About Last Summer

by Patricia B Tighe

  “Okay,” Haley said. “Do you want me to scream like I will during the play?”

  “Please no,” Amanda said, tossing her hair behind her shoulder, and edging closer to Noah. “I’m sitting right next to you.”

  “It’s okay, Haley,” Kenzie said. “Let’s just get through all the lines.” She cleared her throat and knocked on the tabletop.

  “Yes?” Haley asked in a squeaky voice.

  “Nice one, Grandma,” Geoff said.

  Haley slid her glasses up her nose.

  “If you don’t quit, Geoff, we’ll never get through this,” Kenzie said.

  “Sorry, sorry.”

  Kenzie went on with her lines. I didn’t pay close attention because the Hunter didn’t appear for a few more pages. I kept stealing glances at Noah instead. He stared at the script in front of him with his head propped up in both hands and his fingers threaded through his dark hair. His hands looked so much bigger and stronger than they had last year. An athlete’s hands. Not just an actor’s or musician’s hands.

  I sighed, more loudly than I’d intended, and Noah flicked his gaze to me. He just stared for a moment, no emotion in his bright blue eyes, and then shifted his attention back to the script. It’s okay, Gabby. This is what you want. Remember that.

  “Good,” Kenzie said. “Next we have Beauty coming to the cabin door dressed in a red hoodie.”

  Geoff looked up. “The door is wearing a hoodie?”

  “Shut up,” she said.

  Noah snickered and slid down in his seat. His legs stretched out under the table; his feet crossed at the ankles near my chair leg. Warmth radiated from his skin. If I moved just slightly to the right, my ankle would be touching his. I rubbed my forehead, trying to block the memories of last summer flooding through me. The play, look at the words of the play.

  “Why am I carrying a rose?” Geoff asked.

  “You didn’t read over this?” Kenzie asked, a scowl on her face.

  “Since this morning?” He looked around the table. “Did anybody read it?”

  “I did,” Kenzie said.

  “That’s because you like to be in charge.”

  “So?”

  Geoff motioned to the rest of us. “Look, blank faces. No one read it but you.”

  Feeling the need to defend Kenzie, I spoke up. “I did.”

  Kenzie grinned. “See?”

  Geoff stared at me. “Well, you’re just … just,” he said, sounding frustrated.

  I waited. He probably wanted to insult me but wasn’t sure he should. I was the girl from Spain, after all. “I read to see if it would be difficult for me … too difficult.”

  “Of course it won’t,” Kenzie said.

  “Yeah,” Noah said. “Of course it won’t.”

  Snark dripped from his voice, and I wanted to kick him. So much for the warm memories of last summer. I barely reined in the violent impulse, which was a huge mistake. Because when strong urges ran through me, they usually came out in a way that was almost as bad as the first impulse.

  Without thinking, I turned toward Geoff and tilted my head, giving him my best flirty smile. The one that Kenzie says can make a guy stop in his tracks.

  Geoff’s eyes widened a fraction, and he leaned slowly away as though I had a contagious disease. A panicked laugh bubbled up inside me, and I coughed to hide it. What the heck was I doing? Heat crawled up my neck.

  I cleared my throat. “The rose.” I pushed my script closer to Geoff. “It is right here. You are returning the rose to the Beast so that you can free the Grandma.”

  Noah bumped the leg of my chair with his foot and shifted in his seat, a deep line between his eyebrows. Had he done that on purpose?

  “Could we just get on with it?” Amanda asked, eyeing me. She shook her script. “We don’t have all afternoon, you know.”

  Kenzie glanced outside at the pouring rain. “You have somewhere to be?” Her voice had grown hard. She was getting irritated—something she did when people were slowing her down.

  “Lighten up, Kenz,” Geoff said. “They just want to go play America’s Top Model with their new clothes.”

  Amanda and Haley spoke at the same time. “We didn’t buy clothes,” Haley said.

  “Shut up, Geoffrey,” Amanda said.

  Geoff looked smug.

  I wanted to help Kenzie get everything going again, but I’d better not. Gabriela wouldn’t do that. Would she? I faced front again and let my gaze land on Noah. Um, bad idea. He was glaring at me as though I’d stolen his favorite donut—a little bit pissed, a little bit betrayed. I lifted the script, but my hands shook, so I put it back down. Was he jealous?

  “Sorry, I didn’t mean to make a big deal of this,” Kenzie mumbled. “Let’s just finish, okay?”

  “Good idea,” Geoff said, “we don’t want to leave the Beauty waiting forever outside the cabin.” He smirked. “Here we go.” He knocked on the table with one knuckle.

  Noah

  Amanda’s voice came out as though she were dead bored. “Apparently I open the door and say, ‘How may I help you?’”

  “I want to see my grandmother,” Geoff said.

  I let their voices fade away as I watched Gabby. What game was she playing? I’d caught her staring at me, then she’d come on to Geoff. Now, she was sitting all sweet and innocent, studying the play with her hair tucked behind her ears. As if she hadn’t been flirting moments before.

  Well, if she wanted to play dirty, I was happy to get right in there with her. I moved my leg until my calf brushed against hers, ignoring the tingle that raced all the way up my thigh. She didn’t move. Didn’t show any sign that I’d touched her at all.

  Except for the light pink color that spread across her cheeks. I held in a smile. The fact that I could still affect her as much as she affected me made me want to jump up and yell. Last summer wasn’t a lie! You felt it too.

  Heat rose in my chest. And it wasn’t some happy “we’re in love” sort of feeling. It was the “I can’t believe I’m falling for her tricks again” feeling. I was being stupid. The whole situation was stupid. The need to get back at her rose up within me again. Somehow, she needed to come out of this looking like a fool.

  I trailed my toes down the top of Gabby’s foot, and she jerked it away, her lips tightening. Kenzie must’ve noticed Gabby’s movement because she looked up and frowned. I waited until Kenzie’s attention went back to her script before I struck again. This time, I let my whole foot run down the side of Gabby’s calf. She shoved her chair screeching back, her face going bright red.

  People stared. “I am sorry,” she said in full Gabriela accent. “I thought I felt the mosquito.”

  “There’s only one?” Haley asked with a giggle.

  Geoff smirked. “Yeah, but it must be a really big one.”

  Kenzie eyed me like she knew something was up, but didn’t speak. Gabby scooted her chair in again, and then drew her legs up to press her knees against the table’s edge. She lifted her script, effectively blocking my view of her face.

  Must not have liked my little game. I wasn’t sure I liked it either; embarrassing her did nothing to get rid of my anger. I studied my knuckles, fighting the sick sensation in my gut. Why was I such a total asshat?

  I could sense Geoff staring at me, but I pretended to focus on the play. I didn’t want him reading me like he sometimes did, and suddenly turning into Mr. Comedian to put me in a better mood.

  Amanda leaned in close, a heavy flowery scent rising from her hair. “Your line, Noah.”

  I stared at her blankly. “What?”

  She trailed her finger down the paper in front of me and chuckled. “You’re not even on the right page.”

  “Wake up, Jernigan,” Geoff said.

  I stared at the black text of the script. It looked like a foreign language. The heat of several gazes bored into me. Crap.

  Still chuckling, Amanda turned my page and pointed to the word MAID. “There you go.”

  I coughed and re
ad my line. Amanda read hers and on it went. I forced myself to pay attention, but after five minutes of clenching my jaw to keep from looking at Gabby, I needed a break. Time to go back to my original plan. I stretched my arms overhead and let out an exaggerated yawn.

  Haley giggled, and people looked up.

  “You know,” I said, “it would be a lot easier to stay awake if the women folk would get us some refreshments.”

  For two seconds, the only sound was the dishwasher humming in the background. Then Geoff erupted in laughter just as Kenzie said, “What!”

  I raised an eyebrow at Geoff.

  “What a great idea,” Geoff said, wearing a happy smile. “I’d like a glass of tea, Kenz.”

  “Get your own freaking tea,” Kenzie said, sounding more puzzled than irritated.

  Gabby watched me with a look of dread. Good. I grinned. “I’d like a Coke. Gabriela, do you mind?”

  “I’ll get you one,” Amanda said, already on her feet.

  “Don’t either of you move,” Kenzie said, looking from Amanda to Gabby. “Noah is perfectly capable of walking the ten steps to the refrigerator.”

  “Aw, Kenzie, you’re no fun,” I said.

  Geoff laughed. “Better stop, bro. Kenz has a lethal right hook. But let’s take a break.” He stood.

  Kenzie tried to wave him back down. “No, wait. In, like, twenty minutes we’ll be finished with this thing for the day.”

  “It’s just a break,” Geoff said. “Long enough for us to get something to drink.”

  She tossed her script back onto the table and sighed. “Fine, five minutes.”

  Amanda, Haley, and Geoff left the table, but I didn’t move. Go on, Kenzie, go. I need thirty seconds alone with Gabby. But Kenzie sat as still as a statue, watching me like a cat ready to pounce. What was she, Gabby’s protector? That could only mean Gabby had told her what was going on between us. But hey, no big surprise. Girls told each other everything, right?

  I ignored her, keeping my gaze on Gabby, who wouldn’t look at me. Well, this was fun. Who would break first? Finally, when the sense of my own great toolery made me want to crawl under the table, Gabby gave Kenzie a quick nod. The other girl twisted her lips and made a big show of shoving her chair back before she left the table.

  Gabby didn’t waste a second before whispering, “What’s the matter with you?”

  “You started it,” I whispered, feeling like a five-year-old.

  “What’re you talking about?”

  Did she really think I hadn’t noticed her flirting with Geoff? When I didn’t answer, she shook her head, her curls swaying. Just like they used to when she was lying on top of me in the field behind the cabins last summer. I shifted uncomfortably. Stop being an idiot.

  With an unreadable expression, Gabby walked around the table and put a finger on my script, apparently pretending we were talking about the play. My pulse thudded in my throat. She was close. So close. I could easily drape my arm around her hips. Or pull her onto my lap. I clenched my jaw. What was I thinking? She dumped you. She doesn’t care about you. Remember that.

  “What do you want from me, Noah?” Gabby whispered, frustration in her voice.

  Everything. “Answers,” I said, not able to stop the word from leaking out.

  She frowned. “I don’t—”

  “Noah, come get your Coke,” Kenzie called. “I’m not letting Amanda bring it to you.”

  “All right,” I said, ramming down the jumble of feelings threatening to escape. I’d let Gabby see too much already.

  I strolled over to the counter and grabbed the lone can of cold soda sitting there. Gabby followed me but moved to stand next to Kenzie near the sink. Geoff stretched his arms straight up and then worked his head from side to side. “I’m really sore,” he said, looking at me. “Are you?”

  I shrugged just as Kenzie faced him. “You’re that out of shape?” she asked with a laugh.

  “Not any more than you are,” he retorted.

  Kenzie opened her mouth, no doubt ready to put him in his place, but Amanda cleared her throat. “So, Gabriela, do you have a boyfriend back in Spain?” Amanda’s chin tilted up in challenge.

  All talking stopped. Gabby and Kenzie exchanged a quick look. I tensed, waiting for Gabby’s response. Somehow, even with everything that had happened, I’d never pictured her with another guy. I probably should have, but I hadn’t. I mostly fixated on what could be so wrong with me that she’d thought she had to disappear.

  Gabby’s lips curved in a fake smile. “Not at the moment, no.”

  I clenched my teeth. Did that mean she’d had a boyfriend earlier this year? Or maybe even while we were at camp together? A vise clamped across my chest.

  Amanda frowned as though puzzled. “That’s so weird. I could’ve sworn I heard you and Kenzie talking about a guy called Alejandro.”

  Kenzie laughed. “Oh, that was one of my friends. Gabriela and I were talking about how possessive guys can be sometimes, and I told her the story of a friend from school.”

  Possessive? Was that why Gabby dumped me? She thought I was too possessive? She stared at the floor, and I couldn’t tell what she might be thinking.

  “Hmm,” Amanda said, still watching Gabby like she didn’t believe a word of it. “I sure thought I heard—”

  “Well, you didn’t,” Kenzie said, pushing off of the counter. “Let’s get back to work. I want to finish this.”

  “Me too,” Geoff said. “Come on, Amanda, we can cross-examine Gabriela later.”

  “I wasn’t cross-examining anybody,” Amanda grumbled.

  Gabby followed everyone back to the table, and I forced myself not to watch her. As much as I wanted to talk to her alone, I doubted I’d like the answers she’d give. A boyfriend. She’d probably had one last summer. She’d probably cheated on both of us.

  All the jumble of confusing emotions collected into a ball of anger in my gut. I couldn’t let down my guard or give in to my need to know why Gabby didn’t care about me. The only way to get through the week without falling into the old pit was to stay with the plan: give her orders, find things that would be harder and harder for her to do, and then, when she failed, tell everybody what a fraud she was.

  I brought the can of soda to my mouth, wishing I was anywhere but there.

  Gabby

  The next morning, Kenzie and I stumbled downstairs after ten. We’d stayed up till two, talking and laughing. Mostly about Dylan, who was arriving on Friday, and who, Kenzie finally admitted, had been her first crush. We had the kitchen all to ourselves. Sunlight poured into the room, reflecting off a crystal bowl and casting prisms of color across the beige granite countertop.

  “Why does your aunt leave such fancy things out?” I asked. “Isn’t she afraid somebody might break it?”

  “Naaah,” Kenzie said, the word turning into a yawn. “She’d rather use pretty things than protect them.”

  I took the bowls Kenzie handed me. “Complete opposite of my mom.”

  “Mine too. Honey Nut Cheerios okay?”

  I laughed. “You know it is.” I carried the bowls and spoons to the table.

  Kenzie brought the milk and cereal and we hunkered down to eat. Almost five minutes passed without a word, and then Kenzie straightened like she’d finally woken up. “Want to go into town today? Get away from Alejandro for a while?”

  “Yes, please.” Getting away from Noah would be a relief. Then maybe I could stop thinking about how he wanted answers. The thought of battling through all the emotions from last summer with him made me want to jump on a plane for Tibet. At least he’d been distracted the afternoon before helping Geoff and his dad with building the sets. They really went all out for that dumb play.

  Voices came from the back of the house. Kenzie leaned closer. “Watch your accent.”

  “Right.” I did have to be careful. I was tired enough to forget I was Gabriela.

  Molly and Geoff walked into the kitchen, Geoff jingling car keys from one hand.
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  “Where are y’all going?” Kenzie asked.

  “Good morning to you too,” Geoff said.

  “To get birthday stuff,” Molly said. Had she just given me a weird look? It was too hard to tell, not really knowing Molly. She had a tiny line between her eyebrows, and her head cocked as she made eye contact.

  I looked away from her questioning gaze.

  “You’re taking the SUV?” Kenzie asked.

  “Yeah, why?” Geoff asked.

  Kenzie took her empty cereal bowl to the sink. “Gabriela and I want to go into town this morning.”

  “Take the Miata,” Geoff said.

  “Your parents won’t let us drive that.” She opened the dishwasher, and I hurried over to include my bowl and spoon.

  “I know,” he said grinning evilly, and then jingled the keys again.

  “We could get your birthday supplies for you,” Kenzie said.

  Geoff laughed. “And have to eat off paper plates of Frozen or Cinderella? No, thanks. I’d rather have Captain America.”

  “Or The Hulk,” Molly said.

  He angled his head. “Or that.”

  Kenzie let out an exaggerated sigh. “Just don’t be gone all day, okay?”

  “We won’t,” Molly said. They headed for the front door.

  “And don’t forget everyone needs to put together a costume from the storage closet,” Kenzie said.

  “I don’t,” Molly said.

  “Everyone what?” Noah asked, strolling into the kitchen with Amanda and Haley trailing him like puppies. His dark hair was wet and messed up again. My pulse sped up. Why did he have to be so freaking adorable? I switched my gaze to Kenzie, who was leaning her elbows on the countertop.

  “Needs to find a costume from the storage closet,” Kenzie said.

  “We can help you, Noah,” Amanda said.

  “Okay, thanks,” he said, giving her a quick smile.

  I wanted to shake my head. You’re only encouraging her, dummy. Kenzie and I had already discussed Amanda asking me about Spanish boyfriends. Maybe she thought I was a threat to her pursuit of Noah. Or maybe she was just curious about the “Spanish girl.” Either way, I didn’t know how to tell her she had nothing to worry about. Talking to her about Noah would just embarrass us both.