The Maine Attraction

2. Hometown

"What am I supposed to do without you for the entire summer?" Larissa, my best friend and roommate, asked me as she laid sprawled across my bed alongside my suitcase that I was trying zip shut. 

"It's just a couple months, I think you'll be okay." I laughed. "Now sit on this damn suitcase and help me zip it all the way."

Larissa huffed but crawled onto the top of my suitcase in an attempt to add extra weight so I could shut up properly. "Are you sure there's not room in there for me?"

I breathed a sigh of relief when I finally got the suitcase completely shut. "I told you a million times you could come with me. You're the one that couldn't take off work."

"Yeah yeah... and you're 100 percent positive your brother is going to marry this girl?" She threw herself back on my bed, giving me the world's biggest pouty face. It was far too early in the morning for me to be wanting to deal with any of this. I didn't even know how Larissa was so awake right now. 

I rolled my eyes at her obnoxious comment. "Sorry to break it to you, they've been together for like.. 5 years now. Pretty sure he's going to go through with it." I laughed.

"Worth a shot I guess. At least you get to spend the entire summer with Sawyer. Oh my god, he's going to lose his shit when he sees what a babe you've become over the last couple of years."

"Thanks Larissa." I rolled my eyes again.

"Shut up, you know what I mean! He hasn't seen you in what? 3 years?"

I sat down on my bed and shrugged. "Since before I left, yeah." 

I hadn't been home in about 3 years. I had no reason to, other than seeing my brother. After my dad passed away, I needed to get out of town and be on my own. I couldn't stand our small town anymore, I felt trapped. So I moved to Santa Monica when I was 20, I found Larissa online. She was looking for a roommate and I was practically desperate. I consider myself lucky that she turned out to be pretty damn cool and now she's my best friend.

But I'd be lying if I said I wasn't nervous to go back home. My brother was getting married and he begged me to stay the summer with them, said that it had been too long and that coming home for a week wasn't going to cut it. So, I worked double the last couple of months so that I didn't have to worry about it while I was home. Told all of my clients I'd be back by the end of summer and here we are, hours away from catching a flight back to my small little hometown.

Back to spend the entire summer with my brother.

Back to seeing the boy I had a crush on for 10 plus years.

Back to the place I never wanted to go back.

"He's going to be all over you." She smirked, breaking me from my thoughts about going back home.

I shrugged. "I doubt it. He's probably got a girlfriend. We haven't talked since I moved and he's not on social media, so I literally have no idea what's going on in his life other than the random bits I hear from Callum."

"Babe, if he's got a girlfriend? She better be scared." She said like I was about to be competition for someone.

I threw a pillow at her as I got off of my bed. "You're absolutely ridiculous, you know that? Come on, let's get to the airport. I don't wanna be late and even at this god awful hour, I know we're going to get stuck in traffic."

I practically dragged Larissa out of my bed and shoved her to the front door of our apartment. She helped me carry all of my things down to the car and soon enough, we were off to the airport.

"Text me as soon as you land, okay?" She said as she closed the trunk of her car.

"You got it. I'll see you in three months!" I hugged her for what felt like the thousandth time. She was definitely obnoxious, but she was my best friend and I was going to miss her like crazy while we were apart.