My Summer Love

When I woke up, I saw Max’s makeshift bed empty, there weren’t any sheets or pillows on the floor for that matter. That’s when I realized there was a body laying next to me and it was moving! What or who was next to me? I finally got the answer when it rolled around, by it I mean he was Max. Max looked like a mess in the mornings but he looked like a HOT mess. I couldn’t let my feelings get the better of me in that exact moment so instead I opted for the whole pissy best friend role “What the hell are you doing in bed with me?! I thought you were sleeping on the floor! Max I have a boyfriend! God if Nick finds out about this what do you think he’s gonna think?”
The shock and hurt was evident in his eyes, I mean could I blame him? But his response was not what I had expected it to be. Max simply mumbled an apology and got out of bed. When I turned over to loo at the clock on Max’s nightstand the time read 9:30. I jumped out of bed and ran straight to my room and changed into a bikini with a cover up and some new flip-flops. I picked up my beach bag I had packed the night before and my keys. On my way to the door, to Max stopped me with a mutually pissed and questioning look on his face.
“Where do you think you’re going?” Max inquired. I could hear the aggravation in his voice. Was it because I told him I had a boyfriend? Was it because I had yelled at him? I didn’t really have time to question Max’s feelings at this point so responded the only way I could, reasonably. “To the beach duh,” I said pointing at my clothes and side stepping Max.
“No you’re not. You’re my responsibility and I can’t have you getting in trouble right now. I know you’re probably off to one of your friend’s houses or something like that. Your day is going to start off by just hanging at the pool but then its going to turn into a party and the God forbid, you’re going to get drunk and either a, try to drive drunk or b, call me in the middle of the night to pick you up. So no, you’re not going anywhere today.” Did Max just really talk to me like that? Who the hell was he to me treating me like a child? Was I not the one who would drive him home from parties when everyone else was too drunk and he didn’t have a ride?
Was I not the one who would cover for his ass for the times he snuck out of the summerhouse to go out with his friends? So who is HE to be telling ME what I can and cannot do? At this point I was so irritated that I just let it all out. “I’m going to the beach Max! I’ll be back before nine, I want to tan, I want to hang out with my boyfriend and we can’t hang here because there is nothing to do! So forgive me if I drive myself to the beach, play in the sand, and swim in the water, but that’s what this stupid junior does during her summer!” And with that I slammed to door and left for the beach.
When I got to the beach no one was at our meet up spot so I set up my umbrella, unpacked my towel and lunch and set myself out to tan. I must have fallen asleep tanning because when I woke up my best friend Sara was sitting next to me eating my fruit salad I had packed. “You forgot your own food I guess?”
“Yea I got up late and I forgot about our whole beach rendezvous” she smiled back. Sara had been my friend for five years now and our friendship didn’t exactly start off on the right foot. Sara and I hated each other, but as our seventh grade year wore on, we became closer, and then we were inseparable. Sara was stick thin I swear if you turned her to the side she would disappear. Her hair was wavy almost like the perfect beach waves every teenage girl tries so hard to get and the best part about it was that she had it in this ombre color so it kind of looked natural. All together Sara was the typical beach babe and put next to her, I was the ugly best friend.
“Well I almost did too, but after the fight I go into with Max, I magically remembered.”
“What happened? Was he being an ass like always or did his level go up a notch?”
“It went up,” I said trying to hold back the tears that were starting to burn my eyes. “I told him about Nick this morning which is a whole other story by itself. But anyway I was in my cover-up and ready to go and everything when Max stopped me in the doorway and he basically tried to tell me how my day was going to go and why I wasn’t allowed to go out today”
“Ok besides the whole ‘you’re not allowed to leave today’ thing I don’t see how this resulted in a fight El”
“Well what I didn’t tell you was that he told me that when I left the house I was probably going to go to someone’s house and hang out at their pool all day and then it would turn into a party and then I would either drunk drive or I would call him to pick me up while I was drunk.” I left out the last bit so fast that I was surprised Sara picked up on everything I had said.
“He’s just worried about you El, he doesn’t want you to get hurt. I hate to say this but Max cares way more about you than Nick does. Did you ever see Nick get so worked up when you tell him that you’re gonna go to the beach for the day?”
“No, that’s because he was supposed to be here today.” I sighed slightly upset with the fact that the one guy I actually wanted to see today decided to blow me off.
“He didn’t tell you?”
“Tell me what?” I inquired slightly scared for what Sara was about to say
“Nick was out last night he had hooked up with some girl. I thought you guys were over, I mean didn’t you hear me say ‘did’ as in past tense?” I didn’t listen to anything after that; I was just suddenly full of an intolerable amount of anger.
“You mean to tell me that my boyfriend of three years has left me for some girl he decided to fool around with at some damn party?!” I had to say it out loud because it didn’t make nay sense to me. My long time boyfriend had just cheated on me and on top of that he told everyone that we were over when we actually weren’t.
“It wasn’t just any girl”, Sara said with a calm resolve.
“Who. Was. It. Then?” I made sure I separated every word do that the anger I was feeling would get straight across to Sara.
“It was me.” She said in a whisper. I didn’t react very fast, as a matter of fact I didn’t react at all; I just sat there staring at Sara. How could she? Sara had been my friend for five going on six years and she wants to hook up with my boyfriend behind my back knowing full well we were still together? I thought better of the situation and grabbed all my things and packed them back into my beach bag. As I walked away I remembered I had some scraps of the sandwich so I turned around and threw them at her yelling “Enjoy these sloppy seconds too you bitch!” and then I left heading to the one place where I could be content, my room.
When I got home the house was empty, clean, but empty. I thought Max’s annoyance had gotten the better of him but when I saw the little old lady scampering out of the beach house I realized the cleaning crew had come. I slipped her a hundred dollar tip; thankful for her cleaning the hot mess Max and I had created over the past day, and headed to my room.
When I got into my room I turned on my radio and blasted my Ed Sheeran CD. I decided it was best to rid my room of any memories of Sara and Nick so I peeled down one picture. My room was pretty basic considering it was relatively new. Max and I had shared a room for the longest but our parents decided best of it to give us our on rooms when we became teens. I guess they were afraid that we might do something because of our fluctuating hormones or something, but whatever the case I was stuck in this disgusting yellow room. My bed was right in the center of the room almost like a centerpiece on a table. My bedspread matched the walls it was white and had pale yellow flowers on it. At the end of my bed there was a white and gold trunk probably from pottery barn or something like that. And by my bed there was a white dresser barely filled with clothes considering I had yet to unpack my suitcases. The best thing I loved about my room though was the room within it, or should I say above it. Right above my vanity hung a string and when I pulled it down a staircase would fall with it. When I went up the stairs I was brought into another world. My secret room as like to call it was pale pink, which suited my taste better than the yellow in my actual room. My space as I liked to call it had a reasonably sized couch up against the wall with a T.V. straight across it. The television sat on a stand that held a cable box, a DVD player, an Xbox, some video games with controllers and some DVDs. I liked to keep small snacks in my space because I had movie marathons with Max up here way too often during the summer (that’s also the reason for the Xbox). But tonight was different, I was beyond angry at Max, Nick, and Sara and maybe the rest of the world for that matter so I decided to just stay in my space for the night. I decided to grab my sheets, pillows, some drinks, chips, food and my sleeping bag.
Once I set up my makeshift bed for the night, I looked at my phone I had three missed calls from Nick, ten missed calls from Max, and one missed call from Sara. I thought best of it to turn my phone off for the night and I popped the Breakfast Club into the DVD player and drowned out the rest of the world.
It turns out that the breakfast club was actually a really good movie. I loved the end part where the music came on and the really dorky kid threw his fist up in the air. I was just about to put Clueless on when I heard the opening to my room open. I froze right in place, god I didn’t want anything to do with anyone right now so I hoped whoever it was didn’t dare enter because I would probably just freak out on him or her for no reason. As I listened to the footsteps come closer I knew they were approaching the string for the staircase. What would I do if Max discovered me deep within my depression? He isn’t the exact person I wanted to see right now and I sure as hell hoped it wasn’t Nick or Sara or any human but that was inevitable. The staircase came down and up came Max looking well, worried.
“I have been looking for you for over three hours why don’t you answer your phone? You had me scared shitless El! I don’t know what I would do if you went missing.”
“Listen drama queen, I went to the beach and found out a couple things so I decided to come up here and stay in for the night. I didn’t want you to be responsible for this bratty high schooler anyway. So if you would excuse me, I have a movie to watch”, I said shoving past Max on my way to the DVD player.
“El, I didn’t mean to offend you. I love you the way you are, I’m just annoyed at the thought of you partying and getting waste that just isn’t you El.” Max seemed genuinely worried which could only mean one thing he wanted something.
“You’re an ass, what do you want?”
“In all honesty I want you by my side for the rest of my life but since that wont happen because of the way you feel, I wanna throw a party here tomorrow” Max retorted being surprisingly honest.
“I don’t care about the party, the hole ‘I want you by my side for the rest of my life’ part you have to work on. I’m not prepared to be in a relationship with a guy who really doesn’t want to have anything to do with me.” I said as I popped in Clueless.
(Max's P.O.V)
It made me laugh at the way she didn’t think that she was good enough for me. But it also made me feel bad about the way she thought that I couldn’t stand to be around her. I wish Eleanor would realize that she gave me a reason to breathe, I knew I had made her feel bad earlier and I hated myself for it, Eleanor was right I was being such an ass but I knew there was something underneath her the attitude that she was giving me. “What happened at the beach today?” I asked cautious of where I was going with the conversation.
“Nothing” She responded bluntly.
Thinking better of the situation, I decided to drop the topic for now and told her I would be right back. I raced down the stairs and grabbed the pizza I ordered for my self, my sleeping bag, some pillows, other movies (simply for the fact that her movies sucked), and some other candy. Once I had everything that I decided I would need for the night, I raced back up the steps to El’s secret fortress. When I finally came to the tops of the steps I had to hold onto the wall for support. El was in a pair of shorts that I didn’t even think qualified as shorts and a small tank top. I honestly think she does these kinds of things to annoy me or turn me on whichever it is it works, which only makes the feelings I have for her harder to suppress. I walked over to El and dropped my sleeping bag, pillows, and movies on the floor then I turned around, faced El, and said, “I bring my peace offering.” As I showed her the pepperoni pizza I had picked up earlier.
“Thanks” she responded, taking a slice, “but what’s with all that crap?” El asked nodding towards my things on the floor.
“I decided that since you wont talk I might as well spend time with you until you decide to cave and tell me what he hell is up with you.” I said as I spread out my sleeping bag at the foot of the couch.
El didn’t say anything after that she just continued to eat the pizza, and quote every single line Clueless. I didn’t think it was possible for the human brain to remember so much crap but El was the prime example that it was completely possible.
I don’t even remember when I had fallen asleep, but it had happened and I had also ended up on the couch and to top it all off Eleanor was on the floor popcorn in hand and she was watching Beauty and the Beast (my favorite, not hers).
“Whoa, you’re watching a Disney movie and I didn’t force you into it?”
“Yea, but you shouldn’t tell any girls that you hang out with about this whole Disney movie obsession, they might think you play for the other team if you know what I mean”, Eleanor was actually using humor for the first time since I had found her earlier today.
“I think girls find it charming and cute that I love Disney movies. If I didn’t have this obsession I don’t think you would be up right now.”
“Yea”, she laughed, “It’s like three in the morning and I’m tired but I think I actually like this movie. I love how looks don’t have to be an essential in a relationship” Eleanor yawned as she raised herself up onto the couch, snuggling up next to me.
“So that explains why you chose to date Nick huh?” I asked trying to hold back my laughter that I felt crawling up in the back of my throat.
“I think he is perfectly fine if you ask me, but I hope you used the term date in the past tense because Nick cheated on me with Sara. So I guess you can say that I’m boyfriend less for the summer.” I couldn’t help but notice the sadness in her voice. I knew that Nick meant a lot to her, they had been together for over three years. Nick and Eleanor were perfect together; he made her smile the brightest I have ever seen Eleanor smile. I hate to say it but Nick brought out the best in Eleanor. Nick brought out the Eleanor that I had fallen in love with.
“Did you fall asleep?” Eleanor asked me poking my cheek.
“No, I’m wide awake” I blurted out almost a little bit too fast. I felt Eleanor almost sigh in relief at my small, yet apparently, meaningful comment. “I can’t do this Eleanor, this isn’t right. I can’t lay here and talk to you and be so close to you like this; it just isn’t right.”
“What’s so wrong about it?” I could almost hear the pain yelling out from behind her question.
“It’s just that nothing can happen between me and you; I don’t feel that way about you Eleanor.” I had to lie, what else was I supposed to do? I knew I wasn’t good enough for El, she deserved a more temperate, a more understanding guy; she deserves a better guy in general. But that didn’t stop me from realizing I had hurt the person that mattered to me most in the world. Eleanor rolled off the couch and just mumbled “Of course”.
I didn’t know what I had just done, I completely rejected the girl of my dreams what the fuck is wrong with me? It didn’t take long for the reaction I expected from Eleanor to actually come out, “What the fuck Max? You flirt with me one second and look at me like I’m you little fucking sister the next! You need to get your hormones in check because I’m not up for all of your bullshit this summer. How long have we known each other? And now you wait for a fucked up summer to start messing with my brain? Is this what you wanted to do all along mess with me and get me interested in you just to push me off to the curb? Is that what you wanted to do since our parents aren’t here? Did they force you to be nice to me...” her questions kept going but I tuned her out. I knew that to Eleanor I sounded like a jerk, hell, I probably would have sounded like a jerk if I said that to anyone, but I couldn’t risk our friendship. If Eleanor and I didn’t work out as a couple then our friendship that both of us spent years developing would also be ruined.
“Your not even fucking listening to me! Your lost in a day dream that’s probably about some other fucking girl you met.” And then came the serious yelling, the type of yelling that only girls can manage to do when they have had their hearts torn into an infinite number of pieces. “GET OUT! GET THE FUCK OUT OF MY SANCTUARY AND DON’T BOTHER TO COME BACK! LEAVE MAX I DON’T WANT TO HAVE ANYTHING TO DO WITH YOU!” the tears were coming in tidal waves at this point and I knew I had done damage, irreparable damage.
I got up and collected my things, not bothering to take my movies or extra food (I figured Eleanor wasn’t going to leave her “sanctuary” anytime soon) and climbed down the stairs knowing I had just completely destroyed the one thing I had always been living for: Eleanor.