Summer Rain

Chapter 3

Half awake, I snuggled further into my comforter. I could hear the soft tapping of the rain as it drummed on the roof, making me even more determined to fall asleep again. And in a manner of seconds, I succeeded in my goal.

“Psst. Kara, wake up.” A voice whispered in my ear. I was only vaguely aware that it was a guy's. My answer was to roll over and smush my face into the pillow. A weight lifted off my bed as if he was sitting on it.

Taking that as a sign of giving up, I happily rolled back to my original position. I felt something warm touch my feet and the next thing I knew, I was flying off my bed abruptly landing in the floor with a loud thud. My eyes flew open and saw a grinning Jason bending over me.

“Good morning, sunshine. Sleep well?” He offered me his hand, that smirk in place. I scowled at him and he dropped his hand, “Guess not.” He said. “Breakfast's ready. Hurry up, will you?” He said as he pulled the door close.

Jason grinned as I took my seat on the table beside him. “Don't you have your own house to go to?" I muttered, still feeling grumpy over his wake up call.

He shrugged, “Yeah, but the food here is way better. So I like eating here.” And as if to prove his statement, he got a bit of everything and piled it into his plate.

“You're a pig.” I said, scrunching up my nose.

“I'm just a growing man.” He said with a mouthful of food, accidentally spraying bits of it into me.

“Jason!” I whined, smacking his arm. He apologized, laughing. Yeah, that really sounded sincere.

Uncle Ben strode into the room, looked over at us, and smiled. “You two seem to be going along great.”

“Of course, we're best buddies.” Jason grinned as he draped his arm over my shoulder.

“Yeah, right.” I muttered, shoving his hand away. Uncle Ben chuckled as he took a seat across me, Tessa quickly joining him. I looked away and concentrated on my food.

“Well, I'm done.” Jason announced, standing up from his seat. “Tessa, you've really outdone yourself.” He flashed her a charming smile.

“It was just eggs and bacon for God's sake.” I muttered under my breath as I shoved some to my mouth. Jason threw me a questioning glance but he didn't ask about it. “I'll go now. Thanks again for breakfast, everyone. I'll see you later, Kara.” He winked at me.

“What, you're not gonna be my tour guide today?”I asked. Even though Jason was a pest, he was technically my only friend in this town so far. Nathan not included because he's my crush.

“Actually, I was thinking I could be your tour guide today.” Tessa answered. “Maybe we could go shopping or do whatever you want to do.”

I tore my eyes away from Jason but not before shooting him a pleading look. I smiled at Tessa, “That's really nice but I sort of made plans today.” I lied.

“Oh? Who with?” Jason asked, I turned to give him a warning look but realized he was actually curious. Could he be any more dense?

“With....Nathan.” I smiled. “I met him again yesterday and he asked me if we could hang out today.” Which wasn't really a lie. He did say we should hang out, he just didn't mention a specific day.

“Since whe--” Jason asked but I cut him off by shoving a piece of bread into his mouth. “I'm done too. I'll leave with you, Jason. I'm really sorry, Tessa. Maybe some other day.” I grabbed Jason and dragged him out of the house before he could out me.

Jason actually had something to do that day. I wasn't sure what because he wouldn't say, but he wouldn't let me go with him so now I found myself strolling aimlessly around town. I can't say it was a leisurely stroll because, 1) I had no idea where I was going, and 2) I was paranoid that Tessa might see me.

Somehow, I found myself in a little cafe tucked in the corner of town. As I settled into one of the empty booths, a familiar face came rushing towards me.

“Uh..hi?” I said. The girl in front of me looked so happy that I can't help smiling back.

“Hi? We haven't seen each other for years and all you say is hi?” She frowned. With her big brown eyes she looked exactly like a puppy.

I tried not to laugh. “I'm sorry. Don't get offended but I really have bad memory and you look familiar but I can't remember your name.”

She sighed, “Nathan was right. I thought he was only joking.”

At the sound of Nathan's name, a jolt went through me. He talked about me? Really? Nathan talked about me? Kara Lewis?!

“Nathan?” I asked, trying to sound casual. “You know each other?”

“Well duh, we practically grew up together. “ She rolled her eyes at the thought. Didn't she realize how lucky she was? “Anyway, I'm Chloe. Chloe Bell. It's nice meeting you... again.” She giggled.

I smiled. “Hi Chloe, I think we're going to be friends.... again.” She beamed at me.

“Well, well, who do we have here? Kara Lewis? Is that really you?” A voice drawled. I looked up to a smirking, pretty brunette.

“It's me. In the flesh.” I joked awkwardly. She snorted, not in a friendly way. “What are you doing here? The city got too much for you?” She glanced at Chloe who suddenly became quiet as a mouse.

“Nope. Just summer vacation.” I said, still trying to sound light. “What's your name, again?”

“Maddy. Maddy Jones” She said, unperturbed by the fact I couldn't even remember her. “Look, I'm not really here to talk to you. I'd just like to send you a warning.”

“I'm sorry?” I frowned, trying not to roll my eyes.

Her eyes flashed. “Don't play dumb with me. Stay away from Nathan, you got that?”

“Sure.” I nodded. Not in your dreams. She smiled sweetly at me, sickeningly sweet. “Good.”

I turned away from her thinking the conversation was now over when I suddenly heard applause. Applause from Chloe. My mouth hung open as I stared at the two girls giggling in front of me.

“Gotcha!” Chloe winked. “You should have seen your face! You were totally pissed!” She giggled.

“What's going on?” I asked them, not bothering to hide how irritated and confused I was.

Maddy was still laughing when she slid into the booth next to Chloe. “That, my friend, was your punishment for forgetting about us.”

“Maddy wants to be an actress.” Chloe piped up, “Good, isn't she?”

I smiled, relaxing. “Way. So we're not enemies?”

“Nope.” Maddy answered, still grinning.

“But do you like Nathan?”

Maddy scrunched her nose. “Ew. I'm not into incest.”

“Incest? Are you related or something?”

“Sadly, he's my older brother.” She rolled her eyes. “Yes, we look different. I took after dad, he took after mom. And my family name's not really Jones, it's Anderson. Seriously, you really don't remember us?”

“Nope.” I shrugged, casting them an apologetic look “Sorry but if it makes you feel any better, I was hoping I could get to know you guys again.”

Maddy snorted, one with humor this time. “Like you have a choice. You're stuck with us, Lewis.”

I smiled at them both. I usually wasn't the type to get so friendly people when I first meet them but maybe it was because sometimes in the past I had been friends with all these people, that I easily felt at home. I was so glad I met these two. Now, I didn't have to depend too much on Jason to show me around.