Here With Me

The morning was different - it was quiet. Far more quiet than it was in Naples. There was no sound of ocean waves gently crashing onto the shore. The smell of seaweed wasn’t drifting into her window. There was none of those things and when Lilah woke, she couldn’t remember how she ever lived in Camden before.

She did hear the distant laughter of her father and she could smell the savory scent of her mother’s cooking coaxing her out of bed. Aunt Lyndsey’s idea of breakfast had been burnt toast and runny eggs, but breakfast in the Ansley household meant waffles and bacon. Lilah was greeted in the kitchen with a warm plate and smiles from both her parents.

“There’s my girl!” Caleb bellowed, when she appeared in the entry way. A squeal tore from Lilah’s lips as her father raced to her, lifted her off the ground and into a tight hug. He squeezed her slim frame into his brawny figure before releasing her. “Come and sit. Your mother made breakfast.”

Her father’s smile was a shining resemblance of the sun and she had missed him greatly while away. Their infrequent phone calls and video chats couldn’t amount to seeing him in person. Though even with Caleb Ansley’s bright, smile beaming at her, Lilah wouldn’t trade it for the Florida sun.

“Good Morning, Meredith,” she greeted timidly as she sat on a stool around the nook.

Meredith, her mother, with her sweet smile and deep brown eyes, served her a delicious smelling plate. “It’s nice having you here, Lil.”

Indeed, it was nice having a well-cooked meal but even though Lyndsey lacked basic culinary skills, she made up for it in funky dance moves. In Naples. Lilah didn’t wake up to eggs and toast or anything fancy. She woke up to Lyndsey, clad in her mismatch pajamas, rocking out to Imagine Dragons and pouring her a large bowl of Froot Loops.

“I want to take that car of yours to the shop,” Caleb mumbled in-between mouthfuls of maple syrup and waffles.

Lilah wrinkled up her nose. There probably wasn’t a single thing her father could do to help her Impala’s condition. It was better off being turned into scraps than to be driven on the streets of Camden. That’s exactly what Caleb was thinking but was too tactful to say aloud: I want to make sure that piece of crap is safe for you to drive.

“It runs fine, Dad.” After all the car got her here. “And Aunt Lyndsey picked it off a nice guy for a great deal.”

In truth, the car was bought off the side of a dirt road from a man who looked like an axe murder for a whopping total of two-hundred and fifty dollars. The car could’ve been stolen or used in a crime but neither Lyndsey nor Lilah cared. It was her graduation present and it was her most prized possession.

“I just want to check, Lil. It will give me some peace of mind.”

“I think it’s a great idea,” Meredith said, collecting Caleb’s empty plate and placing a light kiss onto his cheek.

◦ ☸ • ❂ • ☸ ◦

Lilah could hear the seagulls chirping and wailing in the distance, along with the rambunctious laughter of her friends and the familiar melody of her favorite band. All where the sweet sounds of a wonderful summer vacation by the seashore.

“We miss you, girl! Naples isn’t the same without you,” confessed her slightly over eccentric friend, Elissa, over the phone.

It had been a mistake to call her blonde, leggy friend. She caught Elissa as she was headed to the beach to enjoy a fun-filled day under the sun. Calling her had only made Lilah realize what she was missing out on and solidify her distaste of Camden.

“Believe me, this is not where I want to spend my summer.” Lilah slumped across her bed in an exasperated matter. “I’m miserable, Elle.”

“Then get your ass back here! Get in your car and go.” Elissa encouraged but if only it was as simple as sticking the keys into her Impala, merging onto highway 85 and driving south to where the ocean and the horizon were one and the same.

“You know I can’t do that.”

“Well, you can’t stay there all summer. I need you. I only have Danny and Sheldon to hang out with and you know how those two can get. You’re my main girl. I can’t take those two dimwits bikini shopping or talk to them about gorgeous surfer dudes on the beach. I need you so my summer won’t be miserable!” Elissa rushed out.

“You’ll live. At least you’re not in Georgia,” Lilah muttered out bitterly. “Have I missed anything since I left? What’s everyone been up too?”

“Everything’s been the same but – Oh! There is one thing that I think you’ll find interesting. You’ll never be able to guess.” Elissa paused, but Lilah didn’t have a chance to utter an answer before she was talking again. “Jude Calloway has been asking about you.”

Lilah sat up and gripped the phone closer to her ear. “What about me?”

“He wanted know where you’ve been recently. I think he wants to take you out and his dad’s humongous boat.” She could imagine the smirk on Elissa’s freckled face, almost taunting her. “Come on, Lil, you can’t let him get away.”

Jude Calloway was a striking male specimen with pure blue eyes and a mass of golden hair. He had been the object of her affection since she arrived in Naples. As luck would have it, he didn’t even know she existed until now.

The small flicker of excitement Lilah felt was quickly diminished. There was no way Jude would stay interested until she returned. “Look, Elissa. It’s just not going to happen right now,” she said solemnly. “Tell everyone I miss them and I’ll talk to you later.”

Lilah ended the call with a heavy sigh. On her smartphone, she went to her photo app and scrolled through her hundreds of pictures. The beach and ocean, the pier, her home, her friends, the sun and the sky were all vividly captured on her phone. There were so many images of her out in the water, sun kissed skin, beach wave hair, bikini clad with a smile that consumed her entire face. She was truly happy there and every image she flicked through increased her longing.

She glanced around her room, it was terribly bleak. Lilah couldn’t spend an entire summer sheltered in this room. She’d go crazy and the tan she spent so many countless days perfecting would fade. She would have to keep up her healthy glow in Camden. Even if that meant hanging around her middle-age father. In reality he was the only person she had to do any activities with. Meredith wasn’t her sort of company.

In no time at all, Lilah was flinging herself down the staircase and out the front door. Her old Chevrolet wasn’t parked by the curb. Her persistent father didn’t waste any time hauling it down to be serviced. She pulled a pair of sunglasses over her eyes, and began her walk to Caleb’s Auto Repair Shop.