That Summer Feeling: SUMMER 4EVER [H.S.]

18. Pumpkin

"If I don't know a plan to a tee, I freak the fuck out," Zoey says before bringing her coffee mug to her glossy lips. "You guys know that already."

"I know, Zoe," Beau lays a sympathetic hand across hers over the kitchen counter, "and I'm sorry but with graduation and traveling so much this summer, I don't know what the fuck I'm doing."

"You don't want to find a club again?" Gigi asks, wiping her sugar-coated fingers into a napkin. "That's always fun."

"I want to do something different. After all, you only get a Taylor Swift birthday once." He holds up two peace signs to symbolize "22," the age he's turning this year. "I have to do it right."

"You have less than two weeks to figure it out then, Mr Happy, Free, Confused, and Lonely," Bella chuckles around a bite of her jelly-filled donut.

"You mean, we have less than two weeks to figure it out," he corrects with a grin.

"Karaoke was fun," Sierra shrugs. "It's all a blur to me but we had fun."

"It was but again, I want to do something different."

"Well, every year for my birthday, my friends and I go skinny dipping at a lake at night," Sam chimes in with a gentle smile. "It turned into a fun tradition thing— no matter where we are in life, we promised to meet up and jump in no matter how cold the water is."

"That's sweet." Beau smiles at her. "But I'm sure none of us wants to try that here and get hypothermia."

"Oh, for sure. Just throwing it out to see if it grinds the gears in our heads."

"Let's brainstorm, ladies. Best birthday memories and/or YOLO moments. Lace, start us off. You've been quiet all morning."

I smack my sticky lips, swallowing the chocolate frosting riddled with colored sprinkles as I look at Beau. "I was eating."

"She hates celebrating her birthday," Gigi reminds the group to which I nod my head.

"'Hate' is a very strong word but yes."

"Bro, what about last year when I surprised you?" Liam tells me, none of realizing he had walked into the kitchen during our conversation. "That had to be your best birthday ever. Well, before it all went south."

"What happened?" Bella asks.

"Halloween weekend in London? What didn't happen? It was fucking insane." Liam turns to me, his smile slowly fading. "Well, a lot didn't happen on your actual birthday..."

I chuckle, ears reddening at the mention of that date a few months ago. I wasn't sure I wanted to get into it with them now. I sort of wanted to keep that weekend to myself and the only other person who knew about it as well.

The memories flash in my head while Liam drones on about his perspective. As much as it aches to remember it all as it was, I find myself smiling about it now, yearning for those days that were still so fresh in my mind and that still take up their own interstices below the middle of my chest.

HALLOWEEN NIGHT - LAST FALL

I wipe the sweat off my upper lip using my pink satin glove. The combination of the number of people in here and my voluminous blonde wig that was almost completely covering my face was sending my body to overheat. Not to mention the shots of tequila that are currently swimming in a warm stream through my limbs.

I don't think I'd make it through the rest of the night by how overwhelmingly packed it is in this house but I didn't want to leave yet. I was having some of the most fun I've had since moving to London.