Savannah Burning

Chapter Twenty

CHAPTER 20

The same day that Mr. Skye put security cameras in place around his home, Daisy and I both received two thick, square envelopes in the mail.

“It’s from Johnson and Whales,” Mom said, leaning her elbows on the counter, eyes bright with excitement.

“I’m surprised you didn’t open it first.” The joke fell flat when a tremor ran through my voice. I swallowed hard, taking the envelope, hands shaking. “Damnit, why didn’t you open it first? This is too nerve-wracking.” She laughed at that and I ripped the package open. Just like a Band-Aid.

“Well?” Mom asked, leaning forward even more so.

“I did it,” I breathed. “I got in. I got in!”

Mom let out a squeal of excitement – a literal goddamn squeal – before throwing her arms around me in a hug. “I’m so proud of you, Tyson,” she said, her voice thick with emotion. “You’re going to do so many great things. I have to go call Dad. He’s going to be so excited.”

“I have to tell Daisy and Robbie,” I said, still clutching the acceptance letter tightly in my hand. “I can’t believe it. I did it. I got in.”

“Of course you got in,” Mom laughed, pulling her phone out of her pocket. “You’re my kid.” It was one of those moments where I couldn’t imagine any other kind of life for myself.

I tripped up the stairs three times before making it to the landing. I grabbed my phone from where it was charging on my desk, sending out a group text to Daisy, Savanna and Robbie. Robbie, of course, had already committed to a college. He got his choice of wrestling scholarships and had already chosen a school in North Carolina.

It was too cold for surfing, even for us and, somehow, the four of us ended up at the bowling alley.

“I don’t think I’ve been here since your tenth birthday,” Daisy said to Robbie as we walked through the front doors.

“I don’t think any of us have,” I said as we walked past the outdated arcade room. We swapped our sneakers out for bowling shoes and headed towards our lane. Savanna offered to grab us snacks and drinks at the food court and had told us not to wait up for her.

“Oh, my God,” Robbie laughed. “Remember that time Tom Baker ate too much cotton candy and puked in his lane?”

“Damnit, Robbie,” Daisy said. “I nearly blocked that one out.”

“Who’s birthday party was that?” I asked, trying to place the year when Tom Baker puked neon pink all over the bowling alley’s floor.

“I think,” Daisy said with a frown, her eyebrows furrowed in concentration. “I think that was Heather’s birthday,” A second later we all looked up at each other and I knew that we were all remembering the same memory: Heather, shrieking and leaping onto the ball dispenser, only to slip off and fall into Tom Baker’s pink vomit.

Savanna, who had come back bearing snacks, stared at us as we all laughed at the memory, a small smile playing on her lips. When we finally composed ourselves, Savanna sat down on the bench, right between Robbie and myself. She was still smiling, staring down at the can of Dr. Pepper in her hands.

“You okay?” I asked, nudging her.

“Yeah,” she said with a grin. “I just think I would have liked growing up with you guys.” Robbie looked over at us with a grin.

“You say that now,” he said. “But we made Daisy’s life hell in middle school. You would have hated us.”

“It’s true,” Daisy said as she picked up a ball for her second try. “I still hate them for it. They were the worst older brothers I never wanted.”

“What did you guys do to her?” Savanna asked incredulously as Robbie stood up for his turn.

“We accidentally broke her wrist,” he said as he headed towards the lane.

“Didn’t pick her for our game of basketball,” I added.

“To be fair, I’m really, really bad at basketball,” Daisy interrupted.

“We also cut your hair. Back in elementary school, remember?”

“Those were dark days,” Daisy whispered, her eyes wide at the horror of the memory.

“Her hair used to be long,” I informed Savanna.

“Too long,” Robbie said.

“Oh, please,” Daisy rolled her eyes. “It was like, only a little past my butt.”

“That’s insanely long,” Savanna laughed. I stood up for my turn so I missed the second half of the story where Robbie cut Daisy’s hair as a joke . . . at her shoulder. Obviously, she didn’t find it very funny.

I rolled the bowling ball and knocked one pin down. I had always sucked at bowling. I turned around to grab another ball for my second try when Savanna, Daisy and Robbie all burst out laughing. From an outsider’s perspective, we all easily could have been friends for years. It wasn’t hard to insert Savanna into our memories. She had always felt like the missing part of our group that we never even realized we needed. In a parallel universe, I would have known Katie Skye.

That being said, I reasoned with myself as I turned for my next try, in a parallel universe, I wouldn’t be here either.

Gutter ball. Damn.