me one time when you showed me your Bible. Didn't they both give you your Bible?"
"Yeah, but I don't know. It wasn't like they told me about the Lord, and I said, 'Okay, sure I'd like to give my life to Christ.' It was more like they kept telling me in different ways that I needed the Lord. I kind of ignored them-at first. Then later everything they'd been saying, along with some other stuff that had happened, hit me really hard. I knew I had to make a decision."
Katie's green eyes were serious as she said, "You know what I think? I think you shouldn't get discouraged if Paula doesn't hear you and Todd or understand right away when you talk about Jesus. You've got to give it time."
"I know, I know." Christy couldn't explain it, but she felt irritated by Katie's advice. Realizing she must sound rude, she added, "Just pray for us, okay?"
"I will," Katie said. "I promise. And I still think this trip is a God-thing."
After Katie left, Paula made fun of the way she had called their trip a God-thing. "Don't you get freaked out around people who talk about God as if He were, you know, a Spirit watching over you or something?"
"Well, He kind of is, Paula," Christy began, hoping for a chance to explain. "I think what Katie meant-"
Paula cut her off. "Oh, you don't have to defend her, Christy. I like Katie. I think she's really nice. I'm just saying she seemed great until she got all mystical on us."
Just then Mom poked her head into the room. "You girls all packed? I hope you managed to get it all into one suitcase each."
"Just about." Christy surveyed her neatly packed suitcase. "All I need to do is put in my cosmetic bag in the morning."
Mom stepped closer to examine their packing job. A hot pink string hung out of the side of Paula's packed but not yet closed suitcase. Mom tugged on the string until the rest of the bikini top popped out.
"Oh my!" was all Mom said. She kept holding it up as if she were trying to figure out what to do with it. "Is this yours, Paula?"
"Yes," Paula answered politely and without expressing any of the embarrassment Christy felt.
"Is this the swimsuit you bought yesterday?"
"Yeah." Paula plucked the small top from Mrs. Miller's hand and crammed it back into her suitcase, making sure all the strings were tucked in this time.
"Paula," Mom began diplomatically, "I'm not sure your mother would approve of that suit."
Look out, Paula! Here it comes!
Christy struggled with her feelings for both sides. If she could get up the nerve or had the right kind of figure, she'd probably want to wear a hot pink bikini too. Still, she knew her mom was about to appeal for the side of modesty, and she agreed with that side too.
"Oh, don't worry, Mrs. Miller. I only bought this one to sunbathe in. I have my old one-piece for swimming. I bought this one because, I mean, what's the point of going to Hawaii if you can't come home really tan?"
Mom seemed satisfied with Paula's reason and only gave her a warning. "I'd like you to make sure you have a T-shirt or cover-up along so you can slip it on in case you're sunbathing and the guys show up."
Paula smiled her agreement, and Mom let it go at that. She urged the girls to get to bed early since they'd be leaving at four in the morning for the airport. Christy couldn't help but think that if she ever tried to bring home a bikini, her mom and dad would forbid her to ever wear it-for sunbathing or anything. Paula had gotten off easy.
Paula fell asleep quickly again that night, while Christy kept finding little things to finish up or stick into her suitcase, which she did in the dim light from the hallway so as not to disturb Paula. One of the things Christy came across as she cleaned off her desk was the mysterious letter she'd received a few days ago. She stuck it in her purse, intending to ask Paula the next morning if she'd written it. And what did the part "I thought about what you said" mean?
Christy glanced around her room in the faint light and felt pleased that she was leaving everything basically neat. She liked having things where she could find them.
The only thing left to clear away was the mound of dirty clothes the two girls had been tossing into the corner for the last two days. Christy scooped it up and carried it down to the washing machine in the garage.
As she dumped it on top of the washing machine, she saw Paula's one-piece bathing suit wadded up and tucked in with the other dirty clothes. Christy tried to figure out why Paula would put her bathing suit in the wash, especially after telling Mom she planned to wear it while swimming instead of her new bikini.
She must have accidentally tossed it in the corner when she was sorting out her clothes. Or maybe Paula was trying to hide the suit and leave it at Christy's so when she got to Maui she'd have no choice but to wear the bikini the whole time?
Christy leaned against the cold washing machine and thought about how the Paula she grew up with would never do something deceptive like that. Trouble was, Paula had changed. Christy wasn't sure who this new Paula was or what she might be capable of.
"Here today, gone to Mani!" David said for about the fifteenth time as Mom drove the car along the freeway. It was almost six o'clock, and they'd be late picking up Marti. That would make Marti mad, and if they missed their flight, that would make everyone mad.
"All right, David," Mom snapped. "That's the last time I want to hear you say that. Understand?"
He nodded and wisely kept quiet. Mom didn't get ruffled often, but when she did, look out.
Christy exercised the same prudence and kept her mouth shut, feeling the tension Mom displayed as she clutched the steering wheel tightly and drove close to the car in front of them. They'd left home when it was still dark, but now the day was wide awake, and the freeway was crowded with vacationers and commuters.
"Come on, come on," Mom muttered to the motor home in front of them. "Either speed up or move it over, buddy."
Christy had rarely heard her mom talk to other motorists, and she thought it was kind of funny.
"My mom does that all the time too. Talks to cars, I mean," Paula told Christy in the backseat, where they sat with a big duffel bag between them. "It cracks me up. She really gets upset at tractors on the road. I just pass them, but my mom follows them for miles. It's so funny."
"You have your license already?" Christy asked.
"No, just my permit. But I drive all the time anyway. Everyone does."
"What about the insurance? What if you got in an accident?"
"I don't know."
"You're kidding!" Christy looked at bright-eyed Paula. "Insurance is a big deal here. Nobody can drive without insurance, and it's super expensive. My Uncle Bob said he'd pay my insurance for the first year if I passed my driver's test the first time I tried."
David turned around and announced, "And she needs insurance! She already had an accident!"
"You did? What happened?" Paula quizzed her.
Christy gave her brother a dirty look before explaining the parking lot incident in a matter-of-fact way, hoping it would come across as no big deal.
Paula giggled. "That must've been embarrassing! Did anyone see you do it?"
"No, just my dad."
"So, did you get your license yet?"
"I haven't taken the test yet. My birthday's not until..." Christy's eyes grew big and bright. "I can't believe it! I almost forgot all about my birthday!"
"Hey," Paula added, "it's tomorrow, isn't it? With all the Hawaii stuff, I almost forgot too. Can you believe it? You're going to spend your sixteenth birthday in Hawaii. Is that like a dream, or what?"
"You may end up spending your sixteenth birthday in this car if that motor home doesn't move it!" Mom sputtered.
Christy and Paula turned and made giggly faces at each other, laughing at Mom's anxiety attack. A few minutes later, they spotted the reason for the clogged freeway-a stalled truck had closed off the center lane, and traffic had been routed around on both sides.
Once they made it past the holdup, the freeway cleared, but the tension kept building until they reached Marti's. Then the fireworks really began. Christy and Paula watched as the two women acted like teenage sisters, squabbling over why Mom was fifteen minutes late, which car they should take, and why they couldn't have been more organized.
The group ended up in Mom's car, with David in the backseat, his seat belt tightly holding both him and the duffel bag, and Marti in the front seat with a suitcase under her feet.
"This is precisely why I requested you each fit your things into one suitcase apiece," Marti scolded. "This day is certainly starting out wrong; I've never left so late for a flight in my life!"
"We hit a lot of traffic, and there was a stalled truck," Mom explained, still gripping the steering wheel tightly as she maneuvered back onto the freeway.
"We might be able to bypass some of the traffic," Marti suggested, "if we get on the 405. See the sign there? Stay in this lane."
Mom followed the directions while Marti continued to make plans. "Okay, now if we do miss our flight, which I certainly hope we don't, then we'll find out when the next flight leaves and switch to that."
As it turned out, they didn't need Marti's alternative. They made it to the airport, checked their luggage, received their seat assignments, and ended up with half an hour before they could even board the plane. Mom gave in to David's pleas for a pack of gum, and the two of them scurried off to the nearest shop, leaving a somewhat subdued Marti sitting in the waiting area with the girls.
"We should've gone with them," Paula suggested after Mom and David were out of view. "I don't have any gum, and my ears always bother me on airplanes."
"Paula," Christy pointed out, "you've only been on one airplane in your whole life, and that was a few days ago coming out here."
"I know. And I chewed gum the whole time. Marti, would it be okay if we went to get some gum?"
"I suppose. If you hurry. I'll stay here with the carryons. Don't forget, we board in less than half an hour."
"Would you like us to bring you anything?" Paula asked sweetly.
"No thanks, dear. Just hurry!"
Paula and Christy briskly nudged their way through a throng of people lined up at the check-in desk. Christy suggested they make a quick stop at the bathroom too since Marti had said the flight would take five hours.
"First some gum," Paula directed. "And I saw a magazine I wanted to get while we were running past all those shops on the way in."
Suddenly, Paula stopped. "I don't believe it!" she squealed under her breath, or as under her breath as Paula was capable of squealing. Then plunging her hand deep into her huge shoulder bag, she rummaged around until she pulled out a pair of glasses, which she quickly slipped on.
"When did you start to wear glasses?" Christy asked.
"That's him! Over there...see him? That's the guy from that TV show-what's that show? You know, there are these two guys and-"
Grabbing Christy by the arm, Paula yanked her past the bathroom area and into another section of the terminal. "Come on! He's going this way! Did you see him? What's his name, Christy? I can't remember his name!"
"Paula!" Christy yanked her arm back and yelled at her friend. "Paula!"
Paula turned, looking dazed but still heading toward the movie star. "What? What? Come on!"
Christy hustled to keep up with her. "I don't see who you're even talking about! Come on, Paula! What are you doing?"
"I'm going to get my first movie star's autograph! Come on!"
They blitzed past a large tour group and ended up in a section of the airport that had two wings to choose from.
"This one." Paula grabbed Christy by the arm again. "I saw him go this way."
"Do you even know who we're chasing?"
"I can't think of his name. He's on that show, you know..." Paula stopped short. "Where did he go? I don't see him!"
"Paula, I mean it! We have to go back right now! I didn't see anybody who looked famous. This is stupid!" Christy brimmed with anger and exasperation but kept her words brief. "We have to go back right now!"
She abruptly turned and marched away from Paula.
"Okay, okay, I'm coming." Paula caught up. "I know I saw him, though. What's his name? This is going to drive me crazy! He's really cute and popular, and he's on that show..."
"Most movie stars are cute and popular and on shows!" Christy picked up her pace, scolding Paula over her shoulder. "I can't believe you! We could've gotten lost or missed our plane over this phantom movie star!"
"Wait, Christy." Paula slipped her glasses back into the bag and grabbed Christy's arm again, which she jerked away. "I want to go in here and get some gum."
"We don't have time!"
"Yes, we do. Your aunt was just pressuring everybody. We have like an hour until the plane takes off."
"Half an hour," Christy corrected.
"Half an hour till we board; then it takes another half hour until the plane even takes off. We have plenty of time."
Paula entered the small souvenir shop and took her time browsing through the magazines before selecting one. She picked up a pack of gum and held it up for Christy to see. "You like this kind?"
"I don't care. Anything. Let's go!"
Paula slipped her purchases into her bag, and the two girls stepped back into the main terminal area and looked around. Neither of them moved. Nothing looked familiar.