Always Summer

by Criss Copp

  “Talk to me Sal.” She pleaded.

  I looked up to Debbie, I couldn’t... I implored her to. I knew Debbie didn’t think Summer should know or continue to go over this stuff. I knew that she thought Summer should move on and not have to drag this stuff back up, but she also knew our bond, so, hesitating only a little, she explained.

  “Sally had blood tests done today.” Debbie began.

  “I know.” Summer replied.

  “She’s concerned about the results.” Debbie explained.

  “Why?” Summer asked, innocently.

  Debbie sighed, took a breath and ploughed on.

  “Because they asked her whether she’d ever engaged in unprotected sex; amongst other things.” Debbie stated, grimacing.

  “Oh.” Summer replied.

  “And of course, well, you know...” Debbie trailed off.

  “I know.” Summer replied.

  There was silence for a brief moment.

  “Well,” Debbie continued, “Some viruses don’t show up for a while, like HIV, and she’s worried that she has something... like that.” Debbie finished on a sigh.

  “Not gonna happen.” Summer announced confidently.

  “You can’t know that.” I whimpered.

  “Of course I can!” She said.

  “You can’t Summer, but we can be supportive of Sally and help her until she knows for sure.” Debbie stated.

  “Look,” Summer started, “You have to be okay, and I feel really, really certain of it!” she said.

  Debbie sighed. I felt hopeful; she had a positivity around me that made me hope. But still... I felt like shit too.

  “How... how can you be so certain?” I asked her.

  “Because, if that asshole... sorry Debbie, but that’s a mild word for him... If that asshole managed to get you sick with something like that, or anything for that matter; utter chaos would ensue, and he would have to rise from the dead so that I could have the pleasure of killing him myself. And since that stupid shit only ever happens in lame sitcoms and B-grade movies, then you’re gonna be fine. Sorry Debbie for swearing.” She reasoned.

  Wow, that was... weird. But for some reason it made me smile. She noticed my smirk, and leant forward, touching her forehead to mine. Debbie loosened her hold, but remained with me.

  “I love you Sal.” Summer said.

  “I love you too, chicken.” I replied.

  “I kissed Blake today.” Summer said out of the blue, closely looking me in the eyes so it looked like she had one big eye instead of two.

  What? Did she just say she kissed Blake? Her best friend Blake? Did I hear her right?

  I jumped back and looked directly at her again. How random for her to say that, just... say that like it meant nothing... I turned to look at Debbie who looked equally as confused, and then I returned to look at her. She was grinning.

  “What do you mean you kissed Blake today?” I asked incredulously.

  “As in I had my first real kiss with a boy today, and it was Blake.” She said and color rose in her cheeks and her eyes fell to the floor.

  If she wanted my focus to shift, she managed it effortlessly.

  I looked at her, imploring her to offer up more information. She wasn’t offering.

  “Don’t say that and leave it there.” I whined.

  “Are you going to cheer up a bit if I tell you what happened?” she bargained.

  I smiled, I couldn’t help it. I fed off of her emotions. Debbie smirked too, and covered her smile with her hand to hide it.

  Summer looked up and saw my face and broke into a huge grin. God, she was so beautiful.

  “Okay, I’ll tell you.” She said shifting on the bed so her body was facing me, and one leg was bent up on the bed beside me.

  “I got to the Starbucks down on Fort Salonga road, right, and Jewels and Jordan, her boyfriend, were plastered to each other’s face, and no matter what Blake and I did or said, it wouldn’t make them stop... so we started to flirt and talk outrageously to each other, you know... the way we do,” she said. I nodded; I knew what she was talking about. So she continued.

  “Then we kind of talked each other into actually going through with kissing each other to show those two up. So we did, right there in front of them... the other patrons and staff too. We just sort of... went for it.” She finished, chuckling at herself.

  “So you like kissed, like... kissed, kissed!” I announced, pleading for confirmation and more information.

  “Tongues and everything!” Summer gloated.

  Debbie couldn’t help it. She burst out laughing. I sat there, starting to giggle.

  Summer continued to smile at us. Her mission was complete; she had completely changed the mood in the room. She bugged her eyes at me... my composure was gone... so she dug deeper.

  “And just at the point where we were about to get dirty, sorry Debbie,” she winced, but continued; “Jewels got up and tore into us.” She said, matter-of-factly.

  Debbie had fallen back laughing onto the bed. She knew these kids, knew their parents, their birthdays, had seen them grow up alongside Summer, and had watched their idiosyncrasies develop. She was now obviously picturing this scene in her head as was I.

  “There’s more.” Summer said.

  I was already getting a stitch but I motioned with my hand for her to continue with her story.

  “Jewels spent half an hour trying to convince Blake that he was gay, and Blake completely destroyed her arguments, determined to put that rumor to rest. I can’t tell you what he said, because it was pretty rude and Debbie would seriously get angry.” She reasoned.

  “I won’t... get... angry.” Debbie said laughing and crying.

  “Okay, but don’t get angry, because Blake and I are still friends, and I don’t want you to get funny with him.” Summer explained.

  Debbie nodded. I was starting to feel pain. Maybe it wasn’t that funny, but after the previous conversation, and with us feeding off of each other’s laughter, Debbie and I were totally lost.

  “Well, he explained how he didn’t find guys attractive, that he was attracted to girls, and he told everyone that when he kissed me he got a huge hard on.” She finished.

  I couldn’t help it... I slid onto the floor; tears were quite literally falling off my chin. My sides were so sore from my laughter that I think it felt worse than crying in sadness. Debbie was in hysterical throws of laughter, no way she was angry... she wasn’t able to construct a sentence or a thought for that matter.

  Summer was relentless; she simply had to hammer it home.

  “So after Blake blew Jewels up and demolished her arguments, shouting out that, um... largish piece of information,” more laughter from us, a smirk from Summer, “I spat coffee over everyone at our table and left the place... promptly.” She giggled, and then sighed.

  She sat there watching us for a while, till our laughter became gasps for breath.

  “I think I’m finished here!” Summer said, wrapping up her announcement, and dusting her hands off at the same time. “I’m glad I could assist in improving the atmosphere in here.” She said, bending down to give me a kiss on the top of my head before bouncing off and leaving my room.

  It took Debbie and I quite a while to stop the breakthrough chuckling, both of us drawing long, hard lungfulls of air in, as though we’d both run a marathon.

  “She sure has a knack for lightening the mood.” Debbie finally said.

  “Yes.” I nodded, and damn it, she was right. I couldn’t even slip back into the doldrums... I would just have to wait and see the results of that damned test and take it from there.

  “What do you make of all of that though?” I asked Debbie her opinion.

  “What part of it?” Debbie asked, wiping her cheeks with the palms of her hands and drying them on her jeans. She then settled on her elbows to lift her torso off the bed.

  I turned around and put my head on the bed.

  “All of it.” I reasoned.

  “H
mmm... Blake being gay?” she asked. I nodded. She shook her head and sucked on her teeth. “No way! He’s never been gay, he’ll never be gay.” She stated. “He’s been watching Summer with bated breath, waiting for her to notice him as more than a friend for years.” She looked at me, then over at the now closed door of the ensuite.

  “He’s been in love with that girl since he met her.” She said.

  “Seriously?” I asked, my eyes widening.

  Debbie nodded... “I have eyes, I watch.” She said. Taking a deep breath, she continued, “I have no doubt he sported a huge hard on,” and she began laughing all over again, before trying to persist, “ how... I am ever going to... look him in the eye again?!” she finished.

  Oh dear, and there we went... off again.

  Chapter 4

  Summer.

  I was listening to my new Birds of Tokyo CD, called Universes, which meant I had the entertainment unit next to my door open, with the music at a level I was certain would bring me attention from Debbie, if it wasn’t for the fact that she had gone out today, and I was surfing amazon.com for cheap ebooks.

  There was a knock on my door.

  “Come in.” I shouted.

  “Aren’t you going to answer your phone?” Blake’s voice chimed over the music, as he entered the room.

  Grabbing the remote I directed it over my shoulder and turned the music down; before grabbing my phone from the bag at my feet and checking the screen. I’d missed three calls from Blake.

  Blake went over to my bed and jumped up onto it, adjusting the pillows up behind him so he could half sit.

  I looked over to him, smiling.

  “How did you get inside?” I asked.

  “I know where the key is.” He replied.

  “Time to move the key.” I suggested.

  “Probably.” He returned, smiling.

  “What happened to the pink hair?” I asked.

  “Jordan told me to lose it, so I lost it.” He replied, shrugging.

  “Fair enough, I suppose if you’re going for hetero, the pink doesn’t exactly work.” I replied, smiling and twirling my chair around to look at him.

  “True,” he stated. “I have a question and a favor to ask.”

  My stomach was doing a flip. What kind of favor... was he after a repeat performance from yesterday? I was going to find it hard to look at him like a friend if we started doing that again... but, oh my God... I really, really wanted to repeat that kiss.

  “What kind of favor.” I said, accompanying my look with squinty eyes.

  He chuckled.

  “First, a question. Actually, two questions, depending on your first answer.” He began.

  “Hmmm...” I replied.

  “Did you think I was gay?” he asked, smiling, but I could detect a slight concern, a little bit of sadness.

  I sighed, I didn’t believe it... had always doubted it, but if he turned around and said definitely that he was, then I would’ve believed him, because he told me.

  “Nup, I always doubted it, but... you’ve got some work on your hands convincing everyone; your sister made some compelling arguments at school.” I explained.

  “But you doubted it. Because I can assure you, I really am straight... not that being gay is wrong or anything... it’s just not me.” He pressed.

  “Yes, I really believe you.” I reassured him.

  He sighed, smiled and sat up.

  “Okay, so another question.” He said

  Please don’t ask me out, please don’t ask me out, please don’t ask me out... I chanted in my head.

  “Do you think we’ll remain good friends, for like forever? I mean... I don’t want you to ever give up on me... so, will you be there for me, and I’ll be there for you too.” He said, intensely.

  “Are you kidding me? What kind of question is that?” I fired back, jumping up from the chair and running over to the bed before dive bombing him.

  He put his hands up to protect himself; whilst lifting his leg up to protect his junk.

  “I’m only asking,” he continued, “because it means that if there are boys in your life and girls in my life, they might not understand our friendship, and like... I don’t want to give you up for anyone.” He reasoned, scooting over to give me room on my bed.

  “Shit, if it’s like that, then we’ll fuck them off!” I replied. “And what’s the favor?” I asked.

  “Can you teach me how to skateboard, I mean the basics?” He asked.

  “Sure... but if you want to learn more than that, you’ll have to go to the skatepark - and hurt yourself till you figure it out on your own.” I explained.

  “Nah, that’s okay.” He said. “If I want to do that, I will... but right now, I just want to be able to keep up with you when we head to school after the summer break.” He answered.

  “Okay, let’s get going then.” I suggested.

  “What... now?” he questioned.

  “Yeah, why not?” I argued, “Tuesday morning... no rain, beautiful day, traffic’s low on this street, let’s go!”

  “I thought we could make out!” he smirked, catching my hand and attempting to pull me toward him.

  “Get up!” I laughed, dragging back at his hand in an attempt at removing him from my bed. Then I stopped. Something had been bugging me all night, I wanted to ask him.

  “Blake? What was wrong with Jewels yesterday?” I asked.

  “Who knows?” He replied, rolling his eyes.

  “What’s she doing today? Is she coming over tonight?” I asked.

  “I doubt she’s coming tonight, and since she’s not talking to me at the moment, I have absolutely no idea what she’s up to today.” He said, twisting the ring on my thumb, since I still held his hand.

  Blake.

  Summer sat on the edge of her bed. She was wearing her grey Cookie Man t-shirt and some darker grey, light cotton cargo shorts, which rode low on her hips. I could see the tops of what appeared to be black lacy panties as she bent over to pick up her shoes from under her bed. She began putting her grey DCs on, but I couldn’t concentrate beyond the tops of lacy panties, so I just sat there and watched her.

  This was going to be so much harder than I anticipated; last night when I made plans about how to proceed regarding us, it had seemed so right... well, not easy... but possible.

  I had decided in bed last night, to navigate around my feelings for Summer, effectively putting them on hold. She was the prize, absolutely... but I wanted the prize when I was old enough to hold onto her... to keep her. I’d worked out the next four years elaborately... but in the cold hard daylight, I wasn’t sure how I was to execute any plan without some serious pain infliction... mine!

  Everything hinged on us getting into the same college, and remaining close friends for the next four years. People hooked up in college, and spent the rest of their lives together all the time... my parents had.

  Watching her leaning over to tie her laces I sighed silently. This meant someone else was going to touch her, hold her and kiss her at some point over the next four years. Someone might even convince her to become intimate with them. Shit! Rapidly anger was descending on me... I closed my eyes. I didn’t want to think of Summer having sex with anyone else... and this was the risk! Boyfriends over the next four years were a distinct possibility, she was seriously beautiful. Aargh! What was I thinking last night? Sometimes I could be so stupid! Shit like that was obviously going to happen!

  Breathing deep, I recognised that reality, and uncomfortably squared off with it... I needed to keep my eye on the prize... the end result was what mattered. I’d deal with every hurdle as they appeared... if they appeared! At the end of it all, I wanted her.

  “You ready?” Summer chimed, standing up and twirling to look at me. A shadowed concern crossed her face, “You look like you’re in pain, and I haven’t even begun with you yet.” She stated.

  She had no idea how pertinent that sentence was right now.

  “Like I said yesterday...
be gentle.” I replied, smiling suggestively, thinking about the double meaning held within those words.

  “Get up!” she said, tugging at my hand again.

  “Slave driver!” I replied.

  *

  Summer was actually pretty good at teaching me, or at least telling me what to do.

  Feet positioning... check!

  Pushing off... check!

  Rolling down the driveway... check!

  Applying pressure to either side of the deck for a subtle change in direction... check!

  Falling off... multiple check!

  Believability... not so sure!

  Hours, and hours... did I mention hours?

  Yes, fucking hours of falling, hurting and being grateful for some limited ability to balance, otherwise I would’ve sported far worse gravel rash.

  Summer.

  Blake actually did pretty well with skateboarding, I should’ve introduced him to it years ago, but he’d always scoffed at it before.

  On Wednesday, he didn’t show at my house, and so we texted each other over the course of the day. I learnt his morning boot camp session alongside Jordan had put them both out of action for the day.

  On Thursday, when he came over to practice, he brought his own skateboard deck, trucks and wheels, which we put together, and he dutifully launched back into practice. He was worse than on Tuesday, but considering he was struggling with walking after the previous day, I thought he did okay.

  Friday came along quite rapidly... Blake went to boot camp with Jordan again and then again spent the day at home recovering from the experience.

  Sally got her results from Monday’s blood tests... yes, they were fine, as I knew they would be, and in celebration, she was taking me shopping the following day.

  And then Julie came back.

  All week she hadn’t returned any of my calls, texts or requests to hang out. She had broken up with Jordan on Wednesday, via a text message, and she had refused to talk to Blake for days.

  Debbie knocked on my door. I was reading the second book in the Underland series, by Suzanne Collins, lying on my bed.

  “Summer, you have a visitor.” Debbie said, opening the door.