A Summer To Remember

Eight

I didn't sleep at all my first night. I tossed and turned. At first it was too hot, and too cold. The crickets outside were loud and annoying. Finn. Finn. It danced through my head throughout the entire night. It was so obnoxious. I couldn't control it. I didn't even know him. We had never talked. Or even been closer than five feet. We were actually strangers. All we had done was share a glance. That's it. Nothing more. It bugged me. I woke up the next day feeling awful. I was tired and the bags under my eyes were definite proof of it. I staggered into the dining hall. My hair was a mess, pulled back into a ponytail. I was in a huge black sweatshirt and grey sweatpants. I joined the cluster of girls at my table. They, along with me, were exhausted. I assumed rest hour would be put to good use today. After eating my eggs and toast. I rested my head in my arms for about five seconds before my dozing was interrupted. Jaeden plopped down on the seat next to me.
"Wake up sleepy head." He said in a baby voice, as if he were talking to a toddler.
"Leave me alone." I groaned.
"So, what's on your mind. Are you sooo tired from thinking about Wolfhard all night that you didn't get any sleep."
"No." I lied. "I'm just not used to these "conditions" that's all." I was only partly lying.
"Oh ok." He smirked. "Ok so breakfast is almost over and I'm think about ditching activities." He said.
"Uh huh." I said partly listening, partly dozing off.
"So can you meet me down on the soccer field at 9:50." He asked, tapping my shoulder.
"Yeah I got you." I said, not looking up.
"Ok well I'll see you then." He got up and walked toward his table.
"Bye." I said groggily. They announced breakfast and I walked back to my cabin. It felt like hours had passed by the time I got there, because I was walking so slow. I slowly walked up the steps to the porch and shuffled into the cabin. Everyone was either showering or getting dressed. It was cooler today than usual so I put on jeans and a t-shirt. I brushed my teeth, hair, washed my face and hopped back into bed. It was only 8:30, so I could nap for a while.
"Rough night?" Sophia asked, as I closed my eyes.
"I guess you could say that." I was being honest for once.
"Also what did you do last night?" She asked. I opened my eyes and sat up.
"I just hung out with Jaeden, and we had s'mores, I mean that was about it." I said.
"So uh, you and Jaeden are pretty friendly, now right?" She asked. She added a wink to the end of her sentence.
"It's not like that. In fact he told me he was interested in a certain girl." I said, trying to hint that it was her.
"Oh ok. Who's the lucky lady?" She questioned. She winked again.
"She's a lot closer than you think." I said looking away. I was hoping she'd pick on the hints I was dropping. She had no clue.
"Oh well. You can just tell me later. I'll let you nap." She said as she turned away, and started reading her book.
"Thank you." I said as I rolled back over and closed my eyes. Sleeping never felt so great. I was shaken awake by Sophia. It was 9:30. I sat up and started to get my stuff together. I decided me and Jaeden could have a more in depth conversation about my music today. I grabbed my book bag and started shoving all my music stuff inside. My guitar picks, songbooks, playlist books, melody lesson books, cds, I brought it all. I actually didn't know why I had brought the cd's because I had no where to play them. Oh well. Maybe my parents would send me a disc man or something I could listen to them with. On the cd's were personalized playlists. Songs for singing, for playing, and just for listening to. There were a variety of genres on there. After collecting my stuff and checked my watch 9:47. I trudged out the cabin door and down the hill. Everyone seemed to be busy in friend groups. I just walked by myself. It was peaceful, and I also didn't have to worry about making conversation. I arrived at the soccer field at 9:51. I checked my watch again and there was still no sign of Jaeden. It was 10:00. I decided to wait five more minutes, and if he didn't come, I was gonna split. The watch reached the 10:05 mark and I got up to leave. I walked along the dirt road that led up to the tennis courts. They were on the other side of the football field. I walked behind it thinking to myself. Where was Jaeden. Or even Sophia? Who knows. Maybe Soph would be at Tennis. As I neared to football field, the band room was coming up on my right. As I neared it, I heard the sound of an acoustic guitar pouring from the room. It was beautiful. I stopped outside the door and started listening. I decided to crack open the door and listen in. I didn't recognize the melody, but it was certainly perfect. I couldn't quite see who was playing yet. They never missed a beat and the notes seemed to always match pitch. I suddenly remembered something Jaeden told me last night. Finn was always in the band room. I had a gut feeling it was him playing that song. I took one bigger peek into the door. I lost my balance and fell against the door, swinging it open, startling the person playing. My gut feeling was in fact, correct.