A Summer to Remember

chapter 19





Being back in my own bed was bittersweet. The feeling of comfort was there but not having Adrian by my side made me a little bummed. I needed to talk to Lily and I knew she’d be calling me soon. I was surprised she hadn’t called me already, but I decided to beat her to the punch. I picked up my phone and dialed her number.

“You ready to tell me the details yet?” Lily asked as soon as she picked up.

“Wow. I don’t even get a hello anymore?”

“Since you’ve been keeping everything to yourself these last few days, I don’t think you’re worthy of one anymore,” she joked. “What do you want to do today?”

“Let’s go to the pool.”

“Great! I’m about to strangle Steven. I’ll be there in about twenty minutes.”

As soon as I was out of bed and had my pool bag packed, Lily was outside my house honking, right on cue. I slid in the passenger seat of her car and we drove off. On our way there, she told me about a fight she and Steven got into over the weekend because she caught him checking out a waitress at the bar the other night, so they weren’t on speaking terms today. Bickering like this isn’t unusual for them, but Steven checking out a waitress was. Lily had always been a little insecure, which threw me for a loop because she’s gorgeous. Guys were constantly throwing themselves at her feet and she had a kickass personality, but she just didn’t see it. I guess it was true, every girl has her own insecurities.

When we got to the pool, we took turns searching for chairs while one of us held our usual spot up against the back fence. I was so anxious to tell Lily about what happened I could hardly contain myself. When she finally got back with her chair I couldn’t stand it anymore so I just blurted it out.

“Adrian asked me to move in with him!” It had been eating me up inside all night and I needed to hear somebody else’s opinion on the situation.

“He what?” Lily sat down on her chair and pulled her sunglasses down toward the tip of her nose. A few strands of hair fell out of her ponytail.

“He asked me to move in with him.”

“What did you tell him?” She didn’t seem as shocked as I thought she would be, which made me a little concerned.

“I told him I had to think about it, but it’s a little soon.” I looked at her for reassurance. “Don’t you think?”

“Well, kind of. I guess.” She shrugged and pushed her sunglasses back up on the bridge of her nose.

“What do you mean, you guess? We’ve only known each other a few weeks and he’s already asking me to move in with him!” I expected a bigger reaction out of her, but she was being nonchalant. This wasn’t helping at all!

“Yeah.” She took off her sheer cover up to reveal the red and white bikini underneath and laid back down on her chair. “But girls are getting married and pregnant after only knowing someone a few weeks these days.”

“Don’t try and put me in that category!” I was a little offended. I took off my cover up and laid back on my chair.

“I’m not, I’m just saying it could be worse. Wait. What would happen when he moves to Florida?” She looked over at me.

“He’s still going and I’m not, if that’s what you’re asking.” We’d talked about this a hundred times. You’d think she’d get how serious I was about staying here.

“Well, that’s more of a reason to try it out, then. You’re supposedly only spending this last summer with him before he leaves.”

“What do you mean, supposedly?” I was starting to get a little irritated with her.

“You really think you’re going to be able to spend all summer with him then fall hits and you’re just going to be like ‘okay bye, have a nice life.’” She laughed a little. “You know that’s not going to happen and you’re just being silly if you think it is.”

“I know it’s not going to be like that, but something is going to have to change because I’m not going with him. It makes me sick just thinking about it.” I could feel my stomach turn. If I wanted to leave this town I would’ve applied for schools out of state. The thought of leaving never even crossed my mind because I knew I would miss my friends and family too much.

“And how does it make you feel knowing that he’ll be leaving in just a few short months?” I couldn’t answer her because I knew if I did the tears I was holding back wouldn’t stay back. “That’s what I thought.”

A few hours later we packed up our stuff and walked back out to the car in the summer heat. I had a lot to think about this week and I was glad I had Lily to talk to about it. I didn’t necessarily agree with what she had to say but it was still nice to get someone else’s opinion. We tossed our bags in the backseat. I climbed into the passenger seat and turned to put my seatbelt on.

“Oh! I almost forgot, since you distracted me with the whole moving in thing. You slept with him, didn’t you?” It wasn’t something I wanted to discuss right now after everything else we talked about today, so I just looked out the side window. “I knew it.” She also knew I wasn’t ready to talk about it, so she didn’t push it. I felt sick to my stomach and emotionally exhausted from thinking about the whole thing.





After Lily dropped me off, I went straight to the kitchen and made myself a turkey and cheese sandwich. I was as confused as ever. I had no idea what I was going to do. Deciding whether or not to move in with him and him moving away, I just felt so overwhelmed. I was just going to have to figure this out for myself and I couldn’t let Lily or anyone else’s opinions waiver my decision. After I finished eating I went up to the bathroom and jumped in the shower. Once I got dressed and got comfortable in bed, I heard a knock on the door.

“Come in.” The door opened and my mom stepped inside.

“Hey. I was just checking to see how your day was.” She came over and sat down on the bed beside me.

“It was good, Lily and I just went to the pool for a bit.” I used my towel to help dry my hair.

“That sounds like fun. How are things going with Adrian? I’m guessing since you spent the weekend there, the dinner you made went well?”

“Yeah, he really loved it. His parents don’t really cook, so he hasn’t had a homemade meal in a while.”

“Well, maybe you should have him come over here one night this week. We’d like to get to know him since it seems like you guys will be spending a lot of time together.”

“Okay, I’ll ask him. He’s usually really tired after he gets off work, so I’m not sure if he’ll be up for it. If not, maybe we can do something on the weekend?”

“Yeah, just let us know.” She patted me on the leg before she stood up and walked to the door. “I’m going to start dinner.”

“All right, I’ll be down in a bit.” She walked out the door and closed it behind her.

I’ve always been really close with both of my parents. My brother and I are also really close, which always seemed to surprise my friends who have siblings. It never occurred to me until now that if I did decide to move in with Adrian, I would have to tell my family. I didn’t think they’d be too supportive of it. I mean, I was only eighteen, almost nineteen, so technically, I could do whatever I want. But I wouldn’t want to ruin the relationship I have with them. I mean if I did move in with Adrian, it would only be for the summer.

The more I thought about it, the more I was beginning to realize what my decision was going to be. If I was be going to his house every night anyway and I would most likely be staying at his house on the weekends, it might just be easier to leave my stuff there. I wouldn’t have to stay there every night, but at least the nights I’d want to stay there I wouldn’t have the hassle of hauling things back and forth. It wouldn’t be too far from my parents, either and we could still probably come here for dinner a couple times a week.

I thought back to the night I met Adrian. The chemistry I felt with him was like nothing I’d ever felt before. Then the night at the restaurant when he told me he was leaving, I was so crushed I felt like I couldn’t even breathe. That same night I noticed when I was with Adrian, I was willing to leave my comfort zone without even realizing it. And I loved it! After being with Jason I needed this, I needed to learn that the safest route doesn’t always need to be the most traveled route, sometimes it was good to head down the path to the unknown. And now was the perfect opportunity.

I was pretty sure my decision was made. I was going to move in with Adrian. Now the only thing left to do was figure out when I wanted to tell him and when and how I was going to tell my parents. I just wanted to make sure everything ran as smoothly as possible.