Friends Forever

by Danielle Steel

  “For God’s sake, Dad, get a dog, don’t have a baby. That’s a lifetime commitment, and you hardly know this woman.”

  He seemed stubborn suddenly as he replied, “I like her a lot.”

  “Then date her, but don’t marry her and have kids. I just think she’s a little young for you, that’s all.”

  “She’s very mature for her age. She thinks like someone my age.”

  “No, she doesn’t,” Izzie corrected him. “She thinks like someone my age. I felt like I was talking to a kid all through dinner.”

  “She’s very versatile and good with people,” he insisted, and Izzie saw she wasn’t getting anywhere.

  Izzie couldn’t wait to talk to Sean about it the next day, and she was worried.

  “I think my dad met someone he really likes. She’s seventeen years younger than he is, and all I need is for him to marry some bimbo while I’m away.”

  “Is she a bimbo?” Sean looked surprised. Izzie’s father had always seemed very sensible to him, like his own parents. He couldn’t imagine him running off with some disco girl.

  “No, she isn’t. That’s the trouble. I even like her.” She sighed as she looked at Sean. “I just don’t want anything to change, for us, or them. It’s hard enough leaving without worrying about everything being different when you come back.”

  “It won’t be,” he reassured her. “Your father loves you, and he’s a great guy. He’s not going to do anything stupid while you’re gone. He probably just likes her as a date.”

  “Yeah, maybe,” Izzie said, but she wasn’t so sure. She knew how lonely her father had been at times in the last five years, and there had been no one serious in his life.

  “Just relax, everything’s going to be fine. They’ll probably stop dating by next week,” Sean comforted her, when she complained to him again about her father and the new woman.

  “Whatever,” Izzie said. It was hard to worry about everything, and impossible to control their parents’ lives. Marilyn was proof of that. Divorced, remarried, and pregnant with twins all within a year. Things had moved very fast in Billy’s life, and they both knew he was still upset.

  “How’s your brother, by the way?” she asked him about Kevin. Sean didn’t talk about him often, but Izzie knew that he was still worried about him, more than he admitted.

  “I don’t know,” he said honestly. “I get a weird feeling about him. He looks okay, but I don’t think he is. He acts like he’s sneaking around again, and he’s in such a good mood every time I see him, I get the feeling he could be doing drugs again. I hope not. He’s working for my dad right now. But if he screws that up, my dad will be really pissed.”

  Izzie nodded, and they talked about other things then. They all wanted to go skiing in Tahoe over the winter vacation, and the O’Haras had offered to let them stay at their house for a few days. Izzie had her last college applications to do too, and the vacation would be over before any of them could catch their breath. They were headed straight for graduation in six months, which was the scariest thought of all.

  Chapter 7

  The O’Haras gave the whole class a graduation barbecue in their backyard. It was a major event. Everyone was invited, and they hired a chef from Jack’s San Francisco restaurant to cook steaks, hot dogs, hamburgers, ribs, and everything that went with them. It was a terrific party, and everyone had a ball. They were a wholesome, happy group, although a few people arrived drunk and weren’t allowed in and were sent home in cabs. The O’Haras were vigilant about it. They had had T-shirts made for everyone, with the names of the entire graduating class on them. Everyone put on a T-shirt as they came in, and the Big Five stuck together, eating and talking and laughing. Sean thought Billy was high and asked him about it, but Billy denied it. When Sean asked Izzie what she thought, she said he seemed fine to her, and Sean was relieved.

  Marilyn and Jack came by for a little while too. She had been on bed rest for a month, just at the very end, but with her due date only five days away, Helen had let her get up so she could attend graduation and the surrounding events. They knew that both babies were girls, and Marilyn said she had never been so ready in her life. Having Brian had been a breeze compared to this, but she had no regrets, they were thrilled, and Jack was waiting on her hand and foot, which she said was a good thing since she hadn’t seen her feet since Christmas, and she was so big now, she couldn’t get out of bed without help. He was being wonderful to her. And Billy had stopped complaining about it. He was focusing on school, and leaving home a month early for football practice at USC.

  Judy was planning on taking Gabby to L.A. in August to help her find an apartment and get everything set up for her. Michelle was looking a little better, after her treatment at the clinic, and Judy had told Connie and Marilyn that she was better now, although she didn’t look much heavier than she was before. She seemed happier and more relaxed as she hung out with Gabby’s group. Judy and Gabby were busy making plans for L.A., and Michelle would be staying with a friend while they were away, setting up Gabby’s apartment.

  Izzie had been accepted at UCLA and every other school she’d applied to, so she had a choice in the end, but UCLA was her favorite school, and she loved knowing that Gabby and Billy would be nearby. They promised to see each other whenever they could. And Sean had decided on George Washington University in Washington, D.C., because he said he wanted to major in political science and foreign policy, with a minor in Spanish. He had a real gift for languages and had won the Spanish prize in their class. He didn’t tell anyone except Izzie, but he was trying to tailor his major to what was required to apply to the FBI. He had been carefully studying the qualifications they looked for and reading about them online. Connie and Mike thought he’d chosen an ambitious program and were sad he was going so far away, but it was a wonderful opportunity to see more of the world than home base. He had turned down Georgetown, Columbia, and MIT and insisted that GW was the right school for him. He was a very smart kid.

  Kevin showed up at the graduation party, and said he had plans and was meeting friends later. But he was much older than Sean and the others, and a bunch of high school seniors celebrating their graduation wasn’t his cup of tea. He left very quickly.

  The party in the O’Haras’ backyard went on until three in the morning, although they had to turn the music down at two. The food kept on coming, they didn’t serve alcohol since no one was legally old enough to drink, but the kids had a great time anyway, and even Marilyn and Jack stayed till midnight to keep the O’Haras company. And Izzie’s dad, Jeff Wallace, came with his girlfriend, Jennifer. Izzie didn’t look too pleased when she saw her, but she was always polite to her. Helen Weston came, and had to leave after a few minutes for a delivery, but Andy’s dad didn’t come, he never did. He was too busy with his practice, or books. Helen spotted Marilyn on the way out and stopped to say hello.

  “What are you doing here?” Marilyn asked her in surprise. She very rarely attended school-related events and didn’t have time. She was always working.

  “I dropped by to see how you’re doing, and I thought I’d do a home delivery while I was here, between hot dogs and hamburgers,” she teased. “How are you feeling?” she asked her more seriously. Marilyn looked pretty good, but her feet and ankles were swollen like balloons.

  “Like I’m going to explode any second,” Marilyn said with a grin, as Jack stood with his arm around her.

  “Well, keep your legs crossed till tomorrow afternoon. We all want to be at the graduation tomorrow. I’ll deliver you in the parking lot if I have to.”

  “That’ll work,” Marilyn said, looking relaxed. She had contractions constantly now as her body got ready for the big event, but none that were worrying her particularly. They were frequent but not hard, just practice runs, although Jack was watching her like a hawk. He was afraid of not getting her to the hospital in time, although Helen had reassured him. They went home just after midnight, and Marilyn got a good sleep that night, in spite
of how uncomfortable she was. She was used to it by now. She felt as though her body had been taken over by aliens. But she could hardly wait to see her little girls. They had already named them. Dana and Daphne.

  When all the parents had left, except Connie and Mike, who were discreetly supervising, the Big Five disappeared one by one for a few minutes and slipped away to Sean’s room. They had talked about doing something more dramatic, like getting a tattoo that said “Friends 4Ever,” just as they had carved in their school desks for years, but Gabby said her mother would kill her, and Izzie didn’t want a tattoo either. The boys had been more enthused about the idea. Instead, as she so often did, Izzie came up with a compromise solution that satisfied them all. It was less impressive than a tattoo, but they agreed that it would mark the occasion and seal the pact between them. Prepared as usual, Izzie had brought the supplies. And as soon as Sean closed and locked the door to his room behind them, Izzie brought out a package of sewing needles, and handed one to each of them with alcohol pads she had brought too. They looked appropriately solemn, as Izzie made a little speech and spoke their vows. It had been her idea, and all had agreed, even though at first the boys had thought it a little silly and would have preferred the tattoo.

  “We are gathered here,” she said officially, “to make a solemn vow to each other, to never forget each other, never lose each other, always be there for each other, wherever we are. We promise to love each other till the day we die and be best friends forever.” She paused then and looked at each of them, as they watched her with serious expressions. “Now we all say ‘I do,’ ” she prompted them, and a chorus of “I do” filled the room, and then she pointed to the sewing needles. They knew what they had to do. Only she and Gabby used the alcohol wipes—the boys didn’t bother. They each pricked their finger, and as a bright bead of blood appeared, they pressed their fingers together and said the familiar mantra aloud. “Friends forever!” they said loudly, and then Izzie handed each of them a superhero Band-Aid, which she helped them put on. She was still taking care of them thirteen years after kindergarten. She put a Wonder Woman Band-Aid on Gabby’s finger, and Batman on the boys as they laughed, and then they all hugged. The blood pact had been made. They had been planning it for months.

  “Okay, you guys, we’re done. It’s official,” Izzie said, satisfied with the result. They left the room as a group, each wearing their superhero Band-Aid, and went back downstairs talking and laughing. Connie saw them as she came out of the kitchen.

  “Uh-oh, what have you all been up to?” They looked victorious and euphoric, but she was pleased to see that all of them were sober.

  “Nothing. They were signing my yearbook,” Sean was quick to answer.

  “Why is it that I don’t believe you?” she said, smiling at them, but whatever they’d been doing, it was probably harmless. They were all good kids. She was going to miss them terribly in the fall, almost as much as she knew they would miss each other. “I just put your favorite cheesecake out on the dessert table, and some pies,” she told them, and they all went outside. They were looking very smug about something, and as all five helped themselves to cheesecake a few minutes later, they exchanged a long, mysterious smile. Friends forever. It was real—the pact had been sealed in blood.

  And at ten o’clock that morning, they were all seated in chairs and lined up. An area had been roped off in Golden Gate Park, near the museum, for the graduation. It was the day they had all waited thirteen years for, from kindergarten through twelfth grade. And everyone was there, parents, grandparents, old friends, new ones. Izzie’s father had invited Jennifer, which infuriated Izzie since he hadn’t asked her, and her mother was there too and didn’t seem to care that Jeff was with a woman. It had been five years since their divorce, and she had her own life. She hugged Izzie and told her how proud she was of her and looked as though she meant it. Larry Norton was there for Billy, and had brought a young bimbo with him, who looked like a hooker he had rented for the occasion. Billy knew she was just typical of the women he went out with, and his eyes glazed over when he saw her. Brian was there, sitting with his mother and Jack, four rows ahead of Larry and the woman he had with him. Kevin was sitting with his parents. Michelle was wearing a pretty, long-sleeved flowing print dress that hid how thin her arms were. She was still struggling with her weight but looking better. And for once, both of Andy’s parents were there. His father had flown in from an important psychiatrists’ meeting in Chicago the night before, and his mother let Marilyn know where she was sitting just in case things started to happen quickly. The parents who had cheered them on for thirteen years, and the teachers they had grown up with, were all there.

  The class was waiting to file in, in the procession, and the head of the school and president of the board were waiting onstage to give out diplomas. The seniors had on their caps and gowns, ready to toss their hats in the air when the ceremony was over. And then the music began, and the teachers filed in and took their seats in the front rows. Two hundred cameras were pointed and poised at the ready when the procession came by, and to the strains of “Pomp and Circumstance,” the senior class filed in, looking grown-up and dignified, and took their places onstage.

  Andy was the valedictorian and made a moving speech. It was eloquently written, and his classmates cheered for him when it was over, and all through the audience parents were starting to cry with the emotions of the moment. This was a long-awaited day, and the beginning of their lives as adults. As Andy had just said in his speech, life would never be the same for any of them again.

  Izzie made a speech as class president then, and reminded them all to remember how important they were to each other, and how much they had shared as they grew up. She wished them all a safe journey, and encouraged them to come home often. She promised each of them she would never forget them, and she looked at her four very special friends as she said it. “I’ve loved you since kindergarten,” she said, “and I don’t intend to stop now. So go out there, make something of yourself, be important, and Billy Norton, you’d better be the best damn quarterback in college football!” Everybody laughed when she said it, and then she addressed the class again. “But no matter how important any of you get, or how far you go, or how big a deal you become or think you are, always remember how much we love you,” she said in conclusion, and then went back to her seat next to Andy, since they were Wallace and Weston, the last two names on the alphabetical list of their class. And then the diplomas were distributed, and it was over. Their hats flew in the air after they removed the tassels to save them. They all ran around hugging each other and crying. It was happy chaos in the park, and Izzie couldn’t believe it was over. Thirteen years at Atwood were finished.

  They all had plans with their families for lunch and had promised to get together that night. There was a rumor that someone was giving a party, and they all waved at each other as they drove away. Brian and Billy were going with their mother and stepfather to Jack’s restaurant. And they had invited Larry and his date to join them, just to be nice. He ordered scotch on the rocks the minute they got to the restaurant, and a bottle of expensive wine for lunch. His date said she was twenty-one years old, had never gone to college herself, and drank her way through a whole bottle of champagne. They both left the table early and said they had to be somewhere, but at least Larry remembered to tell Billy how proud of him he was. He said he could hardly wait to see him in his first college game, and Billy was just as excited to play it. He had wanted Gabby to come to lunch, but she had to be with her own family that day, and Billy had promised to meet her after lunch.

  After Larry left, the cook brought out a graduation cake for Billy, with a football player on it in the Trojans uniform in scarlet and gold, and after that they went home. Billy drove over to see Gabby, Brian went next door to play with a friend, and Marilyn walked up the stairs to their bedroom, and felt as though she couldn’t walk another step as she collapsed on the bed and looked at her husband.

  �
��Thank God we didn’t have triplets. I can hardly carry these two around anymore.” Helen had told her they were a good size, and they didn’t seem to be in any hurry to be born. Jack sat on the bed and smiled at her and rubbed her ankles.

  “Why don’t you stay in bed the rest of today?” he suggested. She had been up since early that morning, helping all of them get ready and celebrating Billy. She had taken a thousand pictures of him during graduation. She was so proud of him, and she had cried when they handed him his diploma. She closed her eyes to take a nap then, and it was nearly dinnertime when she woke up, and felt like there was a war inside her. The twins were hopping all over the place. It took a major effort to go downstairs and see where Jack was. He was making himself a bowl of soup in the kitchen, and he said the boys were still out. Brian was having dinner at his friend’s next door and then going to a movie, and Billy was at Gabby’s, and had called to say he was staying there for dinner. There was nothing much happening at their house these days, since Marilyn could hardly move now, and it was nice for her and Jack being there together, with everything so quiet.

  “So, are we going to meet our girls tonight?” Jack asked her with a hopeful expression, and she laughed and shook her head.

  “I think they’re having some kind of dancing party, but I don’t think they’re going anywhere. I’m hardly having any contractions. Maybe I should run around the block or something.”

  “Maybe not,” Jack said, and offered to make her something to eat, but she wasn’t hungry. There was no room to fit even food into her body. She was always full now after two mouthfuls and had heartburn even looking at food. It really was time for it to be over. She kept saying she was ready, but apparently the twins weren’t.

  She kept Jack company while he ate his soup, and then she lumbered back upstairs, feeling like an elephant, and Jack put a movie on the TV in their bedroom. She got up to go to the bathroom before it started, and was saying something to him about the movie as she walked into the bathroom, and the instant she did, she felt as though there had been an explosion, and she was being hit by a tidal wave of water. It felt like it was everywhere and for a minute, she didn’t know what happened, and then she remembered.