Summer Is When Everything Could Happen

I put on my hat and looked at the reflection in the mirror. The current me was devastating. There were dark circles around my eyes and they were swollen due to the tears and crying I’ve been through these past few days. It had been three days since dad was gone, and since I’ve been home, mom locked herself in their room. Crying, whimpering, sobbing, and screaming were heard from the inside.

It tear my heart apart to hear my mom like that. She loved my dad so much and now he was gone. Back to the present, I smeared on some lip gloss on my lifeless, dry and chapped lips. After that, I put on some foundation around my eyes to cover the circles. When I was done, I walked out from my room and knocked on my mom’s.

“Mommy? Can you hear me?”, I said quietly as I knocked the door several times. After a few minutes, the door cracked open a bit and revealed my mom, already dressed. Her face was pale and her eyes were worst than mines. “Mom, it’s time.”

She nodded and I took her hand, leading her out from the house. We walked to the cemetery, and I constantly peeked to her. Mom looked so fragile and there were no souls in her green eyes that were identical to mine. Her true love was gone and now she was on her own.

When we got there, our friends and family were already there. They gave their condolences and when it was time for the burial, mom and I stood around dad’s coffin. Mom’s hand which was still inside of mine was trembling and her body shook a bit from the tears she let out. As the priest talked, my mind wandered around until someone’s arm snaked around my waist. I looked to my side and found Stephen.

He smiled a little and I couldn’t protest his presence. In fact, I missed his touch on me. The tears started to form again and I leaned my head on his shoulder, letting them fall. Mom didn’t notice Stephen’s presence, but I didn’t care. I missed him and now I knew how it felt to be left by your love.

When the burial was done, mom went into the church to get the condolences from the others who haven’t got the earlier chance. I took Stephen’s hand and led him to the back of the church and sat down on a bench.

“Thank you for being here.”, I said quietly as I intertwined our fingers together. “Thanks.”

He nodded. “No problem. I’m here to represent John, actually.”

“What? What happened to him?”
“He caught food poisoning.”, Stephen chuckled. “He actually told me not to do any funny business when I meet you, but seeing what are we doing—“, he looked down to our intertwined fingers, “We already are.”

My cheeks flushed and I looked down to my feet, letting my hair covering my face. “I’m sorry. I’m really sorry but I just need someone right now. My mom is a total wreck and I just don’t wanna see her like that, you know.”

Stephen nodded. “I understand. Anyway, is your mom going to mind if I kidnap you for the rest of the day?”

“What?”, my eyes narrowed at him and Stephen just smirked. He stood up, helping me up as well before pulling me towards the church. We found our mom, surrounded by her friends, trying to cheer her up and by the way I saw it, she looked more alive than before when she was with her friends.

“Mrs. Smith?”, John said calmly when we were already in front of her. Mom’s eyes lit up when she saw Stephen’s and my hands were together. “I’m Stephen Gomez, your daughter’s boyfriend.”

My eyes widened on the word ‘boyfriend’. I nudged his legs with mine and he just ignored me. “Stephen, it’s really nice to finally meet you.”, mom stood up and smiled a bit.

Stephen nodded. “Anyway, can I ask your permission to take your daughter out for the day? You see, I want to cheer her up.”

Mom’s eyes flickered back to Stephen then me, and the next thing she did is nodding her head. Stephen smiled victoriously and thanked her before pulling me out to the parking lot. We got into his car, with him in the driver seat and I was in the passenger. He quickly turned on the ignition and drove out from the parking lot.

“So, where are you taking me?”, I asked while I took off my hat and put it in the backseat. “I’m still in a dress.”

Stephen looked to me and smiled sweetly. “You look amazing.”

My face turned into a shade of red when he said that. We stayed quiet through the whole ride until he brought me to the lake outside of town. The lake was crystal blue and with the sun shining down, it made the lake looked cool and clear. We got out from the car and Stephen quickly took my hand, leading us to the little look-like-a-bait-shop near the lake.

A man was stacking a giant plastic ball, looked like a hamster ball that would float around the water. I waited for him at the dock and when Stephen was back, his smile was wider than before.

“Uhm, what are we going to do?”, I asked him as I looked around the blue clear water lake. Then, the man brought us one of the plastic balls. When he told us to get inside the ball, I almost choked on my own saliva. “Stephen, are you crazy?”

He was already inside and he lend in his hand. “Come on, Ally, trust me.”

I swallowed the lump in my throat and took his hand, carefully step into the ball. The man told us not to sit on the zipper and then, he filled the ball with air. After he was done, he pushed the ball with us inside it into the water. When the ball hit the water, I screamed and Stephen pulled me into his arm.

“Don’t worry, Ally. We’ll be fine.”, he laughed. We lie down and it was actually quite peaceful. The sky was clear blue and there was no other sound except our breathing and the water splashing outside the ball.

There was an unexplainable sensation in my stomach every time I was with Stephen. Now, when the fact there was his own child inside me made that sensation even bigger. “Stephen.”

“Hm?”, he hummed as he kept his arm around my shoulder and his other hand holding mine.

“I have something to tell you.”

“Shoot.”

“Do you remember, when we did it at the woods?”

He stayed quiet for a moment before nodding. I swallowed the hard lump in my throat and cleared it before continue. “It was my first time.”

“I think I know what you wanted to say.”, he cut me off.

My eyes bulged out and I sat up, but with my elbow supporting me. “W-What?”

His eyes were focused on me and I couldn’t help but stare back at his eyes. “I will do everything for you and the…baby.”

I leaned forward and pressed my lips on his. We lie down again but now, he was on top of me. He kissed my neck, then down to my stomach. The sky was so blue, making the day looked perfect.