The Summer Before

Chapter One

Tessa

Who knew forty-eight hours of one summer could change two people so drastically? I sure didn't. I thought I'd imagined everything, that things were finally working out the way they were supposed to.

Boy, was I wrong...

~

*Present day*

It's been almost a year since I last had to see him- Levi Daniels, my brother's best friend and my (now) sworn enemy. We used to be close, but things changed last summer after a series of horrible mistakes were made, things I now wish I could take back. I thought he was different, I thought we had a connection, but I was dead wrong.

I still can't believe I was dumb enough to believe he and I shared something special. We grew up together- me, Levi, and my brother, Jason. Levi and Jason were in the same grade, and we were next-door neighbors, so naturally, the two were like peas in a pod growing up. And me, refusing to be left behind, followed them around like a puppy.

They never seemed to care. They welcomed me into the fold and allowed me a special place by their sides as we all navigated school and life in the suburbs of Raleigh, North Carolina. Levi wasn't like other boys; he always treated me kindly and didn't mind when I included myself in his and Jason's plans. He was my friend.

As we grew older, that started to change. Puberty hit me like a hurricane, and suddenly, I was taller, my boobs developed nearly overnight, and boys started looking at me differently. Thanks to the surge of teenage hormones, I started seeing them differently too, especially Levi.

He was no longer the lanky, awkward kid I grew up with. He was tall and muscular, and his voice was deeper. His brown hair was no longer a heaping mess on top of his head, and his blue eyes seemed to shine brighter. It didn't take long to realize why I noticed all these changes in Levi- I had a crush. A big one and it wasn't going away easily.

Truth be told, I don't think it ever really did. Even now, when I'm supposed to hate him, I don't believe that crush ever truly disappeared.

Last summer, I thought things between us would finally mature into something beautiful. For a moment, they did, but he had me fooled. He had everyone fooled. And I don't think I can forgive him for what he did.

A car horn blares behind me as I zone out at the stoplight, jolting me from my trip down memory lane. I grimace, shooting a quick apologetic wave to the car as I make a left turn, heading toward Jason's house.

I've been stuck in this car for over two hours, making the drive from Surf City to support my brother and my best friend, Charlotte, as they prepare to get married in two weeks. I'm using up most of my vacation time for this trip, but it's worth it to see them finally tie the knot.

They've had googly eyes for each other for as long as I can remember. Charlotte moved to Raleigh when I was in sixth grade. She was in nearly all of my classes, and we bonded over our mutual love of chocolate frosted mini donuts and brightly colored scrunchies. We declared ourselves best friends that day, and that hasn't changed even now.

The first time she came over to my house, she saw Jason and immediately saw stars. She says she was in love with him from the start. It took him a little longer to see her as anything but my cute best friend, though- sophomore year, to be exact. Once she traded her pigtails and graphic tees for beach waves and booty shorts, Jason saw her in a different light.

They would talk and flirt whenever she came over, but nothing came of it until after Jason started college. He didn't want to start something with Charlotte right before he left for school. We still had two years of high school left, and he and Levi were heading off to university. Charlotte was upset but understood. Their time apart didn't hinder their underlying feelings.