The Summer I Got Hot {L.H} ~ Book 1

Chapter Twenty-Seven

"So," Drew started as we walked out of school that day, "my family are visiting from the UK for my mother's birthday. I was wondering if you want to come meet them?" Drew looked kind of nervous asking me this and I'm not sure why. He'd barely met any my family. My mother and my brother, that was it. My father was still MIA. 

"Of course I would. What time shall I come over?" I wished I still had by car because Drew was going somewhere with Mason after school and couldn't give me a ride. Fucking Luke, he ruins everything. And now I had to walk home. 

"I'll pick you up a six?" 

"See you then." I replied. He grabbed me by the waist and kissed me on the top of my head before jumping in his car and driving off. I headed out the school gates and walked in the direction of my house. Whilst walking I began thinking of all the people I had met and how I continuously met new ones when moving for my dad's job. The only friend I'd really had was back in the UK. Avery Malcolm was my best friend until she completely fell off the face of the Earth when she moved abroad and changed her number. We'd done everything together. Sleepovers, parties, I'm pretty sure she even called my mother mum at one point but apparently all the friends I had only liked to pick and choose when they wanted to be friends. I hadn't heard from Jade since the incident with Drew and Luke, even though I had text her multiple times. 

I walked up my street and from a distance I could see a red Volvo sitting in the driveway. That was my dad's car.  Heart pounding, I quickly rushed along the street, getting some very strange looks from the neighbors, but I didn't care. I opened the front door and let it slam off the wall. 

"Dad?" I shouted, "Dad, are you home?" 

"He's back." I shrieked in fright as my brother said this from the kitchen doorway. "He came back this morning, him and mum are sorting stuff out." 

"Well they're going to have to sort it later." I snapped back, not really meaning to get angry at him. He was a really good little brother. I traipsed upstairs and opened my parents bedroom door. My mother was sitting with puffy eyes on the bed whilst my father sat in the old armchair in the corner. 

"Dad, you're back." I was slightly  out of breath from running up the stairs. He smiled and came over to give me a hug. At first I backed away, but I had missed him so much any anger I felt had gone and I we quickly locked into a bear hug. 

"How 'bout we go for a nice family meal tonight? Like old time?" My father suggested, glancing between us; my little brother had appeared by this point. I stepped back out of his embrace sheepishly.

"Um, I actually have plans tonight." My father looked annoyed.

"Mila has a boyfriend." My mother stated. 

"What? Who?" My father look rather furious. 

"A lovely boy named Drew." 

"I've just came back, and you want to spend time with your boyfriend?" He looked enraged. Who the fuck did he think he was? 

"You've been away for weeks and suddenly we're to welcome you back with open arms. I've got plans with the boyfriend who looked after me when you buggered off to a different country without so much as a goodbye or a simple phone call. So yes, I am going tonight because you can't waltz back in as if nothing has happened." I was on a roll now. "Did you know Matias has cried every night since you've been gone, or how mum holds back the tears every time someone comes to the door because she thinks it's you coming home and it turns out not to be. Do you have any idea the damage you have caused?" There was a deafening silence that followed. My father looked to my mother for any sort of support but she only stared back; not uttering anything. "I'm leaving. I'll be back later." I left the awkwardness behind and ran out my house. I still had the clothes on I had worn to school but at this precise moment I did not care. It was only four thirty and Drew wasn't picking me up until six so I had another hour and a half to kill. Maybe a walk along the beach would do me good. I walked to the end of my neighborhood and turned left to go onto the beach. Something about the crash of the waves and the sand between my toes soothed me. I kicked off my shoes and carried them with me onto the beach. There was barely a person in sight so it wasn't difficult to find a place to sit and watch the surfers out at sea and the occasional boat.