Summer Forever

11.

Last Summer

"Get in the car, we're going on a road trip."

I stopped in my tracks, halfway through closing the front gate to my house. Everett was in front of me—or more accurately, Everett sat in the driver's seat of a car in front of me. A fancy car. I blinked.

"Everett did you steal a car?"

"Depends on your definition of steal."

"Take without asking."

He hummed. "No. No, I definitely asked."

I rolled my eyes striding up to the driver's window to frown at him. "Whose car is this?"

"My grandma's," he replied easily.

"This?" I gazed over the red, soft-top Porsche and frowned. I couldn't imagine Mrs Clemente cruising down the highway in this car, the wind blowing her glasses and dentures askew. And even more—I knew Everett's family was well off, but a Porsche? Even my old, beat-up car had been a 1997 Mitsubishi that had cost me a few thousand from my old neighbour. Compared to that, this car could've been a Ferrari, worth millions, and I would've had the same reaction.

"Are you getting in or what?"

He didn't have to ask me twice. By the time I reached the passenger's side, Everett had leaned over to push open the door for me. I slid into the cool leather seat and looked around in wonder. This car was probably worth more than my house.

"So, where are we going?" I asked, buckling my seatbelt.

He grinned at me. "It's a surprise."

I quirked a brow, suddenly unsure. "Should I bring, like, an overnight bag or something?"

"We'll be back by then." He turned the key and the engine roared to life. I startled, facing him uneasily as he flicked through the buttons on the console. My frown only deepened.

"Are you sure you can drive in this country?"

He glanced at me, a wide grin on his face. "How hard can it be? It's just all... reversed. Right?"

"Not exactly."

"We'll be fine." His left hand left the wheel and wound our fingers together. "Ready to head to Sydney?"

I snorted. "I thought it was meant to be a surprise."

"Shit," he muttered. He shook his head, frowning. "Can you pretend you never heard that?"

"Heard what?"

***

Everett chose the worst possible time for a spontaneous visit because my midterms didn't finish until Everett's last day in Sydney.

Our week together was filled with stolen moments between studying, assignments, and Everett's stubborn jetlag. They were kisses between study breaks, lazy cuddles in the mornings we were too tired to get up, and... slightly more than cuddles in the nights we couldn't sleep—him because of his perpetual jetlag, and me because my mind was filled to the brim with formulas and definitions.

It seemed every time I shut my eyes, a number or a biological structure floated beneath my eyelids.

It didn't matter, though. Exams were over, and I'd done the best I could. Everett was back in America. And I still had a few days before my first class back at uni.

I rolled over in my bed, groaning into my pillow. Why did he have to leave right when my schedule freed up? We'd barely done all the things we'd had planned.