Ivy Heart Continues.

Ivy thought she’d better sit down. Amy definitely wasn’t that same butch girl from when she was in grade school. Ivy knew this was serious.”Ivy, I really need to tell you this,” Amy’s tears were finally starting to get the better of her, “Ivy, I know this probably won’t effect you as much as it has me, but my mother called me earlier this morning. See the thing is, my mother suspected but never confronted me about this,  but she found out about Nicolette and I both being lesbians. She doesn’t want Nicolette to come back and she doesn’t want me to come back home after volleyball camp is over. I don’t know what I am going to do.” Amy seemed very lost and alone. Ivy realized that right before this moment she’d been being very selfish.“Amy, I am so sorry.” Ivy smiled then started to laugh.“Ivy, I don’t know how you could think this was funny! I have no place to go after the summer is over. I was going to write Nicolette and tell her that she should come back to see you, but now she doesn’t have a place to come back too. Why are you laughing?” Amy was now very pissed.“Amy it’s just that my mother found out about me right before I left to come here. I had to get my volleyball coach to bring me. Funny thing is, my mom didn’t think it would be a good idea for me to come here. I just found out that she kept all of the letters you wrote me and somehow she let me get letters from Nicolette. She told me that she thought Nicolette and I were just pen pals. But, the thing I don’t understand is how or why she never let me have your letters.” Ivy stopped talking and now was just more or less just thinking to herself.

Now Amy was starting to laugh. “I bet I know why she stopped giving you, your letters. I started writing ‘I love you’ on the back of each letter.”

“You know Amy, I really wish that we were finished with school. I have to finish school. I was actually hoping to get a volleyball scholarship. I want to go to college. I secretly was hoping to go back to Italy with Nicolette, after our senior year. Funny how things change within a matter of moments.” Ivy was still drifting off into her own thoughts. She forgot how she told Samantha the camp counselor that she was going to go home. Well, no since in leaving now. Maybe it would be a good idea to just put girls out of her mind for awhile and like she told Amy, work on getting that volleyball scholarship.

“Ivy you know, why don’t we just stop worrying so much about everything that’s happened to us since grade school and let’s just start over again as friends. Can we do that?” Amy was doing her best to be sincere.

I think this would be a great idea Ivy thought to herself and just shook her head yes in response to Amy’s question.

The next few weeks seemed to fly by. The girls were becoming best friends again. Both were doing everything they could, not to think about the summer ending. The competitiveness came back too. Both had to see who could out do the other. Each of them received a letter from Nicolette which didn’t really say much, she sent them both her love and told them that it was probably for the best that she stay in Italy for her last year of school. Nicolette said she ask her dad if Amy could come live in Italy for her final year in school. That was the only hope that Amy had to look forward to. Amy didn’t hear from her family for the rest of the summer.

When the summer finally does come to an end, what should the girls do? Well guess what, I don’t have a clue either. So tune in next week for the further Adventures of Ivy Heart.

 Hope everyone has a great Valentines Day. l8dyvenus@aol.com
Have a great week.

Stacey

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The last few days of volleyball camp, scouts from some of the local big name colleges stopped by to look at potential players for the next school year. Although both girls were only starting their senior years of high school, they both were hoping for the best. Lucky for them, they both were on the same team. This made it easy for the two of them to show off. Three out of the six schools that were there approached both girls, at the end of the day, each scout was making a better offer than the last.
 
There were many obstacles in the way for Amy, she didn’t have a home to go back to; for one so there would be no way for the scouts to see her play during her senior year. Also Amy’s grades weren’t that great either. She had no idea of what she should do? Ivy and her both were really great friends again, so maybe Amy thought to herself that Ivy would know what to do.Both girls really didn’t have a lot to go home to. It was then that Ivy decided to sneak off to call her volleyball coach. The idea had popped into Ivy’s head that, maybe with the help of Coach Evans, she’d be able to call Amy’s volleyball coach and possible see about the idea of each girl not going back to school for their senior years, but instead heading straight into college.The idea seemed a little far-fetched coming from Ivy, but Coach Evans listened just the same. She told Ivy that she would call Amy’s school talk to her coach and see if Amy could also possibly head to college early too. Ivy knew her own grades might be a bit on the low side, but she’d hope for the best.Ivy heard back from Coach Evans right before dinner. Coach told Ivy that if they both passed the entry exam, they could go. But, also, they both would have to get full scholarships; which was usually impossible. The schools in the area mostly gave full scholarships too girls with straight “A’s” so this meant the girls were going to have to show the scouts something really amazing. 

The girls both got offered scholarships from a school close to Columbus, Ohio; which both were really happy about. Ivy wouldn’t be too far from home even though, after all of this was said and done, she wasn’t sure if she’d even have a home to go back too either.

On the last day of camp, Coach Evans game to pick up Ivy. Coach had a surprise for her though. She told Ivy that Amy was more than welcome to come back and stay with her and her girlfriend at their house. Ivy just knew everything was going to work out for the best.  Heck, maybe even if they both didn’t get to go to college this year, she’d at least possibly get to send her senior year with Amy.

Coach pulled into Ivy’s driveway; there weren’t any lights on. This was very normal; nothing changes here in hick town. Ivy got inside and was only greeted by her baby sister. Everyone else was in bed.  Her sister told her that Mom had left a shoebox and a note in her room. Ivy went to her room and looked in the box it was every letter that Amy had ever written to her. Five years worth of letters it would take her days to read them. Ivy started to cry. It was so weird how Amy came back into her life.  She’s get up tomorrow and start reading them besides that she had a lot of things to talk about with her mother now that she was back home.

Next week what will happen? Do Ivy and her Mother resolve past problems? Does Nicolette come back into the story? Come back next week to find out. Thanks for reading this has been Stacey with your Further Adventures of Ivy Heart. I can be reached at l8dyvenus@aol.com  Have a great week.

Ivy Heart 6

Ivy sat in the back seat of her Mom’s car listening to her favorite Wham CD. Her eyes started to tear up as she did her best not to think about how much she already was starting miss Nicolette. Their good bye was only just a few hours ago, but for Ivy it seemed like days already.  Careless Whisper was the song playing on her headphones as she watched the sunset on the horizon wishing she was still on the beach with Nicolette.“Ivy wake up. Your sisters and I are going in for a potty break and to get something to drink. Get up honey and, at least, stretch your legs.” Mom said letting the car come to a halt at a gas station right on the West Virginia border.“Mom how long have I been sleeping?” Ivy said as she wiped the drool from her bottom lip.“Just about two hours. Are you coming in with us?” Mother said, trying not to seem bitchy ,but sort of in a hurry up voice,  since her bladder was on full and the gas tank wasn’t.

“No, Mom, I am ok. Hey Mom, what do you think about me going to Italy as a foreign exchange student next year? I have been thinking about it a lot especially since I met Nicolette.”

“Ivy I don’t know we can look into it if you want when we get home.” Mother actually wasn’t even going to give it much thought beyond Ivy’s asking her right now.

After they got a few more miles down the road, Ivy’s sisters had fallen asleep. Ivy decided that this would be the perfect time to take advantage of asking her mother again about the day at the beach. The day that she knew she in her heart that she saw Amy. But what really bothered Ivy the most about that day was the huge void right in the middle of the day that she couldn’t remember.

“Mom I really want to ask you again about that day at the beach.” Ivy said with a real distress to her voice.

“What about it Ivy,” Mom said looking at Ivy in the rear view mirror. “I told you that you were sleeping on the beach. I woke you up after your sisters and I took a swim in the ocean.”

Ivy took a moment and went back to that afternoon in her head. Pieces of the day were missing and the more she thought about it the more she realized that her mom was lying to her. Ivy knew her mom wasn’t out swimming with her sister, because she never liked having to redo her hair after being in the ocean.

“Okay, Mom I’ll drop it if that’s what you want.” Mom shook her head yes.  Ivy sat in the back seat silently the rest of the way home. Thhinking, ”is this been the first time my own Mother has lied to me?”

It was now a year later and Ivy was about to start the beginning of her Junior year in high school. Nothing much had changed for Ivy. She was still the city girl trying to fit in with all her country bumpkin friends. She had so few friends. Playing sports now, just made her more depressed. But it seemed to be the only thing Ivy really excelled at.

One day, during the start of the volleyball season, her coach came up to her and asked Ivy if she would be interested in playing volleyball over the summer at a camp in West Virginia. Ivy knew her mom wouldn’t go for it, but she told her coach that she would really love to go if she could get her Mothers approval. Her coach told her that she would help Ivy with the expenses if she could get her mother to raise the other half.

Ivy went home that night with a new take on life. She could get away for the summer; this would give her a chance to write to Nicolette without her mother reading her letters before she sent them to her. To Ivy’s surprise, Mother agreed to let Ivy go to the camp for the summer.  She wrote Nicolette secretly one day at school to tell her all about it and see if she could possibly get her Dad to let her go there too.

Nicolette had been living in a town in West Virginia since the start of the school year with her cousins. Her father had to go back to Italy for business. He thought this would give Nicolette a chance to get to know her Mother’s family better.  Upon receiving Ivy’s letter, Nicolette wrote back saying with a bigger surprise to Ivy that she and her cousin would also be attending that same camp.

The rest of the school year couldn’t go by fast enough. Nicolette wrote Ivy about half way through the school year to let Ivy know that she and her cousin were in a car wreck. Nicolette was fine but, Nic’s cousin wasn’t so fortunate. The cousin had suffered severe trauma to the head resulting in temporary memory loss. They would still be attending camp that summer.

Ivy really couldn’t wait to see Nicolette. They really never talked much about the day at the beach when they had kissed. Of course, Ivy couldn’t write anything out of the ordinary in her letters, for fear that her Mother would realize the two were more than just friends. Ivy wondered though if Nicolette would even feel the same towards her once the two were reunited.

Come back next week when Ivy and Nicolette are reunited. Possible will an old friend be among the other girls at the camp. This has been Stacey with your part 6 of Ivy Heart. Thanks for reading. Take care and have a great week.