last summer

eleven

"I pictured you with other girls in love and threw up on the street"
- Hits Different by Taylor Swift

Losing a friend is hard. I had known Stephanie for years and I always imagined us being friends forever. I wondered if all friendships died like this, slow and painful. Long and endless.

It had been three weeks since Sonny's birthday party.

SumSun was only two weekends away. I had no date, no dress, no plan.

In those three weeks since I caught Josh I watched every romcom under the sun, ate way too much watermelon and cried far too many times for my own good.

But never over Joshua. Never because Joshua had cheated on me or because I had been single.

It was all because of Stephanie.

I had been betrayed and planned to never speak to her again.

Bay was growing already. He'd nearly tripled in size and Sonny took him out to fish every Sunday after breakfast.

That Sunday, I came along.

"Watch that line for me." Sonny instructed me around like I understood half of what he was saying.

I sat by the fishing rod that was wedged between a Yeti cooler and the wall of the boat Sonny got for his birthday.

"Are you taking Luce to Summer Sun this year?" I squinted despite already covering my eyes from the sun.

"I think so." He took a long pause to wrap his fingers all away around the leather wheel. "I'm kinda sick of SumSun."

"How come?"

"I'm already at VanLands almost every day. It's nothing special." It was special. It had to be. I needed to go and maybe now that the people standing in the way had removed themselves, I could finally ask Niccolo.

Go to SumSun with Niccolo had been top of the summer bucket list I kept in my top dresser drawer underneath my favorite bikini for years.

I had never gotten to cross it off and the more I thought the more I realized how many bad summers I've had.

Last summer was the closest to perfect. Last summer was just fine.

"You should go." He says "Have you ever been?" Of course he doesn't remember.

"I went last summer." and I pressed in my eyebrows. "You took me."

He laughed at that, pressing the tips of his fingers over his eyes, turning the hat on his head around. "Did I really?"

"Until you left me just like Kels did the first time I went." I groan.

"Nico said he wants to talk to you." He looked disgusted.

My mouth practically fell open. "Why'd he say that?" I tried not to sound too excited.

Sonny started to peddle back. He looked directly at me and brought his shoulders up, letting them crumble back down. "Something about Freeman."