I’ve got quite the story to tell you, dearest journal. And it’s a pretty long one.
On the morning of July 16, about 30 days ago, I overheard that Cara was planning a trip to Italy! My immediate thought was, I can’t believe it! And that was it!
I didn’t mention it to anyone yet but soon. So, on July 17, I kept quiet, same thing with the 18th and 19th. Until noon on July 20, I was sitting having lunch with Ronan when I started to get giddy. VERY giddy!
So giddy that Ronan got suspicious and asked, “Are you okay, what’s going on in that brain of yours?”
“I’m just happy, that's all!” I replied.
After, we walked the long way home; I skipped the whole way.
“Yay!” I shouted, “Hip, hip, hip hooray!”
The young boy got even more suspicious!
“Are you sure you’re okay, Sabrina?” He said, “You seem excited about something!"
“I’ve never been better than ever!”
I walked inside my house and said, “I am super excited!”
“What for?” Mom asked.
“Well…I hear you’re planning a trip!”
“Yes?”
“That’s a bit farther than here in Ireland!”
“Yes, keep going!”
“And it’s a little deeper in Europe!”
“Yeah!” Ashley blurted, "What are we talking about again?”
“About the trip!”
Ronan and Phoebe shooted both of their heads up with bulging eyes of disbelief from their phones. They looked at each other, and then at me.
“You look weird, are you okay?”
“Yep,” they said, “Never been better!”
As I went upstairs and close to my room, I heard the brother and sister talking.
“I wonder where they’re going to go while we’re gone!”
“Well, sweetie, we can always ask!”
“I just hope Sabrina won’t be too disappointed!”
“I think she’ll entertain herself without us!”
“If you say so, sis!”
At dinnertime, I was smiling from ear to ear.
“You might want to tell us why you’re so happy?” Ronan asked.
“I would, but I don’t want to spoil anything!” I replied.
“Anything?”
“Anything!”
“Not even one word?”
“Not even one word!”
After I put my dishes away, I squealed out so loud for the rest of everyone else to hear!
“Wow! That was so loud, Sabrina!” Ashley said, “I wonder why you’re so happy!”
“I’m excited for the trip!” I said in excitement (of course, because I was excited).
“What’s up with her?” Periwinkle asked.
“Don’t know what she's tripping off to!” Ronan said, annoyed.
“I think she said something about going on a trip. Is that true?”
“That’s what she said!” Phoebe added.
“So where are you headed?”
“We’re heading to Italy for a bit! You?”
“I don’t know, I think we’re going to hang out here a bit, and maybe do some sightseeing and shopping.”
“Cool! Does Sabrina know?”
“I don’t know! I think she might be a bit busy about that trip she’s talking about!”
“Okay…awesome!”
Once everyone finished eating and went home, I attempted to tell you this, but was interrupted by my mom who asked, “Are you okay?”
“I’m fine!” I replied.
“Good night!”
“Good night!”
On July 21, Ronan and his sister came over.
“I’m going to go to the mall to buy some new clothes (for the trip!)! Would anyone like to join me?”
Everyone looked at me confused, as if I was talking nonsense! I wasn’t talking nonsense…I was talking crazy nonsense!
They then went back to playing with their phones!
Since I lived next door to Ronan, I yelled out, “Hey! Finnegan!”
“Yeah? What do you need?”
“Can you take me to the mall?”
“Galway Shopping Center? What for?”
“Just so I can get some new clothes (for the trip!)!”
“Sure, we can all go!”
“Thank you!”
I turned on the radio and they were playing “We Wish You a Merry Christmas” and it sped up like crazy, and it drove everyone downstairs crazy!
Once I came downstairs the moment Finnegan and Cormac walked in, we all sang, “And a happy new year!”
Everyone looked at us in shock and suspicion!
“Alright, ready to go everyone?”
“Where are we going?” Ronan asked.
“To the mall, duh!”
“What for?”
“Clothes!” Finnegan replied to his brother.
“I don’t mind going!” Periwinkle said.
“Me too!” Ashley added.
“Are you and Phoebe coming?” I asked.
“Nope!” Ronan said, “Unless you tell me about your great desire and excitement!"
“I’ll tell you while we’re shopping!”
“Right now!”
“Why?”
“THE SUSPENSE IS KILLING ME!”
“Okay, okay, alright, alright! The truth is…I heard you’re planning a trip!”
Everyone looked at me very confusedly.
“Oh, okay! Let’s go!”
“There’s a massive summer sale at Claire's, H&M, and Carraig Donn!”
Phoebe, Ronan, Ashley and Periwinkle perked up and ran out to the front door.
“What are we waiting for!” yelled Ashley.
“Come on, let's go!” Ronan added.
At the mall, I bought a ton of summer tops and shorts at H&M, and Carraig Donn. I even made a fashion show out of the dressing room. It was pretty sweet how Finnegan took a couple pictures of me.
The other four also bought a few things as well, but a little less than me. At Claire’s, I bought a pearl bracelet, a gem necklace, a ring, and some earrings.
On the way home, everyone, except Finnegan and Cormac, looked at me with a scowl.
“Why are you looking at me like that? That is not nice!”
“I’m getting the feeling, this has something to do with your desire and excitement!” Ronan mumbled as he was annoyed.
“Really, like what?”
“Oh, I don’t know…something!”
“I know what it is,” Phoebe said, “You wanted to get there before the sales ended!”
“Well…yeah, that’s kind of it!”
“Kind of it? That was a lot of it!” Phoebe said.
“How do you know?”
“I saw the look on your face!”
“Oh!”
When we got home, I ran straight upstairs to my room.
“No kiss for any of us?” Ronan asked.
“I’m sorry!” I said, and I kissed both him and Finnegan.
As I was sorting my stuff that I just bought, Ronan came into my room.
“Mind if we talk?”
“What about?”
“You, mainly.”
“Okay, what about me?”
“You seem to be getting excited about something, what is it?”
“I just told you! I heard you’re planning a trip!”
“We are!”
“Cool, I can’t wait!”
“For what?”
“The trip!”
Ronan’s jaw dropped lightly, he almost figured out what I was excited about. Almost.
Later in the afternoon, as Ronan and his sister were still there, I was playing on my phone, when something I’ve been longing to ask, since that July 16, was asked.
“Ronan, will there be any stuff we need in Italy, or are we going to buy the stuff on the way to the airport?”
“Italy?” Ronan and Phoebe said in confusion.
“Yeah, I’m going too, right?”
The brother and sister looked at each other like they didn’t keep a secret very well.
As soon as I left the living room to go “do something in my room”, I eavesdropped on Ronan and Phoebe talking frantically!
RonanOh, no! We’re stuck, Phoebe! What do we do?
PhoebeI don’t know! I’d never known she’d find out about this! What should we do?
PhoebeWe’re stuck, aren’t we?
RonanYep! I can’t believe that it led up to this! I can’t afford to break her heart!
RonanIt’s simple! We let her have this, for a little while longer, then, on the day before we get going, we’ll all tell her, “It’s a family trip”!
PhoebeOkay, I’m in! But, I think she might be getting started on her packing!
Ronan and Phoebe both gasped, and loudly whimpered…
RonanThis is bad! This is very, very, bad!
And then, I walked in. I acted like I didn’t know what they were talking about. Or what they were upset about. They tried to smile perfectly, but I saw they had nervousness inside that smile.
“Is something wrong?” I asked.
“Nope!” they said in their held up voice.
“Well, I got to get things going! I got to go get packing started! Love you both!”
I kissed both their foreheads, and ran upstairs.
And then they fell crying.
“What are we going to do!?” Ronan asked, while wailing.
“I don’t know! This is so awful!” Phoebe replied, while wailing.
At dinner, they both had their heads down.
“What’s up with those two?”Mom asked.
What was up with them? They didn’t keep the secret very well, that was what was wrong with them.
The brother and sister lifted their heads, but their faces were covered with tears! Cara was extremely worried!
“Oh…my…god! What happened with you two!?”
“We’ve been crying, Mummy! Crying!” Phoebe wailed.
Mom looked at me with a scowl!
“What did you do with them!?” she demanded.
“Absolutely nothing! Why? Did you think that I offended them by saying that I’m going on a trip? I mean that’s what we’re all doing, right?”
And then…silence was present.
They all said, “…Uh, oh!”
And then I BURSTED out laughing! They gave me “The Look of Exaggeration”! I stopped laughing for a bit.
“I’m sorry.” I said.
I wasn’t sad, I felt bad because of their expressions.
So I ended up saying, “I’ll see you all tomorrow!”
And then I ran home.
Let’s skip to 10 days later, on July 26. When I was finishing my packing I then ran over to Ronan's house.
I didn’t get the point of what they were talking about, until I got the surprise of my life when Ronan told me something.
First, Phoebe tried.
“Uh…uh,”
“Go ahead, I’m listening.”
“Well…Ronan was meant to tell you something…and it’s about the trip…”
“Okay, keep going…”
Phoebe started hesitating, so Ronan, who already got his confidence, said, “You can’t go on the trip because it’s a family trip! Sorry!"
Again, I bursted out laughing…until I stopped abruptly.
“Wait…WHAT!?”
I felt a wrath of anger inside of me! I was confused… and sad!
I then said, “You must be joking! I mean, don’t you want me going?”
“We do…but Mum wanted it to be ‘family’ only.”
I felt a lump in my throat.
I said while my voice broke, “Well…I hope you have fun…without me!”
And I ran back home. Back then, I held back all of my tears. But I couldn’t stay any more happy. I sat on the top steps near my room, and started crying.
Now I’m sad! I thought, I…I…
“Sabrina,” Ashley said at the bottom of the staircase, “What’s the matter, you okay?”
“I’m fine, really. I just want to be left alone for a moment!”
And then I ran to my room and cried on my pillow. Ronan watched as my tears stung on my pillow. He too shedded a few tears as well.
Ashley then figured out why I was crying and went to tell Mom about it. And it was while she was making dinner, that she filmed me while I felt the wheels turning away. I don’t want to give too much of it, though.
I felt a bit better after, but I was still sad.
On July 27, I was really crying. Ronan did a bit as well (except he only shedded a few tears).
And we somehow couldn’t let go of each other. I didn’t cry as much. Yes, I actually did. I fell into my sister’s arms.
Why couldn’t they tell me before? I would’ve been totally fine with it! But, I guess I was so excited that I made all of us upset!
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MEANWHILE with RONAN
Ronan was sitting by the window, wondering if he’d ever come home to his soulmate Sabrina. He wasn’t as excited for the trip as he used to be because he let down Sabrina.
“Ronan,” Phoebe said to her potentially sad brother, “Are you okay, you look a little…depressed!”
“I’m fine,” he said, “I’m just…tired.”
“You miss Sabrina, don’t you?”
“Honestly, Phoebe…you’ve no idea HOW MUCH I’m missing her!”
The little boy plopped his head on his sister’s shoulder, and sniffled a bit.
“It’s okay,” Phoebe said, “If they were on this plane right here, right now, we’d be WAY too welcoming for them on this trip. And no, it wasn’t supposed to be a ‘family’ trip. You could’ve brought them along!”
“Who was it that wanted a ‘family’ trip?”
And Phoebe whispered, “Our dad!”
Ronan smiled and laughed.
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SABRINA
Now, I have to say, I did get teary-eyed after dinner…but I didn’t feel like crying anymore. I laid on my just thinking about how much fun that Ronan was having!
I wonder how he’s doing, I thought to myself, I hope he’s staying strong for me!
I was wrong, he was crying.
By the time he reached Rome, he got all misty-eyed.
I knew that would happen because his mom just texted my mom, who said while she chuckled, “She said that they just got to Italy, and Ronan started to cry already!”
“How did that happen?” I asked.
Mom typed in my question to Cara, waited for her to respond and then she said, “She said as they got off the plane, Phoebe heard him sniffling. And then when they got to the hotel lobby, he sat somewhere with his back turned and shedded a lot of tears.”
“Aw! Is he okay right now?”
Again, my question to Cara was typed down…and then mom said, “Not really!”
“Why!?”
“Cara says Ronan keeps thinking about you and then he wailed out ‘I wish I didn’t break her heart!’ But he’s feeling a bit better. He’s just lying down, that’s all.”
“Aww! Can I call him? Pwease!”
“He might not be in the mood for talking right now. Maybe when he’s feeling…less depressed.”
“Okay.” I said in disbelief.
Later, I heard my mom talking to Ashley:
AshleyI feel bad for Sabrina…and Ronan
AshleyWell, what can we do?
MomI think the only thing left to do is to bring them together.
Mom then held out a few plane tickets for three of us…
MomWell…let’s just say that…a mom has a way of making her daughters happy!
On July 28, we were on the flight to Italy, thanks to Mom finally letting us go. Once we arrived, I ran up to the room Ronan was staying in. Finnegan was there, but Ronan wasn’t.
“If you’re looking for Ronan, he’s at the pool.”
“Okay! Our room’s next door! Can you believe that!?”
“Yes…and no.”
Finnegan led us to the pool; Cara and Lindsay screamed their heads off…again!
I went around to find Ronan sleeping on a lounge chair.
I sat beside him; he fluttered his eyelids.
“Sabrina?” he said weakly.
“Hey!”
The boy stood up and rubbed his eyes…and cutely yawned.
As his vision cleared, “Sabrina!” he said in shock.
We both stood up and then I spread my arms and I laid my head on his chest and then Ronan sobbed softly.
He stroked my cheeks and patted my head. A little boy then broke us free.
“What are you doing to Ronan!?” he asked.
“Absolutely nothing, little boy!”
“The name’s Beckett!”
“Beckett?”
“Yeah! I’m watching you!”
Beckett ran off after that.
Something tells me I am going to find trouble with that kid!
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(2 MORE DAYS)
On July 30, we got our trip started (Finally!) I was woken up by my sister and Ronan.
“We’re going somewhere!”
I sprung out of bed saying, “Finally! Why didn’t we do something yesterday!?”
“Because we were settling in here?” Ashley said, “You know it was a long flight to get here, right?”
“Sure!”
When we walked out, we were going on this big bus!
I wonder where we’re going! I thought.
“We’re going to a little private beach!” Phoebe said.
“Oh! Awesome!”
I didn’t get to sit with Ronan or with Ashley, though. But at least I got to sit with Phoebe!
I was in a crazy mood once we arrived. I was so not happy when Phoebe said we’d have to walk the rest of the way! I was nearly at the edge of crying, but I was with Ronan, so I knew that everything would be okay.
I was half right!
At the “little” beach (it was actually huge), I was waiting for Ronan to actually play with me!
But he was a bit busy with some of his family members. I even saw him trying to cross from one surf board to the other! I was a bit worried that he might fall off.
So I asked, “Do you need any help?”
But I got a totally different answer!
I thought Ronan was going to say, “Sure, I could use some help!”
But no!
Instead he said, “Thanks, but I can do this myself!”
I thought he was joking.
“You sure? Positive?”
And then he said, “Yes, positive.”
Saddened, I swam over to an empty spot that was a little close to where Ronan was playing. I started humming to myself a little Irish song I knew. I felt a bit sad on the way back from the beach.
Finnegan and Ronan were sleeping and I ended up with Phoebe…again. So, I secretly, and quietly, switched myself to Ronan, and Finnegan with Phoebe; their reaction was absolutely PRICELESS!
I laughed so hard!
But Mom and Ashley weren’t really happy with what I did. So, I had to stay in the hotel room for the rest of the day (which wasn’t really mentally healthy for kids…or parents), while they were out just partying away!
Luckily, they didn’t know I was out of my room, and partying (secretly). I slept really well after that.
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(6 MORE DAYS LATER…)
August 5; it was coming close to Phoebe’s birthday, and I thought of something to do!
But my idea was cut off by that little boy I first saw when he saw me with Ronan.
“I’m going to plan something for Phoebe! Not you! You don’t even know Phoebe!”
I might’ve had a bit of an argument with him! It lasted for, not going to lie, at least 4 more days.
I literally tried everything to get him to believe me that I know Phoebe! But we just kept screaming and shouting, and more screaming and more shouting!
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(AUGUST 9, 2008)
That day was pretty funny; we went to a plaza or something like that. I was videotaping Ronan with a hat on, and I died of laughter!
He was acting like some sort of rapper or something, it really made me and Ashley laugh.
And then we all went home, but I think Mom planned on partying too hard. But we slept REALLY good. We didn’t even bother to open our eyes. We just……*whoosh*!
Phoebe’s birthday was pretty awesome, because I got to show her some of my dance moves. We sang the “Happy Birthday” song, and we ate……a lot.
Fasting forward to August 14, we ended our trip with going up a ski lift, and a rollercoaster ride.
First we rode on the rollercoaster (because I wanted to get that over with) and then the ski lift. But we forgot that Ashley was a bit persistent on being up too high, meaning she gets really nervous.
While we were about 70 feet off the ground, Phoebe was filming while Ronan happily said, “Wow, this is amazing! This is the best trip, ever!”
“Isn’t it?” I said.
“Yes, it is. And I’m sorry about letting you down on this. It was wrong of us to do that!”
I smiled and we nuzzled each other on the nose.
Mom and Phoebe started noticing Ashley’s nerves cracking up, and Ashley asked, “Uh, guys, uh…how high are we from the ground?”
“Um…about…12,395…feet above ground.” Phoebe said with a nervous laugh.
And then she groaned.
“You gotta be kidding me…right?” Ashley said as her nerves worsened.
“No!” Phoebe said with a choked up voice.
“Okay,” Ashley said to herself, “Let’s calm down! I’ll be okay…I’m sure of it!”
Ashley took a couple breaths.
But in a nervous tone…as the ski lift stopped, Ashley asked, “Permission to panic now?”
Mom literally had no choice, so she answered, “Permission granted!”
And then Ashley held on tight to Phoebe.
Her phone slipped out her hand, and luckily Ashley caught it and said, “I got it, I got it……still got it! Did I get it!?”
“I think we all got it!” I said.
We finally started moving again after no more than 2 hours! The trip ended with us playing in the pool one last time, and then packing up, and getting ready to get on the plane.
We came back home just yesterday. I actually had a fun time. And it looked like Ronan just couldn’t have fun on his trip without me.
I told you this was going to be a long story. See you soon!
All the best, Sabrina.
