August 23, 1995
Dear Diary,
Crisis averted, thanks to Aunt Jo Ellen, who always is kind of an angel when you need one.
Okay, I’ll start from the beginning, which was actually my first entry this summer. Remember Tessa knew a guy who knew a guy—many degrees of separation—who had a sailboat?
Well, we finally met him (and friend!) and Tessa wasn’t even here. She’d gone to the bait store with her dad when these two guys showed up at our beach and Kate and I were down there making sure Crista didn’t break a leg trying to ride on her new boogie board.
Their names are Wes (Wesley—cool name, huh?) and Drew (I guess Andrew) and they’re friends from Virginia, I think. Really nice freshmen at UVA. (Kate was impressed, so it must be a good school.)
Wes’s father (Wesley the first, he said…
lah dee dah!) owns the sailboat Tessa was yammering about at the beginning of the summer.
They were super nice. I liked Wes, who was cute (okay, maybe a 6, because…
whoa, ears. But he’s cute. Not Peter McCarthy cute, but that’s not a fair comparison to any guy).
Drew hit it off with Kate because he was definitely nerdy.
(If they kiss, they better both take off their glasses!)
Anyway, we talked and laughed and Wes helped Crista get the hang of her board (sweet) and then they invited Kate and me to go out on their sailboat tomorrow for the whole day.
No Wesley the first, either. Apparently, these two cuties sail all the time in Chesapeake Bay (had to look up the spelling—thought it was Cheese-pake).
But…cue dark music. Maggie the Monster said no.
Just…no.
Talk about a blow.
Until then, Kate and I were so excited! We picked out sundresses and I have that adorable blue straw hat waiting for the perfect outing! We were actually going on a double date, and Tessa wasn’t going to be there to suck all the oxygen out of the entire Gulf of Mexico!
When I told Mom, she said no before I finished the sentence. No to the boys, no to the boat, no to the water, no to everything.
I know, I know. She’s still mad about that night in July after I basically walked past a vodka bottle and was treated like the town drunk. No doubt, the big “no” was payback for that even though I promised her Wes and Drew would not be drinking.
However…help did come. After she said no, I was on the boardwalk and Aunt Jo Ellen came down and said I looked miserable at dinner, which was really nice of her to notice since my own mother certainly did not.
Of course, she backed up “Mags”—moms always stand in solidarity. So I didn’t expect her to give me any hope. But guess what? Much later, when we were all supposed to be asleep, I went to get water because Crista naturally gulped down all of mine and I was parched.
Mom and Aunt JE were in the kitchen talking (probably sippin’ on the old limoncello because it’s FINE for them) and I heard my name. So, of course, I stood perfectly still in the hall and listened to every word.
All I can say is God bless Aunt Jo Ellen! She was actually in the ring, fighting for the cause! “Those two girls always have to share the limelight with Tessa!” she said.
I didn’t think anyone else noticed that!
She said we’re trustworthy and about to go off to college at eighteen (like, seriously, Mom—she’s not wrong) and then she mentioned some dude from college who…I don’t know. Whatever this guy did, it cracked my mother up.
I don’t care who he was, Mom said she hated when “Jo made her loosen her grip on life” and they clinked their glasses and Aunt Jo Ellen said, “Mags, when we’re eighty, I’m going to be helping you let go of control and you’re going to make sure I don’t stop laughing because you are funny.”
Maggie is so not funny, but I didn’t wait around to tell her because she pushed out her chair and said, “Okay. I’ll go tell Viv she can go tomorrow.”
I almost broke my neck scrambling back into bed before she got to our room. I made it and acted surprised to see her. Kate was asleep. Tessa opened one eye and looked a little jealous, but said she was glad we could go. She might go fishing with Eli or something lame.
For once, our lives are slightly cooler than hers.
Anyway, we’re leaving for the marina in a few minutes! I just want to say for the record, I love Aunt Jo Ellen! And she made us a basket of cookies and little cakes to take on the sailboat because she said, “they sound like classy boys.”
She’s the coolest mom and, as always, the best medicine for uptight Maggie Lawson.
Oh, Kate’s ready. She’s not wearing glasses. And in a pink halter top sundress! I’m wearing my green and white one with my favorite straw hat! Let’s sail away!
Love,
Viv