a summer fling

prologue;

"We have to hang out, like, every day this summer!"

This was something Shelby Meyers heard from all her friends as they approached the end of and after they ended their senior year.

Graduation was in the beginning of June and, for the most part, she did hang out with her friends, like, every day. Until mid-June approached and one by one her friends delivered the news they were "going to London before college!" or "going on a cruise before college!" or "going on a road trip before college!" etcetera.

Sure, Shelby was happy for her friends and excited to hear about their individual adventures, but she couldn't help but feel a little bit left behind. Sure, she got a few invites to join her friends, but with her family's financial situation she wasn't able to afford to come with.

Money was mostly the devide between Shelby and her friends. Unlike most of the recidence in the beach town of Porterville, Shelby's family was in the lower-middle class range. Her family made enough to pay the bills, buy food, and a little left over to spend, but not enough to keep up with her wealthy friends. Like most of the recidence in Porterville, Shelby's friends belonged to the upper-middle class. Which means unlike Shelby, they get to go to any college they want to, wherever they want to, and still be able to vacation before they go off to start their freshman year. Shelby, on the other hand, decided to take a gap year "to figure out what she's into and wants to do." Really, though, she knows what she wants to do -- marine biology -- but she also knows she'll have to take a gap year and work her butt off to be able to go to college too.

So that's where she is. It's mid-June and all her friends have gone away, leaving Shelby nothing to do but work as many hours as she can get at her little local market. With all of her friends gone, working is all she really has planned to do. Not that there isn't fun things to do in Porterville, there's endless things to do in her beautiful little beach town. Countless boutiques to browse, beaches to visit, cafes to eat at, nature reserves to walk, views to see. Though none of them are fun to do alone, or at least not motivating for Shelby to do alone.

Shelby Meyers knew her summer was going to be boring.

Or at least, she thought.