The Summer I Left

Chapter 4 Family and Friends

— ᕚ◊ᕘ —

I just received some exciting news!

Lacey, my best friend, and who happens to be my cousin, is getting married in a couple of weeks! And I've been given the honor to be her bridesmaid!

Lacey and her fiancé, Oliver, are fixing up the old house Barron and I left, and are going to live there! She has always been jealous of the old house, the way it looked and the land surrounding it, and was thrilled to buy it from us!

I was so happy for her, and Oliver seemed like a decent fella for her too. The two deserved to be happy together.

Lacey has always looked out for me, especially after my parents died. I was the 'orphan girl' who became some sort of joke in school. It was a really hard time for me, but I never could have made it through without Lacey. She was the only friend I ever talked to, I mean. . . I did try to talk to my high school crush: Camrin Severt, but that didn't end very well. So other than those two people, I didn't 'bond' with very many people. I kinda had the personality of a major tomboy, but I still liked to get my nails done and hair looking nice so I was well rounded.

— ᕚ◊ᕘ —

Church was amazing!

When I was little, we went to church every single Sunday, but when my family moved into the old house, there weren't any churches in our area that we could go to. I didn't realize how much I missed it until now.

Everyone in this church dressed so nice! The men looked sharp in their dark blue jeans and tux coats, and the woman wore elegant modest dresses.

Alex told me about this cool tradition the church had, or dress-code I should say. It was where if you liked someone, you would match their colors. I couldn't help but smile and blush when I saw that Atlas was wearing red, matching my red dress he picked out for me this morning. Does this mean. . . he likes me? The question lingered in my thoughts all throughout church.

After we sang hymns and listened to the sermon, we were all dismissed from church. Everyone headed out into the churches backyard where the church picnic was set up.

"And the church does this big of a picnic every Sunday?" I asked Alex as we walked into the backyard, the boys carrying the food behind us.

"Every Sunday." She answered.

"Wow," I say in surprise, before I felt my phone buzz in my back pocket. I pull it out to see Camrin trying to get a hold of me again. I sigh, dismissing his call and putting my phone away again.

We laid a red-and-white checkered blanket onto the grass, before getting the food out to each lunch.

"River, come with me, I want to introduce you to some of my friends." Atlas said, offering out his hand.

I smile, my heart fluttering at the fact he wants me to meet his friends. I take his hand and we walk over to the three teens sitting at a table by the large oak tree.

"Ya'll!" Atlas called to them as we approached. They stopped chattering and turned to face us, I held my breath as I became anxious with the spotlight directly on me.

"There's someone I want you to meet." Atlas began as we came closer before stopping in front of them. "Guys, this is River, her and her brother are living with my family for the time being."

"Hi," I say a bit shyly.

"Nice to meet ya, I'm Jack." The first boy introduced. He had gorgeous jet-black hair and stunning bright blue eyes. "And this is my girlfriend, Anna." He added.

The redheaded girl looked at me with her big brown eyes, as if judging my appearance. I feel queasy but I resist running away and embarrassing Atlas.

"Hello," Anna finally said after inspecting me. She put out her beautifully delicate, pale hand for me to shake. After we shook, I looked to the second boy, who also had black hair like Jack, and vibrant brown eyes.

"I'm Charlie." He said plainly.

"Nice to me y'all!" I say, putting on my brightest smile.

"Join us? We were just about to eat lunch." Jack invited.

"Sure, River?" Atlas looked at me.

"Yeah, I'd love to!"

Atlas and I sat down at their table and ate lunch with them. After finishing up, the boys, Jack, Charlie and Atlas, went to play football while Anna and I stayed at the table to chat. I told her my whole story and she told me hers. We both had a similar story. Her mom died while giving birth to her brother and then her father had comitted suicide when she was just fifteen years old.

"You know, I think Atlas really likes you," Anna then says out of the blue.

"Why do you think that?" I ask, my face beginning to blush.

"He's much more cheerful when you're around. The last time he was like this was when he was with another girlfriend. Maggie was her name." Anna began to explain when she stopped, a sad expression crossing her face. "But that relationship didn't end well. She would push him around and tell him what to do. Then a couple months into their relationship, Atlas caught Maggie hanging out with another one of her 'boyfriends', and he ended it with her. He's never liked another girl since. . . he didn't want to be hurt again."

"Oh, I had no idea!" I say, my heart broken by the news.

He must be hurt. Barron was hoping for Atlas to fix me and make me happy. But maybe it's the other way around.

— ᕚ◊ᕘ —

It was time to leave and Atlas came over to me and stuck out his arm. I grabbed it and we walked to his truck, he wanted to drive me home and I was okay with that. He took me down a road I had never been on before and took me through the woods to a beautiful cabin with a red door and green shutters. He had a worried look on his face and I could not figure out why.

"What's wrong Atlas?" I asked.

"The last time I took a girl here, I was hurt. River, please don't do that to me." He said.

"I would never do that to you, Atlas." I said.

We went inside and he showed me all the rooms, it was amazing. He said it was a hideout for all of his friends and that they had all built it together. There was a library, a room full of guns and knives and other protective gear, secret tunnels everywhere and a wonderful kitchen. There was an outhouse in the back and a stream nearby for drinking and cooking water. When he was done showing me most of the house he showed me a secret door that led into a large room with doors all around it. Each door had dry erase paint on both sides of it so you could write your name on the door of your room as well as any notes for that person. There was a door with the names Jack and Anna, Charlie, Atlas and others I did not know. On Atlas's door there was another name under his, it was my name. The whole rest of the door had hello's and welcome notes all over it, Atlas must have told everyone that I was going to be shown the safe house or as they called it for short SHHHH!!!. He showed me the inside and there was a queen sized bed with a dresser full of games, snacks, clothes, and drawings as well as other trinkets he must have made. The walls had pictures of him with friends and Alex and Hunter too. Then he showed me a few drawers that had the letters ROD on them.

"These are yours, River. I had Barron grab some of your clothes you don't really care about, for whenever we stay here." He said.

"Really, thanks Atlas." I said.

I had my own drawers, wall for pictures, and he even had a gift for me. I opened it and inside the package was a charm bracelet with a key on it for the room, dog tags with my name on them and a mini horse shoe. I looked at him and gave him a huge hug. I was overjoyed at all he had done for me. That night we camped out at the safe house and the next morning Atlas asked me to be his girlfriend and I said yes. I also met a few other friends of his that had come to the safe house too.