A Summer to Remember

chapter 3





After dinner we all jumped in a white taxi van sitting outside and headed off to our destination. As we got closer, I could hear thumping music and yelling from the swarms of people walking the street. I had no idea how this many people were going to fit in one house at one time, this was madness!

“So maybe you’ll meet a new guy tonight.” Lily leaned forward from the backseat and interrupted my train of thought.

“You can’t be serious.” I stared at her in disbelief. “Jason and I just broke up like hours ago, literally.”

“Yeah. So? It’s never too early to start looking and you know I’ve never been too fond of Jason. Plus these are mature college guys.” Lily sat back and stared out her window.

“Yeah, but they’re still guys. How much more mature can they be?” We both laughed as we passed a group of people watching two guys wrestle on someone’s front lawn.

“I’m guessing this is your destination?” The taxi driver came to a stop, I opened my door, and we all crawled out.

“Thanks, man, keep the change.” Steven handed him twenty and closed the door behind him.

I stood there in awe. I’ve never seen so many people in one place before. I couldn’t believe the police hadn’t showed up yet. It was only a little after seven and the sun was slipping behind the mountains. I had a feeling as the sun went down, things were going to get a little crazy.

As I looked around, I noticed that there wasn’t just one party, it was like a block party. There were people going in and out of houses on both sides of our destination and across the street. Almost everyone walking the streets had a red cup or two in their hands. I guess this is what it’s like to live near the college.

“Come on! Let’s go get a drink!” Lily grabbed my arm and dragged me inside the big blue house in front of us. It really was like the frat houses you see on TV, even down to the ugly floral print couch sitting on the front porch with some brunet guy and blonde girl making out on it. We walked through the door and all you could smell was liquor, beer, and weed. I looked around and the place was packed. Everyone was standing shoulder to shoulder.

“We’ll try and find us some drinks. You girls wait here,” Steven yelled over the murmur of voices. He and Jesse headed off toward the back of the house.

“Oooooh!” A bunch of guys yelled from the room on our right.

“What’s that all about?” I asked Lily.

“I don’t know. Let’s check it out.” We squeezed through all the people and finally made our way into the room.

“Beer pong. We should’ve known,” I said to Lily.

“There you are! I see you two found the beer pong table. I just signed Steven and I up for the next game,” Jesse said as he handed me a drink.

“Thanks.” I grabbed the red cup and took a drink. I’d never been a big fan of beer, but tonight I made an exception. Anything to help take my mind off that jerk Jason.

“No problem.” He smiled. I never realized how nice his smile was until tonight.

“Dude, I already told you, I’m not playing. There are at least five houses I’d like to hit up and remember before I get shitfaced,” Steven snapped at Jesse.

“Come on, man, just one game.” Jesse liked to be the center of attention. Especially when it came to beer pong, he prided himself on his “skill.”

“Yeah, and one turns into two, and two turns into three, and three turns into waking up tomorrow and not remembering a damn thing.” I lost interest in listening to Steven and Jesse arguing and browsed the room to see if I knew anyone. I wasn’t having any luck. Most of them must go to the college.

I turned to the door and there he was. Jason.

He strutted in with that skanky redhead Cally on his arm. I couldn’t decide if I wanted to walk up and punch him in the face, or her. I’d be just as happy punching her. Maybe I should just pretend like I didn’t see them. I decided to go with the less violent of the two, so I turned to look the other way.

“Are you okay?” Lily looked at me and immediately zeroed in on Jason. “Oh Ava, are you going to be okay? We can leave if you want.” She leaned in for a hug, but I pushed her away. I knew if I hugged her, the tears would start again. She turned and glared at Steven. “Why is your brother such a jerk?”

“I’m okay,” I said quickly. She raised her eyebrows. “Really! I’ll be fine.” I was doing everything in my power not to fall apart.

“All right, dude, since you’re being a baby, I’ll go cross our names off the list.” Jesse was completely oblivious to the current situation, as usual.

“No! Wait! I’ll play!” I yelled after Jesse as he turned away.

“Are you sure?” A grin spread across his face.

“Yeah. Are you sure?” Lily asked, staring at me with a blank look on her face. I ignored her and turned to Jesse.

“Yeah, I’m not very good. I haven’t played for a while, but if you’re down, I’m down.” The look on his face told me he was definitely excited.

“I don’t need you to be good, I’m just in it for the free beer!” Jesse laughed and put his arm around my shoulders.

“All right! Next up! Greg and Adrian against Jesse and Steven!” a guy yelled over the crowd.

“Actually, it’ll be Jesse and Ava!” Jesse grabbed my hand and pulled me out of the crowd towards the table. I could feel everyone’s eyes on me. I even heard a few people laugh in the background. I’m not a big fan of crowds. I could feel myself get a little nervous.

“Are you sure you want a girl on your team?” the announcer asked as he eyed me up and down.

“For all you know, I could be his secret weapon,” I snapped at him before I even realized it.

He looked me in the eyes. “All right then,” he said. “Let the games begin.” He proceeded to hand me a ball and back away.

Out of the corner of my eye, I saw Jason pop out of the crowd and into the front row. Great, just what I need. First, I made myself sound like some badass beer pong player and now I had the guy who could make me turn into an emotional wreck in a matter of minutes standing in the front row. I was going to be the laughing stock of the night.

I closed my eyes for a second and tried to get my mind straight. I looked up to make eye contact with the guy standing across the table from me, but I froze. It took every muscle in my jaw to keep it from dropping. This guy was gorgeous, all six feet of him! You could see every curve of his perfectly tan, sculpted body through his gray fitted t-shirt. His hair was a chestnut brown that most girls would kill to have. The thing that really caught me off guard were his eyes. He had the most amazing green eyes I’d ever seen. He smiled at me as I’m admired him and my heart literally skipped a beat. He had the most perfect smile and to top it off…he had dimples.

“Ava, are you okay?” Jesse interrupted my admiration session.

“Yeah, I’m just concentrating,” I lied. I seemed to be doing a lot of lying tonight.

“Okay, well I think that’s long enough. You’ve been standing here like a zombie for like three minutes,” he whispered.

“Oh my God! Have I really?” I was horrified.

“No, but it feels like it.” I smacked Jesse and turned back to the team standing across from us.

“Can we start yet?” The green-eyed guy’s teammate asked, sounding irritated.

I got into position and we made eye contact. We both threw a ball, but mine, of course, bounced off the table and rolled into the crowd while his sunk into one of our red cups.

“I believe that’ll be your drink.” He looked at me and smiled.

“Oh, honey, I’m just warming up.” I smiled back at him. Okay, I had no idea where that came from, but I liked it! Suddenly I really had the urge to kick these guys’ asses.

The game surprisingly continued pretty even until each team had two cups left. Jesse took his place and got into position. He took his shot and sunk it into the back red cup. Everyone cheered.

He put his hand on my lower back. “All right, Ava, you just have to get it in that front cup and we can end the game. No pressure.” He smirked.

“Yeah, no pressure at all,” I said sarcastically. I glanced up at the green-eyed guy, smiled, and looked back down at their cups. Okay, all I had to do is make it in that last cup and it’s game over. I took a deep breath, stepped up to the table and raised my arm. I tossed my ball into the air and held my breath as I watched it arc. It landed in the cup and spun around the edge. The green-eyed guy’s friend stuck his finger in the cup and tried to pull it out, but failed, and pushed the ball into the cup. Everyone started cheering.

“We won!” Jesse yelled as he picked me up and spun me around.

“You’re not too bad for a girl,” my handsome opponent said as he came over to shake my hand.

“Yeah, well, you’re not too bad yourself,” I replied.

“What’s your name, anyway?”

“Ava. Yours?”

“Adrian. You go to school here?”

“Ava!” Lily called. “I think we’re going to head over to the next house. You ready?”

“Yeah…sure!” I yelled back in her direction.

“We’ll meet you out front! It’s too hot in here!” She, Steven, and Jesse proceeded out the front door.

“Okay I’ll be out in a sec!” I looked back at Adrian. “Sorry about that, but we try and stick together at these kinds of things.”

“No problem. I’m actually heading to the next house myself. Mind if I tag along?”

“Sure.” We made our way out of the house.