A Summer to Remember

chapter 5





The next morning, or should I say afternoon, I was woken up by a loud buzzing sound coming from Lily’s nightstand. I rolled over and hit Lily on the arm.

“Lily…wake up…your phone is ringing,” I mumbled.

“Huh?” she responded, still half asleep.

“Your phone. It was ringing.” I laid my head back down on my pillow.

“Oh man, my head is killing me! Why’d you let me drink that much?” She looked at me through her fingers in an attempt to block the sunlight shining into her eyes.

“Ha! Why’d I let you drink that much? If I recall correctly, you’re the one who was all ‘Woohoo! Jell-O shots!’” She threw her pillow at me and I laughed.

“And if I recall correctly, you met some hot college guy last night. What was his name again?” She picked up her phone from the nightstand.

“Adrian.” I tried to keep a grin from forming on my face.

“Yeah, Adrian. What’s his story?” A wrinkle formed between her eyebrows as she looked at her phone. My guess is Steven texted her and was still pissed about how drunk she got last night. She had a reputation of getting a little too friendly with people when she drinks. He didn’t like her drinking in the first place, let alone getting drunk.

“I’m not really sure, we didn’t get to talk too much. He seems like a super nice guy, though. Oh! He invited us to go camping with him and some of his friends. He said they were going up to the lake tonight. You want to go?”

“Sure, that sounds fun. I should probably call Steven and figure out what his problem is.” She dialed Steven’s number, so I took that as my cue to head to the bathroom.

As I showered, I went over the events of last night in my head. I thought it would take at least the summer to get over Jason breaking up with me, but it felt like it had happened days ago and I was already pretty much over it. I didn’t know if it was seeing him with Cally last night or meeting Adrian, but whatever it was seemed to be working for me. When I finished, I went downstairs to join Lily in the kitchen.

“Everything all right?” I asked as I watched her put together two PB & J sandwiches.

“Yeah. Steven and Jesse should be here in a little bit. They had to pack up the camping stuff and hook up the boat. We can swing by your house and pick up your stuff on our way up there if you want.” She pushed a plate toward me with a sandwich on it. My stomach growled with hunger. Steven and Jason’s parents were lawyers so they had their fair share of toys. That boat was Steven’s baby. He took it out every chance he got.

“Sounds good!” I was starting to get excited. I took a bite out of my sandwich. I was happy I at least had an appetite after everything that happened yesterday.

“Yeah, I can tell. I’m kind of surprised you’re so…”

“Happy after Jason broke up with me?” I finished her sentence.

“Yeah, kinda. Usually it takes a lot more than a guy’s attention to get you back to normal, let alone happy. But you’re not just happy, you’re like prancing around happy.”

“I know, but Adrian just seems so…different. I don’t know what it is and I can’t really explain it. It’s just a completely different feeling than I’ve ever gotten with anyone.” I was a still a little confused myself. It wasn’t the kind of feeling you could explain to someone. “I know I probably sound like a complete crazy person since I’ve just met this guy, but it’s just different.” I thought about the feelings I had when I was with him last night and I could feel the butterflies stir in my stomach again.

“I will say, yes, you do sound like a crazy person and I think you’ve been watching too many of those vampire romance shows.”

“Thanks.” I picked up a kitchen towel and threw it at her. I saw the guys pull up outside. “The guys are here.”

I pretended to listen to everyone reminisce about last night, but really I was playing last night over and over in my head. It was like a good movie I didn’t want to forget. When we got to my house, I sprinted inside and packed up a few changes of clothes and some swimsuits for the weekend. I checked in with my parents and let them know my plans and ran back out to the Jeep.

We stopped at the local grocery store to get some food and drinks, then went to the gas station to fill up. I was beginning to get impatient. I couldn’t wait to see Adrian again. My phone buzzed in my pocket. I pulled it out and looked at the number on the screen, it was an unknown number, it must be Adrian.

“Hello?” I answered.

“Is this Amazing Ava?” I blushed as I remembered what I punched into his phone.

“The one and only.”

“Are you coming up to the lake?” The sound of his voice alone made my stomach do backflips.

“Actually we’re just getting ready to head out of town now. We should be there in about forty-five minutes.”

“Really? Cool. I’ll give you the directions to the cabin.” I was relieved to hear he sounded just as excited as I was feeling.

“Actually, I really suck at directions, let me have you give them to Jesse.” I handed the phone over to Jesse, who looked a little irritated, but took the phone anyway. I listened intently, trying to hear the voice on the other end of the line. After a few minutes of talking back and forth, Jesse handed the phone back.

“Hello?”

“Hey, I guess I’ll see you in a little bit. I’m really looking forward to seeing you again.” I smiled to myself.

“Me too. See you soon.” I hung up my phone. I could feel my cheeks becoming warm so I turned and looked out the window to keep anyone from noticing.