About Last Summer

by Patricia B Tighe

  “En serio?” Gabby asked as though she couldn’t hold back her native language. She was a good actress. I gave her that much.

  “Yup,” Kenzie said.

  Gabby beamed at her. “This will be so enjoyable.” She turned toward everyone else. “I was born in Vigo. It is known for its sculptures and the … love songs.”

  And there it was. The perfect lead in. She’d just served it up on a platter. I jumped in before I could stop myself. “Could you sing one for us?”

  Kenzie whipped her head in my direction. “Nah, she doesn’t need to sing.”

  I straightened away from the tree. “Come on. Everyone wants to hear, right?”

  Geoff gave me a weird look and opened his mouth to speak, but I couldn’t let him take this away. Even if I looked like a jerk doing it. “Sing for us, Gabriela.”

  Noah

  Gabby studied me, redness flooding her cheeks, and I resisted the urge to hide behind a tree. Making her sing was definitely uncool, but that’s the way payback works.

  Nobody said anything. It was like the whole world held its breath, waiting for Gabby to speak. I stared into her dark eyes and deliberately pictured clothes hanging out of my bedroom dresser at home. Random, but I’d learned to cope with the Gabby-effect by focusing on boring stuff. No need for my feelings to go flying out of my eyes. I did not want her to know how little it would take for me to be wrapped around her little finger just like before.

  Finally, an animal rustled in the underbrush, causing the world to breathe again.

  Molly stepped forward. “Look, you don’t have to—”

  “It is all right,” Gabby said. “I could not decide which song to sing. I—”

  “How about this?” Kenzie asked, looking like she wanted to spear me against a tree. “Let’s save the singing for later, like a time when we can all do it.”

  “Like a karaoke night?” Haley asked.

  “Sure,” Kenzie said. “That’ll work.”

  “Aww, man,” Geoff said. “I was ready to sing for everyone right now.”

  I clamped my teeth together. Gabby had been about to sing, which meant she was actually going along with my plan. So why did I feel like yanking out my hair?

  “Let’s go,” Kenzie said. She headed out on a new trail, Gabby close behind.

  I held back so the others would go in front of me. I needed to think. And hopefully not talk to anyone. Once Geoff and Molly were ten yards ahead, I clipped on my water bottle and followed.

  Okay, change of plan. Next time I told her to do something, it wouldn’t be where everyone could hear. It’d be better if it looked like she was acting weird all on her own. I rubbed the back of my neck. I wished I knew a different trail to take so I could run back to the house alone. Of course, because of the altitude, I’d probably blow chunks, but whatever. I had a strange sense that, with Gabby near, I might spend the whole week feeling like I had to throw up.

  Dinner that night was at the same rectangular table as lunch, but Mrs. Bryson had dressed it up with little white candles and purple flowers. And we were only eating pizza. Who knew what she’d do if we were having a really fancy meal?

  In spite of that, I felt calm for the first time since I’d seen Gabby that morning. Mostly because I sat on the same side of the table as she did, but at the opposite end. Which meant I didn’t have to look at her constantly. Instead, I had to live with Amanda watching me from across the table. At least with her mouth full, she couldn’t give me that goofy smile all the time.

  “Pass the salt, young man,” Geoff’s great-grandmother murmured near my ear.

  “Yes, ma’am,” I said. I had my fingers on the shaker when Mrs. Bryson touched my hand.

  “Never mind, Noah,” she said. “Gamma, you know you can’t have salt. The pizza is bad enough for you without adding salt.”

  Gamma blinked owlishly behind her glasses. “Oh, I forgot.” But as soon as Mrs. Bryson’s attention turned to someone else, Gamma whispered, “Next time don’t answer me. Just pass the stuff.”

  I coughed back a laugh and cleared my throat. A pleasant smile creased the old lady’s face. “I will,” I said.

  “Good.” She cut another bite of pizza with her knife and fork. “I knew you were a fast learner.”

  I bit into my own slice, enjoying the melted cheese and spicy sauce. Geoff’s family was weird, but a whole lot more interesting than mine. Especially with my older two brothers off at college and my parents busy at their medical clinic all the time. My house was totally quiet.

  Nobody in this house was ever quiet. Even after we’d come back from the hike, Geoff had wanted to play board games—apparently a family vacation tradition. I’d refused and mindlessly channel-surfed the TV while they played. And after a while, I realized I wasn’t paying attention to where Gabby was or how she was doing in whatever game they were playing. Parcheesi? What was that, anyway?

  “So, Gabriela, have you enjoyed your trip to the U.S. so far?” Mr. Bryson asked with a polite smile.

  “Yes,” she said. “It is very good to see Kenzie again. The trip is … has been very fun.”

  I shoved the rest of my pizza crust into my mouth, glad I didn’t have to watch Gabby act. It was bad enough hearing it.

  Mr. Bryson, who had to be one of the fastest eaters ever, placed his elbows on the table and linked his fingers together. “Well, good. We plan to make it a lot more fun. Which brings us to this week’s activities.”

  “That doesn’t sound good,” Geoff said.

  His dad glanced at him but continued. “It’s been a few years since we’ve done this—”

  “Oh, no,” Amanda said.

  “—but we’re going to put on a play.”

  Amanda’s voice rose to a whine. “Seriously, Dad?”

  “We’ve got friends here,” Geoff said. “Can’t we just relax?”

  “It’ll be fun,” Mrs. Bryson said.

  Gamma let out a quiet snort and then raised her napkin to her face.

  “Having your friends here makes it the perfect time to do a play,” Mr. Bryson said. “There are finally enough actors.”

  I held in a groan. I’d given up acting after Gabby dumped me. Not that I really cared that much about it in the first place, but acting with her again just spelled disaster.

  “Don’t tell me,” Kenzie said, putting down her glass of tea. “Y’all have written a play, haven’t you?”

  Mr. Bryson grinned. “Guilty.”

  Amanda hunched over her plate. “Dad, don’t make us do this. Please.”

  Her mom laughed. “See how dramatic you are? You’ll be perfect.”

  “What’s it about?” Amanda choked out.

  “It’s a gender-bending mash-up of Beauty and the Beast and Little Red Riding Hood,” Mr. Bryson said, his face shining like he’d just won the lottery.

  “Never say that again,” Geoff said.

  I joined the laughter around the table.

  “It’s going to be fantastic,” his dad said. “There are parts for everyone except Molly, who’s been helping us with the sets.”

  “The sets?” Kenzie asked, letting out an incredulous laugh. “Tell me it hasn’t gone that far.”

  Geoff frowned at Molly. “You knew?”

  She shrugged like she didn’t want to answer. Mr. Bryson patted her hand.

  “I’m getting a really bad feeling about this,” Kenzie said.

  “Why?” Mr. Bryson asked.

  “Because if we’re all in the play, who’s the audience?”

  “First of all, I meant there are parts for all of you kids unless someone really can’t do it, and then your aunt or I will step in. And second—” He grinned. “—the real surprise is that the McCoys will be here to celebrate Geoff’s birthday with us.”

  “The McCoys?” Geoff asked and then erupted in laughter. “Yay, Kenz! Your boyfriend will be here.”

  She frowned. “He’s not my boyfriend.”

  “He was when you were twelve and he was thirteen.”
<
br />   “Who is this?” Gabby asked, her Spanish accent light. Could anyone else tell that the strength of her accent varied?

  “Are y’all talking about Dylan?” Amanda asked, wrinkling her forehead.

  “Yes, Dylan,” Geoff said. “Kenzie’s first boyfriend, and nemesis, who tries to renew their romance every time he sees her.”

  Kenzie shook her head. “You’re my nemesis.”

  “Don’t change the subject. He’s been madly in love with you for years.”

  “No, he hasn’t. We were boyfriend and girlfriend for one week five years ago.”

  “That’s so cute,” Haley said, pushing her glasses up her nose with her index finger.

  “Yeah,” Amanda said. “How come I didn’t know this?”

  “Because you were little and didn’t care,” Geoff said. “And it wasn’t just that once. He tried again two summers later.”

  Kenzie laughed, but it sounded a little forced. “You’re delusional.”

  Interesting. If another guy were in the house, maybe Kenzie would be too busy to pay attention to what was happening between Gabby and me. Right. As if anything would happen.

  “Ha!” Geoff said. “And you’re in denial.” He faced his dad. “When do they get here?”

  Mr. Bryson furrowed his brow and looked to his wife. “Friday, I think, right?”

  “Friday afternoon.” Geoff’s mom looked up from arranging her knife and fork on her plate. “Unless something comes up at the office. In that case, they won’t make it until Saturday morning.”

  “When was the last time you saw your sweetie, Kenz?” Geoff asked.

  “Geoff,” his mom said, a warning in her voice.

  Kenzie ignored him. “Tell us about the parts, Uncle Mike.”

  “Okay,” Mr. Bryson said. “You’ll love this. There’s the beauty, who will be male, and the beast, who will be female.”

  “Fantastic!” Geoff said.

  “Go on,” Kenzie said.

  “There’s a hunter, a butler, a maid, and traveling merchants.”

  “Better and better,” Kenzie said.

  “I’m so confused,” Amanda said. Haley laughed.

  “It’ll make sense once you read it.”

  “I hope not,” Geoff said.

  Gamma let out a low chuckle. “I must admit I’m looking forward to this. I’m expecting a lot from you, Geoff. Don’t disappoint me.”

  He pushed his chair out and bowed from the waist. “Never fear, Gamma.” He scooted back to the table. “In light of your faith in me, I will play the beauty,” he said, his voice sad and serious.

  Laughter rang out around the table.

  “I don’t know, dear cousin,” Kenzie said. “Maybe Noah should play the beauty.”

  “Yes!” Amanda said.

  Crap. Leave me out of it. I shook my head. “Geoff can do it. I have faith in him, too.”

  Geoff lifted his hands. “There you go. I shall be the beauty.”

  “We’ll leave you kids to decide who gets what part,” his mom said.

  “And don’t forget we have old costumes in the storage closet,” Mr. Bryson said.

  “But how can we decide if we don’t know how the story goes?” Kenzie asked.

  Mr. Bryson stood. “I’ll give you some copies of the play. Read it over and see what you think. For now, I’ll get the cobbler and ice cream.”

  “Here.” Mrs. Bryson held out an arm. “Pass your plates so we can get them out of the way.”

  General conversation muffled the clatter of plates. After she had handed hers to me, Gamma said, “You really should play the beauty.”

  “Um, thanks?”

  She smiled. “It wasn’t meant to be a compliment.”

  “Oh.” What was up with this old lady? I’d only been around her two other times, and she spent most of it napping. But she stared like she knew everything going on in my brain. I shifted in my seat.

  She patted my shoulder. “I believe you should challenge yourself.”

  I smiled. “Oh, I’m pretty challenged already by this week.”

  “That, young man, is obvious.” She tilted her head toward the other end of the table.

  What the heck did that mean? Surely she didn’t know about Gabby? Maybe she thought I liked Kenzie or something. No way was I going to ask her. Thankfully, dessert arrived and I didn’t have to.

  Gabby

  The next morning, I was heading for the living room when a deep voice spoke low beside my ear. “Sometime during this conversation, you need to do your chicken impression.”

  I stopped, causing Noah to bump into me. Thank goodness my orange juice glass was almost empty. I stepped back and spoke quietly. “Seriously? That’s what you want me to do?”

  He shrugged with one shoulder. “You always made a great chicken.”

  So, he was bringing up stuff from drama camp. As if he wanted to stick a knife in me and twist it. If it hadn’t been so early or I’d had more energy, I might’ve thrown something at him. But he stood so close I could smell the breakfast bacon on his breath. So throwing something was out. Instead, I clutched my juice glass in both hands, so I wouldn’t dump it over his head.

  “Hey, guys,” Kenzie called. “Come on. We need to start.”

  I swung away from Noah and stormed into the living room. When I saw how the others had arranged themselves, I almost laughed. Two seats were left—one beside Amanda on the loveseat and one armchair. That was a no-brainer. I took the chair and had to bite my lip so I wouldn’t grin at the resigned look on Noah’s face. As soon as he sat, Amanda whispered something to him. He shrugged, and when the younger girl looked away, he glared at me. I lifted my glass in a silent toast. You deserve it, butthead.

  From the couch, Kenzie waved papers in the air. “All right. The important thing to remember about this play is most of the parts normally played by a guy will be played by a girl and vice versa.”

  “It’s gonna be totally confusing,” Amanda said.

  “Wrong, Kenz,” Geoff said, stuffed into the other armchair with Molly. “The most important thing is that I will be playing Beauty.”

  I drank my juice to hide a smile. Geoff really was funny, but when Kenzie was in leader mode, you didn’t interrupt.

  “As I was saying,” Kenzie continued, “let’s look at the parts.”

  Noah raised a hand. He actually raised a hand. How cute was that? Stop it, Gabby. Forget about his cuteness. “Is there any possibility we could not do the play?” Noah turned to Geoff. “Your parents would forgive us, right?”

  Kenzie and Geoff exchanged a look. He scratched his head. “Well, it’s a little tricky. The stuff we do at the vacation house is kinda their jam. It’s so different from their lawyer stuff, and they love it.”

  “And we’ve been doing it forever,” Kenzie said. “They’ve been in the plays before, too. It would be really weird if we refused.” She leaned forward. “Besides, it’s not supposed to be taken seriously. You don’t have to remember your lines because we tape them to the props.”

  Geoff chuckled. “And flubbing your lines is most of the fun.”

  “I’m not trying to be rude,” Noah said, “it’s just kind of weird.”

  Amanda lifted a hand, palm up. “See? I’m not the only one who thinks so.”

  “Our family is weird, Amanda,” Geoff said. “Haven’t you figured that out yet?”

  Amanda’s mouth fell open, but Kenzie cut across whatever she was about to say. “Noah, if you really don’t want to do it, you don’t have to. It just might be …”

  “Awkward,” Geoff said.

  “Okay, okay,” Noah said. “Not a big deal. Just wondering.”

  “Great,” Kenzie said. “Everyone grab a copy of the play.” She gestured to the papers fanned out on the coffee table. Amanda scooped them up, took one, and passed the others to Noah with a smile. He cleared his throat and looked away.

  A stab of sympathy punctured me. Poor Amanda. It must be awful to have a crush on your brother’s best friend
. You’d have to see him all the time, want to be with him, but deep down know he’s just out of reach. My gaze flicked to Noah only to find him watching me. He mouthed chicken. At least that’s what it looked like. I set my glass on the floor to escape his eyes. How in the world could I act like a chicken while we talked about the play? I had no idea. I’d just have to wait for the right chance.

  “Okay,” Kenzie said. “Most of the action takes place in a cabin in the woods like in Little Red Riding Hood. We have Beauty, called Bill—probably a takeoff on Belle—which Geoff insists on playing.”

  He fanned his fingers in front of his mouth. “This is such an honor.”

  Noah snorted.

  “There’s also the Beast,” Kenzie said, “the Hunter, the Grandmother, the Butler, the Maid, and traveling merchants. I’m thinking Amanda or I should play the Beast since we’re used to doing this—that character probably has a lot of lines.”

  “Wait,” Amanda said. “I can’t play someone in love with my own brother!”

  Geoff pressed his fist against his chest. “You wound me.”

  Kenzie put on her most patient expression. “Okay, I’ll take that part.” She eyed Amanda. “It’s why they call it ‘acting.’”

  “It’s still gross,” Amanda said.

  Kenzie’s aunt and uncle appeared in the entry. “Molly?” Mr. Bryson asked. “You ready to work on the sets with us?”

  “Yes,” she said and slid out of Geoff’s grasp.

  “Traitor,” Geoff said in a stage whisper.

  Molly winked at him and followed his parents from the room.

  “So, I’m the Beast,” Kenzie said. “Who wants to play the Hunter?”

  “Is that a girl’s part?” Amanda asked.

  “Yes.”

  “I’ll play the grandmother,” Haley announced, looking up from the script. “Unless one of the boys is supposed to be her.”

  “Um, probably,” Kenzie said. “But since all she does is scream while being thrown out of the cabin, I don’t think Uncle Mike will mind if we go against his gender-bending idea. Could you be one of the traveling merchants, too? So you’ll actually have a couple of lines to say?”