Always Summer (8 page)

“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.

“Hmmm...
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.

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.