The Summer You Said Hello

Chapter 1

"This is Edward Scissorhands signing on at WKCL. It's a beautiful hot summer day and we're going to make it hotter with our playlist that's gonna start with a cut from Rizza Cabrera's sizzling new album Crash Test. For greetings and requests please buzz me at this number. This crazy beautiful new song is entitled We're as Good as Invincible."

The crisp, fresh voice of the singer floated in the air.

Edward removed his headset and drank his black coffee from a mug that said "Ass Kicker". He was mulling over the scene that had been rewinding in his mind for a week now.

It was a Wednesday afternoon, he was walking home from work.

"Edward!" said a voice. He would know that voice anywhere. It hit him like a flashback. Her voice sounded intense, like an echo from faraway. He was sure he was having a déjà vu. This voice which called his name in that familiar and very confident way belonged to Camille.

When he turned to look at her, the microsecond that he had did not prepare him. He was so unready for the prospect of looking at those eyes again. Those huge, dark, brown eyes which for some reason reminded him of whirlpools.

The sun was just sinking and there was the quiet mood of dusk settling over the horizon. Her face was beaming.

"Is that you Camille?" he said, as if he had just come up with a name. He remembered her ability to light up an entire ballroom with just a single smile and that day was no exception.

"Yep, it's me. I'm not a hallucination...haha," she said.

They always had a standing joke about hallucinations and pretending they didn't know each other.

Conversations like "Do I know you from somewhere?" and "Nope, it must be my evil twin sister."

He wanted to hug her, but after four years of no communication at all he felt inadequate as a friend. He slipped his hands inside his jean pockets, afraid of what they might do.

Unlike him, Camille was friendlier. She patted him on the sides of his arms, tiny dimples showing on her cheeks, her own little way of saying she was appreciative of his presence regardless of the lack of enthusiasm on his part.

"So what do you do now?" Camille asked. She was sporting a short hairstyle, black skinny jeans and flat shoes. Over a black camisole she wore a white chiffon blouse that hung open. Her curves were apparent and Edward couldn't help but notice.

"I'm a DJ at WKCL," he said, wanting to divert the question quickly knowing the usual reaction of people to his job.

"No way! As in disc jockey?"she put up her hands and gestured a headphone over her ears. Edward just nodded.

"That's super cool," she said.

"No, just, you know, I like being with music," he started to say.

"Ah yeah... you wanted to be a folk singer, right? What happened to that?"she asked, her irises getting larger.

"Well... I tried it for a time", he said.

"You did? That's great," she said.

"Yeah, for two years I sang, but with a band."

"You did it." She said it as if it mattered to her. Edward wondered if it did really matter to her.

"Yeah, got it out of my system," he said. Involuntarily he caught her eyes. There was awkward silence, but they were able to laugh a little, nervous giggles that died down after a few seconds. Then there was silence again.