September 19, 2006

11:45 pm, Cody Simmons calls me up on the house phone. It’s Tuesday; he usually calls me on Sunday nights. We say hello to each other, then he says, “Kelsey…Please pray for Eli”
“Why? What’s happened?”
“He’s in the hospital. He has brain trauma, only scattered so it’s hard to fix, he’s unconscious and he can’t breathe on his own. It’s kind of mean, but he’s basically a vegetable. He can hear us, but he can’t move or speak ”
“No…” in disbelief.
“Yeah, so please keep him in your prays. I called you because you’re… one of our closest friends.”
“Thank you Cody, I will….”
Hangs up, I start to pray and just couldn’t think straight. So, I called Cody back on my cell phone so my parents wouldn’t know. I had him repeat it what was wrong and talked for a minute or 2. He said he couldn’t take it being in there. Some thing was going on and he had to go. I prayed and went to sleep.

September 20, 2006

3:25 pm, my day had gone well; nothing out of the ordinary. I was sitting in my aunt’s classroom watching “Making Fiends”(website) with my cousins, Carson and Rachel. My aunt and uncle come in almost in tears. My uncle says, “Should we take her outside?” My aunt agrees and asks me to step outside. My aunt starts off, “Eli is in the hospital-” “I know, Cody called me last night and told me” My uncle says, “What has he told you?” I repeated to them what I have been told. He then says, “ Well… Mr. Weaver called and told us that they took Eli off life support today…” My jaw drops in confusion and disbelief. “No…they couldn’t have…” I look down to their feet. “Do you understand?” “Yeah…. yeah…” I walked back into the room and sat down. My cousins looked at me bewildered. My aunt had come in after me and hugged me. Right then, the tears flowed. Rachel asked, “You want to start walking home?” I nodded my head and got out of there as quick as I could.
“What’s going on? What’s wrong?”
Sobbing, “They took Eli off life support today!”
“Who?”
“My friend from camp I was telling you about.”
“Oh No! Kelsey! I’m so sorry…”
By this time we were half way home; her arm over my shoulder, my face in her shoulder, sobbing, “Rachel, I don’t want him to die! … I got to call Cody. I have to know if it’s true… I don’t believe it.” When we got to my house, I told her to go on home, I didn’t want her to see me cry anymore. I washed my face, to calm myself a little before I called. When I did he didn’t pick up. Then I called Jordan, she didn’t pick up either, so I left a message saying all that I knew. Cody called me, but my voice box got him first. He said, “Kelsey when you get this, call me back.” I called first thing I heard, “Cody? I called as soon as I heard. Is it true”
“He’s gone Kelsey.”
“NO!” I yelled not believing him.
Chokes on his tear, “He’s in a better place now.”
“I know he is….”
I was crying and didn’t like to hear him on the other side. 10 seconds, “Kelsey, I got to go.”
“No…” weakly
“I have to go”
“Fine…”
“I love you Kelsey…”
”I love you too.”
We hung up and I start crying into my pillow, “Why Lord! Why Eli!” The phone rings, its Jordan. “Jordan! He’s Gone! He’s gone.”
“What?”
“Eli, he’s gone.”
“I’m sorry Kelsey, I can’t understand you.”
In the clearest voice I could muster up, I had to repeat 2 times to her and tried to get her understand. Once it got through, “Oh my gosh…”
“Yeah…”
“What’s life support?” I chuckle at this a little and explained.
“Oh, but why did they take him off?”
“I don’t know. I only talked to Cody for 43 seconds. He didn’t seem fit to tell me anymore information.”
“Oh”
“I’m going to go, I love you.”
“Ok, I love you too.”
I fell into my pillows again and cried. Deep in thought, thinking why and I wanted to be there with Cody, to comfort him. I decided to dry my face and get ready for church after an hour. My cousin, Carson came up and gave me a hug. I don’t think he even knew what was going on. Before we left I took down this necklace I bought 2 weeks after camp to remind me of Eli; it had a guitar pick with G.I.R. on it from ‘Invader Zim”. At camp he would quote, “I love this Shooow” in G.I.R.’s voice to make me laugh. I flipped it to the back and carved “to 9-20-06 Eli S” I didn’t remember his birthday so I left it blank; I would find out later.
I left early for church with my mom to get ready for the Wednesday Night Dinner. I set the tables, made the salad, and cleaned a few dishes. Then I decided I couldn’t take it anymore and went in the auditorium and did my homework that I brought with me to keep my mind occupied. This was about 6 o’clock.  When I finished that I started reading my book. Later, our preacher, Mr. Roberts was walking in the front and asked, “Contemplating about life?” It startled me to hear something besides silence. I thought, “I was earlier…” Then everyone started coming in and Rebecca H. joined me. Soon Stephanie A. and Stephen C. came in. I wasn’t listening to the sermon, I didn’t feel it concerned me, and I leaned my head against a support next to me and closed my eyes. Stephanie has this thing about knowing when someone was feeling bad, so she took me outside. I told her what had happened and broke down. She hugged and said, “Kelsey, I’m so sorry…. Oh, but can you just imagine how he is now. He’s having camp everyday now, can you imagine the singing?” This is true, and it just made me cry more. I went and got my face cleared up and we went back in. I was doing fine; at least, I felt like I looked it. Then she reached over Rebecca and started playing with my hair and massaged my shoulder muscle. This caused me to burst; I placed my hand where it would catch my tears and snot and hide my face. Rebecca would every now and again put her head on my shoulder. This continued for 15-20 minutes straight. I wanted them to stop, so I would cease crying, but I couldn’t scorn them for trying to help. During all this, I conjured up a plan; a plan if my parents wouldn’t let me go to the funeral. I decided, I would get directions from map quest, tell my parents good night, go out my window, get in my car, and drive up there with just my permit. Yeah, that would have been stupid. After the sermon, I tried my best to clean up. We stood outside for a while. They were talking about something, I tried my best to stay in conversation, but couldn’t. Soon, Drew joined us; and he just stared at me for a while. This kind of hurt, he didn’t seem to acknowledge my existence; but I half didn’t care. I walked around the church a minute, thought we were leaving, but we weren’t. So I went back in and stood with Stephanie and Stephen. Stephen complimented me a few times, like “Kelsey has a face; not like Stephanie.” Basically I had a cuter face and Stephanie, when you translate “The Code of Stephen”. This made me laugh a little; I knew I looked terrible.  Drew was with us; never said a word. Then they left, Stephen was singing to me. He put my name in the Veggie Tales song “Oh Santa”.
On the way home, my mom asked if I would like to go to the funeral. This was music to my ears; I, of course, nodded my head in approval and aborted my plan from earlier. When I got home, I drove my car around the school, just to calm down. I parked at the gym and called Cody again. He said he was in a quite mood, which was kind of expected, but it’s not like him to stay quite. We talked for 2 minutes, when we usually talk for hours, sometimes. Though, I wanted more information; I hated being isolated and away from him in Florida. So I called Jordan. She told me how she was and what was going on at her house and what she heard. I asked her if she would like to go to the funeral with me and she said she would ask her mom. We talked for 2 minutes too. Then I drove around the school again and went home, got ready for bed and went to sleep.

September 21, 2006

I went through my usually routine in the morning. Rachel came over like ever other morning to walk with me to school. She asked me how I was. I said I’ve been better. We walked to her little brother’s locker so I could put my books away. Then Andrew W. came up asking if Chelsea C. called me last night. I told him she did, but I was already at church. We walked up to the gym to sit with my friends till it was time for school to start. I felt terrible, so I must have looked terrible. My friends asked what was going on and I had to explain. We went down to class early. I found Jordan lying her head on her desk. I went up and hugged her and asked if she was coming and in a tearful voice she said yes. The day went on. Jordan and I had all our classes together, except for 7th, so we were there to cheer each other. At one point, I started singing, “Lean On Me”. Both of us were out of it the whole day. We barley paid any attention to what teaches were saying. We, at least I did, cried at strange times, I would remember something about Eli or camp. In Chapel, Mr. Hamilton talked to us about having peace; and, in Girl’s Bible, the topic was trust in God. We started to cry in both classes. Through out the whole day, Teachers and friends were trying to cheer us up. I would smile, just to let them know I appreciated the effort.
After school, there was a bowling game. This is when I started to forget my trouble. I talked to my friends and started to have fun. We were going against Mount Dora High. Michael Brownfield, an old friend from last year, was there. We talked about everything that’s been going on with him; he wasn’t having that good of a time either. I tried to make him happy, but it didn’t seem to work. Mrs. Allgood took me out of the next game, so I went and practiced. People from the other team were with me and helped me out.
Afterwards, I had my mom drive me out to Books-a-Million. We started talking about something referring to how Cody was and I started to tear up. Luckily, I had my sunglasses on, so she didn’t see me.  I purchased a book called “Finding Peace”; Mr. Hamilton was saying how much this book helped him when he got a divorce. When I got home, I got on the computer. I talked to Stephen and Lisa G. about Eli and what was going on and I started typing up what I wanted to write in Cody’s book. Lisa had a poem about Eli for him, so I added that in the book for her. It took me almost 2 hours to write this. It came out to be 472 words. When I was done I went and wrote it up. Then I called Cody up and told him that we were coming up that weekend. He said he appreciated it and he had to go. So, I started my homework, finished, and went to bed.

September 22, 2006

I woke up in not such a bad mood. I knew I was going to see Cody soon. So, the day went a bit smoother. Also, it was a half-day. We got out of school at 12, because it was Grandparents Day, all the elementary gets out early to eat lunch with their grandparents. High school doesn’t do anything for their grandparents, but we still get out early. Jordan and I did better at keeping to ourselves; people still asked us how we were though. After school, I found Jordan and we walked around asking what we needed to do. And, we also went around trying to find Andrew. We, as in my mom and uncle, Andrew W., Jordan A., and I, finally left at 2 o’clock.
The trip was so boring. We watched one movie, which was X-Men 1. I helped Jordan with her homework, talked with Andrew, and read my book the whole way. We stopped at Chick-fil-a. We talked and found out Andrew eats Chick-fil-a everyday for breakfast and lunch everyday. We ate and got back on the road. I got excited when I saw gas for $2.10. Every now and again, I would hear Jordan sniffle and I would look over at her to see her face buried in her hands. I would place my hand on hers to comfort her. When it got dark, I wasn’t able to read so I listened to my ipod. I noticed Jordan was uncomfortable, so I put my pillow in between us so we both could lean on it. We were sharing my earphones and listening to Hawk Nelson. I started to think about Eli again and started to cry. Then it started to get out of control. Jordan either saw or heard me, cause she grabbed my hand and rubbed my knee. This just caused me to get worse; I just sobbed. Then she started up. We continued like this for hours it seemed like. After awhile, she put on Veggie Tales to cheer us up. This made me laugh a little bit; I knew what she was doing. Then would change it to my Top Rated list, which I need to change, and to Aqua. This helped a lot. She and I started to laugh at how ridiculous we must of looked, and wondered if Andrew had seen us. I looked up and noticed a school bus go by. I looked at the name and freaked out. It was Cody and Eli’s school’s buses, Etowah County Bus. From then on out, I searched for anything that would resemble anything like Cody had mentioned in past conversations. We got so lost; it being it was dark, so we couldn’t find our hotel. So, we called them up and finally found it. Out of weariness. I asked out loud, “Are we in Gettysburg?” My mom and uncle burst into laughter, soon followed by Andrew and Jordan. “Were not that far north” said my uncle. We laughed all the way to the hotel. We soon got to our rooms and went to bed. This was about 11:45 pm.

September 23, 2006

“Eli!” I yelled with surprise and excitement.
“I thought you were gone!” I started to cry. He hugs me like he did so long ago at camp. “No, I’m not gone, Kelsey. It was all a joke. It was Cody’s idea.” He says as he points at Cody who walks up chuckling. I got mad and pushed Cody into a pool.
I jump up from my pillow in joy, excitement, and confusion. I looked around the dark hotel room and remembered. I thought to myself, “That was sad and disappointing.” Jordan had gotten up to take her medicine and was starting to climb back in bed. I informed her that I had a dream that Eli wasn’t dead and fell back on my pillow and started to tear up, but I didn’t cry. Jordan felt my arm, “Kelsey! Your arm is like ice!” “What? I feel fine.” Touches my own arm, “Whoa! It’s freezing” We laughed at this for a minute. I lay in bed till my mom had left the room, so I could get in the shower. I got dressed and dried my hair. I walked outside to the car and got Eli’s sermon from his first year of camp. I had asked him for it when he was done with it that year. When I got back in, I gave my mom the paper so she could make a copy for Cody. I looked at my phone; Cody had called me at 1:35 am. Why on earth he called that late I don’t know. When I called back, he was sleeping, so I left a message saying for him to call back. Then I put on my make up and went down stairs with Jordan for some breakfast. My uncle and Andrew soon joined us. I asked him if I should give Cody the original paper or a copy. He said, “What ever you would like. You asked for it from Eli, so its something special you have from him.” He has been like this the whole time. Then my mom came in with the copies. They came out really light and she started to trace over the words. I got extremely offend.
“Mom! What are you doing? Why don’t you ask to make it dark?”
“They said they couldn’t.”
“Well, why don’t we go to the other hotel and ask them?”
“Well, I thought I would just trace over it.”
I stood up in a rush and took the original copy and said, “I really do not like that idea.” “Well, since we’re giving the original to Cody, I thought-”
“That’s not what he said.” pointing to uncle Kevin and stormed out of there to the other hotel. I went over and got 2 darker copies. I went back, gave my mom the copies, and got Jordan to go up to the room with me. I mentioned to her that it really hurt me when she started tracing over his words. We got up there and lay in our bed. Jordan buried her face in the covers and started to cry a little. I sat up watching TV and fumbling around the paper in my hands. We stayed up there for an hour or so waiting for Cody to call and give us directions. My mom came in and asked to call Cody again. I got the message box again and left another message. It came out, “Morning Sunshine!” I paused; I’ve never said that before, to late to change it. “We’re at the hotel. Jordan and I are really bored. Call us back, cause we kind of need directions…ok, bye, love you.” I called quite a few times afterwards. About 8:30, I called his cell phone again and Sheri, his aunt, picked up. I then gave the phone to my mom to get the directions. We got a little lost, but I recognized his house though. Cody told me it was the only brick house on his street once.
I was so nervous. I was shaking a little with excitement and curiosity. We went up to the front door and Sheri opened the door. She welcomed us and hugged each of us as we came in. I hugged her last, and she started to cry a little which caused me too also. We walked into the living room, or den, and sat down on this couch that absorbs you. Before I did, I kind of chuckled after looking around the room. It was almost exactly what I thought it would be. It had deer trophies, a fireplace, and, well, furniture. But, what I never thought about, there was Coke-a-Cole collectables everywhere. They said his mom collects them. We talked for a few minutes after Sheri asked Kevin, I didn’t learn his name till later, to tell Cody we have arrived. Then Sheri went back, and then came back and said Cody said it was fine if we came into his room. We walked into the hall, passing Eli’s room and the bathroom, and into Cody’s room. I was the last one in and stood in the doorway. It was still dark. I noticed a quilt over a window, and remember how I always did that in Arkansas. I heard Cody say “Hi guys” in a sleepy, but enthusiastic, voice from the bed. I watched my uncle and mom hug him. I don’t think Andrew or Jordan went up to him, so I was standing there waiting for them. “Hey Kelsey…” I heard him say. So I went ahead and buried my face into his neck and wrapped my arms around his shoulders. I enjoy getting the last hug; they are always the longest, the best, and most meaningful. I didn’t move for quite awhile, till he said, “Hi Kelsey!” again, only less sympathetically.  At this, I laughed and so did everyone else. I sat up, and thought to myself, while Sheri was talking, “Oh no, I just remembered, he sleeps naked.” For some reason, this didn’t faze me, probably because everyone was in there. Then Cody said, “Ok, well, when you guys get out, I’ll put some clothes on.” We all laughed, especially me it being I was just thinking about it. So we all went back out to where we were and talked about what exactly happened to Eli. Then Cody came out, fully dressed, and sat between my uncle and me. We talked about random things; stories, school, friends, and so on. They showed us this banner that the cheerleaders had made in honor of Eli. It was made of blue bandanas and said, “We’ll Always Remember Eli.” Cody said he was going to put it up in his room. Cody moved to the recliner and noticed some pictures off to the side and showed them to us, saying it was proof that his dad was a hippie. Sure enough, 2 or 3 of the pictures were of this man with long hair up on a stage. The pictures included photos of Cody and Eli when they were little. They were so cute. There was also some from 9/11 of Eli. One was of him with a blank face, then another showing his “sea food.” “Yup, that’s Eli for.” I thought. Then his parents came in. I stood up and introduced myself to be polite. They hugged me and both of them said something referring to how much Eli loved camp and they appreciated us coming up for them. I loved them; they were so nice and treated me like a daughter. His father told us how there was a spider in the pool and how he couldn’t get it and got his wife to, and how either Eli or Cody had a fake spider and they placed around the house to scare him. And, he showed us a spider in the pool drain. During this time, Cody had been taking a shower. When he came out Jordan went in the bathroom. I stood by him and mentioned to him how Jordan and I like we weren’t there. I had been thinking and dreaming about being in his house forever, and I was finally there. So, I just didn’t feel right. I handed him the original copy of Eli’s sermon. I told him what it was and asked if he would like that or a copy. He said that it didn’t matter to him. I started walking away and I realized I really wanted to keep that one. So, I ran back up to him and got it back. Then Jordan stepped out, and I stepped in. I started being sentimental and thought how different it would be if Eli was there with and I was in the house they’ve grown up in. This got me to cry a bit. I dried my eyes before I went out there. Cody must have noticed. I sat on the couch opposite of him and he said, “I have plenty of room over here by me. I don’t bite.” I chuckled and moved by him.
About 10, people started coming in. We meet Kevin first, a friend that stayed the night, I guess. Then his grandparents came, they were nice to, and they both hugged me and said something about Eli loving camp also. Then I meet Amy, a family member I believe. His cousins came in, Caleb, age 17 or 18, and his younger brother TJ. His grandpa came in with Papa John’s pizza. Cody flipped out; he apparently loves Papa John’s. These guys, Derek and Michael, also known as Joe Dirt, came in when they revealed there were donuts and pizza a waiting for them. Apparently they had been sleeping in the living room, or den. I wasn’t hungry, so I didn’t get anything, I had all ready helped myself to a donut that I could barely eat, and not saying it-tasted bad. Cody noticed I was eating and told me to get some. I said, “No thanks, I’m not hungry.” He gave me this look then said, “It’s Papa John’s Pizza, you have to eat some, go!” I shook my head and said no. “Kelsey, if you don’t get up there and get some, I’ll shove it down your throat.” I looked at him, “Make me…” I retorted sarcastically. He got this look of  “Oh, no you didn’t.” He got a slice from his plate, formed in one hand, and looked at me, “You think I’m joking don’t you.” “No, Cody, no, I don’t want it!” He pushes it into my face and I leaned backwards and hit my head on some antlers. From the shock, I took the slice and started to gnaw on it. My mom soon came over and sat by me. I gave her the rest of my pizza. Soon I met another one of his friends, Natalie. She seemed really shook up and I tried my best to get to know her, but she wouldn’t open up to me. Soon, all of us, the teens, went to Cody’s room and watched a few people play Gamecube. I sat on his bed and viewed my surrounds. It made me think of my brother’s old room. It was small, a four-poster bed, the quilt hanging up over one window, a small dresser with a mirror, and an entertainment-shelving unit. I smiled when I noticed the letter I had written him was down behind a book. Jordan and I changed into something more formal. I helped Derek put on his white bandana. Apparently, they were in honor of Eli, either black or white. All his friends had one on, including us from Florida. Well I was helping Derek; I realized he was so much like Cody. When I first saw him, I said to Cody, “Whoa! Do you have a twin?” He was just a little taller and had a thinner face though. I kept bending the safe pin, the cloth was hard, and I scared myself and thought I stabbed him. When I was done, he said jokingly, I hope, “I think you got it under my skin.” Earlier I had already stabbed Andrew. They played the guitar, played the games, and talked.
Then we went to the funeral place, named “Morgan”, where Eli was being kept. We got there and started walking in. I felt so scared; I wasn’t sure what my actions would be. Cody looked at me, put out his hand, asked, “Ready?” I took it and nodded my head. We walked inside, and he led me over to where my mom, uncle, and Andrew were. He told me he shadowed this place. He wants to be a mortician and possibly move to Florida. He said he had to step outside, and his friends and I followed. I went to the van and decided that it was a good time to give him the book. Jordan had written her note earlier in the car. When I came back, I could tell he was on the verge of tears; He at least looked it. He said thanks; I patted his shoulder and started to go back in and Cody followed with his friends close behind. I stood and waited with Jordan and them for instruction. I had only been to 1 funeral before this; and it was for my great aunt who I didn’t know well. Cody had gone to see Eli with his family first and came out later. He walked Andrew, Jordan, and I to a lounge, kitchen area. I went up, grabbed his arm, and leaned on him. He said quietly, “He looks peaceful.”  I replied, “That’s how he should be…” We stood in there while he talked to a few people. Jordan and I went in the restroom, I blew my nose and cleaned my face best I could and went back out. Cody had moved on out to the entrance area and was talking. He saw me and started to come toward me. We stood for a few seconds and he noticed my GIR necklace I had been moving through my fingers. “I got it 2 weeks after camp to remind me of him.”, my voice cracked in the middle of the sentence. I started to cry, silently, and he put he arm over me and lead me to a couch, telling me it was ok. I buried my face thinking, I’m such and idiot, I couldn’t believe I started to cry then. We were alone; everyone was in a room. Then someone came up, practically scolding Cody for not being in the room with his family. We stood up, I was kind of embarrassed, he looked at with an inquiring face, wondering if I would be ok and why I wasn’t following. “It’s fine, I have to wait for Jordan.” He said ok and went ahead. I went back to fetch Jordan and my mom; and, we went into a room. I sat down, Andrew standing beside me, Jordan sitting in a chair next to me, and my mom and uncle were behind me. My uncle had placed his hand on my shoulder. I hit it, knowing it wasn’t going to comfort me, but cause me to cry more. In the presentation, it showed pictures of Eli’s childhood. I thought I could make it, but then the song “There are Angels Among Us”.  I thought, “It’s true. Eli was an angel. He was so kind and tried he best to make everyone happy.” By the end my handkerchief, that my mom had given me, felt soaked.
Jordan got out of there as quick as we could and walked into the next room. There we saw Cody with his friends. We stood back there for a while waiting, Jordan and I trying to catch ourselves. When saw a lot of teenagers going by in tears. Cody was comforting a friend of his. My mom and uncle seemed to be waiting for us to go ahead. I told them to go on and see him. I had a feeling I wasn’t ready. Cody asked if we wanted him to go with us. I said no that’s all right. After a long minute, I felt I could do it, besides, I knew I would regret it if I didn’t. So, with out saying anything, I went into the Chapel; Andrew and Jordan followed me. I was half way down when I turned around to see Cody with his friend beside me. I believe Cody was saying something to me, but I can’t remember. When we were closer, we could see into the casket a bit. I saw the tip of his nose, gasped, and turned around and hugged Jordan. I thought out loud, “I can’t do it.”  I stepped back from Jordan, dried my eyes, said sorry, and made it back up with Andrew, Cody, and his friend. He hugged me and I said I was sorry and explained a little what had happed. He understood perfectly. We walked a little closer; I could almost see in perfectly. I turned around, hanged on to Cody’s arm for guidance, and walked backwards to Eli. I kept thinking, “Come on Kelsey, you can do it. You’ll regret it later if you don’t.” So, I turned around to see my friend from camp in his Sunday best, motionless. Sheri was playing with his hair; that seemed uncomforting to me. I stood over him for a while, studying face, knowing it would be my last. He didn’t look himself, but I knew they did their best trying to make him life like. I noticed that his lips seemed plastered together, like wax. They had put mascara on his eyelashes. That made me kind of mad, but I tried not to mind. I noticed some freckles on his cheeks that I never knew he had. Soon he became blurry and I turned around to find Cody right there. I hugged him and he hugged me back, then said, “Kelsey… could you please hug my dad?” “Oh yes, of course.” I hadn’t noticed his parents there at all. Cody then put me into his arms. I wasn’t afraid; this stranger has been very good to me. Then I hugged his mother. They said to me they were thankful for us coming up for them.
I walked out of the Chapel to meet my friends. They had already gone out. Cody was sitting with Jordan, who was crying, and was rubbing her back. I sat down on the armrest and was crying a little. Cody suggested for us to go outside and get some fresh air. We went over to a small wall that held the support columns to the over hang and sat down. Cody’s friend went to the other side and sat on the curb and cried. Jordan and I had calmed ourselves and sat there quietly, listening everyone else around us. Every now and again a tear would drip down our faces. At this time, Cody had left us to comfort and talk to others. I was amazed by his attitude. He didn’t seem to be sad, but yet you could see the sorrow in his eyes. We sat there for a long time. Andrew and Jordan said I needed to sign the book. I had completely forgot about it. So I went back inside to sign it. I passed some of the people from the school. They looked at me, probably trying to figure out where I had come from. I signed it, and decided to just go up there and look at him again. I managed not to cry. This one guy with black long hair, walked up, then turned around and said, “I can’t do it.” and ran back. I thought, “Wow, Eli must have been a big friend to him. I’m glad I didn’t do that.” Even though deep, deep down I had wanted to. I looked even closer at him this time and pondered all that we did together. Then I thought, “This is stupid. Why do we cry over a body, when he isn’t even here anymore? I guess because it’s human for us to feel this way in knowing he won’t be there with us, in this world, anymore.” After what seemed like 5 minutes, I figured I had better be getting back to Jordan and Andrew. I walked into the hall to find them on a couch, I saw Cody sitting surrounded by his friends. We made eye contact for a second and I sat down beside Jordan. Apparently, I was lost for 15 to 20 minutes. They had no clue where I was, nor did my mom and uncle. We talked for a minute, and then we got silent. Then this man came up to us.
“Did you know Eli from school?”
“No, from camp; in Florida.”
“Oh, we’re very glad to have you here. But, You don’t need to be morning. I’ve heard that this young man was a Christian and was raised again with Christ. We know that that’s something to be happy for.” I’m not sure if that’s what he said at the end, because I had started crying again; along with Jordan. I think we did the opposite of what he wanted. We stepped outside after a while because we were feeling cold. I was standing up, didn’t feel like sitting. I was thinking, which I probably shouldn’t have, for I began to cry, badly. I wasn’t until I started to feel for the column that I noticed Cody was behind me, heading to sit by Andrew. But, It didn’t stop me, I had to get it out, the feeling was being bottled for to long. Jordan took me in her arms and hugged me. I don’t how long I cried, but it seemed like forever; and I couldn’t stop. I was sobbing, and I felt sorry for my friends around me, feeling they were embarrassed by me. I was thankful for the handkerchief my mom had given me, for it hid my face from people going by. When I felt I couldn’t cry anymore, I sat up, noticed Cody had gone, and then said I was sorry to Jordan. Soon, Andrew left us. Jordan and I talked about how he must feel being around us when we cry and other random things about the day. Andrew came back after a long time. Then we got to hot and went and sat in a room where you could watch the presentation. It was still going for all those just coming in. Jordan started to cry and I embraced her as she had done for me. A man came in saying that someone had fainted. I looked out the door and saw Cody. I asked if Eli’s girlfriend, Casey, was there. I really wanted to meet her. He said she wasn’t there. Andrew asked him who fainted and Cody said some name. Then he looked at Jordan and said, “I can’t take this.” and walked out. Andrew and I kind of giggled at this. Then Jordan sat up and we talked more. Then we got up and found my mom and uncle. They were sitting in the room before the Chapel. They asked if we wanted to go. I really wanted to stay and wait, Jordan was undecided, and Andrew really wanted to get out of there, but didn’t want to leave us.
Jordan went and sat down in a chair in the hall. I went and sat next to her, I had my shoulder under hers. A lot of people looked at us weird. My uncle came spoke to us in a chair across from us, and then he and Andrew went to the store. Jordan and I figured they just wanted to get out. We talked about different things and stuff we’ve already discussed. How Cody was take this, for one. He was comforting other people, and didn’t seem to be sad. And, about how Jordan hasn’t cried this much for a long time, her great grandmother, and why crying made her feel like a wimp. How I had disappeared and was lost, and what I would be doing if she weren’t there with me. I stated I wouldn’t be able to turn to anyone; I wouldn’t just follow Cody around, I couldn’t go to Andrew, and I was not going to my mom and uncle. That would make me uncomfortable, so I would have probably found a place to myself cry, and cry, and cry some more, maybe come out, then go back and cry more. This might sound really sad, but laughed at it anyway. We talked about how Andrew must feel like when he’s around us when we cry again, spoke about the memories of Eli, and realized how we seemed to have cried our last tears. I said, “I wonder where Cody is? Usually we see him go by, but I haven’t seen him a while.” “That is so awkward, Kelsey, I was just thinking that.” We laughed and Cody came around the corner. We laughed even harder, and people looked at us. Cody seemed to have other things on his mind and barely stayed to say anything. Later, Andrew and my uncle came back, and Andrew sat in the chair across from us. We talked to him about Cody, school, and camp. It was interesting. Cody passed by again. “Cody!” I yelled. He stops and walks over. I asked him, “Is Casey here?” “Casey? Oh yeah, she’s right there. Hey Casey!” He called her out of line. She was about my height, blonde, shoulder length hair, and I believe she had brown eyes, though I can’t recall. I hugged her and told her I couldn’t wait to meet her. I accidentally said her name wrong and I got really embarrassed. We talked about Eli, what he told me at camp about her, about how much they loved each, and so on. She’s a great person, and I understood why he loved her. She point to my necklace, “Oh, Eli told me about this.” “Uh, yeah, I got it 2 weeks after camp to remind me of him.” I looked at Cody after saying this and smiled, he returned it. We talked some more about Eli, then she went ahead into the Chapel. We went back to our chairs and talked some more. It was about 7 when Cody came and told us to go in and find a seat. We went into the Chapel to get one last look at Eli. Then Jordan and I tried to make it back to where my mom and uncle were sitting. They didn’t have any room on the pew so we went and leaned against the wall. One of Cody’s friends asked if we wanted a seat and we said no thanks. Then this lady had him ask again, we said no thanks, but she pointed out some space on the second pew from the front. When we were heading up there, we both started to laugh and this old lady looked at us. I noticed Cody was watching us, leaning against the wall. He looked very distraught. I smiled at him, and he smiled back. After a minute of silence, the minister of their church came up and spoke of Eli. He told us some stories; Eli getting caught on a fence, when he sank a boat at his grandparent’s pond, and how kind he was with the elderly. He spoke of how Cody and Eli were very close brothers. And, he did an Acrostic Poem with his name. E stood for Eager; Eli was always eager to help and go do events with the youth group. L stood for Lovable; He loved everyone and everyone loved him. I stood for influential; He was very important to everyone and took a big part in everyone’s lives. He mentioned something about Eli getting a scholarship from camp. I don’t’ know what happened, but I started to cry; I probably thought of a memory.
Afterwards everyone was getting up to leave and see Eli one last time. Jordan and I just sat there and watched the people go up. We both were crying a little still. Soon, Andrew came and joined us, and then my uncle. I started explaining to him how embarrassing it was to go up to sit. Then, he started talking about how in the bible there’s something about being called to the seat of honor, and when we refused, we were forced. This got me to tear up. I scorned him jokingly that he got me to cry right after I had just stopped. We talked a little more about random things; when we will be leaving, what we were doing afterwards, and how bad of a headache Jordan and I had. Us 3 decided we needed some fresh, so we walked outside. We talked about camp and Eli, and about the people there in Alabama. We stood out there for a long time; just pacing around and watching people leave. Casey walked out with a friend and I went up and hugged her and told her it was nice meeting her. They went on to their car, and then Cody and Natalie came out. He came up and told us we were going up the power lines tonight and Natalie was going to drive us home. We got in the car, and there was this giant white teddy bear. She called him Eli. Cody said he’d bring her one of Eli’s shirts for it. Before we went to his house, we stopped at another friend’s house first. This made me think of the stereotype redneck house. It was dark, but I noticed a washing machine, bikes, and other stuff out in the yard, along with cats. We waited for 5 minutes, or more, while listening to the “Sherk 2” soundtrack. Once they were in a car, we started heading to Cody’s.
Once we got there, it was chaos. There were so many people there. They were kids from the school, about 20, and the family members. Everyone seemed to be going crazy. They were chasing each other around, joking with everyone, and just talking. Jordan and I sat at the table in the living room and just watched and listened to them. They were very entertaining, extremely funny. Before we left for the power lines, Cody noticed that Jordan and I had on our flip-flops. He and Sheri looked at us like we were crazy and said we needed gym shoes. Cody went got to pairs of his mom’s old shoes. They fit me just fine, but poor Jordan had slightly bigger feet then me and was cramped slightly. We walked outside where everyone was waiting to get going; Cody was still getting ready. I went back for my phone and, when I came back, they were making fun of how Jordan said “house”. Once Cody was ready, we started walking down the street. Jordan and I noticed that one group was far ahead of us and another was way behind. We just figured we were the outsiders for Florida. Andrew scared us by running up and jumping us. His cast on his right arm nailed me, but I knew he didn’t mean it. We stopped on the side of the road for this truck to pass, and turned out that it was someone they knew. Everyone started piling in the back. I thought, “No good could come out of this.”, but I kept it to myself. Jordan was thinking the same thing, and also didn’t say anything, so we both held back from getting on. Then they coaxed us on saying there was plenty of room. First, we were kneeling, but there wasn’t room, so we stood up. Then, I don’t know what happened; the truck went forward suddenly, with out warning it seemed like, and Jordan and I flipped out. I self-consciously grabbed the tailgate with my left hand and tried to stop. Once my feet got over, it was to much for me to hang on, so I looked over and the last thing I saw was a stripe going by on the road. My first though, “Awe…crap…” WHAM! First thing I heard was Jordan saying, “Oh my Gosh, Kelsey, are you ok!” and “Whoa! Someone fell off!” I started laughing, thinking what an idiot I was and also to take tension off of everyone. I heard Cody say, “Kelsey, are you all right?” I opened my eyes and he was right there along with Jordan on my side. I laughed a little and told him I was fine. He helped me up and I realized that my right hand hurt. I looked at it with Andrew’s cell phone light; it looked ok, just scraped. My class ring also suffered, but I didn’t get a close look till we got back. I asked how Jordan was and she said she was fine and not to worry about her. It wasn’t until I started walking that I was shaking. It was the first time anything like that has happened to me, so I was somewhat shocked. Jordan and I talked on the way about how we felt and how funny it must have been, cause everyone was laughing; except Cody and Andrew. I was telling what I saw and felt and she said she had blacked out and doesn’t remember. We figured out she was the one that flipped; they were saying earlier someone flipped in the air and was like a cartoon. She had hit her right elbow and had obtained a nice scrape also. We went through that painful road rash for a week.
We walked, and ran, a good 2 or 3 blocks; then came upon a fence that was falling apart practically. We went around the fence and started up a steep slope. It was tiring and we stopped half way to rest. Derek kept annoying us, just being a guy and wouldn’t shut up. Some of us started going up a ways while some stayed behind still. Jordan and I made it to the top, with some others, where there was a power line tower. Once we all made it up, we started going down another path. There were thorns on every side of us it seemed, so we all were huddled in the middle of the path. Now, they were asking each other’s names. Jordan and I realized that half of them didn’t even know each other. I recalled back at the house some guy saying to Cody, “Hey! That chick just fell down.” And, they were saying I don’t know you to some people. We were just blown away how they acted together without knowing them, like they’ve been friends forever. About half way through this part of the way, some people had to go home and left. Then, we started going up again and some more people left, so now there were about 10 to 15 people left. I was getting kind of annoyed by them all and just wanted to be alone, so I went up ahead, with 2 or 3 others, of them after they stopped for another rest. Jordan joined me after Cody told me to stop and not to go ahead of him. I found that I didn’t really want to be alone when she came up to me. Someone ahead of us made a really loud call, almost like a squeal. We knew it was someone we knew, but it still got to me how they didn’t answer Cody when he yelled at them to stop. Finally, they got going and we went to where Cody wanted to show us. It was hazy, but it was still pretty. It over looked the city; you could see the streets and buildings, and in the distance there was lightening. Some people, after they saw the view, went back home. Cody asked me if I liked it and I nodded my head in approval. Cody started down another path saying he was going down to where he and Eli sat and talked. Someone asked if he would like anyone to go with him. He said, “If you want too.”, and maybe about 5 or 6 of us went with him, the others stayed at the top to rest. Cody pointed out where a rattlesnake den was that he and Buddha stumbled upon one day. We got down to bolder that jetted out of the dirt. Cody sat down and said that he and Eli would sit there and just talk. We were still all standing and Cody told us to find a place to sit. I sat down beside him and Jordan sat by me, but not on the rock; she doesn’t like the feeling of falling. It did drop, but it wasn’t bad. We even had her look over. She just went, “Uh huh…” and leaned back. It was so pretty. I gave him a copy off Eli’s sermon from 2 years ago. Cody kind of spoke quietly to himself, or to the point where I could only hear him, “I miss him….” I sighed, leaned on his arm, and replied, “I do to, but you’re the only one who will miss him like you do.” He looked at me and then someone mentioned it was going to rain soon, he disagreed. We stayed down for along time, then the wind started to pick up. They called down to us saying it’s about to rain so we started to hurry on up. Jordan and I were the last ones, behind Cody. I slipped, I had gotten to close to one side with the lose dirt. Cody grabbed my hand and Jordan’s and dragged us up it seemed. Everyone got up there and started going back. Cody looked towards the city and said,” Good bye Eli…” We were still hanging on to Cody, at least I was and panting slightly from coming up a mountain so quickly. Not thinking, I repeated breathlessly, “Good bye Eli.” I realized what I said and felt extremely stupid when I notice Cody look down at me. I said a “amen” in an agreeing manner. I feared I had offended him. About half way down this part of the mountain. This girl, Chassidy, fell and started laughing. I thought something wasn’t right when she didn’t stop laughing; the next few steps she took she started having an asthma attack. They guys were trying to get her to stand so she could breathe easier and to concentrate so she wouldn’t pass out. Andrew, being on football, helped them out and knew what he was doing. The guys huddled for a moment to get a plan for something, then they carried her down to a clearing. This other girl, Sarah, was having a tough time also. She was stupid and didn’t wear any shoes. She had a dirty mouth too; in every sentence she cursed. “My F***ing feet hurt. Aw s*** this hurts. D*** It!” It was kind of funny. Cody asked her to stop at one point, but she didn’t. The whole way down we were offering her shoes and for someone to carry her, but she wouldn’t take it. It started to rain; the water felt relieving to Jordan’s and mine road rash. Once we got to the clearing, half of the people that were left went to get Chassidy down the mountain as fast as they could; Andrew went with them. That left 7 of us; Cody, Jordan,, Brittany, Erin, Sarah, a guy named Alex, and myself. They took the flashlight, Cody got out his dagger. He showed it to Jordan and me. I didn’t pay any mind to it; really, I figured he was just trying to scare us. Sarah was going a slow pace and we stayed along with her. Every now and again, Jordan and I would lose track of our pace and get way ahead. Cody yelled out to us, “Get back here. Get behind me.” “Why?” I said. “Why do you think I got this out.” He pulled up the dagger again. My eyes got huge, “Whoa! Ok then, you go right ahead.” We walked on, “Should we be loud?” “Yeah, that might help…” We started making crazy noises and laughing at ourselves. We kept on going, and again, Jordan and I lost track and started walking ahead. Once, Alex picked up Sarah and carried her at a run a good way ahead. We finally made it to the power line tower we got to at the beginning. Now it was pouring; we were drenched. We started going down as fast as we could with out falling. When Jordan and I were half away, Cody went past with Sarah on his back. I yelled at him to slow down, because it was stupid to go at a run, with someone on your back, in the rain, going down a mountain. Some of the guys were waiting for us with the truck; Andrew was in there with them. We hoped in the back; Jordan and I were close to the front of the bed. Sarah joined us; Erin came in next, then Brittany and Alex, and then Cody. Erin and I introduced ourselves to each other at that point. Before we took off, Cody was standing and hanging onto the top of the truck. Jordan and I were yelling at him to sit down, it really did scare us. I grabbed onto his knee till he’ll finally knelled down. We went out of there, and then it stopped raining.
We pulled up into Cody’s drive way. We got out, Andrew had his shirt over his cast; I didn’t think about that. I was walking by the passenger side and water fell from a tree. A guy went, “Whoa!” and froze in the seat. I laughed at him and said it was the tree. We ran inside to see some of the original people that made it to the top was there. Jordan and I were freezing, noticing how wet we were. It was funny seeing everyone else also. The front of us was the wettest, because of incline. I took a closer look at my ring; it’s scratched under the 2008. Mrs. Simmons was doing card tricks, some people were eating and chatting, and, it was 12, so a lot of people left for home. I went back to the bathroom, looking for pro-oxide for Jordan and I; didn’t find any. I walked back out, and when I went around the corner, I almost ran into Cody. We laughed at each other wearily and he tossed a towel over my head. I was very grateful, for it was thick and warm. I stood in the door way awhile, then I heard, “Awe, Kelsey…” I ran back, think something was wrong, to see him holding up a wet paper. I chuckled, thinking “Great…”, while he unfolded it. It was fine so I took it back to his room and laid it on his dresser to dry. I started going back then I heard Cody say, “Hold on, don’t come by.”
Confused, “Why?”
“Because I’m changing.”
“You idiot. Why didn’t you close the door?”
“Because I was going to be quick about it.”
I knelled against the wall so I wouldn’t be blinded.
“You know, you could of told me before.”
“All right, I’m done. I just have to get to my room.”
I must laugh when I’m nervous; when I walked by, he had a towel on, and I just burst into laughter. I walked through the den, watching everyone to see what was going on. Then, I went into the living room. I sat on some mattresses that were for some of Cody’s friends that were staying the night. Kelvin, black guy, was talking to me and telling about how someone was talking bad about Eli. I was horrified, and then Cody came and sat by me when he had gotten dressed. He told me that if he finds out who it was, he was going to beat their face in. Kelvin said he would do the same, but kept it under control; he wasn’t sure how Michael and Kevin would take it though. Then Jordan came in and sat on the other side of me. She was freezing and shivering; chattering her teeth and all. I gave her my towel and wrapped it around her shoulders. After a minute or 2 of talking, Cody noticed us shivering and offered us some pairs of his pants. Jordan and I looked at each other for a moment; she shrugged, I looked down at my toes. Quietly I said, “yes…” He went and got a pair of shorts and some holey jeans. I called the boy shorts; which fit me fine. Poor Jordan though; she put the jeans on and they could be pulled away at least 10 inches it seemed. She said, “Hey, Kelsey, I had Subway for lunch.” We laughed our heads off. She looked so ridiculous in them. They were so big; my belt didn’t help. So I ran back to Cody, barley able to speak, and told him about the problem. He went and got another pair of pants that he tore up at camp. These had huge holes on the knees, but they fit. Kevin, Caleb, and Michael, or Joe Dirt, came in and hanged with us. Later, Cody got Jordan and I these huge, button up hunting shirts. We started putting them on with our wet shirts still on. He mentioned we would be warmer with out them. After a minute, I thought about it, so, with out anybody noticing, I took off my shirt under Cody’s and threw it at my stuff. There was a guy sitting near it, I forgot his name, but he was the driver, and he kind of looked at me confused for a moment. I was so much warmer and just huddled myself into a ball. Jordan, later, took her shirt off; but, she wasn’t as successful as me to keep unnoticed by the guys. They made fun of us. My mom, uncle, and Andrew left close to 1 for the hotel. Cody was going to drive us home. We talked and just had fun. Kelvin beat up Michael. Caleb didn’t say anything; kind of bothered me how quiet he was. Jordan and I were trying to push Cody off the mattresses after he had laid back and took up the space. One time, I was leaning back to push him, and I look forward. I see some white. “Crap!” I yelled and rolled over between Cody and Jordan. One of the buttons had come undone, revealing my bra. I gripped the cloth together, sat up and tried buttoning to where no one would see anything. I looked around to see if any of the guys had noticed. Michael, Kelvin, and Kevin were fighting about something, so wasn’t worried about them; Caleb though, I’m not sure. He was sitting to my left at the table right next to me, so he could have, but didn’t seemed phased and was listening and watching the guys argue. We were having fun just talking and watching the guys beat each other up. It was getting close to 2 now. Jordan and I were dozing and falling over now and again. Soon, Cody’s mom came in saying to pull the mattresses into the den and be made. She had assumed we were staying the night; I replied, “I wish.” Cody drove us to the hotel, Kelvin came along also, but I got the front seat. When we got there, we said bye and good night to them and started for the door. We got to the automatic door, but it didn’t open. We thought, “Oh, great, now we’re locked out.” Then the lady opened it for us. I got to the room and realized I didn’t have the key. I knocked, it hurt my hand, and then I got on the floor. There was a half-inch opening between the door and floor. I started calling my mother. “Mom…wake up…mother, hello…. we don’t have a key…. and we would like to sleep in beds tonight.” This was cracking Jordan up; apparently I was hilarious. Then, I saw my mom’s feet coming to the door; for some reason, it surprised me. I just laid there as she opened the door, looked up, “…hello.” We had a good laugh. We got ready for bed, and crawled in. I just stayed in Cody’s clothes, but Jordan had changed. She was freezing, so I got up and grabbed the shirt Cody had let her borrow for her. I slept well; Jordan was sore though, from falling out though.

September 24, 2006

My alarm didn’t go off. The batteries had gone dead. It was 7:45. I guessed my mom had just left and that woke me up. I got in the shower. My hand burned from the minerals in the water; along with some scratches on my legs. I put some Neosporin on it felt so much better. So, I went over to Jordan, scared her when I woke her up, and put some on her elbow. She hissed at me in pain then buried her face into the pillow. After we had gotten ready, we went to the car. Cody called while we were packing to give us directions to church, or what was going on. I gave the phone to my mom, it being she was driving, and ran inside to get Jordan and I some breakfast. On the way in, my shoes must have had water on them, because I went sliding. The lady at the desk yelled “Careful!” and we laughed together. I grabbed 2 halves of a Danish and ran back out. This was Jordan’s first time to eat a Danish. She’s a very picky eater; and, she didn’t like it, so we feed the birds.
We pulled into a gas station where Sheri was waiting for us. She pulled in front of us and we followed her the rest of the way. I don’t know what I thinking about; but I remember pointing out the different types of trees I could identify to myself. Which included Cedar, Oak, and Pine, also the “I don’t know” ones. It took us a while, but we made it. Cody wasn’t with them, slept in apparently. For some reason, us from Florida went in kind of cautiously; well I did, not knowing what to expect. People were giving each other hugs. I heard Sheri say, “This is the first day he isn’t with us.” Us 3 went into the room the teens meet. I recognized some of the people from the night before. There weren’t enough chairs, so we were moved into the fellowship hall. There was a chair between the teen minister and I. He said, “Now, I understand today isn’t going to be the same. But we have to move on.” That wasn’t exactly how he stated it, but basically what he meant. He told us about king David mostly. He went over what they had been studying for the past few weeks. He had major A.D.D. Once he got on to a subject on how some apartment complex had drugs and it wasn’t a good place. He even wondered why he mentioned it afterwards. He made us laugh. His voice was very drone and had a dry sense of humor.  
After an hour, we moved into the auditorium. We went up to the second pew from the front, in front of my mother and uncle. We were wondering where Cody was and just figured he was sleeping still. Which we were correct; Caleb said he had gotten ready faster than the rest of them and made it to class. Some older lady came up to Jordan and I and asked us where we were from and if we were there for Eli. We told her we were from Florida and knew Eli from camp. She said that they were happy to have us, and wished we were there on a happier occasion. Then she got up and Andrew replaced her. We started services, but no Cody. Sheri was next to us and she started crying. She could barley sing. I traded places with Jordan to hold her hand and comfort her. Cody came in just in time for Communion, but sat behind my mom. During the song afterward, my mom leans over and says, “You going to go sit with Cody?” I look over her shoulder to him. He gives me this smirk and raises his eyebrow.  “Why bother? We’re going to see him afterwards right?” “Well, yes, but we’re leaving after church.” I give her this shocked look, looked at Jordan, then to the floor, thinking. I tapped Jordan and went past Sheri saying sorry and hurried into the row with Cody. I was climbing over people and I felt really embarrassed how I was rushing when I looked back on it, but I didn’t care then. I stood on my toes and told Cody we were leaving after church. He replied with an acknowledging “Oh…”
I don’t quite remember what the sermon was about, but it was referring to death and how hard life is. This got everyone, almost, choked up. I recall seeing and hearing Sheri crying; I wished I hadn’t left her. About 2 or 4 times I started to cry, but I kept it under control. I just looked down, closed my eyes, and caught the tears that came. I thought, “Wow, I must look really stupid. The funeral was yesterday, not now.” During the invitation song, though, I looked up and saw Cody’s dad crying. That did it, I can’t stand to see men cry. When they do, it shows a deeper sense of sorrow then when a women cries. I couldn’t sing; I knew my voice would crack. I felt Jordan reach around Cody and rub my back. I love Jordan; she’s so comforting. I had my head down, eyes closed, arms folded. I felt another hand, though this was from the front. It was Cody’s; we clenched fingers and kept close. I leaned on his arm and tried my best to dry my tears during the pray. When the pray was over, I found I couldn’t stop. When Cody let go, I sat down and stared at the ground, so they wouldn’t see me. When I was ready I told them that it was his father that got me. Jordan said, “Yeah, I thought it was. If you heard what his grandpa was saying, you’d be worse.” Cody said to head outside. He was being stopped and given hugs. I stopped at his grandma, who was at the door. I gave her a hug and looked at her necklace. It was a picture of Eli and his cousins. I guess, because I recognized Caleb and TJ, but there was someone else. “You like that?” I nodded my head, “Its nice.” I replied and walked outside. We stood out there for 30 minutes or more. Cody’s friend came up and talked for a while. One girl asked us our names and when she came to Jordan she said, “You’re Jordan, that girl from Myspace.” That kind of scared Jordan. This little boy came up and started beating up Cody, spanking him, for 15 minutes. They were chasing each other around tackling each other. Cody spun him around once, and got himself more dizzy then the kid. It was funnier when the kind kept on when someone came up to Cody in a serious manner. When my uncle came out, I explained how we had to stop at their house, because Jordan and I had left our wet clothes there, and Mrs. Simmons dried them. So, we got to go anyways. Cody drove us. Before I got in the car, I hugged Sheri; wasn’t sure if I would see her there. I sat in the passenger side, Jordan behind me, and Andrew behind Cody. Cody said he was going to take us the more scenic route. My mom and uncle were following us. He went really fast down a hill and scared Jordan to death. Her: “Oh my Gosh!” grabs the close thing she could that was steady. This is why she hates roller coasters. Cody pulled over and asked my relatives if they would like to see where they were going to put up Eli’s memorial. Of course we said yes. We went through these really broken down houses. He pointed out one that was busted many times with possession of drugs. He went around many turns and then he came up to this pond with a nice house. He said they were going to put it by the pond. We asked if that was the pond where Eli had sunk the boat. He said yes and we kind of chuckled. My mom pulled up beside yes and my uncle asked the same thing. I said, “He would like that.”; meaning Eli, and Jordan agreed. We took off, Cody yelled at a dog to stay and then went down a road. He said that they would ride their bike through there and the road was named after his family from many generations. We pulled out to a highway, started going, and noticed my mom wasn’t behind us. We pulled over, about to go onto another street, and waited about 10 minutes. I tried calling them, but my uncle didn’t pick up. They finally appeared and we pulled onto Cody’s street. His house was right there. My mom told us they had to pick up a rock, cause she’s like that.
We went inside, and you’d think there was a potluck or something. There was so much food. They were watching “Twister”.  They were telling us to eat; I wasn’t hungry though. I tried a roll, to say I ate, but it felt dry in my mouth and I could hardly get it down. I opened it and gave it to my mom for her ham that she was eating out of her fingers. I had looked at everything else, it all looked appetizing, but I felt I wouldn’t be able get it down. I talked to Cody’s grandpa. He told me, now that we knew where they live, that we were welcomed any time. I replied, “I can’t wait to come back. I feel at home here. We are planning on coming up after Christmas though.” And, I said I was going to make many trips once I got my license. They welcomed this thought, and were happy. I went back and sat down in the recliner, kind of in a daze. Jordan sat down with me; it was a big recliner. The movie must have been almost over. I was watching Cody go back and forth. He was talking on the phone. My mom came up to me and said that we were leaving soon. I wasn’t sure what to do, but my feet did, and I found myself in Cody’s door way. I looked at the door, knowing I should leave it open to be polite. He motioned me over to sit on his bed, still on the phone. I figured he would still be on; once on the phone he won’t shut up. Not saying in a bad way, I enjoy the talks we have, though he does most of the talking. I told him that we would be leaving soon. I sounded so monotone, I could barley understand myself. He got off phone and explained whom it was. I don’t remember the name; it was a girl he asked out, but she denied him. I went “awe” in a “sorry” sort of way. He replied, “Nah, Her loss, not mine.” It got silent for a moment and I looked at my feet. “Hey Kelsey, guess what?” I looked at him with a joking, confused face, “What?” “Push!” He took his arm and ran it into my neck, not hard, but to where I fell back. I laughed, “You idiot, stop it.” and sat back up. We talked in the few minutes we had; made me laugh talking about his friends. My mom came in and when she saw me she smiled. I thought, “What was that about? She probably thought, ‘Awe, how sweet.” That’s my mom for you. “We’re leaving soon.” “Urg, the Floridian doesn’t want to go back to Florida.” I said falling back on the bed. “Yes, I know.” She said understandingly. We walked out to the living room, picked up our clothes, and said bye to everyone. And, we hugged Sheri, Cody’s grandparents and parents. They said goodbye, thanks for coming, and we were welcomed to come any time. Cody walked us down to our van. We handed him back his clothes. I explained how I wasn’t going to steal the shorts and be like Cassie. He smiled and gave them to me anyways. I got this huge smile, thanked him, hugged them, ran back to the van and threw them on my seat. I came back to him and stood and watched everyone get their stuff; I was already. Before I got in, I had to tell him something that had been on my mind since the funeral, the main thing that made me cry there. Once we were alone for a few seconds, I said, “Cody, I have to confess something. It’s been on my mind.”
“What is it?”
“I’m afraid to leave.”
“Why?”
“I don’t want to lose my other Bama Boy.” Tears started to ebb, but I held them the best I could. I had told Jordan this at the funeral. When we were done crying and seemed out of it. But, I was truly afraid. I don’t know how I would be if Cody passed away. In irony, I smiled. I thought, “Wow, I can’t believe I told him. I feel so incredible stupid.”
“Hey, I’m here.”
“I know…”
We walked to the van. I held my tears so they wouldn’t fall. We all hugged him goodbye. My mom didn’t shut the door when he didn’t move. I took advantage of this and gave him one last hug around the neck. There seemed to be so much drama. We waved and watched each other as we faded into the distance.
I watched my surrounds, absorbing it all in so I could remember landmarks for my next trip. Us 3 teens talked about what happened to each other when one of us weren’t with them. Andrew explained why Cody had got out the dagger. He said that some people that left before heard something big and close to them, but wasn’t sure what it was. That’s when the guys had gotten together and discussed how to get Chassidy down quick. That’s why they went so quickly and Cody had gotten out his dagger. After awhile, I started to read my book. I read it for an hour and could barley keep my eyes open. I started to drift and fell asleep. We stopped at a gas station an hour later. Jordan was having trouble resting, couldn’t get comfortable, and was having problems with her CD player. I gave her my ipod and leaned back onto my pillow. I couldn’t fall back to sleep, but I dozed. We pulled into a Cracker Barrel. I was walking around and went to the toy area. I saw this bear. My first I thought was, “Oh! I want to hug it!” I did and it’s the perfect hugging bear. I passed it off my uncle, who was closest to me. He hugged it and said it was nice. Then I took it to Jordan. We made Andrew hug it. His reaction was funny; he barley gripped it. I took it to my mom and she said that we have to buy it. It sat with us at the table. The waitresses were commenting on it. Jordan and Andrew were playing with that little peg game to pass time. I ate some of my mom’s grits, some of my apples, gave her the rest, and that was about it. I apologized to my mom for ordering something and not eating it. I thought I was hungry, but couldn’t eat. My uncle said it was fine; and, I hadn’t been eating much since we left home. I tried to retaliate, but once I thought about it, I really haven’t been. We talked about the weekend some more and Jordan told us how she liked her steaks still mooing. We got on the road when we had finished
It was so boring. I read my book some more. Jordan read, “He keeps cutting his nose off. What!” “Jordan, it’s an expression…” We laughed on this for a good amount of time. We put in the 2nd X-Men movie. It was getting dark so I could barely read. I reapplied Neosporin on Jordan’s elbow. She said it was burning. I blew on it forever and it seemed to help. After X-Men was over, I had Andrew put in “Baby’s Day Out”. We didn’t get to far into it; all of us weren’t paying attention and was falling asleep. So, he turned it off and we sat in darkness to think to ourselves. They both were attempting to sleep. I couldn’t, so I leaned back and looked at the stars. I wished my home had stars out like that. Earlier, Jordan was so sore from the truck incident and I keep trying to drug her with Motrin, but it wasn’t working. It being she had been trying to sleep, I gave her a Tylenol PM. That knocked her out. Jordan woke up at one point, looked out my window and saw this waterslide. She said enthusiastically, “I’ve been there! I know where we are! We’re in Ocala. That’s where I learned I liked water slides! No, really! We’re in Ocala!” It surprised me so badly. I looked at her with this face of, “What in the world?” We laughed a bit, but not hard, because we were so tired. She went back to sleep and I stared at the sky some more. I looked at my phone to see if I had service, which I didn’t. We were going through the Ocala forest. The moment I got service, I called Cody. I put my head in between my seat and trunk., so no one would here me. I whispered to him that we were about 1 hour to 30 minutes away from our home, to let him know we made it safely. He said that he appreciated it and that he had watched “Fullmetal Alchemist” for 3 hours. We stated that information and hung up. I looked back at the sky and remembered our past conversations when Eli was around. I buried my head in my pillow.
It was 11 something when we pulled into my aunt and uncle’s driveway. Andrew and uncle Kevin got their luggage and went inside. Jordan fell back asleep immediately after we pulled out. I just watched the familiar scenery go by. When we got to my home, I grabbed all my stuff and dumped it in my room. Jordan grabbed her stuff and put it in her car. I got ready for bed and when I went in my room, Jordan was out cold. I followed suit; got into bed and fell asleep.
I woke to my alarm at 6:20 and did my usually routine. It was 7:10 when I woke up Jordan. She never sleeps that much. We’re positive, that if I left her, she would have slept for the whole day almost. The Tylenol PM worked extremely well, except she was still sore when she got up. Through out the day, we just moped. We were so tired, it seemed like we were dragging our backpacks. We had to tell Hamilton, Chemistry Teacher, to slow down on the notes. He caught really quick that we were tired. We prayed for the Simmons family in our Girls Bible class. It caused me to cry somewhat; I’m not sure about Jordan. We would talk about the trip some more, said some inside joke. “Hey come hear how she says house!” “Alright…” Michael repeated that every 5 seconds.
Jordan and I are amazed at times when we think about how long it has been since that day. Sometimes, to me, it feels like a dream and never happened, or it was just yesterday. I well always remember Eli; and Cody of course. I wear my black and white bandana and G.I.R. everyday. I’ve added Cody’s guitar pick he gave me his first week of camp to my necklace. I rub the 2 together when I think about them, or just nerves take in. I plan on not getting a new class ring. The scratches on it symbolize that trip, and let’s me know it really did happen. I miss my Bama Boys. I can’t wait to see Cody again; and Eli when the time comes time.