Endless Summer

1

He sat on the ledge of his windowsill. Eyes closed, thoughts closed, doors closed. The summer dew starting to fall upon the small town.
"Don't tell me you're about to jump." A voice arose behind him forcing him to turn around. Thalia stood by the narrow doorway. "Is there something on your mind Nicola?" She asked with lilt in her voice, her blond hair glistening in the sunlight.
"Don't be ridiculous," Nicola scoffed. "Can't I just enjoy a bit of fresh air?"
She walked up next to him, resting her elbows on the window. "Well you're always complaining to mom downstairs, so it's weird seeing you actually relaxed." She chuckled.
"Well, don't get used to it."
"Did you hear about the new English family that moved next door?" She looked up at Nicola with a smirk painted across her face.
"Yes, I have." He turned to face Thalia, "But what are you implying?"
"I don't know, maybe we can make the most out of this." They both burst out laughing at the possibility of actually getting entertained by the new family. They're probably as boring as everyone else in that town.
"Yeah right. They're only here until September. They'll be gone before we know it." Nicola stepped down from his window back into his room. "Let's just be good neighbours."
"Easy as cake," Thalia said, patting her brother on the shoulder then disappearing back off into her room, leaving Nicola in the radiating warmth of his unair-conditioned room.
    
     The afternoon came too soon. The blazing sun overhead burned. Nicola had been in his room all day, not feeling the need to occupy himself with anything. Though in the back of his mind he had thought of stopping by at the market to buy some peaches, he never went.
     "NICOLA!" Thalia sang from downstairs.
     "CHE?!" He yelled back waiting for a response.
     When silence was all that responded Nicola grunted into his pillow, making his way downstairs to where his mom and Thalia were sitting in the living room. They weren't the only ones lounging about in the living room. "Nicola, finalmente fuori dalla tua caverna." His mother said. The room filled with warm laughter after her remark. Nicola took a look around to see who was actually in the room. To no ones surprise it was their new neighbours. "Come sit Nicola, meet the Jones." He smiled over at the Jones and shuffled his way to sit next to Thalia who was on the far end of the room, right across their neighbours. There sat Mr. and Mrs. Jones with their youngest daughter and their eldest son who seemed to be around Nicola's age.
     "This is very kind of you all, I should've brought some snacks. But this, this is very delightful." Mrs. Jones chirped cheerly, her noticeable English accent taking Nicola off guard.
     "Oh it's nothing." Nicola's dad walked out of the small kitchen. He was home for the week before he had to be drafted back to Lebanon. Something that had to do with the MNF and peacekeeping. Nicola didn't invest his time into finding out what his dad did over in the army, he just didn't think about it.
    They all talked hours on end, it felt like an eternity to Nicola who didn't contribute to any of the conversations, he sat there quiet, bored out of his mind. He did learn somethings about the Jones. Turns out their son, Evan? Maybe? Was also around Nicola's age, which brought him to his attention. Evan was a boxer, he quit when he was fourteen, now he plays rugby for his city devision. Daisy, their youngest, just did ballet at a private club somewhere in London.
     "So Nicola, what do you do?" Mr. Jones asked, which woke Nicola up from his trance into the abyss of the floral wallpaper that covered one side of the living room walls.
     "Oh, well.... I write music. Mostly for guitar and piano. Um- I also ride a bike." His charming remark brought laughter from everyone in the room.
     "Sounds like fun Nicola." Mrs. Jones commented.
    
     After that Nicola had already been fed up with sitting on the couch and having to pretend  like he's enjoying their boring conversations. Daisy had already fallen asleep on her fathers lap, who can blame her. The sun started to set on the shores of Italy and the humid warmth of the summer starting to fade into a cold breeze of a sunless night. Nicola decided to go outside. Their yard had a willow tree, it's branches stretching over a small bench that sat quietly under it's shade. The willow tree was older than both Nicola's great grand parents combined. It was his favourite spot for as long as he could remember.
     It was a place where he could reflect and think. It was quiet, lonely, peaceful. He mostly wrote music there, he'd sit there for hours and hours on end trying to figure out chord sequences that expressed his emotion. He sometimes even transcribed his favourite Italian books into English if he got to the point of being so extremely bored out of his mind. Today he just wanted to rest and have some peace and quiet after all that chattering coming from his parents and the neighbours that afternoon.
The rustling leaves of the willow filled the ambient silence. Nicola sighed and sat on the stone bench resting his elbows on his knees. His blond hair falling over his deep ocean eyes.
"Hey," someone with a thick British accent said softly. Nicola looked up to see Evan standing in front of him. His hands in the pockets of his grey shorts.
     "Hi," Nicola responded quiet enough to be a whisper. This encounter gave him time to pay attention to what his new neighbour actually looked like. He had avoided making eye contact with anyone in the living room. The sun beamed over Evan's face revealing the milk chocolate coloured freckles that scattered his pale face. His lips formed a warm smile that surprisingly made Nicola's cheeks turn pink. Evans jawline framed his face, and his dark moca hair curled on top of his head. Unlike Nicola, Evan had the deepest dark apple green eyes he had ever seen.
"You left so fast I didn't even notice." Evans voice was unbelievably soft and quiet. He sat next to Nicola on the bench. Nicola turned to face him.
"Yeah. Well, I enjoy it out here more than in there."
"Do you happen to know this place like the back of your hand?"
"Yeah, you're asking the boy who has lived here all his life."
"Mind showing me around town tomorrow?" This took Nicola off guard. No one really asks him to show them around town, it's always Thalia that takes them.
"Yeah, of course." His response made Evan's smile turn wider which made Nicola blush once more. Something about Evan made him turn into a melted caramel inside.
"Well I guess I'll see you tomorrow morning then." He stood up from the bench and made his way back inside the grass crunching beneath him. Once again Nicola was alone, the willow tree still swaying with the breeze, the sky now purple and pink.
Nicola knew everyone in this town, now this town has finally gotten some new people that he can keep his mind on. Nicola smiled to himself before heading back inside himself.