Saving Summer (3 page)

Very quietly, I changed into a bikini and pulled on a pair of jean shorts and flip flops. I managed to open the bedroom window wide enough to slip out and closed it behind me. I felt so bad sneaking out like this, but it was eight thirty. I was not going to bed this early. It was time I had some fun.

I walked across the island in the direction of the Cortez house. Celso told me it wasn’t hard to find. And it wasn’t. I found it without a problem. It was far enough from Aunt Lou’s house that she’d never hear the music or see the lights from the party. Plus, she took her hearing aids out at night, so I was actually going to get away with sneaking out and having fun. I’d never done this before, and I was so excited I wanted to squeal. But I kept cool and tried to look like I was a seasoned partier as I walked onto the property and up the back porch into the open sliding doors.

The party was just getting started. Celso was on one side of the room passing out drinks, and Damian was out by the pool setting up speakers for music. People began to gather outside on the deck, and soon they were dancing and singing to the music.

There were so many bodies pressed together that I wasn’t sure who was who. But Celso introduced me to a few people. His girlfriend Felicity was too preoccupied with her friends to talk to me. But I chatted with a couple cute guys. I was having a great time.

I was dancing with this one tall guy, who was friends with Damian, when he stopped and dragged me to get drinks.

I’d never had beer before. I wasn’t sure I wanted to, but a bottle was thrust in my hand and I was back on the deck dancing. I took a few small sips, and wanted to gag. But no one realized I wasn’t drinking it. Just carrying the beer around was enough to blend in.

“Hot tub!” I heard someone shout. I was dancing, minding my own business, but then I got carried off again by someone Celso had introduced me to. I felt really self conscious in my bikini, since I wasn’t used to anyone seeing me wearing so little. I used to be the slightly pudgy girl until I grew a few summers ago and started playing tennis. I still wasn’t the thinnest girl, but I was finally at a party hanging out with cool people. So I got in that hot tub, and decided having fun was the only way to overcome my nerves.

“Shots!” a girl climbed into the hot tub with bottle of brown liquid and a few glasses.

A glass was thrust in my hand and I frowned. “I’m good, thanks.”

She stared at me for a second, but seemed to care less and I watched every person around me get so drunk I wanted to suggest they get out of the hot tub before they drowned.

It was time for me to go. I didn’t see a sober person in the place, and figured I’d leave while I was still having a good time.

I pulled on my shorts and headed down the deck, into the trees. It was dark, and the sounds of the party began to fade. I was thrilled I’d actually gotten away with it. Aunt Lou would never know!

“Hey, wait.”

I turned back and saw the guy I was dancing with earlier wobbling as he ran after me. “What?”

His eyes drooped slightly, and he smelled like saltwater and beer. “I thought we were having fun.”

“We were, but I have to get home.”

He grimaced, his speech slurring. “But it’s early.”

“I’m sure there will be another party. Do you want my number?” I asked, wondering if he had his cell phone. I’d program my name and number in there, and maybe we could hang out, or go on a date.

“Let’s dance,” he took my hand and began leading me back to the party.

As much as I’d like that, he was drunk. “Look, I don’t think you’re going to remember anything after this. I’m going home.”

He didn’t say anything and kept walking. I tugged my hand back and turned around, walking deeper into the brush behind the house. I’d be home in a few minutes, in my squeaky bed, and I could daydream all day tomorrow about my successful sneak out to a party.

“Hey, we’re dancing,” the drunk guy, who didn’t even know my name, slipped his arms around my waist and pulled me closer. A warning went off inside me and I tried to shake him off. But he was dragging be back towards the party to dance. If he was sober, he wouldn’t have been so rough, and I wouldn’t have had to elbow him in the ribs. Still, he didn’t budge.

“Come on, just let me go home,” I pleaded.

I kicked his shin and he let go with a slurred grumbled.

When I was free, I realized I was missing an important piece of clothing.

I crossed my arms over my chest, “Give it back.”

He dangled my bikini top in the air, laughing. “Come and get it.”

“Keep it,” I spun, and ran into another person. “Shit.”

A tall, kind of boyish, guy stared down at me. His brown hair was a scraggly mess as if he’d run his hands through it a million times. He had searing brown eyes, and a scar tracing down the left side of his face.

Okay, the boyishness was hardly detectable now that I’d taken him in.

He was kind of hot, but in a more down to earth way if that was possible.

He frowned at me, shook his head and stepped around me. “Beat it, Danny.”

“Come on, kid. I’m just having fun.”

I rolled my eyes, and wondered if I could trust this new guy. “You’re being an asshole.”

The new guy snatched my bikini top from Danny. “Back to the party.”

“I don’t take orders from you, Gael. Get your scrawny ass out of my way.” Danny squared his shoulders.

So his name was Gael?

As in, Gael Cortez?

“I’m not a kid anymore, and I’m pretty sure I can take you since you’re so drunk.” Gael crossed his arms and planted his feet. “Go on, back to the party.”

Danny cursed and spun around, staggering through the bushes up to the pool deck.

I watched him, feeling a hell of a lot better. “Thanks.”

Gael handed me my bikini top and turned his back. “I suggest you sober up and go home.”

“I’m not drunk.” I had my top on in a flash. “You can turn around.”

“I’ve never seen you around here before.” He said it like an accusation, and turned, scowling at me. I’m guessing he wasn’t as friendly as his brothers.

“I’m staying with my Aunt Lou for the summer.” I was not going to take a step back like I was scared of this guy. So I stuck my hands on my hips in a classic wonder woman pose. I’d read in a magazine that standing that way would make me feel more confident…and I think it was working. “She’s on the other side of the island.”

His expression softened the teeniest bit. “Oh, you must be Summer.”

“Yeah,” I stuck out my hand for him to shake. Bold. Brave. That was me. “Celso told me about you. He said you’d be at the party. How come I didn’t see you there?”

He shrugged. “I’ve been hiding in the shed. I’m not into the party scene.”

He had the right idea. It’d been fun, but I wasn’t sure I wanted to go to another party like that, ever. “This was the first party I’ve ever been to.”

“You weren’t missing out.” He started past me, and I wondered where he was headed, when I spied a small shed behind the trees to my left.

“You aren’t kidding. You were really hiding in a shed.” I followed him inside, and was surprised to find it cool from a small air conditioner. There was a couch on one side, and a workbench on the other. It was covered in wires and computer parts. “What is all this?”

“My shed is where I get to work on my computers and play video games sometimes.” He sat down at the workbench and dug into the bits and wires that I didn’t know anything about.

“What are you doing?” I asked, moving closer to look over his shoulder. He had very steady hands. Big. Strong. Steady. With muscles.

Okay, so he was just as good looking as Celso. Maybe even better looking. And he was smart. Things were looking up. Unless he had a girlfriend. If that was case, I might as well be like Lou and live alone with a cat. At least for the rest of the summer.

“Playing with a few things I found in a junk pile at school. They think this stuff is useless, but it works fine with a little help. I’m also building a new computer.”

From my short time in his shed, I decided he wasn’t anything like this brothers. I wasn’t intimidated by the look of him in the way I was with Damian, and I wasn’t embarrassed like I had been with Celso, but the vibe he was giving off of annoyance really rubbed me the wrong way. Clearly he did not want company. So why was I being so nosy and bothering him? “I guess it must be hard…”

He glanced up from the magnifying glass and frowned. “What?”

“Being the baby of the family?” I shrugged. “It was hard for me. My sister and brother always treated me like the baby.”

He snorted. “Yeah, well it’s not my brothers, it’s their friends. The hardest part is being the brain of the family…why the hell am I sharing this with you?”

“You needed someone to talk to?” I asked. Or it could be that people just liked to tell me things. I really didn’t understand why, complete strangers, relatives, they all seemed to unload on me. My mother said it was because I had a kind, open face. I figured it was more because I wasn’t unapproachable or bitchy like my sister, Rebecca. She repelled people just by breathing. I sometimes think my brother is scared of her…

“No, I don’t need to talk to anyone.” He went back to his computer parts.

“Wow, sorry to piss you off. I was just trying to be friendly.” Actually, I was stalling going home. Maybe I was scared to go back out there alone, or maybe I was just happy to have someone to talk to that seemed to be on the same level as me. Whatever it was, it made leaving Gael difficult. “I’ll go.”

“Look, I’m not pissed off.” He let out a breath. “Normally I don’t let people in the shed…and normally I’m not freaking out over the party raging in my parent’s house…which might not be there in the morning. We’ll see. Last time we had to replace the front windows.”

“So the raving drunks and half naked girls have happened before?” I sat on a stool next to him and settled in. He went back to working, and didn’t seem to mind my company, much. “Why are your parents okay with it?”

“Honestly, I have no idea. I think they are just over dealing with Celso and Damian. My mother said when they were little it was like trying to raise wild animals. Now they are two adult animals with hormones and a penchant for beer.” He glanced up at me, and the way his eyes met mine made my heart dance a jig in my chest. “You spend every summer here, and we’ve never bumped into each other. Why is that? This island is only half a mile long.”

“Well, Lou doesn’t let me leave the house much. Unless it’s church on Sunday…or something else we do together.”

He nodded, “Yeah, she’s stern from what I’ve seen. And up until I was fourteen, I used to go away to camp each summer.”

“Really? Was it like a wilderness thing, did you learn how to raft and make fire?”

“Uh,” his face went pink “No, it was space camp. We watched Star Trek, learned about the solar system, and ate astronaut ice cream… You can laugh. It won’t hurt my feelings.”

I smiled, but didn’t laugh. “Hey, space camp sounds a lot cooler than what I did.”

“What did you do?”

“I tried to knit.” I shrugged. “Space camp would have been a welcome reprieve from that. Once I went to band camp for spring break. It was…different.”

“Different is good.”

“Someone sat on my violin. It broke. I haven’t played since.”

“So what did you do for the week?”

“Well, I got to help the younger kids with their instruments. It was BYOI. Bring your own instrument. They didn’t have spares.”

“Right,” he laughed, and stood from the workbench. “So, I’m thinking about heading to bed.”

My mouth dropped open just a little bit. “Okay…”

“Want me to walk you back to Lou’s?”

I nodded. “That would be great. But where will you sleep? The house is crazy.”

He pointed at a small couch with a sleeping bag draped over it. “It’s not great, but it works.”

“Hey, it looks better than the bed I share with Napoleon.”

“Who?”

“Lou’s cat.”

His eyes went wide. “So that’s what she calls him.”

“Did you call him something else?”

“Yeah, Satan.”

I snorted with laughter. “Kind of fits him, actually.”

“Shall we?” he said, motioning to the shed door.

“Sure.” I started out and waited for him to close it. I had trouble trying to keep from acting too excited. Not because I was suddenly head over heals for Gael Cortez. I was just excited about the human contact. I mean, I loved Lou, but I really needed something else to do other than sit on the front porch, try to knit, and talk about the weather.

Also, I’d refused to knit with her, so that left me lacking in the activities area. She wouldn’t let me go swimming alone, because I would drown. I couldn’t drive the boat because somehow I would end up falling overboard and get shredded to bits by the propeller. I couldn’t walk the island alone because I’d get lost, or possibly kidnapped by pirates. Or I’d get eaten by a monster sea creature.

I mean, crabs were really dangerous.

Don’t get me started on the seagulls.

As I followed Gael through the palms and tropical bushes, I decided that this summer was going to be my best one yet. I had new people to hang out with, and a way to avoid the boredom that would eventually start to suffocate me.

Things were looking better with every step I took, and when Gale stopped a few feet from the fence around Lou’s house, he opened the gate and smiled. “I’ll see you later?”

I nodded in answer to his question. “You’re the only person I know on Half Mile worth talking to.”

He smirked, walking backwards. “I guess that makes me your new best friend.”

Chapter 4
Gael

“This is perfect,” I said, fishing a bra out of the pool with a metal rod. “Who thought strip poker was a good idea?”

“Yeah, who decided to throw the party?” Celso glanced at Damian, who rolled his eyes and stuffed beer cans into a trash bag.

“I am not picking that up.” I nodded at a pair of soggy boxers stuck to the deck. “I don’t even know why I’m helping you two idiots.”

“We are not throwing anymore parties like that,” Damian grunted as he chucked an empty chip bag into the garbage. “I know I’ve said it before, but this time I really mean it. I’m sick of cleaning up after everyone when they go home. I’m sick of trying to hide this from mom and dad.”