That Summer

Part 1: The Girl Next Door

Summer. That magical time of the year when school is out, the sun gets hotter, the music gets louder, and the days get longer. For Lexa Woods, summer always meant one thing.... moving out to her trailer on a lake in, quite literally, the middle of nowhere. It was something her family had always done since before she could walk and it was something she hoped could continue on forever. For her, summer was long hot days spent out on the water, or on the beach, but the best thing was, was that she didn't have to be around anyone. Lexa enjoyed being by herself and was quite content with the little to no cell service they had out there, giving her an excuse not to have to communicate with the outside world. Her sister, Anya, however, was a social butterfly and so Lexa hardly ever saw her. Anya was friends with all the neighbours and so most of her summer was spent either partying, or on the beach trying to pick up guys. Anya had tried to include Lexa in her adventures, and Lexa had attempted to fit in, but guys held little to no interest for her and neither did the hangovers that she would constantly wake up with. And besides, she didn't have time to waste sleeping in in the morning when she could be out on the lake, training.

All summer long Lexa trained and competed in local wakeboarding competitions. It was something that she took much pride in, although no one knew that except herself. She had taught herself everything she knew, which was one of the biggest reasons she didn't get along with any of the neighbour kids. For years, Lexa had woken up early and stayed up late so that she could be out on the water when no one else was and when it was calm. She had worked her ass off, gotten hypothermia from being out in the water on too cold of a day, suffered numerous injuries which had landed her in the hospital, but had persevered through it all. This was something no one who lived near her knew of. All the girls that were her age hadn't shown interest in what Lexa was learning when she first started off, which was fine, but then Lexa started to compete and all the girls wanted in. They didn't want to do it for the same reasons Lexa did; which was to have fun while feeling adrenaline course through your veins, taking enough risk to scare yourself but not enough to be considered stupid (her definition of complete and utter joy). No, they wanted to do it for the athletic body and attention from people, especially boys, that came along with it. So they all got their parents to buy them the most expensive boats, the most expensive boards, and hire private instructors to teach them. They went out when they felt like it (meaning when it was hot enough so that you didn't get cold in the water and when it was calm enough during the day) and they learned to do what Lexa had spent years teaching herself how to do. Although she had a nice board and boat now, she had spent much of her time on an old rickety board that she had found in the dumpster and had fixed up herself, being pulled behind a sea-doo or the occasional fishing boat.

So the day when the new family from the closest city nearby purchased their weekend trailer right beside Lexa's, she made sure that she was far away. Her parents had gone over to welcome them but Lexa had taken her bike for a long ride. When she returned, she was greeted by the unimpressed looks of her mom and dad.

"You know, Lexa, they have a daughter who is around your age. I believe her name is Clarke. You should go over and say hi."

"Sounds fun but I'll have to pass, besides, I'm sure she will become well aquatinted with the other snooty bitches around here before long."

Lexa spit back a smart-ass remark which, in her defence, was a completely honest one. Whenever someone new moved in, it usually took all of two seconds before the other girls all became best friends with the new one. They reminded her of a pack of rabid dogs fighting over a bone.

"Well she seems different, quieter than the other girls. I'm sure she would rather be friends with you than them."

Lexa rolled her eyes and turned to leave. She had better things to be doing than arguing over nothing with her parents.