Classics in Summertime

Noxon’s Fireman’s Ball was an event that the entire town was invited to, and like many years before, I went with my family, who had already had a table reserved with Wyatt’s family. I would have declined going due to the simple fact that I didn’t want to see Wyatt, but my dad was starting to get very suspicious of me, and a declined invitation to one of the town’s most lucrative events could have been the straw that broke the camel’s back.

I wore a red dress I bought at the town’s only boutique a few months back, and the first thing Wyatt did when he saw me was compliment it. I tried to ignore him, but I could only do so much ignoring when he was sitting directly next to me. Austin’s doing, no doubt.

“I don’t think I’ve seen your hair that curled since prom,” Wyatt said as he looked at me from behind his glass, taking a long sip of the free, endless beer. “It looks great like that.”

“Thank you,” I said simply as I averted my gaze to anyone but him. My eyes unfortunately met his mother’s, though, which was almost just as bad, so I looked back at him.

“I’m surprised you didn’t skip out.” Wyatt was taking another sip from his beer while he paused. “You always seem to disappear when I’m around.”

I pressed my lips together as I shifted uncomfortably in my chair. Being next to him was torture. “Maybe there’s a reason for that.”

“Oh, come on, Ev. Don’t be like that.”

Wyatt was reaching his hand out for mine, but before his skin could touch mine, I heard a familiar voice behind me saying my name, and it brought an instant smile to my face.

“Fancy seeing you here,” Dylan said as he approached our table with a smile, almost as though he was completely oblivious to the glares being shot at him from around the table.

“It’s the Fireman’s Ball,” I said softly, looking up at him as a smile fell to my lips. “Everyone goes… I’m actually surprised to see you here.”

Dylan chuckled, his hand landing comfortably on the back of my chair. “Well, I couldn’t pass up a chance to donate to my favorite charity.” Everyone at the table was listening to our conversation, so he leaned down to whisper in my ear so only I could hear him. “I will admit I might have done it for greedy reasons, though. I was hoping I’d be able to dance with you.”

Dylan wasn’t able to pass up a chance to give away money, and I wasn’t able to pass up a chance to see him, so we both had our faults. I quickly smiled and nodded my head, standing up as I spoke. “I’d love to.”

No one else knew what I’d love to do, but they found out when I followed Dylan out to the dance floor. I could feel my father’s eyes burning a hole in my back, and I was certain I’d get yelled at when I got home. Still, I tried to focus on Dylan and the absolutely brilliant smile he shared with me.

“You look gorgeous, Ev,” Dylan said as he placed his hands on my waist, which I matched by wrapping my arms around his neck. His words instantly caused my cheeks to go red, and I looked towards the ground as I whispered a small thank you. “And you’re cute when you blush, too.”

I laughed, bringing my gaze back up to him while I shook my head. “I was not blushing.”

Dylan chuckled while he shrugged his shoulders. “It sure looked like it to me.”

“You might need to get your eyes checked then.”

“Clever.”

“Thank you.”

I knew the song was ending far sooner than I was ready for it to, and though I may have gotten away with one dance, there was no way I was going to slide by with two. I might be able to walk snail speed back to the table, but I definitely wouldn’t be able to dance with Dylan for a second time.

When the song did end, Dylan’s smile dropped at the same time his hands did, like he was aware of the same fate I was.

“Well, maybe I’ll be able to see you later.” He paused, running his hand over the back of his neck. “Try – uh – try to have fun over there.”

I nodded my head and gave a soft smile back. “Thanks. I’ll try.”

Dylan paused for a long moment before he turned away and began walking towards the empty table in the back that he had bought out. I couldn’t tell if he was nervous because he knew I’d get yelled at or if he was scared that something would happen with Wyatt and me.

When I got back to the table, everyone’s eyes were on me, and it didn’t take long before Wyatt was talking to me again.

“So, how was your dance?” Wyatt asked as he folded his arms across his chest, looking less than pleased.

I looked sheepishly down at the table while I tucked my hair behind my ears. “It was good thank.”

After a few more moments, Wyatt took one last drink from his beer and then looked to my dad. “Would it be alright if Everly stepped out for a moment?”

My dad didn’t hesitate before he nodded his head. “Go ahead, but be back in 10.”

“David!” My mom shouted, nudging him with her elbow. “You two take as long as you’d like.”

I didn’t know why I didn’t get any say in whether or not I was going to step outside with Wyatt, but I thought it would be easier to deal with whatever Wyatt’s attempt to woo me would be than deal with my father’s angry wrath.

After looking back towards Dylan’s table and seeing that it was empty, I reluctantly followed behind Wyatt and stepped out into the quickly cooling night. It wasn’t cold by any means, but having a light cardigan wouldn’t hurt. The fact that I was nervous didn’t help either, because goose bumps were quickly covering my arms.

“What did you want to talk about?” I asked immediately, hoping that we’d be able to end this conversation fairly quickly, though that was unlikely.

“About us, Everly,” Wyatt said as he took a step towards me, his hands dropped to his sides. “What happened to us?”

“We broke up, Wyatt. It’s as simple as that.”

“But we never said we would date other –”

“That didn’t stop you,” I interrupted, pursing my lips in a grim line. I folded my arms across my chest and took one slow step away from me.

“Don’t talk like that,” Wyatt said as he took a step closer to match the one I’d taken back. “You know they didn’t mean anything.”

“I’m done with this conversation, Wyatt,” I said simply, turning my back to him as quickly as I could. “I’m going back inside.”

I only made it a few steps before Wyatt’s hand was on my shoulder, pulling me roughly back towards him. He didn’t let go and only tightened his grip on me.

“Let me go!” I shouted, attempting to pull back from him to no avail. “Wyatt, I mean it. Let go.”

“No. For once in your life, just fucking listen to me, Everly. I’m not going to let you walk away from me again.”

Wyatt’s grip on me was only getting tighter, so tight that it was painful, and it only took a few moments before the pain was almost unbearable.

“Wyatt, let go! You’re hurting me.”

“Fuck, Ev, I said no.”

“What’s going on out here?” Dylan’s voice behind us was like angels singing a chorus, and I could practically hear heaven in his words.

“This is none of your business,” Wyatt said quickly, his grip on me loosening just a little. “Just go back inside.”

“Are you alright, Ev?” Dylan asked, ignoring Wyatt as he took a step closer to us.

I wanted to say no. I wanted so badly to say no, but for some reason I just couldn’t. I don’t know if it was because I was scared of Wyatt or what he might do to Dylan, but I just couldn’t say no.

“It’s fine, Dylan. Just go back inside.”

He pressed his lips together while he looked at us with curious eyes. I could only imagine what was running through his head, and it probably had something to do with Wyatt and I’s long standing romance.

“You’re sure?”

All I could do was look at Dylan, and I wanted so badly to just run to him and leave Wyatt behind. For once, Dylan seemed like the easy option, and all I wanted was to run to him.

“Dude, listen. This is between me and Everly. You can just mosey on back to that fancy little sports car of yours and go back to Hollywood. I don’t want you here and neither does Everly. No one in this town does, so just get on out and forget all about this place.”

Dylan looked at Wyatt with his eyes tight as he shoved his hands in his pockets. “I think Everly can speak for herself.” Dylan looked from Wyatt back to me. “Do you want me to go, Ev?”

“We don’t have time to deal with your bullshit,” Wyatt said quickly. His grip on my arm tightened and he was pulling me away from Dylan before I had a chance to answer. “We’re leaving.”

Wyatt was practically dragging me to his truck when I tried to rip my arm from his grasp. It didn’t work, though, and all I could do was try to reason with him. “Wyatt, stop. I don’t want to go with you.”

“Well, I don’t give two fucks what you want, Everly. You clearly can’t make good decisions on your own or else you wouldn’t have been fucking the city boy for the last few weeks like some kind of slut.”

“What the fuck?” Dylan shouted from a few feet away before he was walking towards Wyatt and me, his cheeks the brightest shade of red I’d ever seen them. “Get off her.”

“For the last time, this doesn’t concern you,” Wyatt said as he looked at Dylan with his teeth clenched. “Just walk away.”

“Ev, go inside,” Dylan said, though his eyes were still on Wyatt.

Even if I would have been able to pull away from Wyatt’s grasp, I still wouldn’t have left Dylan out there alone with him. Dylan’s intentions were good, but Wyatt had a lot more muscle than he did.

“What do you think you’re going to do, city boy?”

“Let her go and you won’t have to find out.”

Wyatt laughed at that and only tightened his grip on me, while he shook his head. “Not gonna happen. You really think I’m just gonna let you get away with fucking my girlfriend.”

This time Dylan laughed, a small smile on his lips while he spoke. “She’s not your girlfriend.”

With that, Dylan’s fist went swinging, connecting with Wyatt’s jaw immediately. I never would have thought Dylan would be the first one to throw a punch, and Wyatt seemed just as surprised as I was. He dropped my arm to rub against his probably throbbing jaw before he looked at Dylan again.

Everything happened so fast that it was like I was frozen. I remembered always making fun of girls in movies who just stood there while their loved one wrestled in a fight, and now I was that stupid girl, just standing and screaming while Dylan and Wyatt pummeled each other.

Luckily, I was screaming so loudly that it alerted people inside and half the town raced out the doors to break up the fight.

When they finally broke apart, Dylan’s lip was puffy and his knuckles were all bloodied up. I looked over to Wyatt to find that he was surprisingly in worse shape than Dylan was.

Wyatt’s mother was running over to him screaming and crying, and my first instinct was to go to Dylan’s side, though the rest of my family was standing by Wyatt.

“Are you alright?” I asked, looking up at Dylan with fearful eyes.

He nodded his head softly while he rubbed a finger over his bleeding lip. “Of course. Are you?”

I nodded back and laughed, because it seemed like the only natural response. When he smiled back, I quickly wrapped my arms around him and pulled him into a tight hug, which he reciprocated immediately, though with a pained groan.

I wasn’t sure how long I forced Dylan to hug me, but when we pulled apart the entire town was glaring at us with their arms crossed. There was no telling if the police were going to show up or if Wyatt was going to press charges, so I grabbed onto Dylan’s hand and began pulling him towards the parking lot.

“We better get out of here before things get messy,” I said, quickening my pace when I spotted Dylan’s beat-up truck in the back of the parking lot.

Dylan laughed and held onto my hand more tightly while he smiled. “Aren’t they already pretty messy?”

I looked back at him with my lips pressed together, though a light smile was showing through. “Clever.”