The Summer We'll Never Forget

A/N: My first original story that I am going to keep up and never take down, no matter how much of a flop it is.  If you're reading this and you are a Harry Potter fan, I have two other stories.  One is called, "The Betrayal of Hayley Potter," and the other  is, "You Don't Know How Much I Need You."  And if you like Glee, I have a fan fic of that, too.  So, check those out!  Also tell me what you think of this!!!

~Aleia :)

P.S. Sorry if this is a horrible story. . . it was based on a dream that I had so. . .

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Chapter 1 *Harley*

I took my last t-shirt out of the drawer and looked inside at its emptiness.  Sure, I was totally psyched about going to California!  But I didn't really trust my mother to be by herself for three months.  I mean, with a record like hers, how could I not be worried?

As I shoved the shirt in the duffel bag and zipped it closed, I thought about what she was going to do when I was gone.  I mean, I wasn't just leaving her, I was leaving her with Dane, and she could barely take care of herself. . .

But I should just stop worrying.  She said she was fine.  She said she was over it and she wouldn't try and be drastic again.  I knew she would, at least, try to be strong. . . for Dane.

I carried the duffel bag out to the car and loaded it into the trunk.  There wasn't much room, but somehow, I made it fit.

"Harley?!"  I heard my mother call from inside the house.  "Harley?  Where are you?!"  She stepped out on the front porch, an apron slung around her tiny waist.  She was drying on her hands on it.  She had obviously been cooking.

"Yeah, ma?"  I replied, heading back into the house.  She shut the door behind us.

"I was wondering, since I forgot because of my horrible memory," she paused for a second, thinking about what she wanted to say, "who is all going, again?" 

I smiled.  I didn't blame her.  Short-term memory loss kind of ran in the family.  Luckily, I didn't inherit it, but Mom did. . . bad.  That's a reason why she did what she did.

"It'll be me, Mazie, her brother Spencer, Noah, Jesse, and Sam," I told her for the second time. 

She nodded, looking as if in a daze, and walked off into the kitchen.  I her the banging of pots and pans and knew she was making dinner.  There would be enough for four people, bu it would only be two eating it.

As a tear silently left my eye, I walked to the rec room where everyone was gathered around the ping-pong table, laughing and shrieking and having fun.  I wiped my eyes and put on my famous, Hollywood, mega-watt smile.

Mazie saw me come in and she instantly pulled me toward the table to watch the intense battle between Spencer and Noah.

As Spencer fixed his glasses, Noah tossed her hair out of her face and into a sloppy ponytail.  The both picked their paddles at, pretty much, exactly the same time and were off playing again.

"It's game point," Jesse joked, putting on a fake reporters voice, "and the tension builds between Noah Gray and Spencer Knight."

Sam laughed and punched Jesse in the arm playfully.  He picked up where Jesse left off.  "Spencer serves the ball, Noah hits it, so does Spencer, Noah passes it back to him, Spencer gives it away to her, and she hits it again.  Wow, this is some really exciting stuff that's happening here, Jess."  Sarcasm was dripping from his last comment.

"Shut up, you baffoons," Noah growled at the boys, as she reflected the ball towards Spencer, who swings the paddle too hard and causes the ball to miss the table.  Noah shouted in victory.

"MY NAME IS NOAH MARIE GRAY, AND I AM VICTORIOUS!!!!" she shouted at the top of her lungs.  She pumped her fists in the air and did a small victory dance.  After she was done gloating, though, she went over to Spencer, held out her hand and said, "Fair game.  Thank you for the competition."

As they shook hands, Mazie said, "She only said the last part because all the rest of us suck at ping-pong."

I nodded, knowing what she was getting at.  The ping-pong table was new.  Like, new, new.  Dane got it for his birthday a week ago, but Noah being Noah, all it took was one try and one tiny mistake, which she learned from, and she became a ping-pong champ.

Noah's good at every sport she plays.  Athletic things come naturally to her.  All it takes is one try, and she's got something down pat.  If it were possible, Noah would play every sport at school, but sadly, it's not possible, though she's still trying to find loopholes.  She's already got scouts lining up to give her scholarships, though we're only entering junior year, this upcoming year.

I sighed and cleared my throat.  When people didn't shut up, I cleared it again.  I finally realized they couldn't ear me because they were too busy shouting and laughing.  This time, I just yelled.  "Yo, shut your faces!" 

Everyone was silent for a minute, but then I heard a voice start talking.  "Well, if it isn't dearest Harley!  I'm so glad you're not dead!"  And when I saw Jesse push Sam out of his way, I knew it was him who had said it.

And then, all of a sudden, he wrapped his arms around me in a tight bear hug, squeezing all the air out of me.  He put his hand on my face, forcing me to look up at him.  "I'm seriously really glad you're not dead," he whispered. 

"Yeah, me too," Sam chimed in.  "When we didn't hear from you, we're sorry, but we assumed the worst."  He looked at me, his eyes full of sorrow.  And I knew what he meant. 

"Well, you guys were wrong," I said sternly, but it softened into a smile, knowing I couldn't stay mad at any of my friends for more than five seconds.  "But thank you for worrying about me."

Jesse looked at me, his eyes filled with mischieviousness.  "No problem.  Anytime, darlin'."  he tipped an imvisible hat and laughed at is own corny joke.  But we all couldn't help but laugh along.

But I got back to the point quickly.  "Okay, well, if we don't leave within the next ten minutes, we're going to miss the plane."  I looked at them with a hard stare, indicating that they'd better move.  In which, everyone did.

When I turned around, I saw Dane standing right there behind me.  He was glaring at me and scowling under his breath.  "I can't stay here with Mom," he growled.  "She'll try and kill herself again, and I won't be able to save her and then I'm going to wind up at Child Services while you live it up in California."

I placed my hand on his shoulder in a reassuring way.  "Dane, hon," I whispered to him, "Mom promised me she wouldn't hurt herself again, just so she could take care of you."  I took a few minutes to let that sink in.

But, without another word, he stormed out of the den and upstairs into his room.  But as I watched him go, I wondered what he was wondering.  Would Mom really keep it together?

I shrugged it off, trusting her to keep herself, and Dane, in check.  I know she loved him and would do anything for him.  Though, sometimes, she didn't show it.

 I hurriedly got everyone to grab their suitcases and throw them in the trunk of my Jimmy.  Everyone took their seats and I ran to the front of the car to take my place as driver.  Beside me was, my right-hand man, Mazie.  In the bucket seats, were Jesse and Spencer who kept hitting each other and in the very back were Noah and Sam; Noah and Sam were already having a heated discussion about which sport was better: American football or soccer.

I smiled to myself about how amazingly awesome my friends were.  I started the car and pulled out of the driveway, but before I had even made it out of it, a car came zooming around the corner of the street and nearly ramming into my backside.  As I looked in the rearview mirror, I saw a guy, around mid-forties, in the driver's seat, his middle finger erected and directed toward me.

I sighed and continued my journey out of the driveway and to the O'Hare airport.