Summer and May

Chapter Eleven: Summer

It was weird getting ready for things without May. I had her voice in my head the entire time; the way she'd give her opinion on outfits when I needed them, how she'd fix the back of my hair because I could never, ever curl it right. I smiled at myself in the mirror once my hair and makeup were finished. I wore a tube top and jean shorts; simple, yet sexy.

I thought to myself that I could text Jeremy when I was on my way, but I knew better than to come off as too available. Jeremy would have to be an idiot to not know that I'd been flirting with him, but I couldn't have him walking around knowing I had all my sights set on just him. I had to keep my options open.

Luke dropped me off, and Alec greeted me at the front of the drive-in. He tossed an arm around my shoulder, and gave me a sip of his chocolate shake.

"You know, Hathaway, I think I like this uniform better." He laughed at himself. Alec was really only funny half the time.

"Shut up. Give me a lift to the car!" I jumped on his back, and took another sip of his shake while he hollered and skipped across the old football field.

The movie started twenty minutes later, with no sign of Jeremy. I pretended like I wasn't looking for him, but Brooks caught me. I stuck my tongue out at him. It was mostly me and the guys until about 9, when a few female coeds showed up. I chatted with Emma Southerly, an old friend since junior high. She's going to Brown in the fall, too, and we chatted about the parties we can attend together. We're even entering the same program. I got so excited, I barely noticed when May texted me that she was on her way.

But I most definitely noticed when Jeremy showed up, hands shoved into his pockets. I forced myself not to shoot out of my lawn chair when I saw him standing there, looking for me. I approached him slowly, a blanket tangled in my arms. When he noticed me coming, he smiled. A real, genuine smile. It made my heart feel warm.

"Glad you made it," I said quietly, beaming.

"Same. Thanks for inviting me. I probably would have just watched The Price is Right with my grandpa, so..."

I raised a brow. "I used to watch that with my Nana. It's not so bad." I shrugged.

He breathed out a laugh, and the air hung thickly between us. This seemed to be a trend with him and me. It was like we were afraid to fill the space between us. Either that... or there wasn't much we had in common. I decided to believe the first.

"So, I borrowed this blanket from a friend. All the chairs are taken, so... want to share?" I felt like a kid asking Santa for a doll for Christmas. Hearing him say yes was suddenly the only thing that mattered.

"Sure, that sounds nice." I let out a breath of air while I turned around, strategically walking us to a place on the field that was near the group, but somewhat secluded... But not in a place where it looked obvious that I wanted to be alone. I spent the last hour thinking about where I'd place us. When we sat down, I knew I'd chosen perfectly. On the other side of Alec's truck was the rest of the group, but others were sprinkled in front of us. We were only slightly behind everyone else, so it wasn't completely quiet.

I laid on my back, crossing my legs at the ankles. Jeremy joined me, resting on his elbows. The plaid blanket beneath us wasn't very big. Jeremy's sneakers spilled over the ends of it, while the blanket spanned the length of my body and not an inch more. Jeremy had one leg rested, while the other was bent, his knee up. His entire body turned towards me when he looked over at me.

"Is this one of your spots in town?" I gave him a quizzed expression. "You said you wanted to be my first friend here. So, what should I know about Shimmer Lake?"

His question excited me. I never concerned myself with vacationers, those who visit Shimmer Lake for a long weekend and then return home. I met a cute boy from Ohio once. I never got to show him around, though. If Jeremy wanted to know about Shimmer Lake, I could be the best tour guide there ever was.

"The thing about Shimmer Lake is there's not much to do besides drink and hang out on the water. If you don't have a boat, there's about five other places you might be." I turned onto my stomach, looking him right in the eye. "One is Dockside. It's the town staple. Then it's Ringo's Drive Thru. It's just a convenience store, but people hang outside there. I don't know why. Then, there's this drive-in. Shimmer Lake doesn't really have a football team, so we joined with the town over, and this football field got turned into a drive-in about five years ago." He seemed to marvel at the words I said, and I couldn't tell if it was the town he liked, or me.

"Then there's Tally's, another dockside bar. But all the people that work there have known me since I was a kid, so I can't use my fake ID there... And lastly, there's Sully's Fisherman House. I don't know how long it's been around, but it's been as long as I've lived here. It's some of the best food I've ever tasted, and the man who runs it is so sweet, and--" I stopped myself when I saw Jeremy staring at me, completely awestruck. "What?"

He grinned to himself. "Summer, that's my grandfather's place."

"Wh--What? Sully? That's your grandpa?"

"Yep." He chuckled, taking a sip from a Coke can. "He showed me the ropes when I was a kid. He's the best."

"Tell me more." I said. If I'm being perfectly honest, I wasn't fully invested in hearing about what fishermen do, but Jeremy was drawn in, and I'd moved a solid six inches closer to him, and he was leaning towards me. My May radar was going off, because I knew she'd arrived at the drive-in, but I had no intentions on moving for the rest of the night.

He went on and on about how his grandfather would take him on fishing trips multiple times a year, slipping into early morning darkness to start the day's work. Jeremy and his dad and brother would go out with his grandpa Sully to fish, reel in the nets, and sort, gut, and whatever else they do. I lost myself in the oceans in his eyes about two minutes into his stories.

It was the most I'd ever heard him speak. And while I didn't understand half of it, I was entranced. Listening to him talk, him listening to me, and making eye contact with him during all of it. It made me want him in a way that I was unfamiliar with. Jeremy spoke of fishing, and his grandfather, like it was something he loved. I wondered then if he had ever loved anything, or anyone, before. The thought nicked at my stomach, causing a rushing feeling down my spine.