Sixteenth Summer

Her

The next morning I was woken up by my grandma telling me that we had somewhere we had to go. I just nodded, being half asleep, and got up to get ready. I put on some sweatpants and a tank top, seeing as how hot it could be during the day, and got my bag. Grandma had breakfast ready on the table and we both ate breakfast in silence. I saw that the car was not parked in the driveway and sent a questioning look to my grandma.

"They left to go have a little 'date'," she said, tonelessly.

I immediately worried by the tone of her voice, but she calmed me down by saying that it was my dad's idea to distract mom for a little while.

We got the dishes washed and dried before we left. My grandma told me that she would lead the way since it was a place only she knew of, aside from my grandpa of course. I followed her and saw that there was a wooden door at the end of the lonely trail. What that door opened to was a surprise, but not really a surprise as I had already seen it before. A long time ago.

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I was on my bed, reading the books I had gotten yesterday, when I remembered about the necklace. I retrieved it from the box in my closet and stared at it in my palm. It was beautiful. The color of the stone was an ashy gray and the silver chain balanced the color out, making it seem more icy than ashy. But it looked more beautiful on him.

"I should really return this to him," I thought. I gathered up my courage and left to the café before I changed my mind.

I walked in, and saw that it was busier than usual. I found the same seat I had sat on yesterday empty and walked to it before anybody else could take it. I set my bag down and looked around for him. As I was going to walk up to the counter to ask for him, I saw her.

Blonde hair and green eyes. I froze for a second before walking back to my seat. I sat down and looked down to make myself as unnoticeable as possible. Unfortunately, that didn't help. I heard heels clicking on the floor as she made her way to me. She sat down on the seat across from me and crossed her arms over her chest.

"Hey! Never thought I would see you here ever again," she said, maliciously.

Me, sucking at comebacks when I really need them, just sat there and didn't respond to her. I wanted to yell at her and pull her hair, but I refrained myself from making a fool out of myself in public. It seemed as if she had never changed and never will anytime soon.

She just clicked her tongue and rolled her eyes. As soon as I opened my mouth to say something awful to her, I saw Ash come over to my table. He strode over as if he owned the place, but I knew that it was just an act because he was the most humblest person I had ever met.

" What are you doing here, Victoria?"

"I was just saying hi to Alex here. Why don't you be a sweetheart and go back to what you were doing, instead of nosing around somebody else's business?"

"I believe your greetings are going to be cut short because I'm taking her somewhere. Why don't you go back to your admirers and hang out with them?"

She just sat there, astonished as he took my hand and helped me with my bag. I sat up to follow him, but not before saying, "It was nice seeing you again, Victoria. Hope I never see you again anymore."

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I was struggling to catch up to Ash. His legs were a lot longer than mine so he took bigger steps, and I had to take like 2 in one step that he took, so it looked like I was jogging. His hand around with my hand was still as strong as ever, and he didn't have any intention to let go of it.

"What's wrong, Ash?" I asked, a little out of breath, and he noticed because he slowed his steps so I could walk normally along side of him. He didn't respond to my question, but I noticed how his jaw was clenched and his face had that brooding expression on. I decided to let it go and just not say anything else. He took me straight to my grandpa's cottage and in to my room.

I was freaking out because I had never had a guy in my room since a few years back. He has gone in it a lot of times before, but that was when we were like 8 or 9 years old. As I was going to start kicking him out, he surprised me all over again.

"Why did you come back?"

And all I could do was just stand there feeling surprised, shocked, and a little hurt.