Summer Love

I always thought Alexandria, Tennessee was only occupied by old people. I mean, every time I went there to visit my grandparents, there were hardly any adults there, let alone kids my age. And yeah, the last time I was there was when I was thirteen, over five years ago, but still, I wasn’t expecting anything but a lousy summer vacation as my parents and I, along with our two dogs, Missy and Charlie, drove from our home in a fairly large town in Maine to my grandparents’ dinky house in the hick town known as Alexandria, Tennessee.

I was wrong. Just two days after I got there, I met Jason at the market. He was buying apples, and I oranges. Maybe it was fate, I’ll never know, but I think Jason was there just for me; to make my summer vacation a little less boring.

And he did.

The next day, he showed up at my grandparents’ house and asked for me. I was in the bathroom, getting ready for a trip to the park. My grandmother said that the park was nice; nothing fancy, but it was nice out and I needed to get away from my family for awhile. My grandmother knocked on the door and I opened it. “Jason’s at the door, Anne. Oh, you’ll just love him. He’s such a sweet boy.” I felt my heart leap in my chest. Jason was here? Before I could ask, my grandmother left. I finished getting ready and walked towards the front door, where I did, in fact, find the Jason I had met the day prior smiling at me.

“Anne, right?” he asked. I nodded. “You told me you were staying here, at your grandparents’ house. I’ve known your grandma for years. She’s a very nice lady. I was wondering if you wanted to go to the park with me.”

I smiled. “Yeah, that’d be great. I was headed there anyway.”

Jason smiled and motioned for me to follow him. I took mental notes as we made our way to the park: he had a black truck; he adjusted his rearview mirror before he left; he didn’t make conversation on the way to the park; the park was approximately twelve minutes away from my grandparents’ house; the park was seemingly the place to go for people our age.

I also took mental notes about Jason: he had shaggy blonde hair that shone in the sunlight (he must use a special kind of conditioner, I told myself); his eyes were hidden by his black-rimmed sunglasses, but I could imagine the deep green of his eyes that I had noticed the day before at the market; he was wearing a Pink Floyd t-shirt and a pair of cargo shorts; he was wearing sandals; he obviously cared about his hygiene because I could smell the fresh smell of soap on him. And then a radical thought hit me: What if he wanted to impress me? I shook it off, knowing how stupid that idea sounded, even in my head. Why would he want to impress me? I wasn’t worth impressing.

I looked down at my scraggly brown hair. I had always loved the curls in it, but I somehow felt self-conscious at the moment. At least my toenails are pretty, I told myself. I had gotten bored the day earlier and painted them a light pink. Feeling creative, I impulsively decided to add some yellow flowers on my big toes after I had finished.

“Where are you visiting from?” I heard Jason ask. I looked up at him just in time to see him turn his head back to look at the road.

“Winthrop, Maine,” I answered.

“That’s pretty far away,” he acknowledged. “Did you drive here?”

I played with my hands, a nervous habit I had picked up from years of hanging around my father, the king of thumb twiddling. “Yeah. With my parents.”

“And the dogs?” Jason asked.

I was shocked. How did he know about the dogs? “H-how? How did you know--”

“I heard them bark when I rang the doorbell. I must say, though, I’m quite surprised they didn’t bombard me when your grandma opened the door.” He turned to look at me and sent me a small smile, which I couldn’t help reciprocating.

“They were locked in the back room. My mother put them in there because they kept getting into the garbage. You know, the leftovers from breakfast and all.” I mentally slapped myself. Garbage? Really? Did you have to go that far? I asked myself.

Jason didn’t seem phased by my awkward confession. “I see,” was all he said, as he focused his attention back on the road. I couldn’t help but wonder what was going through his head. Maybe he thought I was weird. Something along the lines of, What a great impression you made, Anne. Not. Or maybe he was thinking about his girlfriend. Anne’s cool, but Sarah. God, Sarah is amazing. Now if only I could dump this Anne chick and go hang out with Sarah… The thought irked me for some reason. I shook my head; there was no way. If he was really thinking that, then why would he have come to pick me up and take me here? I can’t believe her grandma talked me into this, my mind seemed to say for him.

Before my thoughts could go any further, I heard the engine cut off and Jason take off his seatbelt. “This is it,” he said, motioning to the park in front of us.

I looked up and laughed. “This is it?” I asked. The ‘park’ only consisted of two swings and a few benches. No slides, no basketball court, just two swings and a large expanse of grass. However green the grass was, and however clean the benches looked, I still couldn’t imagine this being a park. For me, a park consists of more than two swings, some slides, monkey bars, and maybe a basketball and/or tennis court. But this? No. This was no park.

Jason smirked. “I knew you’d say something like that. But really, it’s the best we’ve got here. And I know it’s not what you’re used to, but--”

“It’s fine,” I interrupted him. “Really. It’ll just take some getting used to. Now, it’s getting kind of hot in here, so let’s go outside and..sit,” I suggested with a laugh.

With a smile and a nod of agreement from Jason, I opened the truck’s doors and stepped out of the truck. The air outside was warm, but it had a cool breeze to it so I wasn’t complaining. In actuality, it was the perfect weather for a day at the park.

I followed Jason to a lone park bench to the right of the pair of swings. The wood was hot, but not unbearably hot, so as I sat down, it stung for a second, and then the pain went away. It was quiet for a few minutes, until I looked up at Jason and said, “Have you always lived around here?”

Jason nodded. “Yep. Born and raised. The weather’s pretty nice here and I sort of enjoy being alone so I think it’s the perfect fit for me. How’s the weather up in Maine?” he asked with a grin on his face.

I rolled my eyes. “In the summer it’s perfect, really. The winter--not so much.” I laughed, causing Jason to look over at me. “What made you come over today?” I found myself asking. “I mean, did you really want to hang out with me, even though you ‘enjoy being alone’?”

Jason paused for a minute or so, and then replied, “I guess I just wanted to get to know you better. You kind of stuck out to me at the market yesterday and, well, I guess I found you attractive.”

I felt myself blush. “You guess?” I teased.

“Okay, I know,” he said, and I was happy to see a blush form on his cheeks, too.

And just like that, I felt our connection growing, right there on a park bench in Alexandria, Tennessee.