Foolish Summer | ✔

16 • W A V E R L Y • 😳

Mom still had her job when Saturday rolled around, no thanks to me. I was so wound up that whenever Shontell was in the same room as me I screwed something up. Like ordering a hundred cases of those party favor sized bottles of bubbles instead of ten or when I almost stabbed her with a letter opener after tripping over my own untied shoelaces.

Mom sent home to rest, making up some excuse about me having a headache.

I was halfway up the long drive way to our oversized rental home when someone called out my name. Then I was ambushed, entangled in a mess of arms and red hair. Squeals of giggles pierced my ear.

"Holy shit, Wave, when you and Theo said this place was huge I wasn't expecting all this!"

My brain struggled to keep up with what was happening right in front of me. "Naomi?"

She pulled away, hands on my shoulders and brows cinched. "You're still mad, aren't you? Everything was fine on the phone, but now that you see me in person you wanna hit me."

"No," I laughed. "I don't want to hit you. I just-You're here!" How did I forget she was coming?

"Wow." She dropped her hands from my shoulders, frowning. "Could you sound any less enthusiastic?"

"Sorry! I'm not mad, I promise," I assured her. "You might've wasted your time coming down here, though."

"What? Why?"

"Long story," I sighed, starting towards the house. "I'll tell you about it while you're making me chocolate peanut butter cookies."

• • •

"So, you like him?" Naomi asked, licking peanut butter from a spoon.

As I helped her prepare the cookies I filled Naomi in on everything that had happened that summer, starting with the book festival. It felt like forever ago when Stephen and I crashed into each other's lives.

"Not enough to jeopardize my mom's job." I bit into a cookie that hadn't fully cooled off, immediately chasing it with milk.

She eyed me from across the island. "You couldn't wait two more minutes?"

"No, actually." I smirked.

"Maybe his mom was bluffing," Naomi said. "You said she saw you two flirting the other day and she hasn't fired your mom."

"Yet," I emphasized. "She could be waiting for the perfect moment. Or she probably saw me crap myself when I saw her that day and now she knows I won't even sneeze in her son's direction."

Naomi scooped out the last of peanut butter from the jar, jamming the spoon in her mouth as she mulled over what I said.

"It doesn't matter," I told her, grabbing another cookie. "I told you, he's a player. New girl every day. I'm better off forgetting him."

"Yeah, don't ever go into acting," she snorted. "Player or not, you like him."

She was right. No matter how many times I told myself Stephen Davis was bad for me, I kept hoping he'd message me. The other night I even spent a few hours out on the balcony hoping he'd come out and we could silently continue our reading date. Pathetic.

"It doesn't matter either way. I'm not risking my mom's job," I said, nibbling on the cookie. "I wish there was a way to speed up the getting over him part."

Her brown eyes sparkled, lips curving up into a mischievous grin. "Really? Because the Uber driver told me about this eighteen and under club around here, Stop Light or something like that. We can get all dressed up and check it out. Maybe meet some cute boys, get your mind off your neighbor."