Summer Days, Oh, Our Wasted Ways

Catherine smiled at the reflection in the mirror. She was preparing for the town’s annual summer party that was happening tonight. She slid on her sandals, fixed her hair, and checked herself one more time in the mirror before heading downstairs to wait for her grandparents. She sat in the couch fiddling with her bracelet.

She let out a sigh and leaned into the couch. It has been a week since Matthew had asked her out but they still hadn’t gone out yet and she didn’t know why. She closed her eyes and tried to relax. She hadn’t really seen much of Matthew the past week. She was spending more and more time with the girls, especially Elouise but she did miss Matthew.

That must be why, she thought. He must have been pretty busy this week and just doesn’t have the time. As much as Catherine wanted to believe herself she didn’t. There was a really big part of her brain that was saying that he just wanted to mess with her head. She let another frustrated sigh and tried not to think about anything. She hasn’t seen him in the past three days but he was supposed to be at the party tonight, everyone was. She would just ask him there so her mind can finally rest.

“Catherine?” her grandfather said, catching her attention. She turned to look behind her and saw her grandmother and grandfather there waiting patiently. She quickly stood up and went to them apologizing for making them wait. They just laughed and said that they were the ones making her wait.

She smiled and entered the back of the car. She sat down and watched as her grandparents entered the car, her grandfather behind the wheel and her grandmother in the passenger’s seat. They buckled their seatbelts and made sure she did too. Safety first, they always said.

The ride to the location of the party was quiet. They finally arrived and Catherine got out of the car and then helped her grandmother. They entered the banquet hall where the party was being held. She made sure her grandparents had found friends to stay with before leaving them to find her own.

She first saw Elouise and ran up to her. They hugged since they hadn’t seen each other all day which was a first. She examined Elouise in her pink dress and glasses. She looked rather girly and if it wasn’t for the black accessories she would have most probably passed for one. Her blond hair was in light curls in the end which was very different from her usually pin straight hair. Elousie looked at Catherine and twirled her around, complimenting on her dress and her hair. She took a quick picture of her and then one of them together.

“So where is everyone else?” Catherine asked Elouise.

“I don’t know. I got her maybe ten minutes ago.” She told her. Together they made their way around the room in search of their friends. They kept going in circles until they noticed a very familiar face. They sneakily crept up behind him as he talked to an unfamiliar girl in a pink dress. On the count of three they jumped on him making him spill some of his drink.

“Hey Mitchel” they said in unison. He glared at them before smiling. They then turned to look at the girl he was talking to until they realized it was Taylor. They stared at her before she snapped her fingers right in front of their faces and catching their attention.

“Taylor!” they yelled and hugged her. They let go of her and looked at her one more time.

“You’re in pink.” Elouise said trying to hold back shock. In all the years she has known Taylor she doesn’t think she has ever worn the color pink, much less a pink dress but then again she was wearing her trademark vans which made her outfit a lot more like her.

“Yeah well so are you.” Taylor said pointing at the dress her friend was currently wearing.

“You match!” Catherine said pointing out the obvious. She turned around and studied Mitchel’s outfit. “Wow, you look very…” Catherine said but was speechless.

“Preppy” Elouise said finishing Catherine’s sentence. Catherine nodded and was surprised that the word actually matched.

“Leave us alone.” Mitchel said hugging his sister.

“Yeah, our mom still dresses us.” She said while rolling her eyes. Catherine and Elouise started laughing but quickly stopped when they saw the glares heading their way. Elouise took pictures of them individually and group shots before they continued in search of Nathan and Matthew.

They went around the whole room at least ten times before they decided to wait by a table. They made small talk and took random pictures as they waited.

“Where are they?” Taylor asked loudly hoping to catch their attention. And much to her surprise, it worked. Nathan appeared and sat down in the seat between Catherine and Mitchel ruining their staring game. He crossed his arms and sighed.

“Where have you been?” he asked them and they all looked at him.

“We’ve been here, right in this very spot.” Mitchel said as he sipped from his drink.

“Oh,” he said before his eyes landed on Taylor. “Wow Tay, you’re in pink.” He said obviously shocked like the rest of them.

“Shut up Smith,” Taylor replied in a threatening tone. He raised both of his hands in defeat before looking around the room.

“Hey guys, I’ve been looking for you!” Matthew said appearing from the crowd and sitting down in the seat between Elouise and Taylor. Catherine looked at him and studied his outfit, noticing that unlike the girls they boys’ outfits weren’t very different from one another. She was slightly mad at him, she wasn’t exactly sure why but she had a good guess. She avoided eye contact with him and talked among the group, happy that they were finally complete.

The night went on and each of them could say they were having fun. Elouise was busy taking pictures, Mitchel and Taylor were busy flirting with people from the party, Nathan was raiding the buffet table, Matthew was busy talking to the people he hasn’t seen in a year, and Catherine was resting by their table.

She had just finished dancing with Mitchel. She had been dancing for hours and she was glad she didn’t wear heels. Before she danced with Mitchel she was dancing with Nathan, a bunch of other guys her age, older, and younger. She thinks she has danced with every guy in the room except for one, Matthew.

She had been ignoring him the whole night and it seems as if he was ignoring her too. She sighed and ran a hand through her already messy hair. She leaned on the table and watched the scene before her, fathers dancing with their little girls, little girls dancing with little boys, little boys chasing one another around the dancing couples, the dancing couples from all ages. She smiled as she watched a little girl and boy dance together right beside an elderly couple. Love never ages.

She continued to watch the dancing couples until she heard someone sit across from her. She turned her head and saw Matthew sitting in the seat directly across her. He took of his hat. His hat, Catherine thought. He always seemed to have a hat of some sort except for the first day she was here. She looked at him but he wasn’t look at her. She eventually turned her head just when he was going to look at her.

He looked at her and stared at her beautiful profile. He hadn’t spoken a single word to her the whole night and vice versa. He didn’t know why but for some reason she didn’t seem very…welcoming tonight. She seemed a bit hostile when it came to him and he didn’t know why. Sure, he hadn’t seen her much this week but that shouldn’t be the reason why she was acting the way she was. Actually, it should be the reason why she should be spending more time with him tonight because they have barely seen each other. He sighed and decided he had to do something about it.

She heard him sigh and had to resist the urge to turn and ask him what’s wrong. Afterwards, she heard his seat move and him stand up. Good, she thought but then instantly felt guilty for sounding like such a bitch even though it was just in her mind.

She shook her head as if she could remove all her thoughts and faced the dance floor. She watched in envy as a couple around her age danced to a slow song. She scolded herself for envying them for no reason at all but deep inside she knew the reason she just wasn’t going to admit it. A hand touched her shoulder, startling her and making her jump out of her seat. She quickly turned around and met the pale blue eyes for the first time tonight. She took a step back making him look at her with concern.

“Are you okay Catherine?” he asked her. She barely heard his voice because of the loud music being played but she heard it nonetheless. Catherine quickly nodded before running past Matthew and out of the door that led to a garden.

Matthew stared after her, confusion evident on his face. He was hurt by her sudden exit and didn’t know what to do. He scanned the room and quickly met the turquoise eyes of Elouise. She looked at him with concern in her features and made her way across the room to him. He sat back down in a chair and held his head in his hands. Elouise finally reached him and sat in the seat Catherine was occupying a few seconds ago.

“Hey,” she said softly, putting her hand on her best friend’s arm. He looked up at her and silently asked her the question that was bothering him so much. She sighed but decided it was for the best. “She is just a little bit mad that you guys haven’t gone on that date you asked her on. She asked me throughout the week about you but once I answered she would let the topic drop. I guess she is having doubts about your feelings and intentions.”

He removed his face from his hands and just stared at his best friend with a blank expression. I guess that is a good reason, he thought. He felt bad for making her feel as if he was leading her on. He sighed again and stood up, deciding that he should explain himself.

He stood up and let his best friend continue taking pictures. He went out the same door she used and looked around the giant garden for her. He was about to go back inside until he saw a glimpse of the dress she was wearing.

He made his way to the bench she was currently occupying and sat beside her. She looked at his direction before sniffing and rolling her red eyes. She wiped her cheeks in case there were still any tears. She sniffed again and let her eyes watch the interesting ground beneath her.

He sat there in the silence and adjusted his hat. He looked at Catherine, who kept sniffing, and noticed her red and puffy eyes. He instantly felt bad for making her cry even though he didn’t do it on purpose. He place two fingers under her chin and made her look at him.

Her olive green eyes immediately met his pale blue ones before she moved her gaze somewhere else. He sighed and removed his fingers from under her chin not sure of what he should say. She continued sniffing as he just sat there watching her.

“Catherine…” he said softly making her look at him. He saw the sadness in them and felt pain inside him. “I am sorry.”

“Sorry for what?” she asked pretending not to know even though they both knew why. “There’s no reason for you to be sorry.” She told him hoping her he would leave her alone so she could cry freely instead of holding it in.

“Catherine,” he said in an exasperated tone. She sent him a sharp look, pissed off by his tone as if she did something wrong. He immediately scolded himself before trying again. “You know why. I am really sorry. It’s just that…”

He had her attention now. If he wanted to talk about it, let him talk. She really wanted to know why he hadn’t brought up the topic in the past week and why she felt she did something wrong. She wanted to know why she was beating herself up.

“I’ve been really busy.” He said as if that was a good enough reason. She quickly stood up, anger boiling inside her. He just stared at her, wondering why she was suddenly standing and why her face was so red.

“If you’ve been really busy, you shouldn’t have asked me out.” She said loudly but not loud enough for people in the party to be able to hear.

“It wasn’t like I gave you a specific date or anything.” He said, his defensive side kicking in.

“Yeah but you don’t usually just let the person wait, not having a single clue at all!” she said her voice slightly rising.

“I don’t get why you are in such a rush anyway! We have the whole summer!” he said.

“Do you mean you were actually going to wait until the end of summer to take me out?” she said hurt obvious in her voice.

“No, I just meant that there was no rush.” He defended himself.

“So you make me wait?” she said. She didn’t know she was this upset over it but it was too late to back down now. “You couldn’t at least have the decency to tell me that you were going to be busy.”

“I don’t have to tell you anything! It isn’t like we are dating!” he said turning red too.

“Yeah, we obviously aren’t.” she said while rolling her eyes. “You just let me wait the whole week and let me think that I did something wrong or you were just playing me!”

“You didn’t have to think that way!” He yelled his voice much louder than hers.

“I am sorry if I have some doubts!” She yelled her voice matching his, loud and angry.

“Yeah, it also shows how much you trust me too!” He yelled.

“Maybe it’s a good thing I didn’t trust you then, isn’t it?” She yelled back.

“Well, you most certainly must have trusted me since you told me you couldn’t swim.” He yelled but immediately regretted it.

She kept her mouth close and looked at him with watery eyes. She then switched to look at the crowd that was forming behind him. She closed her eyes making the tears roll down her cheek. They were all just staring and she couldn’t handle it. She was never one for drama.

He turned around and saw the crowd that was staring at them. Right in the front of crowd he saw Elouise, Taylor, Nathan, and Mitchel shaking their heads at him. He groaned and then looked back at Catherine who had tears streaming down her cheek. He took a step forward and was going to wipe them away but she slapped his hand away and opened her eyes. In them, he saw anger, hate, hurt, and worst of all, disappointment.

“Maybe I really shouldn’t have trusted you.” She said softly before briskly walking away. He watched her go and then looked at his friends who were all sending daggers his way, especially Taylor and Elouise. They sent one more glare his way before chasing after Catherine. He watched them go after her and crumpled to the floor. He has never felt so helpless and mean.

The crowd soon disappeared, stirred by the drama that rarely happened in the small town. Mitchel and Nathan went to their friend and helped him pick himself up. He was currently crying if you could call staring at a tree while tears freely fell from your eyes crying.

They helped him up and decided to leave all the bitching to the girls which they would gladly do. They helped him to his house and stayed with him, waiting for any emotion at all to prove he was still alive. He silently stood up and went to the kitchen to make himself tea, something his mom used to do when he was little and upset. She surely wasn’t going to do that for him tonight.

Nathan and Mitchel followed him into the kitchen and watched as he made his tea, being extra careful so that he wouldn’t burn himself. They stayed there as their minds drifted to Elouise and Taylor wondering if they were doing any better.

Catherine fell to her knees in the middle of the sidewalk just crying her heart out. It didn’t take long for Elouise and Taylor to find her and help her back to her grandparents’ house. They cleaned her up and helped her change and stayed with her in her bedroom. They stayed waiting for her to complain about him or yell at them but she never did. She didn’t feel like it. She was just exhausted. Her throat hurt from yelling and her eyes hurt from crying so much. She just wanted to sleep and forget the night but for some reason she couldn’t go to sleep. She just lay in her bed and stared at the ceiling, her mind going everywhere.

Elouise and Taylor just sat on her bed waiting for her to talk, yell, anything. They didn’t expect the silence she was currently giving them. They couldn’t tell if her silence was good or bad. They exchanged looks before moving so that they were kneeling by her bed and looking at her face. They just watched as she kept her olive green eyes hidden and let the tears roll down her face and unto her comforter. They just waited, and mentally prepared themselves for anything that could happen. Nothing happened.