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MEMORIES CAME RUSHING through ally's head as she walked into her childhood room. there was a sage green floral print on every wall. she looked at the bin in the corner, full of stuffed animals each of the boys had won for her at the boardwalk. they were all mostly from conrad and jeremiah.
her bed was neatly made as always, with all the pillows finely stacked and propped up. polaroid pictures from summers before filled the wall above her desk. she ran her finger over the one of her and her mom.
it was a picture of her mother kissing her on the cheek while ally had the biggest smile plastered onto her face.
i'm so tired of fake smiling, she thought as she looked at the genuine smile she had in the picture.
she placed her suitcase down near the closet and started to open it, wanting to get done unpacking as soon as possible.
ally heard someone come in and jump on her bed. immediately knowing who it was once they spoke, she closed her suitcase and got up.
"i can't believe you still have all those stuffed animals."
"yeah, i guess i should give them away soon." ally agreed.
"come on, let's swim before dinner, please." jere suggested.
"i don't feel like it." alaska shook her head.
"aw man, i've been waiting to go in the ocean all day, but i've been waiting for you to get here. please? pretty please, pretty please?" he pleaded.
ally knew jeremiah was her soft spot. she would do anything for the boy. was it because of the continuous crush she had on him? possibly.
"why don't you ask belly?" she encouraged.
"i will, but, i also haven't seen you in ages. i want to spend time with you, we need to catch up."
"i don't know, jere, i just got here. i really want to settle in." she looked up at him. his blue eyes were full of hope. she studied his face while she got the chance.
he's so beautiful, she thought.
he grabbed her hand, "please, lassie?"
her stomach jumped at the use of the childhood nickname he made for her when they were little. saying no to those eyes was one of the hardest things she had to do.
she pulled her hand away, "i'm sorry, jere. maybe next time."
his happy expression faded as the words sunk in. he tried to play it off, not wanting to show her how disappointed he was, "alright. i'll see you later, lass."
as much as ally wanted to give in and spend all her time with jeremiah for the rest of the summer, this would be the fifth summer alaska spent drooling over jeremiah. he never seemed to feel the same, and it hurt everytime they would go out and she would see him talking to another person. ally absolutely refused to let herself go through another summer like this.
