A Summer to Remember

so thankful for that right now.
    “Yeah, that’s fine. And I don’t have a problem being there for a little while. I just had to get out of there.” I looked out the window and stared off into the darkness.
    “So, what’s going on? What happened back there?” Lily turned onto the main road. I sighed with relief, knowing Adrian and Sam were behind me.
    “I met one of his ex-girlfriends, and suddenly I wasn’t in the mood to be there anymore. Or anywhere around him, for that matter.”
    “Was she that hideous?” Lily looked at me and raised her eyebrows.
    “Actually, no. She was gorgeous.”
    “I’m sure she wasn’t as gorgeous as you are, and plus, she’s probably crazy or something.” I laughed a little. “Well, there’s gotta be some reason why they’re not together anymore.”
    “Well, it gets worse. She goes to school in Florida, the same place where Adrian is taking that job. That’s what set me off. So I just told him you and Steven got into a fight and I’d be staying with you tonight. I didn’t feel like it was right for me to be pissed off about it because he’s right, we’ve both dated other people. I’m just, I don’t know, having doubts, I guess. I really don’t want to get my heart broken again.” I thought back to the times Jason and I had broken up. No matter how many times it happened, it never got any easier. I was starting to feel like I was in over my head. Competing with girls like Sam? I didn’t know if I had it in me.
    “That’s understandable, but do you really think he’ll do that? He just doesn’t seem like that type.” Lily must really like Adrian, it seemed like every time I had something bad to say about him, she always had something good to say. She was never like that with Jason.
    “I don’t know.” I watched the streetlights pass by the window. “I really wish I knew.”

    We pulled up in front of a beige house. It was no mansion, but it was pretty decent. Lily and I got out of the car and walked up to the side of the house. She opened a gate to the backyard and we walked in.
    “Whose house is this?” I whispered as we went down the stepping-stones along the side of the house.
    “Chad’s parents.” I remembered Chad from high school, he played football with the guys. He was always a super nice guy and the girls all loved him, so it was hard to keep track of who he was dating. I noticed a few guys from our high school football team were here with their girlfriends, sitting around a stone fire pit. Everyone seemed to be having a good time. The backyard was pretty nice and looked like it would be great place to barbeque. It was well laid out and the plants and trees were manicured nicely. I was admiring the stonework and the landscaping when someone else caught my eye. Crap! It was Jason. He was sitting on a small rock wall near the side. When he looked up and saw me, a smile formed on his face.
    I looked around the fire pit for somewhere to sit. Just my luck, the only open seat was next to Jason. I hesitated for a minute, debating whether or not sitting next to him was such a good idea. This was ridiculous! I was being silly. It wasn’t like we were in second grade or something and he had cooties. He wouldn’t try and do anything stupid in front of all these people. Lily watched me carefully as I sat next to Jason.
    “Hey,” I said quietly. It wasn’t like anyone else would hear me. All the guys were drunk and trying to talk over each other.
    “Hey.” He gave me a slight smile. I could feel my stomach turn a little. A part of me really missed that smile.
    “How have you been?” I asked.
    “Not too bad. How about you?” I thought of Adrian and Sam.
    “I’ve been better. I could sure use one of those right about now.” I eyed the red cup in his hand.
    “Oh yeah? You want me to show you where to get one?”
    “Yes, please.” He got up and walked by me. Lily had her eyes glued on me. I tried to ignore them burning into me as I got up and followed him to a small bar in the corner of the yard. He walked behind the bar and opened up a small mini fridge. He pulled out a bottle of Malibu and what looked like pineapple juice. He knew it was my favorite.
    “The usual?” he asked, holding out the two bottles.
    “Of course.” I wandered around to the back of the bar and watched him as he poured and mixed my drink. He handed it to me when he was finished. “Thank you.” I was a little relieved to see he didn’t seem so angry anymore.