That Summer

1. Sail

1. Sail

“God, this place is insane!” Gage shouts as he drops his bags on the tile in the foyer.

We rented a house that’s part of a duplex. When we pulled up, Maggie started complaining about how God-awful the color is. It’s kind of in between a salmon and peach, but I then explained to her that it’s a beach house and they’re supposed to be bright and ugly. That made her shut up.

There’s a master bedroom off the kitchen, which we all agreed was off limits because we all paid the same amount and it’s bigger than all the rest, which isn’t fair. The kitchen is a really pretty aqua color with a dining table and then a bar with barstools. The living room is a pretty good size with a TV in the back corner and a balcony connected to that, which is where Sebastian is.

I decide to ignore the beach that’s practically calling my name and to go upstairs.

As soon as I hit the second floor, I see two bedrooms and a bathroom. The first bedroom has a set of twin beds and a bathroom inside the room. I figure that Sebastian and Gage will be sharing this room because the room next door is a queen bed with a bathroom inside that room. That’ll most likely be Max and Maggie’s room.

There’s another set of stairs in the back corner with a door to the second story of the balcony. I go up the set of stairs and find a bedroom with two twin beds. The view in this room is fantastic because it looks out over the ocean. This will most definitely be my room, even though it’s kind of creepy to be upstairs all by myself, and there’s no bathroom up here.

But you could not pay me to sleep next door to Max and Maggie.

I go back downstairs and see Max, Gage, and Sebastian putting all the stuff inside.

“Dibs on the bedroom on the third floor,” I announce.

“What, that’s not even fair! You didn’t help unload anything,” Gage complains.

“Yeah, but it was my idea for this trip,” I retort.

“No way. You’re not playing that card the whole time, Nell,” Sebastian argues. I roll my eyes and pick up my two duffel bags, which nearly make me fall back to the floor.

“The only other option is the room next to Max and Maggie’s.”

“Fucking gross,” Gage groans.

Maggie turns a bright shade of red as she lugs her suitcase inside, and Max rolls his eyes.

“Thanks, Nell,” Max grumbles. I flash him a sweet smile and start my trek up the two flights of stairs to my room.

Maybe this room isn’t such a great choice.

But like I said, I’m not sleeping next to Maggie and Max.

I finally make it to my room and start putting everything in the dresser. As soon as I’m putting away my bras and underwear, Gage comes up.

“Ooh, nice choices,” he comments, eyeing my bras. I give him a look and shove them in the drawer. “This room is super cool. There’s no way you can hear the two of them banging to their hearts’ contents.”

“Yeah, which is why I picked it.”

“The only downside is that there’s no bathroom.”

“I’ll use yours.”

He rolls his eyes and flops down on the twin bed that doesn’t have all of my stuff on it. “I’m really excited for this summer. I think it’s gonna be really good.”

“We all are.”

“It does suck that we’re all going away to different schools in August. We haven’t been apart since second grade.”