It was summertime again, I took deep breaths with my head out the window of my step-mothers SUV, I had taken off the hairband and wore it as a bracelet. My hair danced to the rhythm of the wind as she drove with speed down the bridge of the old town.
I was glad to be going back to the beach house.
The smell of the wet sand and the musty feeling when my feet hit the ground during the hot sunny afternoons.
"Hey!!." I jerked out of my thoughts, bumping my head on the edge.
"Can you please put your head inside the car alongside your upper shoulder so your father doesn't say I killed you?."
I chuckled at her statement before I went ahead to listen to her words.
"You know this isn't some romance movie intro scene right? this is reality some other car could come running and take your head with it." She sounded a bit too much like my dad and it made me burst into laughter.
I watched her finger tap on the steering wheel while right at the same moment as her head nodded to the beats of the song coming from the local radio.
"You know, you kinda sound like your husband, Mr Clement."
I saw her eyes darken from the rearview mirror while staring at me, who was munching on a bag of leftover chips from her and dad's movie night, last night.
"You got some nerves, young lady!!." She stared at me intensely before her gaze returned to the empty road with long huge trees that stood tall on the sides.
She busted into laughter while trying to speak out loud in between her cheerful tone. "I know right!!, I have been practising."
We both sat silently with the radio playing our favourite songs.
I felt slightly nervous when the figure of a few people came into sight as we approached the beach house, I only hoped this summer wasn't going to be as complicated and filled with heartbreaking news as the last one was.
Annie drove into the parking area and then turned over to me. "You good sugar plum?."
I smiled at her.
"Let's go have as much fun as possible!!, each second wasted in this car is shortening my summer and drawing closer to the school resumption date!!." I cheered and jumped on my seat.
She smiled at me and nodded.
I opened the car door and slid my body out of the car, I stood upright while staring at my sneakers that were smeared with wet sand already, I sighed and tugged my backpack over my shoulder.
"Hey sugar plum!."
"Okay!, I let you call me that only when we are alone, now cut it out!." I laughed as I raised my head.
I stepped back and felt my backpack hit against the car.
"I too hate the car but don't scrape the paint off with your bag sweetie!!." Annie, my step-mother said.
"Mhm!!." I turned around to find her already taking a barefoot walk on the shore of the beach alongside her best friend.
I sighed heavily before I turned around to face Trevor who had a welcoming smile on his face.
There he was staring at me with such a beautiful smile on his face which made me recall last summer and how I had fallen head over heels in love with him and how he had been my first kiss.
Though our relationship was short-lived, I guess he was tired of my emotional blackmail and how I kept pushing him away whenever I felt sad.
"What happened?." I asked him.
He gave me his hand which I took and we both walked towards the house. "I lost my phone and couldn't contact you."
paused in shock, could that mean he didn't intentionally ghost me?
"I had gone surfing and felt it was a good idea to take my phone alongside, then it went missing in the water." He explained calmly.
"You clumsy little freak!!." I laughed and shoved my shoulder into his side playfully hoping I wasn't doing too much.
He laughed out loud with me.
We both sat on the stairs staring at our mothers playing at the beach shore like children younger than ourselves.
I wrapped my arms around myself while staring into nothing in particular hoping I wasn't acting awkward.
"I am sorry for ghosting you." I turned to him and smiled.
"I am glad you don't hate me."I smiled.
"Emm..." he stuttered.
"What?!." My eyes widened not knowing what to expect from him. "Relax, I am messing with you!!." He smiled.
I looked up to see both mums standing in front of us with their wet feet that were covered in pink sand and their wet hairs that slept down, hugging the sides of their faces down to their shoulders.
"Come on kids!!, it's time for dinner." Rachael announced.
I got up from the stairs quickly, but before I could reach for my backpack Trevor already had it in his hands.
"Guess what?." Miss Rachael grabbed on my shoulders and shook me till I felt the chips steer up in my guts.
"I am making your favourite meal!!." She pecked me before I could answer her first question.