3 TOWNS, 4 HEARTBEATS [RINI AU]

one

The late summer heat raged in North Carolina, it was the sticky kind that kept most people locked behind the cool comfort of their air conditioned houses, but not Nina. Nina Townes Salazar-Roberts didn't seem to mind the summer heat one bit, instead she enjoyed it, her tank top sticking to her back as she happily rocked back and forth on the blue rocking chair that was placed on a perfect angle on the porch of her Grandmother's North Carolina home. She clicked away at her laptop, the change of scenery from the arid mountain desert of Salt Like City served well for inspiration, for the brunette was getting a jumpstart on her senior dissertation. It was hard to believe that this was going to be her last year at NYU before she had to start applying for grad school, where she would go on to become a lawyer.

Salt Lake City was Nina's home, it's where her mothers lived and it's where her heart belonged. New York City was her place of residence, it's where she learned to find herself and the bustling city life was what helped her discover what she truly wanted to do with her life.

But North Carolina was her safe haven, the place where she felt the safest. Here she was anonymous. She could be whoever she wanted, and the girl felt safety in that.

The screen door of the front porch opened and out from it emerged Nina's grandmother, Townes Roberts, clicking her tongue at the sight of seeing her granddaughter working on homework instead of enjoying her fleeting summer. She set a glass of fresh squeezed lemonade down next to the girl, the glass already forming a ring on the wood of the porch, Nina looked up at her grandmother, giving her a quick yet thankful smile before immediately focusing back on her laptop, her grandmother shaking her head in disapproval. The elderly woman took the tray of lemonade over to the other blue rocking chair across from Nina's, taking a seat after setting the tray down on the end table. Townes looked her granddaughter up and down, shaking her head more aggressively. "Nina, I invited you to spend the summer with me so that you could be out meeting people your age, not spend the whole summer working on homework." The old woman shook her head in disappointment.

Nina looked up, giving her grandmother a frown, "I live in New York City, grandma, I know plenty of people my age. Almost too many." Nina remarked, not waiting for a response from her grandma to start working again.

"It just makes me so sad to see you all cooped up like this! I used to treat every summer as if it was my last." Nina looked up once again, expressionless, as her grandmother began to regale, in full detail, the crazy summers she used to have. "I mean we would go out dancing until all hours of the night. I was the one that could get us in to the parties, I never needed an invitation. The boys used to say that there wasn't a drink that could sink me and-"

"I know, grandma," Nina cut her grandmother off, closing her laptop and setting it aside. "But that was the sixties. And you didn't have any responsibilities, my whole future career is riding on this thesis and—"

"Oh but Nina don't say that. I've seen you sitting here all summer, that chair practically has a print of your rear in it, I mean for one night, why don't you go out? Don't you have some friends in the area that you could call up?" Townes began to plead with her granddaughter, not wanting to see her waste away the summer on a paper she would have the entire semester to polish and perfect.

Nina shrugged, "I mean, my friend Gina and her boyfriend have an apartment over by Duke, and I could see what they're doing, but I don't really have money to go anywhere or-" Nina stopped talking once she realized there was simply no way she could go out. "I just don't think it's a wise idea."

The hopeful smile on Townes's face was replaced with a frown, the disappointment just about to set in her aging eyes, before they perked up. "I'll tell you what, I'll pay for your tickets."