Army Kids (chapters 4, 5, and 6)

CHAPTER 4

The next day I worked on my speech a little bit. I got about half of it done. My goal is to make it a tear jerker. I only have three days to finish. I decided to make my phone calls I had to make that day. First I called up my brother Kyle.

"Hello" he says as he answers the phone

"Hey Ky"

"Hey Joey what’s up I miss you" he says

"I know I miss you too. I can’t wait until you come home" I say

"Yeah I am coming home Friday. The barbecue is Saturday right?"

"Yes, So you’ll be home in two days" I say excitedly

"Good. How is Kristen doing? Have you seen her lately?"

"No, but Derek told me she misses you a lot Ky" I tell him

"Oh, yeah I know I actually talked to her the other day. She will be home for the barbecue too she said"

"Yeah so that’s good at least you’ll get to see her" I say

"Yup. Alright well I have to go but I will see you in a few days. I love you"

"Okay be careful Kyle. I love you too" I say and hang up

I call Mark next.

"Hey Joey" he says when he answers the phone

"Hi what are you doing?" I ask

"Nothing …what about you?"

"Nothing my head is just spinning. I am stressing out" I say

"Why? What’s up?" he asks

"I don’t know…everything from this barbecue, the speech, my brother, and like whatever is going on between me and Derek" I say

"Don’t worry about the speech because you are gunna do fine, and your brother will be okay, the barbecue will be a success, and things between you and Derek will settle into place. You just have to take one step at a time" he says

"Yeah. I hope you are right" I say

"Don’t worry" he says

"Mark I have to tell you something and you have to promise not to tell anyone"

"Kelly-Jo, you know I keep all your secrets safe. What’s up?"

"I overheard my parents talking about how my dad might be getting deployed again" I say

"Oh no! Really…when?" he says

"I have no idea but they said someone would let him know"

"Oh Joey are you ok?"

"Yeah I guess. I mean I don’t want him to go but if it has to happen it has to happen" I say

"Do they know that you know?" he asks

"I don’t know but I am really nervous"

"Don’t worry you don’t even know if it’s happening yet"

"Yeah I know. Well I have to go but thanks for talking Mark. I will see you tomorrow. Bye" I say and hang up the phone.

CHAPTER 5

Today I am meeting with Derek at the park. He is going to help me with my speech and have a picnic. I arrive at the park.

"Hey D" I say as I approach him

"Hi cutie" he says as he hugs me

I laugh and we sit down at a picnic table next to each other

"At least we are under a tree…shade…it is so hot out today" I say

"You’re hot" he says and laughs

"Shut up D" I say and smile

"What do you want I brought sandwiches? Turkey? Or Bologna?" he asks

"Um…turkey please"

We eat our sandwiches. There is something about Derek that I like. I don’t know what it is. His sense of humor? His gorgeous green eyes? His smile? His body? He is just a really good looking kid.

"So did you finish the speech?" he asks me

"Almost. I have the jist of it but I need something more to wrap it all up"

"Jist?" he says and laughs

"Stop making fun of me" I say in a little kid voice

"Ok I am so sorry" he says and laughs

"So are you gunna help me or not?" I ask

"Yeah did you bring it?"

"Yes … here you go" I say and hand him the paper

As he is reading he laughs a little bit but most of the time he has a serious face on. That is because the speech is supposed to be like that.

"Are you trying to make people cry?" he asks sarcastically and jokingly

"That’s my goal" I say

"Well I think you might have reached it" he says

"Really? Do you think it’s good?"

"It’s great. Thank you for mentioning my uncle and my family" he says

"Oh are you kidding, you don’t have to thank me"

He smiles and says "It’s just that you care so much, why?"

"Well because he was a good soldier and I liked him and I like your family and I like you and I care about you" I say and he smiles

"Thank you. I care about you too"

"I know" I say

"Remember when we were little we had nicknames for each other" he says

"Oh yeah wow what was mine again…oh yeah you called me pooh bear and I think I called you Reese?"

"Yeah Reese and pooh bear. Where did you get Reese from?" he says and laughs

"You loved Reese’s Piece’s"

"And you loved Winnie the Pooh?" he asks

"No …I don’t know why you called me that" I say and we both laugh

"It had to be for some reason" he says

"Yeah, who knows, we were like seven or eight" I say

"I met you when we were seven when you first moved here" he says

"Yeah aren’t you glad I came?" I say

"Yes! What would I do without my pooh bear?" he says and smiles

In the process of this conversation, Derek has been adding things to my speech.

"Here, how’s that?" he asks as he hands it back to me

I read it over

"It’s great. Thank you so much Derek"

He leans over and gives me a short kiss on the lips. He does that occasionally.

"Anytime pooh bear"

I smile

"You know everything happens for a reason….or else the world wouldn’t exist" he says

CHAPTER 6

The next day I hung out with Alyssa. Tomorrow is the big barbecue day and I am so nervous to make my speech. My brother is coming home today. His car is actually pulling up now.

When he gets out of the car I run up to him and give him a huge hug

"Hi! Oh I missed you way too much big bro. How are you Kyle?" I say

"Hey Joey! I am good. Glad to be home finally. I missed everyone…especially you…gosh I didn’t get to hear any stories from you about your life" he says and laughs

"Oh don’t worry you will be updated very soon" I say and smile

"Good I cant wait"

"Kristen is inside and Derek is coming over now" I tell him and he runs inside. I can tell how much he missed Kristen. I see Derek walking down the block. I run up to him and swing my arms around his neck and give him a big hug.

"What’s up with you? Why so hyper?" he says and laughs

"Kyle is home and hello to you too" I say

"Oh I am sorry, I’m sorry…come here" he says and hugs me

"Come see Kyle. He is inside"

We go inside my house. Derek says hi to Kyle and then Kyle asks Derek to talk in private.

"What was that all about?" I ask Derek when he comes back in the kitchen

Derek has a huge smile on his face right now

"Watch!" he says

Right then and there Kyle proposes to Kristen. They are going to get married.

"Oh you guys congratulations!" I say and congratulate both of them

"Derek did you know about this?" I ask

"No I just found out" he says and laughs

I hug him and he gives me another short peck on the lips

"We are going to dinner tonight to celebrate with both families just so you guys know" says Kristen