Saving Summer (5 page)

I nodded. “Yeah, is great to meet someone else.”

She smiled. “What are you guys doing?”

“Nothing much, just hanging out.” Gael let out a breath. “Got some fireworks. Thinking of setting those off later. Want to join us?”

She frowned, and when I looked at her eyes I realized why her name was violet. “Will Damian be there?”

Gael shook his head. “No, I don’t think so. We’re heading out to our sandbar. Just me and Summer.”

Violet nodded. “Well, I’ll think about it.”

Seems she had a thing for Damian. I said goodbye to Violet as she stood, gathered her things, and left the shop.

“What’s going on between her and Damian?” I asked, trying not to sound too interested.

“I’m not sure. I know my brother took her out once…I know he likes her. But I also know he can be stupid. Violet is sweet, but sometimes I wonder if they are right for each other.”

“I think she is a lot tougher than she looks.” I took a sip of my coffee and smiled at Gael’s confused expression. “Come on, she is clearly in love with him.”

“Violet can’t be in love with Damian. She’s too nice.” He shook his head. “She and Celso used to be close a couple years ago. I thought they’d be perfect together. Then I saw the way Damian was acting, like a fool, and then he and Celso got into it. They didn’t talk to each other for two weeks.”

“What happened?”

“I’m not sure. Only thing I know is that Celso stopped hanging out with Violet. Violet tries to bump into Damian. And Damian avoided both of them…now he tries to talk to Violet. And Violet ignores him.”

“So…what if we threw a sandbar party and invited everyone?”

Gael frowned. “That sounds like a bad idea.”

“Really? I thought it sounded good in my head.”

He waited for a few seconds, and then smiled. “It would make for an entertaining night.”

“So you’ll think about it?”

“For sure.”

Chapter 6

Our night didn’t end with a bang.

It was more like a fizzle.

No one showed for our party on the sandbar.

Gael stood with a lighter in his hand, glaring at the TNT-loaded Dino Cracker. It was supposed to explode about a minute after spraying lights that mimicked a volcano exploding into the air. On the side of the box it said it was supposed to
shoot Cretaceous terror into humans’ hearts…

“Is that it?” I asked, nudging it with my toe. “Where’s the big boom?”

Gael kicked sand over it and cursed. “The box we buried the fireworks in wasn’t water proof.”

“Smart move…I’m guessing the rest of them suffered the same fate of extinction?”

“Only one way to find out…”

So we spent our evening lighting everything we had.

We had planned on relaxing and enjoying our own private fireworks display, but it turned out to be a little less exciting. Just two people on a sandbar with dead fireworks and a bag of caramel popcorn.

At least the popcorn wasn’t soggy.

It was nowhere near curfew time, and Gael took us back to the island. He said he had a frozen pizza in the freezer, and a bunch of movies to stream that he hadn’t watched yet. We pulled up to the dock, only to be met by his brothers, who were leaving with a massive red cooler.

Gael steadied the boat and put his hand on a wood plank, glancing up at Damian. “Where are you headed?”

“Party at the Davis house. Wanna come?”

“Seriously, guys?” He shook his head.

Celso snorted. “Nothing else to do.”

I kept to my seat, wondering if Gael would consider their invitation.

“I don’t think so. Summer and I were going to watch a movie.”

Perfect. I let out a breath and grabbed the rope to tie up to the dock.

“Come on, man,” Damian hefted the cooler into the other boat tied up to the dock. “Have some fun. Stop acting like an old man. It’ll be great.”

Gael let out a heavy sigh and looked back at me.

“Don’t tell me you want to go with them?” I knew I sounded a little harsh, but in my opinion, Gael had no reason to force himself to go to a party that he didn’t have any interest in.

“Well…” he looked back at his brothers. “Anybody going to be there that I actually like?”

Celso snorted. “Luke Davis is going to be there. He’s trying to get in with the rest of us, you know, since he’s Milo Davis’s younger brother.” His eyes flickered to my face and he seemed to register my confused expression. “Milo is the champ quarterback. Luke can’t even catch a beach ball.”

“Good to know,” I said, not sure how any of that was relevant.

“None of that actually answers my question.” Gael crossed his arms.

“Fine, there will be plenty of people with brains like yours, and muscles like mine. Happy?” Damian reached into the boat and slapped my back. “So it’s settled, you’re coming.”

Gael turned around, and his face was a little irritated, but he nodded. “We’re taking a separate boat though, in case we want to leave. I’ll follow you.”

Celso and Damian fired up their boat and were gone in a blur. We floated for a bit next to the dock, and I watched Gael war with whether or not he would actually follow.

“If you don’t want to go…” I said.

He shook his head. “I do and I don’t. I know there will be a bunch of drunken losers there, but there is a chance it might not be all that bad. Luke is more like me than Damian or Celso. I’m curious about how it will go down. I don’t expect you to come if you don’t want to.”

“As long as we can leave when we want, maybe we should just swing by. It’s not like we have anything else to do.” I dropped the rope, my interest slightly peaked, and settled back into my seat next to Gael. He got Wilbur going at a pretty good clip, and we’d barely caught up to Celso and Damian by the time a dock and a ton of boats crowded around it came into view.

“Wow, are you sure that’s a house?” I looked up the dock as we walked, my eyes taking in the massive mansion with glittering lights and floor to ceiling windows that overlooked the cove it was hidden in. It was set high on a rise of land that had to have been man made, and below, expensive cars—a Ferrari, Mercedes, and a few trucks, sat in an open air garage.

The whole first floor was dedicated to a garage that was so clean and shiny, I was sure you could eat off the floor. I followed Gael and his brothers to an elevator on the right side.

It was just as clean and shiny. And when the doors whooshed open, a blast of cool air hit my face, the music beat into my ears. The lights were dim. A chandelier sparkled overhead, its crystals reflected and cast shadows on the walls. People were gathered in the center of the room, looking up at a second story landing where a DJ was focused on mixing and playing music.

Party didn’t even describe what I was seeing accurately.

It was more like a nightclub.

Along one wall were white couches with people mingling and drinking. The other was a long table, and maybe something that looked like a buffet?

Who were these people?

What kind of high schooler throws a party like this?

“I’m glad we came,” I shouted to Gael over the music.

“Me too!” he grabbed my hand, leading me toward that tables set up with all kinds of food. Little crackers with fancy cheese. Mini gourmet hot dogs and dips. Servers stood behind the tables, wielding knives as they made sushi and sliced thin pieces of mouth-watering steak.

“We’ll never be able to top this,” Damian stared down at his plate in amazement. “Barbeque meatballs… This is really almost too cool. I don’t know if we should have showed up.”

Celso nodded. “I’m also glad we left our cooler of beer in the boat.”

“Why?” I asked.

“This is why.” Damian handed me a glass of pink champagne.

Gael smiled down at me. “This is classy. I’m impressed.”

I carried my drink and plate across the room, outside to a balcony overlooking a massive pool lit by colored spotlights. “I feel like I’m in a movie or something.”

We sat at one of the many tables, and began to eat.

“Hey Summer, this is way better than frozen pizza.”

I smirked, eating a meatball. “Yeah, but I’d still like to have that pizza and watch a movie with you sometime.”

“Gael Cortez.”

We both looked up at a tall girl with brown hair like mine, but hers was highlighted with shades of caramel and pinned up to show off her long neck.

“Uh, hey Melina.” He nodded. “Nice party.”

She lifted a shoulder and sighed. “I guess. My brother has really pulled out all the stops to make it into Damian’s posse. Doubt it will work though. He’s such an ass.”

“Uh, this is my friend Summer.” Gael quickly changed the subject. “Summer, this is Milo’s sister.”

“It’s nice to meet you, “I smiled, putting my fork down. “This is a great party.”

She laughed. “Thanks. I’m bored, but whatever. Gael, you should dance with me.”

It was clear Melina did not want to get to know me when she grabbed Gael’s arm and pulled him to his feet.

“Have fun…” It was clear Gael didn’t care about leaving me, when he let the cat with uber sharp claws drag him back into the house.

So much for being friends.

Chapter 7
Gael

I was either an idiot or an ass.

Since I tended to believe that I wasn’t a jerk like Damian, I was going to go with stupid.

Really, really stupid.

In what universe did I let Melina drag me away from someone I was having a good time with? But I was so stunned that she picked me out of the crowd that I let her drag me out of my chair.

First, I can’t dance!

And second, if I was going to try and dance, it would be with Summer. Not Melina.

“Look, I know we don’t hang out much…” Melina smiled, squeezing my hand.

“We never hang out.” I pulled away. “I don’t know what your deal is, but I’m not interested.”

She shrugged. “Neither am I. I was just doing Milo a favor.”

I frowned. “What?”

She pointed behind me. When I glanced back at Summer, I saw that my seat had been filled by Milo. He was leaning across the table, grinning, and Summer had her head tipped back as she laughed heartily.

“Damn.” I rubbed the back of my neck, wondering how I’d let someone like Milo take my place.

I might not be the strongest Cortez, or the hottest, or the tallest. But I was the smartest.

And I was smart enough to know that Milo wasn’t Summer’s type.

“Hey,” I said when I reached the table. “Sorry I left.”

“Don’t be, I was just getting to know the lovely Summer.” Milo winked at her and I wanted to hurl.

“I was thinking about heading out.” I ignored Milo, and focused on Summer. “You ready?”

Milo shook his head. “Nah, she can stay a while. I’ll take her home.”

I glanced between them. Summer started to stand, but looked like she was thinking about sitting back down, and Milo smiling like a damn fool. It was clear he thought he’d snagged Summer after less than five minutes with her.

“I’d love to stay,” she said.

And my stomach dropped.

“But I have to be home soon.” She stood. I held out my hand, and she took it without hesitation. “Maybe next time.”

I was the one grinning when we left Milo sitting at the table.

Chapter 8
Summer

Yesterday had been the best I’d ever had on Half Mile. I had discovered a friendship with him that I didn’t think was possible. But I also liked him. I liked him in a way that I hadn’t experienced before. I mean, I’d had crushes, and felt that zing of puppy love, but this was different. It felt like it had substance. We could talk and laugh and hang out, and at the same time, when he looked at me, I felt like I could float away on a cloud of happiness.

It wasn’t the giddy, crazy feelings that I’d felt for the last guy I went out with. It was something else, different, and felt much more solid.

It felt real.

Gael felt like the most sincere person I’d ever met.

I rolled out of bed, having slept in my clothes from the day before, feeling groggy, but happy. Very, very happy. I’d found a friend in Gael, and maybe something deeper that I hadn’t expected to find. I guess only time would tell if we moved on to anything other than just two bored people hanging out.

I shuffled into the kitchen, looking for a glass OJ to sip on while I finished getting ready for the day. Aunt Lou. She was whistling and the smell of eggs and bacon hung in the air. “I’m starved.”

She screamed, whirled around and dropped her spatula.

I laughed, reaching for the pitcher of juice on the counter. “Yeah, I know I look terrible, I’ll drag a brush through my hair and throw some clothes on.”

“Get out of my house!” she grabbed a butcher knife from the block on the counter and held it out in front of her with both hands. “I mean it.”

You know that tiny voice inside you that tells you to run?

Yeah, I ignored it.

“Lou, is this a joke?”

Her green eyes were wide and her face pale with fear. Her hands were shaking as she clutched the knife. “I’m telling you. Get out of my house!”

She didn’t know who I was.

“Lou, it’s me, Summer.” I held my hands up and backed away slowly. “I’m staying with you for the summer, remember?”

She shook her head. “My Summer is in the second grade.”

This was not good at all. How could she have forgotten me? I mean, she’d always been a little forgetful or absentminded…but forgetting who I am? Overnight?

“Lou, look at the calendar on the wall. Look at the year,” I said in a low, very calm voice.

Her eyes flickered towards it and they went wide. “Get out!”

“But Lou…where will I go?”

“Out!” She hurled the knife.

I ducked. It hit the wall over my head. I didn’t bother to try and tell her who I was again and ran for the door. She was right behind me, screaming.

I tore through the screen door and down the porch for the trees. She didn’t follow me out of the yard, and when I looked behind me I could see her standing by the kitchen window calling for help.

I didn’t have anything. No phone. Not even shoes. I was bare foot. And wearing my pajamas.