Just for A Summer

Chapter One

Chapter One

Sunlight streamed through the big window in my room, making everything seem green because of the shade my walls were painted. My dog, Lime, sat on my floor, basking in the warm rays. I sat at my desk, sorting photos of my mother and her friends at their college reunion for a scrapbook. My phone was probably blowing up with notifications, since it was the first day of summer, but I just wanted to relax and delve into my own little crafty world.

As I was sorting through the photos, categorizing them into "awesome", "eh", and "no way" piles, I found one that definitely didn't belong with the rest.

The scene is six little kids who look like they could be aged three to five sitting on somebody's front porch. There are beautiful bright pink and purple flowers on either side of them, and a door and a rocking chair in the background. And I was in it.

I was immediately intrigued, and ran down the stairs to ask my mom what it was doing with the photos of the reunion. She smiled as she looked at it.

"This is a photo of you and some of my friends' children, when you were very young. I remember how it took forever to get you to sit down, because all you wanted to do was play."

She pointed everyone out in the photo. The blonde in the blue and yellow Hawaiian print sundress-looking thing who's looking at her shoes is me, Elizabeth "Liz" Asher. The light brown haired one on the left end in the navy shirt and grey shorts who looks like he just tasted a lemon is Everett "Ev" Clarkin. The girl next to me in the green shorts holding a blanket with a dazed expression on her face is Amanda Baelle. The readheads are Aaron and Sam Blacque. Aaron is the one next to Ev with the green and blue striped shirt holding his shoes. Sam is on the other side of me, with the Dolphins shirt and navy shorts, looking at Chase. Chase Rosa is between the Blacques, the one with the smile who seems to be looking at something on the ground below the steps. He's wearing a blue polo shirt and plaid shorts.

I asked my mom where they were now.

"Oh, everyone moved away from Southampton. Except for Heather Baelle."

Southampton Township, New Jersey, was where I had lived from birth until age six. I don't really remember anything about it, except for somebody's wide front lawn. When I was six, my mom, my dad, my dog, and I moved to Key West, Florida, where I have lived out the last nine years of my life. At age fifteen, I was pretty happy here. I had zillions of friends and house in the perfect location: between Duval Street, the shopping hotspot of Key West, and the beach.

"How old was everyone in this photo?" I questioned, turning on the lime green barstool to face the photo, which was sitting on our bamboo kitchen bar.

"Ev and you were both five. Chase and Sam were six, and Aaron and Amanda were both four."

"Wait, Ev sounds familiar. Do I know him?"

"We went to his bar mitzvah a few years ago."

"Oh. So this photo was taken ten years ago?"

"Yes."

"Where was it taken?" I felt like an interrogator, but I had the sudden urge to find out everything about this photo.

"At Heather's house."

"Do you ever see their moms?" I asked, gesturing to the photo.

"We met in college, and I just saw them at our reunion recently. Let's go up to your room and I'll show you who they are in the photos."

I reluctantly followed my mom back up our stairs, but not before grabbing the photo off the counter.

You may wonder why I'm even starting here, weeks before the real action begins and I hitch a ride across the country to find my long-lost friends, but I've always been a stickler for backstories. So, my lovely audience, you must grin and bear it, because there will be no skipping around in this story.