A Summer of Discovery

Chapter Three

2004

It was the hottest day of the year in Fairview, I had put on the least amount of clothes my Pops would let me get away with just to survive the day without collapsing from heat stroke. I swotted flies away from my face as I opened the back door and put on my white Converse, they were already dirtied by our summer escapades so far.

A knock at the front door let me know Sam was here. Thank god for Sam, without him I would be a complete and utter loner, he had so many friends as the captain of the football team and star quarter back but he always made time for me. I loved him for that. He was at the screen in his white wife beater and combat shorts when I reached the end of the hall way, he held up a cooler filled with cola and sat it down by the swing. I gave him a fist bump as the screen shut behind me. I sat beside him my feet resting up on the wraparound edge, his longer and leaner legs spilled out over the side of the house which always threw the swing slightly off balance. I sometimes wished I had inherited my father's height, it sucked being short. It was my mother whom I had inherited everything from. I was a product of my mother's heritage, she was Italian and to the stranger's eye, so perhaps was I. Since my mother's death when I was five years old my Pops had lost count of the times people had asked if I was adopted whenever we left town. To observers my Pops was this white, blue eyed blond haired typical all American and I was this little olive skinned child with long dark silky locks and large brown eyes. It's a good thing we didn't travel between states or people would have questioned what this man was doing with me. The other girls at school saw my more exotic appearance as a reason to cast me aside like a weirdo, the boys pretended to do the same but out of school I swatted them away like flies. Sam had been my best friend my whole life. In fact Sam looked more likely to be my father's child than I did. I never stopped thanking my lucky stars for him, he always looked out for me and we walked home together from school most days. Thanks to Sam I never got bullied through middle school and most of high school.

"You think we should go down to the river and cool off or something, the guys are going to be there, they text me" Sam said showing me his new cell phone. I had no intention of hanging out with those Neanderthals. "You go if you want. I'm okay here" I suggested waving my hand limply towards him, all energy void from the sticky summer heat. "I'm wore slap out is all"

"Emery I'm not leaving you alone, I'll stay its fine" he said putting his cell back into his pocket. We both wiped away the beads of sweat from our brows as I noticed the removals truck we had been waiting weeks for rounded the corner. We both stood, our eyes searching the cab for the driver. "Can you see" I asked straining to get a look.

"No can't make it out the suns shining on the window" Sam said leaning over the porch.

"I see" I shouted "It's a woman driving" I said with a buzzing excitement in my voice. We quickly sat down before it passed the house and watched eagerly as it pulled up into the dusty driveway next door. It sat there for what felt an hour. Sam's cell phone buzzed in his pocket as we watched the van, it was my aunt Caroline calling from the café in town. The locals wanted an update on the removals van that had just made its way up Main Street. "Is it the newbies? Who we got this time? I got a bet on its retired folk" Caroline asked. "I don't know let me call you back" Sam said before placing the phone back down. This was a common occurrence in Fairview whenever strangers moved into town. You would think it was a national holiday as the town came together to spread gossip and excitement as well as their poorly hidden bitter judgement.

Movement in the van had us on the edge of the swing, out stepped a lady who looked to be in her thirties, blond hair and a nice figure. "I'm going to introduce myself" I whispered to Sam.

"You are?" he asked shocked at my unusual attempt at being social. "Its neighbourly aint it?" I asked. "I guess. I'll come too" he replied wiping his brow once more.