Summer Girl

Summer Girl - Chapter 10

Chapter TEN 

I snuck back in the back door an hour later, just after it started to get dark. I didn't want to go home, but my phone was almost dead and I was tired of walking. I kicked off my sandals and slipped through the kitchen, not knowing what to expect.

  Clara was alone in the family room, the small TV was on, but she wasn't looking at it. She was typing away on her phone, but looked up as I entered the room.

  "I came back for your birthday and you just disappear?" she asked me right away, already annoyed.

  "I thought you were coming tomorrow," I said, stopping near the TV.

  "Well, Mom thought since I was off today, we could spend more time together."

  "I worked all day," I snapped, then took a breath. She always got me going.

  "Well, at least you have friends now. Or, you say you do. Mom said she hasn't met any of them," Clara went on, now being a bitch just for fun.

  "What the hell is your problem? Why do you hate me so much?" I yelled, surprising myself a bit. I'd never confronted Clara about how she made me feel.

  "Hate you?" she repeated. "I don't."

  "Whatever. Yes, I have friends."

  "Good. The reason I didn't let you follow me around all those years is because I knew you needed to find your own friends, your own way. Being home schooled wasn't easy for me, either. But if I let you get attached to me, my friends, you'd have nothing when I wasn't around."

  "I had nothing, anyway," I told her.

  "Well, you're doing okay now," she said, like this made it all okay.

  I nodded. "You could have been nicer to me."

  "Well, I wasn't," she said, rolling her eyes.

  "Night," I finished, and walked away. 

  When I checked my phone a little while later, after climbing into bed, there was a text from Cay.

  ILL BE THERE, WITH VODKA AND CRANBERRY JUICE IN A DISGUISED BOTTLE - JUST FOR YOU.

  I let out a laugh. She knew I didn't drink, almost ever. And I had been kidding when I asked her to bring me alcohol. But she was actually going to do it.

  CANT WAIT, I sent back.

  It was still early, just after ten p.m., but all the walking on the beach had tired me out. I closed my eyes, pulling up my blanket to my face. I was pretty close to falling asleep when my phone buzzed on my night stand. I decided to ignore it, and I fell into a deep sleep only a few minutes later.

  "Happy birthday!" Cora called to me as I came down the stairs the next morning, early.

  I could smell coffee brewing and as I stepped into the kitchen, there were streamers and balloons, taped to the ceiling. Cora loved celebrating birthdays and since I was the youngest, I always let her decorate and make a cake without my input and yell Happy Birthday at me before I was truly awake.

  "Thanks," I smiled at her, noticing no one else was around.

  "Coffee for you, and I got you a special chocolate croissant for breakfast," Cora went on, placing it on the table. 

  I walked over and sat down. "Thank you."

  "Clara just went for a walk, Tom's just working a half day, and Sam will be in town by two, maybe three! I am so excited for us all to be together," she told me, touching my hand. She made it sound like it was going to be this perfect evening, all about me. I knew better.