A Summer to Remember

Chapter Ten

I woke to the sound of laughter and noisy pans. I rolled over to look at my clock, eight in the morning. It was too early for me, but I'm guessing Zoe had practice. I got out of bed and headed toward the kitchen. I saw the stranger for last night cooking and Zoe sitting there watching him.

"Morning sunshine."

I looked over at Zoe and weakly smiled.

"You did realize I was in bed at two, and it's eight. Why do you have to be loud?"

"Sorry, I didn't know you were home. I thought you were staying at Sam's."

Sam's. I looked down at the floor. Remembering the night before was not something I intended on before I was even awake.

"Yeah, was."

"Oh, what happened?"

Zoe looked at me intently and then looked back at Jack, he shrugged his shoulders. I guess that Sam and him hadn't been friends for as long as we thought, or he did not know of the situation.

I looked back down at my cinnamon roll,"Some girl named Mallory, walked in on us after Sam fell asleep. She claimed to be his ex fiancee and it just really hurt that I wasn't ever informed of this."

Jake dropped his fork on the plate and his mouth was wide open.

"Mallory? At mine and Sam's apartment? Last night?"

"Yes. You know of her?"

"Yes! Sam purposed to her after being with her from Junior year in high school to sophomores in college. He really loved her but right before they started planning the wedding, she went psycho on him."

"What do you mean by 'psycho'?"

Jake looked at me and shook his head, his eyes filled with sadness.

"She first told him she was pregnant and would have to hold off on the wedding, and Sam being Sam, he was excited to have a child. Only, she was not. She partied and drank and smoked and eventually, she had a miscarriage. I've never seen his heart so broken." He stopped to get a drink of water then continued, "Until he found out, it wasn't even his kid. She doesn't know who the father would have been, that's how many guys she slept with under his nose when he went out to baseball or fill out job applications. He was devastated. We had to move further from the beach so she wouldn't find us. She's threaten to kill him several times since. He even had to get a new cell phone number and switch schools. Even though he didn't have the money to afford a state university, he makes it work."

I stared at Jake in shock. No wonder he never mentioned this to me, it's probably too painful to relive something that unraveled in a matter of days. Jake put his hand over mine and smiled a little bit.

"It'll be okay, Ray."

I nodded and headed back to my room. I turned my phone on to see if I had any missed calls or messages. To my surprise Sam left one voice message and my mother had texted me twice.

I listened to my voice mail first.

"Rayley, it's me. You probably already know that." He sounded like he'd been crying and was on the verge of breaking down again. "I'm sorry for what happened, if you'll call me back as soon as you hear this, if you listen to it, I'd like to explain what went wrong with her and why I haven't told you yet." He paused for a long moment and I heard him painfully laughing and imagined the tears streaming down his face. "Please call, I lo-" Click.

I replayed his voice mail again to listen for more voices, if any. I heard none. Only silence next to his voice.

Mom:

How's the apartment and beach? Love you!

Mom:

Saw Coach "Drew" today. Said he's headed out to FL soon, said to tell you to contact him. NO FUNNY BUSINESS.

I laughed at the last message, the thoughts that must've gone though my mothers head while she typed the message.

Rayley:

Hey mom, apartment and beach are great! Will send Drew a text. Love and miss yall.

Rayley:

Hey Drew! Heard you were headed to FL. Miss me that much already? Hah.

I had met Coach "Drew" my sophomore year of high school. He of all people should be thanked the most by me for helping me achieve success. From staying late after practice for more technical work on field to getting to school early or setting aside a Saturday to help my grades be where they are needed, he was there.

It was also very entertaining to pick on him at any giving point. He was born in Spain and moved to Texas when he was child, he has a very mixed accent but he talks more like he's from the UK. He is also very tall and skinny, but don't get me wrong he was the soccer skills of a professional, and the brains of a genius. His skin is perfectly tanned and he has dark blue eyes with light brown hair that is cut to be put in a quiff, but he never does. He's an interesting character but he sure is one you love to say you know.

I guess I had started to doze off because the sound of my phone vibrating startled me.

Coach DrEw:

Hey Ray, no I haven't missed you that much. ;) I'll in Pensacola in a couple of days, you're not a soccer girl anymore. You can't call me Drew anymore. ;)

I scoffed at the last sentence and replied

Rayley:

Uh, I was there when the name was given to you, and I am still a soccer girl who can kick your butt at it. Shoot me a message when you're down here and we'll play a match? ;)

I got up and took a quick shower and threw my hair in a bun. I put on short jean shorts and an old tee. Then I headed to Samuel's to kiss away all his tears.