that summer [h.s.]

one.

Summer 2013.

I stood behind the lemonade stand and wiped the sweat off my forehead with the back of my hand. It was an unusually hot day for San Diego, even in June.

"Gross.." I muttered to myself, hoping no one was watching as I wiped my hand on my denim shorts. It was so hot outside that there was barely anyone coming to the fair today, so it really wasn't something to be too concerned about.

It was the first week of the San Diego County fair and my third shift of the season. I liked this job, but I missed having zero responsibility. I know I shouldn't complain since it's only a month, but this job required me to get up early and I much preferred staying out all night, drinking on the beach with my friends. Whenever we saw a cop car pulling up in the distance, we would all run as fast as we could, stumbling and laughing together. Sometimes there were other groups of high schoolers hanging out too, and we would all merge into one large group. I actually met a really cute guy a couple of weeks ago and--

"Lila!" 

The voice coming from behind me startled me awake from my teenage daydreams. I turn around to see Carter, my friend and my favorite coworker, walking into the lemonade booth. I smile at him. 

"Hey Carter, it's about time!" Carter only has had one shift this week and of course it was on one of my days off. I was happy to see him, working the lemonade stand can get really boring. We went to different high schools and had totally different friend groups, so we really only ever hung out during the month long period that we both worked at the fair, so I tried to make the best of it. Occasionally we would run into each other at the beach, when other groups of teenagers were drinking, but those times were few and far between. San Diego had a lot of beaches.

Carter extended his arms out for a hug, and then hesitated, lowering his arms. "You know, actually..probably not a good idea." He laughed, gesturing towards the stains in the armpits of his "San Diego County Fair" t-shirt. "It sure is a hot one today, huh?"

"Tell me about it." I sigh. I looked out at the fair in front of me. It was still pretty early, but considering how hot it was, it didn't seem like many more people were going to be showing up today. I turned to Carter, "what booth did you get assigned to this year?"

"Same as last year, the balloon and dart game." He smirks and crosses his arms over his chest, leaning on the counter. 

"You lucky bastard." I roll my eyes. Last year we got to work at that booth together and it was way better than the lemonade stand. Watching people play a stupid game was a lot more entertaining than selling lemonade. He playfully slapped me on the shoulder, "Alright well, I gotta go--"

"Already? Aw come on, this is the most fun I've had all day..."

He furrowed his eyebrows and laughed, "I've been standing here for about.." he glanced at his wrist, even though he wasn't wearing a watch, "...thirty seconds, Lila."

"Yeah, exactly." I raise my eyebrows. "That should tell you how bored I am!" 

"You'll be just fine, I promise." He winked, reaching over and patting my shoulder. "When you're off later do you want to hit up the fried twinkies?" He asked with a hopeful tone in his voice. We must have eaten twice our weight in fried twinkies last summer.

I smiled, "Is that even a question?"

Later

It was 5:30 p.m. and I was finally off. You might think I would want to do nothing more than leave the fair after being there all day, but I almost always hung out with my coworkers there after every shift. I loved the energy of the fair. The lights, the smells, all of it. It reminded me to embrace being young and to enjoy my last summer before college.

I changed out of my work clothes in the locker room and headed out towards the fried twinkie's, knowing Carter was waiting for me. The breeze had picked up quite a bit and it wasn't as hot as earlier, but still unusually warm for an evening in San Diego.

I made my way over to Carter who was standing around with a bunch of our coworkers, a couple that I didn't recognize. They must have been new.

"Lila, hey!" Carter smiled at me, opening a spot up in the circle for me to stand in. I smiled back, "Hi guys!" I raised my hand up and half-waved. My eyes made their way up to the boy standing across from me. He had a mop of curly brown hair on his head and pale green eyes. He smiled at me.

Carter noticed us looking at each other and went to introduce us, "Oh, this is--"

I interrupted him.

"Harry?"