A Summer to Remember

Arts degree. I like to think I’m a pretty good cook and that it just comes naturally. I’ve never had anyone complain about my cooking, but I’ve only cooked for my family and Lily. Come to think of it, I don’t think I’ve ever even cooked for Jason.
    Wow, Jason hadn’t even called or texted me since I saw him yesterday at the mall. I thought for sure he would’ve been blowing up my phone after he found out I was going to dinner with Adrian. Weird. Maybe he finally decided to give up. That’d be nice.
    “So, how was your date with Adrian last night?” my mom asked, interrupting my thoughts.
    “It was fun. I enjoyed it.” I grabbed a knife from one of the drawers and started chopping up some vegetables she had laid out on the counter.
    “That’s good. Are you guys going out again?” Mom grabbed another knife and started chopping up the grilled chicken.
    “Yeah. He works long days all week, so he’s usually exhausted by the time he gets off. We won’t be doing anything until Friday night.” I moved the carrots to the side and started chopping up the celery.
    “That will be nice. What are you guys going to do?”
    “I’m not sure yet. I’m supposed to decide on something.”
    “Does he work late Friday?”
    “Yeah, I think so.”
    “Well, why don’t you cook him a nice meal? You’re a great cook, and since he works late, he probably doesn’t get a home cooked meal very often. You can even have him come over here if you want. Your dad and I will be at Terry and Eric’s house most of the night. They’re having a party to celebrate Terry’s promotion and I’m pretty sure your brother will be at Josh’s house.”
    “That’s actually a great idea, Mom! Thanks!” We threw the chicken and vegetables into the pan of rice on the stove and we talked while she cooked the stir-fry.
    Dinner was rather quiet. I started to think about what it would be like to not have a family dinner. Ever since I was little, my parents always made a big deal out of making sure we ate dinner together at least a few nights a week. Even when we didn’t have much to talk about, it was still nice to spend time with them.
    After dinner I went up to my room and waited for Adrian to call. I decided to look up some recipes to help pass the time. I pulled my laptop from the nightstand and began browsing the web. I found a few things that looked good so I printed them out and put them in my purse. I’d have to stop by the grocery store later in the week to pick up the ingredients.
    When my phone finally rang I searched frantically through my blankets until I saw the glow from the screen. I answered it just before it went to voicemail.
    “Hello?”
    “Hey. What are you doing?” It was Adrian. I could tell how tired he was just by the tone of his voice.
    “Not much, just relaxing. How was work?”
    “Long and hot. I’m exhausted.”
    “Aw, I’m sorry to hear that. If it makes you feel any better, I finally thought of what I want to do on Friday.”
    “Oh yeah, what’s that?”
    “I want to cook you dinner.”
    “Oh really?” He perked up a little bit.
    “Yeah, I’ll cook and we can rent movies or something.”
    “That sounds great. You going to cook at your house or mine?”
    “Well, my parents and brother will be gone that night, so I can cook here if you want. Or we can go to your house, is anyone going to be home?”
    “I’m not sure, but it doesn’t matter. I have my own apartment.”
    “You do?”
    “Yeah, when I was in high school I got sick of living at my parents’ house with my brothers and sisters. None of them have much ambition and none of them wanted to go to college so they were still trying to figure out what they were going to do in life. And that’s a whole lot of people in such a cramped space. So I asked my dad if I could fix up the room above the garage. He said as long as I could find a place for all the stuff being stored up there, it was all mine. So Brian and I spent one summer fixing it up and I’ve been up here ever since.”
    “Your place it is, then.”
    “I’ll leave a key outside for you, in case you get here before I get home.”
    “Are you sure you want me in your house without you there?” I wasn’t sure if I wanted to be in his house without him there. It seemed too…personal.
    “Doesn’t make any difference to me. Might as well get used to it because you’ll be spending a lot of time over here the next couple months.” I smiled at the thought.
    “I