ϟ Drummer Summer ☼

Chapter 8

June 23rd, 1988

"Are you sure you don't want to go to the marina tonight?" Avril had lots of fun yesterday and feels bad after I told her I didn't have any fun without her.

"Yeah, no, I don't want to."

"Ah, man... I thought you were warming up to that bar." My cheeks are the ones warming up with that comment. "We can always go somewhere else in the marina... There's an ice cream shop there."

I long to go to the marina to hear Holt's band play again, but I don't want to look obsessed by going there every day, looking for Holt.

Holt.

My heart skips a beat every time I think about him.

"I mean, if you really want to..."

"Of course I do! We can't always do stuff I want. It makes me feel like a terrible host!"

Today we spent the afternoon shopping. I got some cute flowy shirts, a skirt, and other things Avril insisted looked good on me.

"Alright, we can go to that ice cream place." I give in with a smile dangling on my lips. "But tomorrow we're hitting the beach. We go early."

Avril rolls her eyes but doesn't protest.

We walk through the marina, but when we pass through the bar there isn't anyone playing and I see the averagely attractive guy serving drinks.

Today I don't look for Holt. I can't obsess over someone unreachable and I really should get this little crush under control.

"Wait, June..." I turn to the sound of Avril's voice. "A friend of mine is at the bar. Do you think we can just pop there to say hello?"

"Sure." I clean the ice cream drops from my hand and throw away the napkin. "We can sit with them if you want. I'm gonna grab a coke, come to me when you're done."

"Oh, thank you, June." Avril hugs me so tight I can't breathe for a split second. "You're the best! I promise I won't take long." Then, Avril catwalks to the table where her friends are staying, and I make my way to the bar once more.

"Good night, what can I get you?" Thankfully, the averagely handsome bartender is taking my order today.

"Hi, it's just a Sprite, please." He raises his eyebrows.

"You're not looking for Holt today?" I try to push down my embarrassment.

"Oh, no."

"Everyone is talking about you. You're, like, the hot topic at this bar." Oh no, I can already feel my whole face getting hot.

"Oh."

"Do you know him?"

"Who?"

"Holt." He blinks twice making a face that suggests I'm stupid.

"Oh, no, it was just nice chatting with him."

"You also cried during our song." Oh, this is getting too much.

"Yeah, sorry, I shouldn't have come..." I was about to slide out of the stool when he pointed to a table.

"Are those your friends?" I look over to where he's pointing and I see Avril sitting down - this won't be the fast "hello" I thought it would be.

"The tall curvy girl is my best friend, I don't know the rest of them personally."

"Uhum." He nods and turns his back. "Your sprite will be right up."

"Thanks." I rest my elbows on the counter and cover my face with my hands. I feel like I'm drowning in this place, full of people that look nothing like me.

I feel so out of place and everyone has been noticing how obsessed I am with an older and attractive guy. If my mom was here, she would say I'm sham-

"Here it is." The bang of the cup on the table wakes me up from my own desperation. I remove my hands from my face and shoot him a weak smile.

"Thank you." I pull a bill from my wallet and hand it to him.

"No worries." He rests his crossed arms on the counter and leans in. Looks like it's not so busy today. "Sooooo... Are you from around here?"

I stop sipping on my Sprite and look at him dumbfounded. Is he trying to make conversation?

"No, I'm only here on vacation."

"Oh, I see." He scratches the back of his neck. "My name is Hunter, what's yours?"

"Juniper." I don't even know what to ask him, usually, Avril is the one keeping the conversation going in the groups we hang out with.

"That's a pretty name."

"Thank you." I try to slurp my Sprite as fast as I can just so I can remove myself from this conversation.

"Do you have any plans for tomorrow... Besides coming to check in on Holt?"

"Me and my friend are going to the beach."

"Oh, is that so? I'm going to the beach tomorrow as well. Maybe we could hang out?"

"Maybe..." My throat is freezing at this point and I really don't know how to reject him politely.

"There you are!" An arm wraps around my neck. "We can go now." I look up to see Avril at the same moment she realizes the average-looking - I mean, Hunter - was making conversation with me. "Oh, hi! Was my friend nice to you? She isn't much of a talker." Hunter twisted his mouth in a shy smile.

"Yeah, I noticed. She was nice, yeah."

"Okay, June, let's go! We have a movie to watch."

"Okay." I slip out of my seat and wave Hunter goodbye. "Bye."

"Bye!"

That was weird...