The Amazing Chronicles of Nat and Romie

CHAPTER 1 – SUMMER PLANS

Romina Suzanne Johnson hummed as she pulled on the gate separating her back yard from the back yard of her best friend Natalie Anne Timmins. The chain link gate gave a familiar squeak as she swung it closed behind her and dropped the latch. Knowing she would not be alone for long, Romie quickly scanned the yard before she resumed walking. Her goal was simple: Get to Nat's back door and safely inside without being molested by the pair of enormous beasts the Timmins family referred to as "dogs". Romie quickened her pace. The Timmins' yard was not overly large, but the hike always seemed a bit longer when "the monsters", as she referred to them, were in hiding.
Romie actually smelled them before she saw them. It was that all familiar aroma of wet dog, pine sap, and fading skunk spray from three weeks ago. Suddenly, two mountains of black fur came bounding toward her from opposite directions as if they had planned it out beforehand.
"No, no, no! Now, be good you two!" Romie hollered turning her head from side to side to address them equally.
Mistaking her shouting for an exuberant greeting, both dogs picked up speed and simultaneously leapt at their reluctant guest. "Aaaahhh!" Romie screamed as she covered her head with her arms and curled into a tight ball on the ground. In an instant the sound of flying dogs colliding mid-air reached her ears. Someone let out a loud yelp. Romie wasn't sure if the sound came from her or one of the monsters. The next thing she knew, she was literally the bottom layer of a dog pile. Somehow, in all the tangled mess of fur and limbs, the beasts still managed to attach their slobbery tongues to Romie's face.
"NAT!!!" Romie yelled at the top of her lungs. "A little help!?!"
Romie heard the screen door open and slam shut and then a muffled giggle. "What are you doing to my dogs?"
"Very funny!" Romie tried and failed to stand up. "Get them off!"
"Duke! Daisy! Off!" Nat snapped her fingers. The pair of Labrador Retrievers immediately obeyed and Romie watched as they bounded off, undoubtedly searching for their next victim.
Romie wiped the sticky saliva from her face with her sleeve and frowned up at her friend. "I need another shower,” she pouted.
Nat held out a hand to help her friend up and smiled, "I told you, they just love you."
"Oh, and I love them, too!" Romie returned. "Like a toothache!"
Nat laughed at that and helped brush the dirt off Romie's back. "C'mon in," she invited, "I just made some Kool-Aid.”
Nat was addicted to Kool-Aid. She was convinced that every problem could be solved over a tall ice cold glass of the sugar filled beverage. Today's flavor was grape and soon the girls were seated on stools at the kitchen island counter sipping the purple liquid and making their plans for the day.
"Okay,” Nat started, "It's going to be, like, ninety degrees today, so the pool's sounding pretty good."
"Everyone and their little sister will be at the pool today," returned Romie, "Let's go to the pond instead."
Nat wrinkled her nose, "I don't like swimming there. It's weedy and you can't see the bottom."
"But it's cooler there. We can sit on the rocks and just put our legs in."
Nat thought about that a moment and finally agreed. The best thing about the pond was that nobody really knew about it. The girls had found it while riding their bikes through some trails that wound through a forest about a mile from their neighborhood. The woods were on state land so they didn't have to worry about getting in trouble for being on private property. Nat and Romie often saved sharing their most private secrets and dreams until they were alone at the pond.
"Okay, but I have to be home by one o'clock . . . “Nat reached for a pen and paper and made a face, ". . . Orthodontist."
"Bummer! Are they putting the top brackets on today?"
"Yeah, I'm so not wanting braces. I'm already funny looking enough without having my mouth full of metal!"
"Whatever, Nat! People are always commenting on how cute you are," Romie reminded her friend.
Nat looked over at Romie and wished for the hundredth time that she had her friend's height and straight blond hair. She was not short, but her frame was thicker than Romie's and, to her dismay, a bit curvy for a twelve year old. She didn't mind the color of her hair too much. It was a shimmery golden-red color that always caused people to comment on it. What did bother her about it was that it was a mass of unruly ringlets that refused to be tamed. Romie's older brother, Shawn, had called her "Wild-Fire" for as long as she could remember. She pretended to be incredibly insulted by this, but secretly delighted in his pet name for her since she had had a crush on him since she was five.
Nat just shrugged and scribbled a note telling her dad where she would be. Romie watched her and asked, "Where are the rug rats?"
Knowing Romie was referring to her three younger brothers she answered, "Summer Day Camp . . . the school said Dad could enroll them for free while he teaches summer school."
"Nice, so you don't have to babysit while your mom works and the summer is ours!"
Nat grinned at her friend, "ALL ours! So let's get to the pond and plan what we're going to do with it!"
After a quick stop at Romie's house to grab a snack for their outing, the girls set out on bicycles for their special destination. Ten minutes later the pond was a welcome sight to the now substantially sweaty friends. "Why does Michigan have to be so humid?" Romie complained.
"Ugh," Nat peeled her t-shirt away from her sticky back, "No kidding! I might just jump in the pond after all."
The girls kicked off their flip-flops and situated themselves on an outcropping of flat rocks that they had nick-named the "gossip bench". Thrusting their legs calf-deep into the cool water, the two got down to business. First, a Doritos bag was opened between them. Then, a package of Starbursts was divided up equally. Finally, a thermos of cold Kool-Aid was put within reach of both friends.
After munching a few chips in relative silence, Romie spoke up. "So, this is our last summer before we start Junior High. We need to make it memorable."
Romie was always saying things like this. Last year it was the "last summer before 6th grade". At Christmas it was "the last Christmas before Junior High". The fact was that they rarely had to come up with something to make the time "memorable". Those kind of things just seemed to follow Nat and Romie around. Nat knew that it was mostly due to Romie. Romie had an adventurous spirit. She was the risk taker. If the two hadn't become friends, Nat's life would probably have been much duller. Then again, she probably would find herself in a lot less trouble, too.
Nat took a swallow of Kool-Aid. "Something tells me you already have some ideas for just how we're going to do that."
Romie smiled and reached in her pocket. "I have it all written down for us. Well, I came up with three ideas that are a definite must, but you can add whatever you come up with, too."
They both knew that Romie had all the good ideas so Nat just leaned over to see what she had come up with. Written in Romie's neat script she read...