Our Last Summer

Chapter Two

The excitement in the pit of my stomach the following morning was unimaginable. I had never felt anything like it. It was amazing, euphoric. I couldn't contain myself, I had to see him. Jumping out of bed, I grabbed the first outfit I seen, jeans and a hoodie. Some things never change. I was too giddy to sit and eat breakfast. Running out the door I grabbed a quick slice of toast mom had left for me and shouted goodbye as I made my way out onto my street, Aztec Way, almost tripping over my own feet in the process.

I skipped down the street to Luke's house, donning the biggest smile anyone had ever seen. It was outwardly obvious I was happy. I wanted the whole world to see it. Knocking on the door I called out his name. No one answered the door. He should have been home. He was usually always home after 11am on a Sunday morning. Something didn't feel right. Pressing my face to the glass, I peered through the window, inspecting the inside of the living room. Nothing. No one. It appeared the house was empty apart from the furniture. What was going on? Where was he?

Unable to fathom what was happening, I slowly made my way home. No longer grinning from ear to ear but hanging my head in confusion. If he was going anywhere he would have told me. I considered many possibilities. Maybe he got a new house a few doors down and didn't want to tell me until he had moved. I thought of every possibility, or so I thought.

Before I could open the door, my mother came out of the house with our phone in her hand. "I'm so sorry baby, he's gone," I couldn't fathom the words coming out of her mouth. What did she mean gone? He wouldn't go anywhere without saying goodbye. "Gone where? Where is he gone?" The tears came rushing down my cheeks. I couldn't control it. The pain in my chest felt real, it felt physical. The overwhelming feeling of not being able to breathe took hold of me and without control I fell to my knees. This is what heartbreak felt like. The day before had been the best day of my life and within twenty four hours I had my worst. I felt so alone.

I had so many questions but the one that kept ringing in my head, would I ever see him again?

"He went to Florida late last night. His aunt was in an accident. His mom had to be with her sister so they left in a hurry but I'm sure they'll be back baby. Don't worry, it will all be ok!" She helped me up off my knees and ushered me inside. She had always had this soft spoken voice that when she spoke and told you it would be ok you believed it. But this time I didn't. If he wasn't coming back it wouldn't ever be ok again.

Sobbing I wiped my swollen eyes, I couldn't see anything in front of me. It was all a blurry mess. I was a mess. This wasn't the sort of thing that was supposed to happen to a twelve year old kid. Luke was meant to be at home. We would play and talk about what happened yesterday, scare Mrs McCluskey, giggle and everything would be normal.

I couldn't stand to be around anyone, my older sister Rebecca especially. She was the kind of person to poke fun at you for being upset. I didn't need her snide remarks, not today. I made a run for my bedroom and slamming the door behind me, I shut out the world.

I must have fallen asleep. I woke up cuddling my pillow, my eyes aching and my mother standing in my doorway. "Lilly, Luke's on the phone. He wants to speak with you."

I sat up and took the phone in my hand, slowly bringing it to my ear, half afraid to hear what he was going to say, half longing to hear his voice. "Hello? Lills are you there?" His voice crawling through my head. All I could muster was a half hearted "yeah."

"I'm sorry Lills. My aunt Janet was in a car wreck. She can't look after herself properly anymore so my mom said we had to go take care of her. I may never come home. I'm going to miss you!" I was so upset that before he could say anything else I hung up. I regretted it instantly. I didn't have a return phone number. He never rang back.

Yesterday I was the happiest girl in all of California but in that moment I was the most heartbroken girl in the whole world.