The Summer We Met

Chapter 2

When we arrived at the fire pit, Jake was there. Shockingly, sitting on the ground next to him was Everett. He looked up at me when we walked up to them.

"Hey" I said, smiling.

"Hey." he grunted, his eyes emotionless.

Everett got up and dusted off his jeans. Looking to Jake for instruction. It was almost as if Everett was looking for a way out of our "conversation".

"Okay let's head on out before dinner." Jake said, walking off towards the trail.

We walked in a group and reached the cleared out section that we all knew and loved. Jake checked on our old fort which was good as new. I sat on a log that I had carved my initials into. Riley and Hailey laid down on a blanket in the fort.

I watched to see what Everett would do. If he would sit with us or continue sulking. He walked towards me and sat on Jake's carved log. We sat in silence for a moment, ignoring Hailey, Riley, and Jake's conversation.

"It's Kara, right?" Everett finally said.

"Yeah."

"I'm sure you've already heard. I'm Everett" he still wasn't making eye contact. He sat with his hands in his lap and stared at them.

"Actually I haven't heard much about you. Tell me about yourself." I said.

"There's nothing to tell."

"There's gotta be something." I thought of conversation starters. "Where are you from?"

"New York." he said "I live in an apartment in Brooklyn."

"Oh cool. Okay...any sports?"

"Music." he stated.

It was pretty clear he didn't wanna talk about himself. So, I tried to get something going.

"I do cheerleading. I don't know if you're one of those people who think it's not a sport. Personally I think cheer is-"

"Do you ever shut up?" he said aggressively.

I was taken aback. "What?"

"You just talk and talk all the time. I came out here fore some peacefulness."

I looked over to my friends. I couldn't just walk over and leave Everett but clearly Everett didn't want me here with him.

"You can go be with them." he said, following my eyes. "I'm fine by myself."

I started to get up but I stopped myself. I couldn't leave him here alone when we were the ones who invited him. Or maybe he wanted to be alone? He was so hard to read.

"I don't want to be alone if that's what you're thinking."

What the heck. This kid-

"I'll stay with you. I'm with my friends a lot. I wanna get to know you." I said.

He looked at me, his bright green eyes boring into mine as if he was searching for answers.

"Like I said, there's not much to know."

"What if I rapid fire you some questions?"

"Okay."

"Favorite color?"

"Black."

I should've seen that one coming. Of course this dude liked black.

"Animal?"

"Lizards."

"Last song you listened to?"

"Here Comes The Sun. Beatles."