The Summer List

Beach days.

I hadn't come all dolled up for the beach. I sat in my shorts and a white tank and watched the surf, getting lost in my thoughts. I heard a little girl squeal far off, and I smiled. That was me, at one point. I used to be a carefree little girl who didn't care about grades, or what her parents thought, or what others saw.

I dug my toes in the sand and sat, grains of sand going flying at my sudden impact. I began filtering the grains through my fingers and kept my eyes on the foamy broth of the worlds' large soup bowl.

I sighed contentedly and heard someone walk quietly up to me. Their footsteps made little thumping sounds in the sand, and I let them sit next to me as I kept my eyes on the water.

"How did your parents feel about your A plus?" he asked me. I smiled.

"They were very proud," I said. "They told me I could do whatever I like this summer, and they wouldn't say a thing."

"That's some pretty nice parents," he commented. I nodded.

"I worked hard all year." I flipped my light brown, reddish hair over my shoulder and smiled dazzilingly at him. "So, Coach, what can I do to repay you for my A plus?" He returned his own flirty smile and I almost melted. This was the kind of thing you never saw at school, and it made my heart pound.

"There's going to be a beach party this Saturday. Meet me where you know to find me at 8, okay? It's open invitation. Bring some friends if you like." I opened my mouth to say I didn't have any friends in town at the moment, but he kissed me on the cheek, stood, and began walking away. "Remember, eight o clock this Saturday!" He waved and I waved back, before touching my cheek gingerly.

Woah.



I began walking down the beach, bored out of my mind. I wasn't ready to go home and see my mother sleeping with the gardner while Daddy packed for his summer long business trip. Soon, Mom would get up and go too, and that would leave me alone with the one maid, who was more like a mother to me than my true Mom had ever been.

I wasn't hungry, not that I ever was. I only ate because I knew I needed food. If I hadn't needed food, I might never have ate. It might come from the fact that my mother was a horrible cook, and the maid was more busy cleaning up after my slob of a mother than she was with anything concerning me. I learned a long time ago not to be a problem child. I never did anything outright to get myself in trouble at any point in my life.

Nobody would understand.

I felt my toes dig into the sand as I held my converse up beside me. The undoubtable sounds of people making out brought my attention to a familiar brown headed boy, and I walked over to him and his victim and kicked him in the side. They fell apart as he gasped and glared up at me.

"Hey Allen," I said with a grin. "What happened to that girl you were with? Thought you were dating her?" The girl that had been hogging his lips drew her lip back in disgust, got up and walked away. I rolled my eyes and helped Allen to stand.

"You are the worst cousin ever," he said, watching her go.

"No, you are, for not telling me you were back in town. What happened to that girl you picked up at the airport?"

"I dunno, she walked off when Les-"

"Forget it, I don't want you to tell me. Aren't you supposed to be at a party thing?"

"Oh, yeah. You want to come back with me?" I shook my head and started walking again. "Gosh, what a brat," he breathed.

"Love you too, Allen," I said with a bittersweet smile, walking past him and continuing on my way up the beach. I knew he watched me go but I didn't turn back, I didn't wave. Allen's part of the family and my part of the family were famous for how well they didn't get along. Although Allen and I were exempt from the way our parents and relatives acted, we still weren't that great when it came to getting along for too long. I tended to ignore him, especially since his dad almost beat me up and Allen had a tendency to remind me of that.

I saw a girl sitting down, a notebook beside her, unopened. I walked up to her slowly and she looked up at me. I smiled slightly as I recognized her as the girl from the airport. "Hi," I said.

"Hey," she replied simply.

"Um, is that your notebook?" She looked down at it for a minute before shaking her head.

"No, a girl dropped it. I'm just... watching over it I guess."

"Well shouldn't you go and try to find her, and give it back? I know I'd want someone to do that for me." Her facial expression looked as if she'd never thought of that, and she grasped it and stood. "Which way did the girl go?" She pointed and I began leading the way.

We hadn't walked too far when a body vaulted at us out of nowhere and we crashed to the ground, all three of us. I groaned and sat up slowly.

"Sorry!" said a girl. I rubbed my back slowly and the girl that crashed into us grimaced. "I left something here..."

"This?" the other girl handed her the notebook slowly. "My name is Alice."

"Charlotte," the girl said, tucking her notebook into her.

"I'm Jori," I said with a soft smile.

"I really am sorry about running into you guys," Charlotte said.

"Oh, it's nothing. In fact, you managed to get that knot out of my back that's been bugging me for ages." She smiled and Alice laughed. Without any out loud consent, we began talking.