That Summer | Aaron Carpenter

thirty four

“So how did your parents take it?” I asked Jacob as I paced back and forth in my room. I held my phone to my ear with a strong grip.

“Better than expected but still pretty hard.”

“How are you doing?”

“I’ve gotten a total of four hours of sleep since I left last week.” He said.

“What about Malory?”

“She’s been quiet, she doesn’t really want to talk about it.”

“You guys have to, you need to decide what you’re going to do.”

“I know.” He said.

“Where is she?”

“She’s in my room.” He said.

“Do her parents know yet?”

“Yeah, that’s why she’s here. Her parents have been fighting nonstop.”

“Can I talk to her?”

“Are you sure that’s good idea?”

“I’m sure.” I said.

“Okay.” He said and I heard shuffling. “Here she is.”

“Malory?” I asked.

“Is this Hallie?” I heard her fragile voice.

“Yeah, it’s me.” I said.

I heard her start to cry, “What do I do?”

“Malory, I know this is a hard time and I know that I can’t relate. But you need to decide what you want. You’re fifteen and I get that but if you want this baby you have to let your parents know that. You need to let Jacob know that.”

“What if I don’t?”

“You need to talk to your parents and Jacob.” I said. “You need to come to an agreement.”

“Hallie?” She asked.

“Yes?”

“Do you love Jacob?”

“Of course I do.” I said. “He’s like my little brother.”

“I love him too.” She said. “And I want to keep this baby.”

“Talk to him.” I said. “I think he does too.”

“Thank you Hallie.”

“Call me if you need to talk Malory.”
“I will.”

I hung up the phone and tossed it on the bed.

“Was that Jacob?” I heard Aaron’s voice.

“Yeah, I talked to Malory too.”

“How are they holding up?”

I wrapped my arms around his body, looking up at him.

“I think they’re going to be fine.” I said. “Malory wants to keep it and so does Jacob.”

“It’s just a matter of dealing with their parents.”

“I think it’s going to work out.”

Aaron put his hands on my cheeks.

“You’re so optimistic.” He said and kissed me.

“I love you Aaron.” I said.

“I love you too.”

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I swung my arm, dropping the bowling ball. I watched as it rolled down the lane and slammed into the pins.  I watched as they all crashed down.

“Yes!” I celebrated.

“How are you so fucking good at bowling?” Aaron asked.

“I always have been.” I shrugged and moved so he could go.

He picked up his ball, “Watch this.”
I watched as he threw it, letting the ball glide down the lane and straight into the gutter. I started laughing as he turned.

“Oh shut up.” He said.

“At least you have your dignity.” I said.

“Barely.” He said.

“At least I love you.” I smiled.

“That’s true.” He smiled and kissed me.

After playing the rest of the round, we went back to the hotel. We walked into my hotel room, our fingers intertwined.

“Yeah, she actually just walked in.” Taylor said into his cellphone. I gave him a confused look as he handed me his phone. “It’s your mom.”

I grabbed it, putting it to my ear.

“Mom?” I asked.

“Hallie.” She said. “I have some really exciting news.”

“You do?”

“Yes!” She smiled. “Listen, when you guys come to North Carolina, the girls, Hayden and I are going to be in Colby. I was just talking to Taylor about coming to the show to see the two of you.”

“Mom, I can’t just drop everything and hang out with you.” I told her. “I have responsibilities on this tour now.”

“I’m not asking you to, but I’d love to come and see you perform. Then maybe you can come see the beach house. We could go to the Last Chance, maybe go shopping at Clementine’s.”

“Maybe we can figure this out once we get there.” I said. “We won’t be there until next week and I don’t know the schedule.”

“Okay.” She said. “But I’d really love to see you, so would the girls.”

“I’ll talk to you later mom.” I said and hung up.

“Did she try to guilt trip you with the Last Chance and Clementine’s?” Taylor asked.

“Yep.” I said. “But honestly, I don’t think I’ll meet up with her.”

“Why not?” Aaron asked.

“Because it’s weird, I know she cheated on our dad and I don’t want to blow up on her.”

“That makes sense but just go see her.” Taylor said. “You might have some fun.”

I looked at him, “I haven’t been to the Last Chance or Clementine’s since I was like five!”

“But maybe you’ll see old friends.”

“I’ll only do it, if you agree to go to Abe’s and say hi to Adam.”

“Abe’s?” He asked.

“The bike shop? They renamed it after that dead boy.”

“Do you mean Eli Stock’s best friend?”

“Yeah.”

“Can someone explain this to me?” Aaron asked.

“We used to live in Colby, North Carolina.” Taylor said and then turned to me. “I’ll go see Adam if you go see your mom.”

I clapped my hands together and smiled.

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if you have ever read any Sarah Dessen books Colby and all the characters are from there.

i don't own any :)

also if you haven't read her books you should because they're fantastic