The past few months had been hard on me, not the hardest I had ever experienced but more difficult in a different way. My time with Justin had been some of the best times of my life. I was really in love for the first time, and I really thought that we had been in it for the long haul.
That day at his house ruined everything. I felt like my world had been ripped apart all over again and fell into a deep depression, not knowing how he could have done something like that to me. Luckily, my mother wasn’t around to force me into hiding when I fell into the blackness, so my friends were there to pull me back into the light before I slipped too far.
It had taken some time, but with Callie and Zoey, and even Nash being there, I think I was able to put most of my heart back together. I think Justin would always hold a piece of it, and I would admit I was a little bitter about that.
He had tried his hardest to win me back, so much so that I eventually quit Shorty’s because I just couldn’t handle working with him any longer. Every time I saw him, it just brought back memories that almost seemed too good to be true. I had almost given into him a few times, but had stopped myself before that could happen.
I couldn’t forgive him for what he had done, and I don’t really think he had forgiven himself. If it was possible, he looked even more miserable than me the times that I had allowed myself to sneak a glance at him in passing on campus or the occasional run in.
He had even tried using his mother to attempt to win my forgiveness. We had bonded after meeting and became quick friends, she had called about a month after we had broken up, just saying that she was checking in with me, but she threw in a few subtle hints, saying how broken hearted Justin was. I appreciated her efforts but told her that things just weren’t going to work out. He had betrayed my trust by not telling me himself, and I couldn’t forget that.
A knock at the door brought me back to reality, and I slapped a lid on those thoughts. Today was all about relaxation and some fun. “We’re here,” Callie squealed as soon as I opened the door, skipping into the house to hug me tightly.
Zoey followed closely behind, rolling her eyes at Callie’s excitement but giving me a wide smile. “Cal, it’s only been two weeks since we moved out of the dorms. You act like you haven’t seen Della in years. You should have seen the welcoming she gave me, I think my parents were a little worried that I switched teams.”
After the three of us reluctantly moved out of the dorms for the summer, Callie had gone home to spend a little bit of time with her family. Zoey and I had gotten together a handful of times to hang out, but it was nice for the three of us to be back together. The timing couldn’t have been more perfect.
“Well, I’m glad you guys are here. We can put your bags up in the guestroom for now and you can unpack later. I figured we could head out to the lake and get started on our tans early.” I led the way upstairs into the room that had two twin beds that Grams had prepared for the girls. I think she had wanted to stay behind just to hang out with us, but it would be nice for it to be just the three of us again.
“Hopefully that water is cool enough,” Callie commented, fanning herself with one hand while digging through her suitcase with the other. “It’s ungodly hot out there. I am so ready for that water to cool me off. I definitely like Ohio summers over North Carolina’s.”
We all changed into our bikinis, Callie and I spraying on tanning oil, while Zoey slathered on about a pound of sunscreen onto her fair skin. I grabbed the picnic basket that was loaded down on the way out the door, and we all kicked off our flip-flops once we reached the shore.
Not many of the neighbors were out, so we pretty much had the lake to ourselves. They all were pretty much older, so they tended to see the lake as scenic and nothing more.
All three of us stepped into the water at the same time, squealing when the water touched our bare skin. “Yeah, it definitely hasn’t warmed up yet, but I think we’ll survive.” It took us awhile to suck it up but we eventually made it to the floating wooden raft that was bobbing in the water a few feet out.
“Okay, totally forget what I said,” Callie managed to say through chattering teeth as she hoisted herself up. “I’d like it if this water was a whole lot warmer.”
We all rolled onto our stomachs and caught up on each other’s lives in the short time that we had been apart. We were all ready planning on living together next year, and we wanted to look at some off campus housing while Callie was in town for the next two weeks. Hopefully, we would be able to find something quickly and get a lease signed so we would be all set.