A Summer to Remember

chapter 11





After I finally got around to taking a shower the next day I searched through my closet to find something to wear on my date. Of course I came up empty handed. I looked at the clock and it was just after two. Okay, good, I had plenty of time. I picked up my phone and pressed Lily’s name.

“Hello darling!”

“Hey! What are you doing today?”

“Um, nothing really, just hanging with Steven. Why? What’s up?”

“You want to go to the mall with me? I have to find an outfit for my date tonight.”

“Of course I do! I’ll swing by and pick you up in about twenty minutes.” I could always count on her to ditch Steven for shopping.

“Great!”

Almost exactly twenty minutes later Lily’s car pulled up outside my house and her horn beeped just a few seconds after. I told my parents goodbye, grabbed my purse, and walked out to her car.

“So you sounded pretty excited about this date you have tonight.” She started interrogating me the minute I got in the car.

“Well, maybe I am.” I really was pretty excited, but I didn’t want her to know that.

“Of course you are. Adrian’s hot! So have you talked to him since your steamy kiss before we left the cabin?”

“No, not really, just a few texts. I’ve been trying to recuperate and get my thoughts in order from the weekend.”

“Good. After what you were telling me at the cabin, you needed it! So how’s that going? Have you come to your senses about why you shouldn’t date Jason again?” Oh great, here she goes again.

“Actually, yes. I’ve decided I’m going to try this date with Adrian and see how it goes, then make a decision. ”

“Well, don’t mess things up with him. He really likes you.”

“I know, I know. I wouldn’t ever hurt him. If I don’t think things will work out, I’ll let him know as soon as possible.”

“Good!” She grinned in approval.

We pulled up in front of the mall and Lily started scanning the parking lot for a spot. We’d been coming to this mall for years, it isn’t the biggest or best mall I’d ever been to, that’s for sure, but for our small town, it works. I remember in middle school, this is where we would go to meet up with all the boys, and then in high school, this is where everyone worked.

We walked in the front door, which led straight into the food court. I immediately scanned the tables for people we knew, we were bound to run into someone. When my eyes crossed paths with his, my heart skipped a beat and I could feel it drop into my stomach. Shit!

“Lily, Jason is here.”

“Here, walk on this side of me.” She pushed me to the opposite side of the tables. “Just keep walking and pretend like you didn’t see him.”

“Yeah, that’s going to be a little hard to do since we just looked right at each other! Great. Now he’s walking this way.” Not now, not before my date!

“Do you want me to go kick him in the nuts? That should distract him.” I laughed as I grabbed her by the arm. God knows that if I let her go she would actually do it.

“No. We’ll have to talk sooner or later.”

“Well, later is better than sooner. Like later after your date with Adrian. Don’t forget about your date!”

“How am I going to forget about that?” I rolled my eyes and turned my head just in time to see he’d finally reached us.

“Hey, Ava.” Even the sound of his voice irritated me.

“You wanna just go ahead and grab us some coffee?” I asked Lily. I could tell she was a little hesitant about leaving me alone with him. “Just get my usual, please, and thank you. ” I gave her a smile to reassure her that I’d be fine.

“Sure.” Lily glared at Jason before she walked toward the coffee shop.

“You think maybe we could talk?” Jason asked, putting on his sad act. As if I haven’t heard that a hundred times before.

“Listen, Jason. This isn’t the time nor the place to talk about anything.”

“What the hell do you expect me to do? You’re not answering any of my texts or phone calls!” His voice was filled with desperation. He was getting too good at this playing the victim thing.

“First off, don’t come over here and yell at me and expect me to want to talk to you. Has it even crossed your mind that maybe I’m not ready to talk to you? Breaking up with me on our graduation day and then sleeping with your nasty ex isn’t exactly immediately forgivable.”

“You’re right and I’m sorry for that. Can we meet somewhere tonight? Please,” he begged.

“Actually, I have plans tonight.”

“It’s not that guy you were with at the cabin all weekend, is it?” He laughed and looked away. Once he realized I didn’t respond, his smile dropped and he looked back at me. “You can’t be serious! You just met the guy!”

“Excuse me! If I remember correctly, you’re the one who broke up with me, so I believe that means I don’t owe you any sort of explanation about anything, let alone who I do and do not date, thank you very much!” I turned on my heels and walked toward Lily, who was just leaving the Coffee Hut.

“Ava!” Jason called after me but I didn’t bother to turn around and give him a second look.

“Damn, Ava, what did you say?” She handed me my coffee. “He looks pretty upset.” She was clearly amused.

“It doesn’t matter. The only thing on my mind right now is my date tonight. Let’s go find that outfit, shall we?” I could still feel Jason’s eyes watching me as we continued on our mission. I smiled a little, knowing that for the first time in a very long time, the ball was finally back in my court.