Saving Hadley (Boys of Summer)

by Amy Sparling

  And then they close, and mine close too, and Jeremy places the softest kiss on my lips. My breath catches in my throat. I hold onto this perfect, sweet moment for as long as I can. When his lips break away, he tilts his forehead to mine.

  It wasn’t a passionate, or wild kiss. It was sweet, gentle. Perfect.

  Maybe it’s what we both needed.

  Seven

  Everything seems to have changed overnight. I went from hating Sterling Beach to loving it. After my long walk on the beach with Jeremy, he’d started to feel like someone I can trust. And yeah, I can’t lie and say I’m not totally crushing on him, but that part doesn’t matter. He can be extremely cute and adorable but still be just a friend. I know better than to try to get in a relationship right now, even if it’s just a summer fling. All guys do is hurt you. I’m not going to get hurt again. Nope. Not me.

  Maybe I just needed a friend. Maybe that’s all it took to make me wake up this morning feeling like everything might possibly be okay. I still have to go back home at the end of summer and face everyone at school next year and be constantly compared to my stepsister Kyndall around my family, but maybe it’ll all be okay. I can get through this because I know something I didn’t know before—the world is huge. There is more to life than small town Texas high school drama. I can move away; I can make new friends.

  I’ve only had the idea for a few hours, so I haven’t said anything to Grandad yet. For all I know, he might be completely against the idea but something tells me he might be receptive to it. We may not talk much, but we get along well. Over the last few days I’ve started to help him cook dinner and clean up around the house. We each keep to ourselves, except for poker nights, where we hang out with his friends. Maybe this could become a long-time thing. Maybe I could move out here after graduation, go to college in Virginia, and make all new friends, starting with Jeremy.

  I can hear Grandad moving around in the kitchen, the sound of him setting the frying pan on the stove, and the click, click, click of the gas stove heating up. He loves his new appliance even though it’s sleek and modern and doesn’t fit in with the rest of the kitchen at all.

  I join him in the kitchen and start making a pot of coffee.

  “You’re going to need more scoops than that,” he says, nodding toward the coffee filter.

  “It’s four cups,” I say, furrowing my brows. “I always make four cups.”

  “That’s when we don’t have company coming over.”

  “Who’s coming over?” I ask, unable to hide my smile. “Is it Jan?”

  Last night when Jeremy and I had returned from our walk, we found Jan and Grandad sitting on the porch together, eating cookies she had brought, even though he hadn’t had dinner yet. I think it’s pretty obvious that Jan has a thing for my Grandad.

  “No.” He rips open a package of bacon and gives me a look. “Your family is almost here. Didn’t they tell you?”

  My family?

  Right then, there’s a loud knock on the door. I walk over an answer it, surprised to see Dad, Lucy, and Kyndall all standing there with suitcases.

  “What are you doing here?” I ask, stunned to see them after so long. A week ago, I might have hoped Dad was here to take me back home. But now I kind of wish they’d all stay back in Texas and let me enjoy my newfound life.

  “Well that’s a rude hello,” Dad says, brushing past me. “I told you we were coming up for a weekend visit.”

  “No, you didn’t.”

  Lucy’s lips flatten into a disapproving line as she walks inside, her teenage look-alike right behind her. Kyndall doesn’t even acknowledge me. I guess now that she’s going to Harvard, she’s too good to talk to pathetic losers like me.

  “I called you and left a voicemail,” Dad says. “I also texted you.”

  “Oops.” I don’t even remember the last time I looked at my phone. With all the constant reminders of Lane and the breakup, my once beloved phone has become completely worthless to me.

  I hadn’t realized how much my grandad had warmed up to me until my family sits at the kitchen table and he goes all cold and intimidating again. It occurs to me now that maybe the tough old veteran isn’t just a mean guy… maybe he just doesn’t like my dad and stepmom. After all, Dad hasn’t been here three minutes before he starts talking about how he could help find a real estate agent to sell the place.

  Somehow, we make it through breakfast. I take a lesson from my grandad and just keep my mouth shut as much as I can. Kyndall and Lucy fill the conversation with talks of themselves, mostly about Harvard. After breakfast, everyone goes to sit on the porch and soak up the morning sun, and I slip off to my bedroom to check my phone. The battery is dead so after a few minutes of charging it, it finally turns on.

  Messages and notifications flood onto my screen. Sure enough, there’s a text from Dad, sent three days ago. We decided to come visit for the weekend. Don’t get any ideas, you’re not coming home early.

  I roll my eyes and then skim through the other messages. Most of my missed calls and texts are from my cousin Destiny. All I see at first are tons of exclamation marks because she’s clearly freaking out about something and she wants me to call her immediately.

  I still haven’t totally forgiven her for having that stupid house party that got me in trouble, but she is my cousin and also my best friend, so I give her a call.

  “Oh my God, you’re alive!”

  “Hello to you too,” I say with a snort as I sit on my bed. “What’s going on?”

  “Hadley, what the crap?” she says, sounding all in a panic. “Have you gotten any of my messages? Do you know? Are you pissed? Are you okay?”

  “Whoa… take a deep breath,” I say. “I’ve been busy here and I haven’t been on my phone. I don’t know anything about back home but if it’s about that stupid video, I don’t care.”

  “It’s not totally about the video,” she says. I hear her sigh deeply into the phone. “But it is about Lane.”

  My chest constricts. “I don’t care about Lane,” I say, and I really do mean it. He dumped me in a cruel way and my feelings for him are totally gone.

  “I know but, it’s also about Kyndall.”

  My blood runs cold. “What about her?”

  “Well…” My cousin is suddenly at a loss for words, and that’s pretty much impossible. I should check outside and make sure pigs aren’t flying. She takes a deep breath. “Lane’s newest video has Kyndall in it… and… well… it’s pretty obvious that they’re dating.”

  All the air whooshes out of my lungs. My face actually feels numb for a second, and then I take a deep breath. “Are you kidding me?”

  “I wish I was,” she says. “I’m so sorry. I wanted you to hear it from me and not see it on some stupid social media post… Hadley, I’m so sorry.”

  “It’s fine,” I say, but it’s definitely not fine. I hang up the phone and stand, my legs feeling both wobbly and angry at the same time. Maybe it’s from all the anger that’s coursing through my body. Kyndall and I aren’t exactly best friends but I can’t fathom how she could do something like this to me.

  Anger and humiliation take over and before I realize what I’m doing, I’ve marched through the house and to the porch. My family sits on the wicker furniture, and they all look over at me.

  “Are you dating Lane?”

  My voice is sharp and unwavering, cutting through the stunned silence like a knife. “Answer me,” I say, stopping right in front of my stepsister. “Because the whole internet seems to think that you are.”

  Her jaw stiffens. My stepsister, who I’ve known almost all of my life, looks me right in the eye and says, “You clearly already know the answer.”

  I am so, so glad that I don’t burst into tears. Instead, I let all of the betrayal and anger boil up inside of me and I focus on those feelings instead. They make me strong, not weak.

  “You’re a terrible person,” I say, my voice ice cold.

  “Hadley,” my dad says sternly,
but I ignore him.

  “It’s just a boy,” Lucy says with that stupid laugh of hers that always makes me feel less than. She clucks her tongue. “I can’t believe you’re this upset over a boy. You’re not even dating him anymore.”

  “It’s not my fault,” Kyndall says with a shrug. “I told him the breakup video would be kind of mean but he didn’t listen.”

  “You knew?” She flinches at how loud I’m yelling. “You knew he was going to do that and you didn’t warn me? It’s bad enough that you stole my boyfriend but this breaks every single girl code. You’re a terrible person!”

  “Hadley!” my dad says again, this time with a sharpness in his voice that makes me flinch.

  Lucy puts a hand on his arm. “Honey you know this is how she is. Totally immature and irrational. Don’t let it stress you out.”

  My nostrils flare. If I wouldn’t get grounded for all of eternity, I would totally slap my stepmother right about now. Instead, I look at Kyndall, who is sitting there in Grandad’s favorite patio chair, looking down her nose at me.

  “I wonder what Harvard would say if they knew how terrible you are.”

  Lucy mutters something sarcastic, but I don’t bother paying attention. I turn and head straight for the stairs, and then I jog down them, two at a time, as fast as humanly possible. Dad calls my name again but I ignore it. When I get to the road, I run. And run. I run until my bare feet feel blistered and sore, and my lungs are about to explode from breathing so heavily. I run until it’s safe enough to cry.

  Eight

  I don’t know how much time passes, but it’s probably hours. I have no phone or watch to tell the time, but I can tell when the sun is no longer directly overhead, so I know it’s probably past noon. I’ve already cried myself out, and now I just feel tired. Overwhelmed. And mad at myself. I’m so mad at how I cried like that. I don’t like Lane anymore. I never even loved him. We hadn’t dated long enough for that, but it still hurts. It hurts that he humiliated me, it hurts that my stepsister is an evil witch, and it hurts that my dad looks at me like I’m some delinquent terrible person that he regrets being related to.

  Everything just hurts. For a very short while, being with Jeremy made it all better, but now as I sit here on the sand, my back leaning against a large rock, I realize that kissing Jeremy was the biggest mistake I’ve made all summer. I let myself forget about reality. I wanted to escape into him, wrap myself up in his arms, and pretend like everything is fine. But it’s not fine.

  Jeremy is sweet and kind and crazy hot. But he lives a thousand miles away. He might be a fun distraction, but after the summer is over, he’ll be here and I’ll be back in Texas. Kissing him was so stupid.

  I lean my head back against the large rock and close my eyes. It’s not comfortable but it’s big enough to provide some shade from the sun and privacy from all the happy people on the beach. When I left Grandad’s house I ran south, away from the tourist part of town but I didn’t realize just how far down the beach houses go. There are miles and miles of beach houses dotted along the shore, and all of them are filled with people who are outside enjoying the summer. Good. At least some people can have fun right now.

  “Mind if I join you?”

  My eyes fly open at the sound of his familiar voice. Jeremy stands here, his lean body casting a shadow over my face. He’s barefoot, like always, and wearing tan shorts with a green T-shirt. I recognize the logo on his shirt from one of the surf shops on Main Street.

  “Go for it,” I say.

  He sinks into the sand next to me. “So… I take it family time isn’t going so well?”

  “How did you know?”

  “I live next door,” he says as if that part was obvious. “I heard some of it from my porch.”

  I sink my head into my hands. “Oh, God.”

  “Your sister is kind of a brat.”

  “Step-sister.” I look over at him. “And whatever makes you think that?” I say sarcastically.

  He chuckles. “I heard her complaining from the second they parked. She doesn’t want to be there, but now I guess it’s because she’s stole your boyfriend or something?”

  Heat flushes through my whole body. “She didn’t steal him,” I say, and I realize I don’t exactly know if that’s true. Maybe she did. “We were already broken up but she knew he was going to break up with me and she didn’t tell me. And now…” I wave my hand through the air. “I guess they’re dating. Whatever. I don’t care.”

  “I’m sorry.”

  “It’s nothing,” I say as I stare out at the ocean.

  “Did you love him?”

  His question is jarring, and when I look over at him, I see concern in his eyes. Maybe even worry. I smile. “No. Not even a little bit.”

  “Cool,” he says, returning my grin. “I mean I’m not jealous or anything but…”

  I laugh. “Are you saying you like me?”

  “Oh, I’m way past liking you.”

  I really hope all this time outside has made me sunburned because all the blood in my body just rushed to my cheeks.

  “You’re really cute when you’re embarrassed,” Jeremy says.

  “Shut up.” I smack his arm. “I’m not embarrassed. What are you even doing way out here?”

  “Looking for you.”

  I let my fingers sink into the sand. “Why were you looking for me?”

  “I could tell you were hurt and I didn’t want you to be hurt. I saw the direction you ran but I had to get clothes on and by the time I was downstairs, I couldn’t find you.”

  “You were sitting on your porch naked?” I ask, desperate to change the subject away from my personal problems.

  Now it’s his turn to blush. “No… I was wearing pajama pants.”

  “You didn’t have to spend all this time looking for me,” I say, running my hands over the soft white sand. “I’m fine.”

  “No, you’re not, Hadley. You’re hurting.”

  “Jeremy…” I heave a sigh. “I’m fine.”

  His hand grabs mine, stopping it from sliding around in the sand. He turns it over and links his fingers through mine, then meets my gaze. “I promised that life is more fun than it seems, and I’m going to prove it to you.”

  A mischievous look dances in his gaze. “Let’s go.”

  I’m weary from all the crying, and my hair and skin feel salty from sitting on the beach so long, but when Jeremy reaches out his hand to me, I want more than anything to grab it. So, I do.

  We walk hand in hand along the beach, passing all the beach-goers, surfers, sunbathing beauties, and children making sand castles. Jeremy doesn’t say anything, and I’m grateful for the silence. All I need is to be around him and I feel better.

  After a while, I notice Grandad’s house in the distance. I can’t see anyone on the porch, but I’m sure my family is still there, maybe sitting inside and sharing stories about what a horrible person I am for running out on them. The house before Grandad’s is white with blue trim, and the house on the other side is a soft pastel yellow.

  “Which house is yours?” I ask.

  “The yellow one,” Jeremy says. “I’ve lived there my whole life.”

  “Do you like it here?”

  He nods. “It’s a nice, quiet town.”

  “How’s your school?”

  “SBH is all right. I mean, I don’t have anything else to compare it to, I suppose.”

  “Are you popular?” I say, giving him a teasing grin. “A super-hot guy like you is probably at the top of the high school popularity ladder.”

  “Nah,” he says, shaking his head. “I mean, maybe more than I used to be. The accident kind of brought the whole community together. Suddenly everyone knew my name and they had fundraising events in the newspaper and stuff. But after I finished physical therapy, all that fame kind of wore off.”

  “At least you’re not famous in a bad way,” I say, suddenly feeling nauseous. Before he can ask what I mean about that, I change the subject. “So
where are we going? Please tell me we aren’t going home.”

  “Nope. Somewhere better. Somewhere delicious.”

  We walk a little further, up to where the south beach officially becomes the fancy private beach. There is a wooden fence that separates the beach, going all the way out into the water. You could hop over it if you wanted, but the imposing mansions that face the water are intimidating enough for me to stay away from their part of the beach.

  At the fence, Jeremy turns left and walks up to the land. “We’re almost there,” he says, squeezing my hand.

  We get to the main road, where shops and tourists abound. There are people everywhere, enjoying the quaint town with all of the activities it has to offer. I feel self-conscious, the loser girl from Texas, while I’m holding Jeremy’s hand. I expect him to let me go once we’re around people, but he doesn’t. Isn’t he afraid of his friends seeing me? I’m not cute right now. My eyes are swollen from crying, and I’m wearing an old pair of cut off shorts and a baggy T-shirt that I slept in last night. I am so far from cute it’s a little ridiculous.

  “Here we are,” Jeremy says, stopping in front of one of the little shops. I can smell the pies before I see them, and I look up at the sign over the door. Aunt Mary’s Pie Shop. “Hope you like pie.”

  “I love pie,” I say with a grin. I haven’t eaten anything all day, so at this point I’d take any food offered, but pie seems amazing.

  The mouth-watering smells of sugary goodness make my stomach rumble the moment we step inside. The place is small, with a few round tables that seat two people, and it’s packed to the brim with customers.

  “The apple pie is amazing. And the cherry pie is, too.” Jeremy talks excitedly about all twelve flavors of pie that are offered by the slice. “And of course, you can’t go wrong with chocolate.”

  “How am I supposed to choose?” I say. “You’re making them all sound good.”

  “So, let’s get all of them,” he says, wiggling his eyebrows as we approach the counter.

  “We can’t get twelve pies,” I say.