A Summer to Remember

screen. I hesitated for a minute, debating whether or not I should answer and just get our little chat over with or not. I slid my finger down the side of the phone and hit the ignore button. Not today. Maybe tomorrow when I had more energy to deal with him. I decided to lie down and catch up on some sleep. As soon as my head hit my pillow, I was out.
    I was woken up hours later by the sound of my bedroom door creaking open.
    “Hey, Ava. Dinner’s ready if you’re hungry.” I couldn’t see any of her features, I could only make out her silhouette from the hallway light behind her. Wow, I must have been really out of it.
    “Thanks, Mom. I’ll be down in a couple minutes.” I picked up my phone and glanced at the time. I laid around for a few more minutes before I went downstairs to join the family.
    Everyone was in their usual seats, Mom and Dad at each end of the table, my brother on one side, and an empty seat for me on the other.
    “It smells delicious.” I slid into my seat and began dishing myself up. I love my parents’ cooking. Tonight we were having stuffed cheese pasta and salad.
    “Thank you,” my mother said with a proud grin. “Oh Ava, Jason called for you a few times today. Are you two still—”
    “Yes, we’re still broken up.” I cut her off. I didn’t mean to sound rude, but I was so sick of hearing and talking about Jason. “I actually met a really nice guy this weekend.” I kept my eye on her to see her reaction.
    “Oh really? Where did you meet him?” She focused on me, hungry for details.
    “He’s a friend of a friend,” I lied. I knew if I told them I met him at a frat party then spent the weekend at the lake with him, they wouldn’t be too thrilled.
    “Does he go to your school?” she asked.
    “He goes to Brant.” My dad and brother looked at me, waiting for more details. They were both super protective over who I dated. Neither of them were fond of Jason, but they knew him well enough to know he wouldn’t try and pull anything stupid. After a small silence, my dad started with the questions.
    “Is he a freshman?” he asked, looking rather serious.
    “Actually, I’m not sure. We haven’t been able to talk about much, but he’s taking me out to dinner tomorrow night.”
    “So are we going to be meeting him tomorrow, then?” My brother chirped in.
    “We’re just going to dinner, guys! I don’t want to scare him off yet.” I looked at my mom for some kind of support, but she just smiled at me, clearly amused with what is going on.
    “Well, if he’s coming here to get you, we might as well meet the guy.” He and my brother looked at each other and nodded in approval.
    “Okay, but just for a minute before we go.” I swear those two had these little talks all planned out. After dinner I helped clean up and put the dishes away, then went back up to my room. I picked up my phone and noticed I had another text from Adrian:
     
    Everything is set for tomorrow.
    See you at 7 :)
     
    I replied back:
     
    Sounds good. I’ll be waiting.
    Be prepared to meet the family.
    Don’t worry. They won’t be
    too hard on you ;) lol
     
    My phone beeped a few seconds later:
     
    I’m not worried.
    Parents love me :$
     
    I jumped into bed and caught up on a few of my shows. I’ve always been a sucker for reality TV. Before I knew it I was ready to get some more sleep. As I closed my eyes, I couldn’t help but daydream about my date with Adrian. This was the first “first date” I’d had in years. I was a little nervous but excited at the same time. Where would he be taking me? What would he be wearing? I hope he’ll wear something like that gray t-shirt he wore at the cabin. It fit so snugly around his body. I couldn’t wait until tomorrow!

 
     
    CHAPTER 11

    A fter I finally got around to taking a shower the next day I searched through my closet to find something to wear on my date. Of course I came up empty handed. I looked at the clock and it was just after two. Okay, good, I had plenty of time. I picked up my phone and pressed Lily’s name.
    “Hello darling!”
    “Hey! What are you doing today?”
    “Um, nothing really, just hanging with Steven. Why? What’s up?”
    “You want to go to the mall with me? I have to find an outfit for my date tonight.”
    “Of course I do! I’ll swing by and pick you up in about twenty minutes.” I could always count on her to ditch Steven for shopping.
    “Great!”
    Almost exactly twenty minutes later Lily’s car