The Summer She Turned Pretty

Bonus Chapter (pt 2)

I knew what I was feeling, but I didn't get what I was feeling. Why did I feel this way toward May, a girl I thought of as a sister since we were born? The girl who shat in the bathtub, the girl who jammed sand in my ear for weeks, the girl that had been in love with Conrad since the age of 9, the girl who made the best jokes, the girl who had been my best friend for years.

As we were heading up the trail I still hadn't even looked at May. I don't know why I was avoiding her, it's not like she did anything wrong. It was me, how I felt. I just couldn't deal with this right now. I just wanted to have fun tonight.

Once we got to the driveway of the summer house, Conrad said, "He parked a little down the streets so the headlights don't wake up someone."

"Have you done this before?" May giggles.

"Yeah, I'm a professional." Conrad smiles.

We started walking down the street, and I thought more and more about this guy picking us up. I haven't even met him yet but I felt like something was off about him already. "There he is." Conrad points at a car a couple of feet in front. "Oh, by the way, he has another friend with him." He adds as he walks closer. Suddenly the driver's door opens. 

Out steps the guy, he looked the age we were told. I immediately get a bad vibe and I can tell May did too. He had a scruffy beard, long hair that clearly wasn't taken care of and a cigarette in hand. "May, you wanna head to the ice cream place? It's open 24/7." I try to smile, to make it seem like it was just a sudden thought, instead of a rescue plan. 

"Yeah-yeah."  She stutters, "Sounds good." I reach for her hand, and we're off. 

"Wait, where are you guys going?" Conrad throws his hands up. 

"Ice cream!" May yells back, but we're already halfway down the street. Once we're around the block we slow down. "That was a workout." May gasps for air. 

"Come on, it wasn't even that bad." I chuckle. 

"Thanks for coming up with an idea on the spot like that, that guy was fishy and I knew Steven was gonna want to look cool around Conrad. You were my only way out." She smiles. 

"I told you I was gonna make sure you made it out of tonight in one piece." I sigh. 

"But seriously." She stops for a second, and I do too. "Thank you." 

I try to play the soft moment off, "Of course. Now, let's go get some ice cream and then we can just go back to the beach." 

"Sounds better than a drugged-up party, I'm sorry, but the fact that Conrad thought it would be okay to bring a 12-year-old to a party is crazy to me." She shakes her head as we keep walking. 

"The second that guy got out of the car I knew that we had to leave." I agree. 

"Oh, look, we're here." I look over at May's face shining due to the neon lights surrounding the shop, I smile at the scene. Unfortunately, she catches me. "Wait, do I have something on my face? I haven't touched like any dirt today, I couldn't have." 

"No, no you don't sorry I just got lost for a second." I shake my head, "Come on let's get as much ice cream as our stomachs can bare." I smile, dragging her inside. 

"Hmmm... I don't know what to get. Jeremiah, help me." She has her arms crossed, and her eyebrows furrowed. 

"I say you go classic." I shrug. 

"You better not say chocolate. I hate choc-" She begins to fume. 

"Vanilla," I smirk. 

"Perfect, I was about to say, if you didn't know I hated chocolate you're not Jeremiah Fisher." She laughs and proceeds to tell the worker her order, while I think of the way my name rolled off her tongue smoothly. May Fisher. What am I doing? I need to stop, what is happening to me?

"Sir? Sir, what would you like?" The kind worker takes me out of my thoughts. 

"Oh, sorry, I'll have cookies and cream." I nod. 

"That's it?" 

"Yes, thank you." I pay for both of our icecreams and we head out to the beach. 

When we were laying safely in our beds that night, I couldn't get my mind off of May and the events of the night. The way she said my name, her face when she was excited, her smile, her understanding, and her optimism. Everything. I think I love May Conklin. 

A/N                                                                                                                                                                                                Please give me more ideas, I'm running out.