In Deep Waters (The Summer House series #1)

27

I hadn't had my phone with me all summer. It felt strange hearing it vibrate from inside the drawer I'd shoved it in before I'd left.

The sound woke me up, almost startling me. I sat up quickly. I'd been waking up every half hour like this, thinking I'd heard someone, or a weird sound. And then I remembered I was back at home, in Middletown. I was still on high alert after leaving the summer house.

I pulled the drawer open, blinking my eyes and rubbing them, trying to wake up and open them far enough to see what was on the tiny screen. They were full of gunk, the kind that meant you'd been sleeping for ages in a gross like sleep and that you needed a shower.

It was Grier. Seeing her name light up across the screen seemed strange to me. I hadn't had my phone with me this entire time, I'd gotten so used to us being together every day. Just like we always were in the summer. We were never apart like this.

Never in this way.

I couldn't bring myself to answer. What would I say? What would she say? She'd probably yell at me. She was probably just really, really angry with me now.

I didn't feel like listening to that, I didn't think I could. I already felt awful for leaving in the first place. For leaving them both behind.

I wondered, did they want us to come back? Did they miss us? Had anything else happened?

Did he miss me?

It stopped ringing, and that's when I saw I had ten unread messages. Twenty missed calls. Some were from Grier, some from Austin.

And some from him.

I jumped out of bed, grabbing my phone out of my drawer and bringing it closer to my face so that I could see.

He'd called me eight times.

Maybe he really did want us to come back. The thought of us leaving them both there with everything that had just happened made my skin crawl.

Maybe we could go back. But I knew it would never be the same now. The summer how we knew it, was over.

I took a quick shower, before pulling on a sweater and some shorts and making my way to the kitchen. I decided I'd make a coffee and sit down, and then I'd talk to Tom about what we were going to do next. I wondered if he'd been talking to Maxwell.

It was probably around mid morning. The house was lit up so bright by the sun that it made me squint in pain. I still hadn't gotten enough sleep. But how could I sleep properly with what had just happened last night?

Not even last night, this morning.

"How's my little starfish?"

I jumped. It was my Dad. He came up from behind me, rubbing my head with his hand and scruffing it all up more than it already was. Starfish had been my nickname since the beginning of time, even before I'd seen one in real life.

It felt both good, and weird at the same time that I was back at home and he was calling me that. There was only one person missing.

Mom.

"Hey," I said quietly, mixing the milk into my coffee round and round with the spoon, as if it needed more stirring than what I'd already done.

"How'd you sleep? Back in your own bed huh?"

"Mmm, not too good."

Dad looked a little worse for wear himself. He looked like he hadn't shaved in weeks, and his t shirt and shorts looked like he'd probably fallen asleep in them over a few too many beers more nights than he could count.