Just For the Summer {Cashton}

( II. ) : SPIN THE CAN

After the little Frisbee mishap, Michael suggested we sit back down and stop playing for a bit. He didn’t want to risk hitting another person I guess. I couldn’t blame him though; I would’ve felt incredibly intimidated by the stranger. I’d choke out. But anyway, we sat back down on top of our towels on the warm sand, and started small conversations here and there about the highlights of Year 12.

“Ashton Fletcher Irwin, you better hug me right now or I’m shoving a drumstick up your nostrils!”

A smile soon formed across my face.  I whipped my head back to see a girl running at my direction with her wavy light brown hair bouncing rhythmically under the sun. I immediately shot up from the ground to accept her embrace whole-heartedly. “Hi, short stuff. Still as tiny as ever,” I whispered in her ear.

“Shut up, curly fry,” she retorted back playfully, smacking my chest. “I’m still growing!”

Jacey Reynolds. Hilariously short—which is why all of us call her short stuff. She’s a year younger than Calum, Michael, and I. We met from my constant visits at the aquarium she volunteers in a year ago, and now she’s a close friend of mine. She’s also one of my Ultimate Frisbee teammates.

We finally both let go of each other. Jacey had spotted Calum standing beside me next and let out a high-pitched shriek—tackling him into one of her tight hugs. Calum laughed hard, picking her up from the sandy ground and twirling her around.

“Wow, it’s nice to know I was missed,” Another voice popped in. My eyes traveled to where it was coming from, and let out a chuckle seeing that it had been another familiar face.

“You’re not as important as Jacey, that’s why,” I teased.

He only crossed his arms and rolled his eyes, laughing soon after. We did our special handshake and hugged briefly before I ruffled his black, spiked-up hair. “Ash Fletch! It’s been a while, huh?”

His name was Will Jay. Well, his nickname was. He on the other hand was tall—tan and well-built. He’s also a year younger than the three of us. We met through Jacey, because he was her boyfriend. He’s a close friend and an Ultimate Frisbee teammate as well.

“Nine months is too much,” I agreed while nodding. The smile on my face couldn’t disappear from reuniting with these two. “I missed you, kiddo!”

“WILLIAM JAY!” Michael piped up beside Will Jay, hugging his side. The latter laughed and draped an arm over the other’s shoulders. “Finally you decide to show up! I missed you the most out of all of these idiots. Even more than Ashton and Calum combined.”

I pouted playfully at the two. It was obvious Michael was lying out of his wits, but we liked messing with each other. It was our thing. The five of us.

“BRO-T-P!” Jacey coughed at her boyfriend and Michael’s skinship. She gave me a playful wink and linked her arms around Calum and my own, looking up at us. “It’s okay, Ashton. We can leave those two love birds alone—after all, they haven’t seen each other in months. Let’s catch up! I missed you!”

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All of us decided to hang around the beach house before the carnival began. We strolled casually along the shore and down the bay, kicking water at each other, with some giving piggy back rides. Jacey was on Will Jay’s, locking her arms securely around his neck. Calum was on mine, doing the same as I hang onto his legs while we gradually approach our destination.

The carnival didn’t open for another three hours, so we had to think of a way to kill time. Once we were inside the house, I ran up the stairs to grab the plastic tub of DVDs in one of the closets—movies my family and Calum’s enjoyed watching every summer growing up. We would even sometimes just spend an entire day engulfed in the television screen and not get up at all.