A Summer To Remember

#17

#17
Ayla's POV

School is finally over for the day, and I am standing outside my school waiting for Aiden to pick me up.

"Hey" I hear a familiar voice say. I turn to Liam, the guy that caused me all the pain. The guy that cheated on me, the one I thought I loved.

"Yes?" I ask, kinda annoyed.

"How was your summer?"

"It was great"

"Look, I'm really sorr-"

I hold my hand up to stop him. "You don't need to apologize. You chose to do what you did, and it's in the past. You don't need to try and apologize thinking that I'm going to run back to you, because trust me, I've found someone better. Someone that actually means it when he says he loves me. You know apologizing isn't going to change anything. I'm still going to see you as the lying, backstabbing, cheating dick, that you've always been. And that's all you're ever going to be."

I see Aiden pull up, so I walk away and start walking towards the car.

"Bye, have a nice life. Actually, burn in Hell"

That felt amazing. I never confronted him before because I didn't like confrontation. I also couldn't believe what he did. I was a mess and I didn't want him seeing that. But now that I confronted him, I feel like i have a weight lifted off my chest.

I open the door to Aiden's car and hop in.

"Why were you talking to that douche?" Aiden asks, motioning to Liam.

"He wanted to apologize to me, at least I think he did, but I told him off"

"That's my sister" Aiden holds up his hand and I high five him.

***

Once I get home, my phone starts ringing. Seeing that it's Ella, I answer the FaceTime call.

"Hey" I say.

"Heya, are you busy tonight?"

I think for a second "I don't think so"

I'm pretty sure it's one of the two days that I get off a week.

"We should have a sleepover and your house and watch the new movie Crazy Rich Asians."

"I'm down, I've been really wanted to see that movie but I've been busy."

"Do you have popcorn and chocolate covered pretzels?" She asks.

"Let me check quick"

Popcorn and chocolate covered pretzels are what we always eat when we have sleepovers and watch a movie. They're a necessity.

I quickly run downstairs and look through the pantry. I find popcorn but no pretzels. I run back upstairs and tell Ella exactly that.

"Okay. I'll pick up some on my way to your house" she says, referring to the chocolate covered pretzels.

"Okay, see you at 5:00?"

"Yeah, bye"

***

My parents ended up inviting our old neighbors over for a fire. They come over quite often. Ashlyn, my sister, is at some sort of sport practice. And my brother is at the gym playing basketball with his friends. So Ella and I have the house to ourselves, barely long enough to watch a movie.

I hear my front door open and then close. I walk down the stairs and see Ella standing in front of my front door, taking her shoes off. While she carries a grocery bag and her keys in one hand.

"Hey, fancy seeing you here" I say as I see her.

"Yeah it is kinda weird that we've been best friends for four years, and we just talked about me coming over, and then I show up, life is crazy" she says sarcastically.

"Just put the movie in, we only have two hours until Ashlyn is done with practice"

"Okay Okay, I'm hurrying"

She hands me the grocery bag, after taking the movie out of it. She walks over to my living room TV and puts the DVD in. She knows how to work everything because she has been here many many times, so I don't even bother helping her out. I walk to my kitchen and put the popcorn in so that it's popping.

"Hey Ayla?" She yells from the other room.

"Yeah?"

"Who's Brennan?"

Shoot. I forgot to tell her. Well forgot and just didn't really want to talk about it.

I jog into the living room and grab my phone from her hands. "No one"

"Really?" She asks.

"Yep"

"Then how come he sent a heart after his text"

I look at the text Brennan left me.

When is your winter break? I need to see you soon❤️

I message him back, forgetting about Ella for a second.

"He's special?" She asks, breaking me out of my focus.

"What do you mean?" I ask, playing dumb.

"I see the way you smile, it's a smile I haven't seen in a long time. He makes you happy, and it takes a very special person to make you happy. I mean, I make you happy, and I'm very special" she says the last part, motioning to herself.

"Yeah he's special" I say, giving up my facade.

"Tell me everything" she says.

I hear the microwave go off, signaling that our popcorn is done.

"After I go get the popcorn I will"

***

After I get the popcorn, I tell her everything. And of course, she tells me what Aiden does. That I should have tried long distance. And the more I think about my decision, the more I regret it.

"That was such a good movie" Ella says as the credits play.

"Yeah. It was literally like almost every story I read."

Ding.

Ella's phone notifies her that she has a text.

"Oh shoot, I gotta go. I forgot that I have to pick my brother up from a friends house, and now my mom is mad"

I laugh slightly, she forgets things a lot. "Okay Bye"

"Bye"

Soon after she leaves, Aiden walks in. He sits down next to me on the couch, and let's out a breath.

"What's up with you?" I ask.

"I can't decide what to go to college for. I want to be an elementary school teacher, but I also want to work in sports."

"So just be an elementary school teacher that coaches sports"

I see his eyes light up, "I never even thought of that. I didn't know you could be so smart. Maybe it was the guy that you met, oh wait it couldn't have been because you broke up with him. So the knowledge must have just hit you like 2 minutes ago." He says kinda jokingly, but I can hear the seriousness in his voice. He stands up and starts to walk away. "You know I'm right" he says.

"I hate you" I yell to him, not truly serious.

"Love you too"