My Sweet Summer Romance

Chapter 10

My heart drops. A text from Nick.

'Hey Serena! Meet me by shed next to the pool at one p.m. Be there.  

N.'

What?! I must have missed something. Like, how does he know my cell phone number? I really want to answer. I really do. But I must not. I get back at the table, stunned. I place my cell phone on the table, unlocked.

"Where's your lunch?" asked Alex. Oh, I forgot about my lunch. I spring back up and head to a random restaurant. When I come back, they stop talking. That's really odd. But I guess I'm too weirded out to care. I eat without talking, which is really uncommon. They didn't seem to notice since they continued whispering to each other. But then again, I don't care. We finish eating and head outside the outlets.

"Serena, what are you thinking about? You almost look worried," said Alex.

"Nothing. I'm just confused, but I'll be alright. What are we doing tomorrow afternoon?" I ask.

"We have absolutely nothing planned. We can go for a swim at the pool all day, I mean, we have a totally free afternoon, right? Don't you have last-minute plans you would want to tell me about?"

She looks like she wants me to say something specific.

"What is it, a trick question? Yes, I have something planned with Nick, but I have no intentions of going. We will have a nice afternoon, and I will get a beautiful tan like I wanted to."

"You have to go. You haven't showed up at the pier, don't let him down again. You will go, whether you like it or not. Please don't be ridiculous." I can't believe what she just said.

"Me, ridiculous? Please. You know what's ridiculous? The fact that I went at the pier to meet him and he was with a sexy lifeguard who flirted him like crazy and he stood there like an idiot while she was falling in his arms. Now that's ridiculous. I will go there, but just to tell him to go mess with someone else's feelings. End of discussion." That pretty much made her stop talking for the rest of the walk, with Max keeping up awkwardly behind us.

When we arrive at the condos, we both go in to our rooms without saying a word. I sincerely hope this wasn't a fight because that would just be stupid to argue over something that childish. I hope she will be at the pool tomorrow because I can't afford to lose a long friendship like this one. Those are the times when I feel like a really stupid person. Really. I really have to do something. I decide to go and apologize because it's my fault, after all. I shouldn't have spoken to her like that, she did nothing wrong. As I knock on the door, I see it open swiftly.

"Alex. I'm sorry." She looks at me, baffled.

"No. I came out to tell you I'm sorry for this. I shouldn't have asked about this, I know it must be a sensible subject. I just felt so bad for making us drift apart, even for not long. I hate it when we fight."

"I'm glad I'm not alone to think that, even though it's kind of my fault too, since I was so mean to you. Just give me a hug and get this over with!" We come in a tight embrace, which makes me very happy. Now I can focus on tomorrow.

"Alex, can you do my hair and makeup tomorrow please?"

"Oh, Serena," she says, grinning. "I knew it. I knew you cared about this boy after all. I'll make you all pretty tomorrow and he'll literally fall to his knees in awe. I promise." We both go to my room and decide to talk for a very long time. In fact, I don't even remember falling asleep.

When we wake up, I take a moment to realize that I have to get ready really fast. I dart straight out of my bed and look at myself. For once, my hair actually looks acceptable, and I just have to brush it a little to have it curly and shiny, as usual. I check the time: it's almost ten o'clock. I rush to the kitchen to eat breakfast. As I arrive, I see Alex is already preparing something to eat but she is talking on the phone so I decide to just take a seat at the table. I can't hear a word she's saying but it seems like she's trying to hide something. I can tell in the panicked look she gives me when she noticed I was there.