That Summer

04: The Smell Of Cigarette and Mint Gum

Chapter 4

"Aia!" Nikki sat down beside me as she handed me a can of cola. We're now at the beach, chilling, as the campfire was the only light and heat source we have against the cold wind of summer. 

After the battle of the bands, we decided to chill here at the beach as the crowd suddenly started to become wilder than usual and someone decided to go on the stage and shower everyone with beer using some hose that we didn't know where it came from. We rushed home and changed some clothes before hanging out again and ended up here.

Lily also tagged along when we spotted her at their house. Tita Misty doesn't know she's out because she climbs out quietly off her balcony where we saw her. She actually slipped and fell, luckily, we caught her before she kissed the ground. Cons of sneaking in the middle of the night.

"Hayop ka. Nakabalik ka na pala dito pinaghintay mo pa ako sa may tindahan" I heard Lily said before sitting on a dry log we got earlier. 

"Malay ko ba? Akala ko nga sumunod ka na eh" Nikki said as she sipped on her root beer. Lily rolled her eyes and put the plastic bag full of junk food on the sand. She opened one of the chips and offered me some but I refused.

Nikki picked up the plastic bag as her forehead creased like she couldn't find something in that bag.

"Oh? Nasaan yung drinks?" Nikki asked Lily but she just shrugged and continuously sipped on her soft drink that was in the plastic ice bag.

"Huy Li! Yung drinks? Asan? Bumili ka diba?" Nikki asked again but Lily just ignored her and enjoyed her food. She was going to ask again when we heard Lucas' loudness not far from us.

My head immediately turned to look in their direction just to see the twins fooling around with some men I don't know who as I can't see them properly. I forgot my glasses in the car. They look like a walking apparition in my eyes.

"Drinks everyone?" Brent said as he dropped the heavy cooler he was carrying.

"There's your drink, Nik" Lily said before chuckling. I saw Nikki roll her eyes as she opened the cooler only to find beers and soft drinks inside.

"Nasan yung tubig?" Nikki asked and all of them pointed to the sea in front of us. I laughed at them as they circled around the fire that kept us warm. 

"Who's this pretty lady?" My attention turned to the man who opened a bottle of beer with a spoon. He smiled at me and winked. "Hi"

"Hi," I greeted. Nikki suddenly put her arms around me. I almost fell on my seat because of what she did.

"Nga pala. She's the cousin I'm talking about" Nikki said so proudly that made everyone laugh. Her voice cracked when she said that.

"Aia, these are the stupid idiots that I'm talking about" Her friends complained about what she said but she just hushed them.

"This is Cash" She pointed at the man who just winked at me.

"Xerxes" The Xerxes guy nodded and smiled at me and I answered with a smile.

"Narvi" She pointed at the man who is now arguing with Lucas because he doesn't want to give him the spoon.

"Don't mind them" A guy on round specs said before reaching his hand in front of me.

"He's Newton" Nikki introduced him.

"Just call me Newt," He said as I accepted his hand and shook. Newt looked at me like he was remembering something. "Excuse me but have we met before? You look familiar"

"Hoy! Wag mong pormahan yan!" Lily said that made me laugh. Newt just rolled his eyes at her as we let go of each other's hand.

"I was just asking" Newt defended himself and got him teased by his friends.