Endless Summer Nights | c.t.h.

chapter one

The last day of school. You could feel the excitement buzzing through the air. People squirming urgently in their chairs, waiting for summer to begin. I, on the other hand, wasn't too excited about summer. It would just be the same old same old- going down to the beach, partying, and going to the pool. It's what we did every summer, and was starting to bore me. I would much rather stay in school, or at least do something new. But whatever. You can't stop time.
"Melody! Melody!"
"What?" I was too deep in my daydream to realize the bell had already rung.
"The bell rang! Go enjoy your summer break. You deserve it!"
"Oh, thanks Mrs.Marsh."
"No problem, deary."
Why hadn't my friends gotten me up? This was weird. I grabbed by bag and walked out of the classroom. While I was walking out, I saw my friend Rowan, and tried to catch up with her.
"Ro! Wait up!"
She stopped.
"Hey, Melody! Excited for summer break?"
"Eh." I replied.
"What do you mean 'Eh'? It's the greatest time of all! My family's going to the Grand Canyon, OBX, and I'm going to learn how to parasail!"
"I'm really excited for you! It's just that I do the same thing every year, and it gets boring after a while."
"Oh. Well, this is my locker. I'll meet you at the car, right?"
"Totally!"
Rowan. I love her to death, but she could talk your ass off if she tried. As I got to my locker, a boy skated by, knocking my locker shut as I opened it. Jerk, I thought, as I put in my combination again.
24, 8, 17.
I heard the wheels on his skateboard again, and braced for the impact. Nothing hit me.
"Hey, did I knock your locker shut? I'm really sorry. I get kinda reckless on that board. I'm Calum."
"Oh, it's fine. I know you didn't mean to. But isn't it against the rules to skateboard inside the school?"
"Who says I follow the rules?" He asked, and walked away, smiling, board in hand.

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"I want to learn to skateboard." I said, hopping into the car. It was a 2002 Jeep Wrangler, and I love it to death.
"Why?" Rowan asked.
"No reason..." I trailed off, hoping she wouldn't interrogate me.
But she did.
"Tell me! Since when does Melody Winters want to try something new?!"
"Well, there was this boy, and he was skateboarding, and I want to impress him, I guess. And it looks fun."
"Oh, you mean Calum? He's alright. I mean, I would give him a 6/10. Daniel's way hotter, but whatever floats your goat..."
"Rowan! Focus! Do you think Luke would teach me?"
Luke was Rowan's older brother, by a year. He's been skating since he was 10.
"Sorry! I go side tracked. Um, I guess so. You'd have to ask him."
"Okay. Can you ask him for me and text me what he says?"
"Sure! But what if he asks why?"
"Um... Tell him that I think it looks cool or something, I don't know. But do not tell him it's because I like Calum!"
"You like Calum? I thought you just wanted to impress him!"
"Yeah, I want to impress him because I like him! Keep up, Ro!" I exclaim, laughing.
"Okay, I won't tell him. Why do you care so much anyways?" She laughs, and hops out of the car.
"I don't!" I yell, but she's already gone.
She can talk a lot. And when she talks a lot, stuff comes out that isn't supposed to. The reason I'm so scared is because if she tells Luke, then Luke might tell other people. The less people that know, the
better.
Well, I thought, let the summer begin.
•
•
•
Luke had said yes to teaching me, and this was going to be my first lesson. I drove over to Rowan's house with my new board in the seat. I didn't trust myself to ride it yet.  When I got there, Luke was waiting in their garage.
"Hey, Melody. Want to learn to skate, eh?"
"Yeah, I just find it really cool."
"Awesome. Well, I'm the best person you could ask to teach you. I've been riding for as long as I can remember." He got off of his stool and walked out of the garage, to come talk to me.
"Nice. So, when do we start?"
"Right now! First, you need to learn how to stand on the board. Here, hop up on it..."
He trailed off as he guided me on how to stand.
"There, that's it. You're goofy-foot, like me. Everyone learns a little different. But one day, you'll be able to do this,"
As he proceeds to slide down the stair railing with the board, he does a flippy kick thing as he lands.
"That was so cool!" I smiled eagerly, ready to start learning.
"Okay, so the first step is getting in control of the board. Then, you need to push off with you foot while guiding the board with your legs. Pretty simple."
"That sounds like a lot of steps... I don't think I can handle it."
"Oh, please. I'll have you in and out of Luke's Skate School in a month."
"Luke's Skate School?" I scoffed, and laughed.
"Yup!" He grinned, and we continued with the lesson.
Right when I thought it was going semi-well,  my foot got caught and I made a crash landing. He was laughing as he helped me up, and continued to laugh until I made him stop.
"Oh, shut up. I'm sure you weren't an instant pro at the age of 10."
"Actually, I was. You heard it here first. 'Luke Hemmings: Instant Skateboard Pro' I was at the top of every newspaper. I made the headlines, baby!"
I laughed along with him.
"Well, seems like you do know your way around a board. Thanks for the help."
"No problem! So, see you tomorrow around 3 for your next lesson?"
"Tomorrow?" I asked. That soon? Really? I was thinking this was a once a week thing.
"Yeah! I said you'd be in and out in a month, didn't I? Now, practice maneuvering around the board, getting to know it."
"Will do. See you tomorrow!"
•
•
•
Luke was nice. I'm so happy I'm getting to learn to skate from him. He said we might take it to the skate park next week, if I'm ready. I hope I am. Good chance of seeing Calum there, right? God, I couldn't believe I was doing all this for a boy who didn't even know my name."
As I lay there in bed thinking about the events of the day, I couldn't stop thinking that maybe, just maybe, this summer would be better.

A/N: Hey guys! Sorry this was a shorter chapter, it's only my first one! I'll be posting new chapters for Smoke and this story frequently, so stay tuned for that. Love y'all!  -Gracie