Summer Love - A HomeTown Fanfic

Chapter 1

As the bell rings I know that the end of the school year is finally here and I'm free for the summer. I sat my last exam today and hopefully when I get my results back in September I will have passed almost everything if not all of my exams. I actually deprived myself from a social life to ensure I pass my exams because of how important they are. I know it might only be the Junior Certificate but it's still incredibly important.

"Hey, Em! How do you think you did?" I hear a voice call from behind me and see my best friend, Sophie, catch up with me. "I thought it was alright; it could've been easier in my defence but you probably did it with ease with all the revision you did."

Sophie has been my best friend since we were 9. It wasn't because we met in school or anything but because I accidentally threw a water bomb at her. Long story short, I was playing with my cousins and she lived a few houses down from me; we were playing and she was riding her bike down the road and instead of throwing a water bomb at my cousin, I threw it at her and knocked her off her bike. I at the time was an absolutely traumatised 9 year old little girl who just knocked a complete stranger off a bike so I immediately ran to her aid, helped her up and asked if she was okay. And here we are today, best friends looking back at memories like that and thanking fate brought us together because I'm pretty sure we are long lost twins, separated at birth.

"I didn't understand question 4 but I kind of blagged it so I'm going to hope for the best. The rest was okay, mainly stuff I revised last night so hopefully it'll come back as a pass," I explain and Sophie nods. "Any plans for tonight? Do you want to come to mine before I jet off tomorrow for a pizza and a movie?"

Tomorrow I'm going on holiday for two weeks with my mum. Initially the holiday was meant to be at the beginning of June but my exams fell then so it was more convenient to go when school finished. I've not been on a plane or overseas since I was 13 years old and to say I'm excited would be a mere understatement.

"Yeah, sounds cool. I have to go home first and help out around the house but I'll be at yours around 6pm, maybe 7?" Sophie begins but interrupts herself. "Actually, make that 8pm because I have to see Callum to sort out a few things."

Callum is her boyfriend of 18 months or so. He's in the year above us so he's just started the preparation for his Leaving Certificate which we will start next year ourselves.

"That's fine. I've got to go now anyway because my mum's over there. See you later!" I say before we exchange our farewells and get on our way.

If I'm perfectly honest I'm quite envious of Sophie and Callum; they're like every other couple out there in terms of arguments and disagreements but they love each other endlessly and would go to the ends of the Earth for each other. The longest relationship I've ever held was 2 months and I wish I could find someone who I could spend a great deal of time with like them. The world just doesn't work in my favour when it comes to that, though.

I can't believe I've finally finished my Junior Cert, though. I remember beginning to prepare and I thought the exams would never come and today I've finished them all! The icing on the cake will be if I've passed them all because like I say I deprived myself of a social life to ensure I pass them which is mainly for my mum, I want to make her proud. It's been my mum and I for a while now and she tries her best to make ends meet and I want to give back to her whether it's passing my exams or not.

"Hello darling," mum cooes as I get into the passenger seat. "You haven't got any plans, have you? I was thinking we could do some late holiday shopping before tomorrow."

I'm so glad she said that. I've got enough clothes to last me longer than two weeks but who actually wears every single outfit they pack to take on holiday? I certainly won't. I mean, you can't have enough clothes, can you? I say yes and off we go, into Dublin city centre to do some last minute shopping ahead of tomorrow.

We end up going down Grafton Street, going to shops like New Look and Topshop to pick out a few things. I don't go crazy and buy everything I want because I don't need that much since I've already got a half filled suitcase, anyway. We spend about two/three hours shopping before heading home. Mum goes off on her own when we get home to do some errands and I'm left to pack. I'm glad I've packed gradually over the last week and not left it until the last minute because I'd be running around like a headless chicken otherwise.

I'm just about finished when I hear the door knock and I presume by the clock being 20:19pm it's Sophie. I skip down the stairs, missing the last two as I jump onto the ground. By doing that I almost slip on the laminate floor because I'm wearing fluffy socks but I catch myself and get to the door in one piece.

"Mi casa, su casa!" I exclaim as I open the door and see an extremely upset Sophie at the door, tears streaming down her pale and makeup less face. "Wait, are you okay? What's happened?"

Sophie sniffles as she walks into my house and bursts into even more tears. "Callum-" she begins to explain but makes her current upset state even worse. "He-he's been cheating on me," she continues and I don't even let her finish before interrupting her.

"I beg your pardon, he's been doing what?"

Instead of standing at the door I lead Sophie to the couch and let her explain in her own time. Apparently Callum had been cheating on her with someone from another school for two months and he thought it was best to tell Sophie now rather than sooner, professing that it was a mistake and it wouldn't happen again because he loves Sophie and only her. Eventually when she's finished explaining she's not crying as much now but you can see in her face that she's still upset. Her blue eyes look dull and lifeless in the centre of her puffy, red skin.

"If it was a mistake, why did he lead me on for two months? Acting like that two months was the best part of the whole relationship? Making out we were stronger than ever?" Sophie croaks and bursts into tears again.

"Because that's how boys work. They don't think like us, they don't have logic. He does love you, I know that for a fact. I just know he wasn't thinking straight and I think you need to tell him that he needs to let you process things. Have a detox for two weeks while I'm away and we'll try and resolve the matter a bit better when I'm not going on holiday the next day," I explain.

"I guess so. I just don't want to think of him right now, especially with another girl because it'll make me upset again."

And with that we change the subject completely and choose a film to watch on Netflix. We end up choosing a Disney film because they always improve a mood. The movie we watch is Cinderella because that's Sophie's favourite and we order a pizza.

By the end of the evening, Sophie is feeling a bit better but not entirely. I don't expect her to be happy when she's just found out her long term boyfriend has been cheating on her with someone else. Cheating is the lowest of the low for me. Cheating on someone is like going to the takeaway for a greasy kebab when you've got a freshly cooked steak at home. I just don't understand the thought of it and I don't think I ever will. Why be with someone when you think of someone else at the same time? Why treat them like a doormat? It's not nice and I really hope Callum realises what he's done and what he could potentially lose while I'm away because if he's still messing with her head when I'm back then all hell will break loose.

It's a shame when you think about it; relationships can make you the happiest person or the saddest person. They can bring you up or throw you tumbling down a 100 step staircase. That's a disadvantage for me for not wanting a relationship but an advantage for definite is having someone there for you; someone you can love unconditionally and have someone who will be there for you through thick and thin. Nobody has ever shown me that and I'm yet to meet someone who I can love unconditionally but I'm in no means prepared to rush that.

When the film is finished and we've finished our pizza I walk Sophie home since she only lives a few houses down. We exchange our farewells and she wishes me a safe flight. Part of me really wished I wasn't going on holiday tomorrow so I could help Sophie through this but I am and there's nothing I can do. I just hope she does have a detox and spends her time overlooking things and hopefully when I'm back I can help her with any decisions made.