The Last Summer

Chapter 13

I wake up the next morning still in my work clothes and with Jason's arm around my waist. I check my phone to see what time it is.

8:30.

I'm still sore from my mom hitting me and I have a headache, so I call in sick so I don't have to go to work.

"Morning," Jason says.

"I didn't notice you woke up." I sit up and lean against the pillows.

A few seconds of silence later, Jason asks "Do you want to go get some breakfast?"

"Sure." We walk downstairs to the kitchen. No one else is up yet, so it's just us.

"So, cereal? Toast?" He asks.

"I'll just have cereal," I reply.

"Ok." He goes to the pantry and gets out a box of Cheerios. He gets the milk and brings it over to the table.

"Thanks," I say.

We eat in silence for a few minutes. "So, do you play any sports?" I ask him.

"Um, yeah," he says. "Track and basketball. What about you?"

"I play soccer," I tell him.

"Cool," he says. "Were you on the school team?"

"Yeah," I say. "What about you? Were you on your school team?"

"Yup," he says.

I finish my Cheerios and put my dishes in the sink. Jason does so not long after.

"Don't you have to go to work?" he asks me.

"I called in sick."

"Oh," he says. "Well, we could spend the day together."

"Yeah," I agree. "That would be really fun."

"We could see a movie, go to the woods....." he suggests.

"That sounds amazing." I tell him. "I would have to change clothes though..."

"We can drive to your house," he says. "but what about your mom?"

"She will probably be sleeping like a log and my window is still unlocked from when I climbed out of it last night."

He laughs. "You sound covered, then."

We hang out at his house for a while. Around noon, later, we're driving on the road, on the way to my house. We pull up in the driveway and I get out. Jason follows. I tried to get him to stay in the car, but he argues his way out of it.

We walk around the house to my bedroom window. I slide it up and climb inside, Jason right behind me.

"I'm going to change in my closet," I tell him.

"Ok," he says. "I'll be here."

I go into my closet and put on my swimsuit (because we might go to the woods) and jean shorts and a soccer t-shirt over it. I put my hair up in a ponytail and put a pair of sunglasses on top of my head. I take one last look in the mirror on the wall and that's when I notice the bruise on my face.

My small amount of makeup is in the bathroom.....

I decide that if anyone asks, I'll say it came from a soccer ball to the face.

I walk out of my closet and slip on a pair of flip flops.

"I'm gonna get a towel, just in case," I tell Jason.

"It's ok," he says. "I still have two in my car from the last time."

"Ok," I say. "I guess we're good to go now."

We climb back out the window and walk to his car.

"So, do you want to go get some lunch?" he asks.

"Yeah, lunch sounds great," I say. "Where are we gonna go?"

"I don't know," he says.

"Um..... ice cream?" I suggest. "I mean, I know we are supposed to be getting lunch, but-"

"No, it sounds good," he says.

We drive to the closest ice cream parlor. I order Oreo in a dish and he gets strawberry. We go sit at a picnic table.

"So," he says. "Film school."

"Yeah. I'm not really going big by going to college here, but it's better than what my mom would do for me and I'm sure that if I work hard enough, I can get up there," I say.

"And you're planning to leave...."

"A week after my birthday, so August 9th."

"Wow," he says. "That seems so far away but it's in like three weeks..."

"Oh my God, that is really close." I realize that it's July 17th. Only 23 days until I go to college! "I don't even have my books yet!" I start to panic. Not really. Just in my head.

"Hey, it's ok," he assures me. "You'll get them in time."

"Yeah." I start to breathe again. "I looked on the Internet, and Missouri State is only like an hour away from my school."

"Really?" he says. "That's amazing! I'd get to see you at least every weekend!"

I smile. We talk about college until we're done with our ice cream.

"Movie next?" I ask.

"Yup," he says

We go to the local movie theatre. "What movie do you want to see?" he asks me.

I look at what's out right now. "What do you want to see?"

"Well, it came out a while ago, but this theatre seems to still have it. Want to see Insurgent?"

"Yeah, I'd love to," I say. I try to act calm but I love Divergent and haven't seen this yet, so I'm squealing inside.

He orders the tickets and we go in. The movie starts at 1:15, so it's playing those repeating local ads. Since Insurgent came out a while ago, there's almost no one else in here. Probably just 2 other people.

"Have you seen this movie yet?" I ask him.

"Surprisingly, no," he says.

"Me either, but I've read the books."

"Me too."

The lights go dark. Jason puts his arm around me and the movie begins.