The Summer of Us

May

I was in the car, driving with with the windows down and my music blasting. The wind rushing through the windows made my light brown hair fly in a bunch of crazy directions and my amber eyes were hidden behind my sunglasses. I had kicked off my flip flops long ago and had my left foot up on the seat with my knee leaning against the door, which my mom always told me to stop doing because I could "crash and lose my leg".

Only 10 more minutes until I can be at my peak happiness for 3 months. As soon as my Sophomore year of college ended I dropped off all my college stuff at home, and immediately repacked my car up with luggage and headed for Newbank Beach.

Its been too long since i've smelled the sea air it almost makes me regret studying abroad in Italy last summer. But now I get to relish in the memories of every past summer, and make the most out of these next few months.

I passed the sign that said "Welcome to Hastport Island" which meant I was only one town away from my precious NewBank. Hastport was the southernmost town, then came NewBank a little to the north, and then Oceanview Point. You know you're in Oceanview when the sand gets whiter and the houses get bigger.

The closer I got to NewBank the faster the butterflies in my stomach flew. Then I saw the sign, "Welcome to NewBank" and my heart damn near beat out of my chest. NewBank is a small town so it didn't take long for my house to come into sight, and I was pleasantly surprised that I beat my mom and brother down here. I pulled into my gravel driveway that led to the back of the house and realized how much I missed the sound it makes under my tires. I jumped out of my car and grabbed my luggage and walked through the back door.

I walked up the steps that lead into my dining room, dropped my luggage and breathed it all in. To my left I saw the two giant yellow chairs and the blue couches that sat in my living room and were almost too easy to fall asleep on. To my right I saw my kitchen which connected to a staircase that led to three bedrooms. I re-collected my suitcases and followed the stairs into my room. I dropped my luggage again and flung myself onto the pastel yellow comforter that covered my bed. My fingers traced the white seashell embroidery on the blanket as I looked at the doors that led to our deck which wrapped around the house, and a peaceful view of the ocean. After looking out at the blue water for a while, I pulled out my phone and opened my messages to "Blair".

Me: Guess who's back!

I hit send and finally sat up to begin unpacking my clothes into my white whicker bureau until I heard my name being called.

"Aspen!?" once I heard that I began running down the steps.

"Mom!" I cheered and hugged her.

"Sup loser." I heard and turned to my older brother as he brought me in for a hug, which quickly turned into him roughly rubbing the top of my head with his fist.

"Get outta here!" I giggled as I escaped his grip.

"Daniel don't start already." My mom warned from the kitchen as she unloaded groceries.

"Yeah Daniel don't start." I teased, which led to him giving me the finger and I mirrored him.

"So how's college life treating my little sis?" Daniel smiled.

"It's good but ya know, still school." I sighed and shrugged my shoulders.

"Still using the school year as one big countdown to summer I see." Daniel sighed as he picked up his bags and started heading up the stairs to unpack.

"That's all it's meant to be!" I called up after him as I felt my phone vibrate in my back pocket.

Blair: OMG WHAT ARE YOU STILL DOING AT YOUR HOUSE??? GET OVER HERE!!!!!!

I smiled to myself as I read Blair's text and turned to run out the door.

"I'm going to Blair's!" I yelled to my mom on my way out. I hauled my pastel blue bike off the back of my car and started pedaling to Blair's house.

Blair lives just outside of NewBank in Hastport, but since NewBank is so small you can hardly even notice you've left town.
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