lemonade | ethan

forty eight

ethan kisses my cheek, smiling into the kiss as our friends huddled into the frame. "closer, closer!" my dad shouts, holding the phone up to take a picture of us.

i hold onto my bouquet of flowers, gifted to me by maya's mother, as ethan's arm rest around my waist. sonny stands beside ethan, smiling while nick and melanie stand beside him. raymond holds up a peace sign as he rests his elbow on maya's head.

we did it. we graduated. "perfect!" my dad says, snapping the last picture.

[[[[i tried drawing this image ^ but although i'd consider myself not bad at art, i'm certainly not the best artist. PLEASE omg if you could draw, i'd love to see the friend group in their graduation outfits. i'd even commission. message me if you draw, i'll tell you the descriptions of how i've imagined the characters!]]]]

senior year was a rollercoaster. i'm really proud of everyone's growth throughout the years. especially maya. she's always hated south siders but once i began liking them, she realized she'd rather like them too then to lose me.

i'm super upset that once this summer is over, everyone will part ways. melanie decided to stay home with her baby, choosing not to attend college. nick and ethan are attending brooklyn bay university. maya is coming to college with me, the university of minnesota, as she had somehow managed to get accepted into the same school as i did. and sonny is going to new york like he'd dreamed of doing for the longest time.

but even though it feels like everything is changing and everyone is finding their own way, i know we'll find each other again.

LEMONADE

"are you sure you'll be okay?" my dad asks, holding the keys to his yacht in his hand tightly. the helmsman my dad hired stands beside him, awaiting for the keys.

i nod. "we'll be fine. gerald is an excellent boat driver." i exclaim, pointing to the helmsman. "right, gerald?"

"my name is jerry." he simply says, no expression.

i chuckled. "whoops. sorry, captain jerry!" i salute before flushing a deep red for being completely embarrassed that i had done that in the first place.

my dad sighs. "two days." he tells jerry. "then you circle back here. got it?"

jerry nods, accepting the keys from my dad and boarding the yacht. "when are your friends getting here, honey?" my dad asks.

i look around, eyebrows furrowed in confusion before looking at the time on my phone. they should be here soon. i briefly look up to see maya at the end of the dock with melanie and nick. "oh! they're here!" i say.

"hey!" maya screams, waving her hand. she holds her bag in her arm, running over to me before embracing me in a hug. "hey, mr. wu. i cannot believe you invested in a yacht. i never thought you'd be the type to do so." she says.

my dad shrugs. "well, i figured since it's you girls last summer in brooklyn bay before going off to minnesota, you'd better enjoy it."

"aww, you're too sweet." maya tells him.

"dad." i scold. "keep it on the down low." no one knows maya and i are going to the u of m except for our parents. i hadn't had the time nor courage to tell ethan or any of my other friends because i don't want to go through the hurt of leaving.

i promised myself i'd tell them eventually. i just don't know when.

melanie rushes over to me, nick trailing behind her. "hi!" melanie says, hugging me. "it's only been a week since i've last seen you but it feels like it's been forever." she chuckles.

"hasn't it?" i replied.

suddenly, i hear more footsteps join at the end of the dock as ethan, raymond and sonny walk toward us. "ah! the boyfriend is here." my dad sighs contently, making me laugh.

ethan's quick to embrace me into a long hug for we haven't seen each other since graduation day.

right when summer begun, my parents and i decided to go up to new york for a little since my parents were free. the talks about all fun things i did in new york during new years really made my mother miss it a lot.

we visited old friends and had an unforgettable family time experience. it was like, my mom had finally remembered what it was like to be normal again. that's how the new york environment made her feel. there was no south siders or north siders, there were no rivalries, no competition, no status to worry about. she was just... happy with us.

but even though she had felt normal, she still couldn't pass the opportunity and she took me on a shopping spree, spoiling the hell out of me. but now i'm back in brooklyn bay so she's unfortunately back to her regular self, hating south siders. especially my south sider boyfriend.

on the good side, seeing all my friends faces again really brought joy to me. mostly ethan to be completely honest.

my dad surprised me yesterday, saying he'd bought a yacht and that i'd get to use it over the summer before i go off to college. of course, it isn't mine but he weirdly trusts me enough to let my friends and i spend two nights on the ocean with an old guy named jerry driving the boat.

"i missed you." he whispers to me as he held me tight. gosh. why is he so cute?

i chuckled. "i missed you too, silly."

"let's go check out the boat!" maya suggest, allowing everyone to follow her onto the yacht.

ethan pulls away from the hug, taking in the look of the yacht. "wow. that's a big boat." he states.

before you know it, ethan and i board the boat as well. we wave to my dad who stands at the end of the dock at we drive away. "make smart choices!" he yells, cupping his hands around his mouth.

"dev!" melanie comes up to me. "let's go tan. maya disappeared and nick is hanging out with the boys. come with me." she says, stealing me away from ethan.

i nod. "okay." following her to the front of the boat.

"wow, this yacht is amazing." melanie says, stripping her over sized t shirt to reveal her two piece.

"wow!" i gawk at her body. "even after pregnancy, you're body is still perfect."

melanie chuckles, laying herself down on the chaise. "aw, you're making me blush."

"seriously. what's your secret?" i rhetorically ask, taking my shirt off, exposing my swimsuit, as well before laying myself on the chaise next to her.

she simply shrugged.

after a while of tanning, melanie and i had gotten curious as to why it was so quiet. i could hear the waves crashing against the boat but other than that, i couldn't even hear talking.

melanie had mentioned that maya had disappeared earlier and the boys were all hanging out. but what were they doing?

"hey, let's go find maya." i suggest.

END OF CHAPTER FORTY NINE

ahh!!! SUMMER!! also read the lotus girl!

and please! someone who draws contact me about the graduation drawing. i feel like it'd be so cute!