When Summer Ends

by Isabelle Rae

  “Okay, pumpkin, have fun.” My dad smiled at me before turning to Olly and giving him one last warning look.

  I gripped Olly’s arm and almost pushed him out of the door, closing it behind me. He blew out a big breath before turning to me with wide eyes. “Damn, Chloe, your dad’s scary!” he mumbled, shaking his head.

  I laughed and rolled my eyes. “He’s a pussycat, unless you hurt me in which case he’ll hunt you down,” I teased, smirking at him.

  He laughed quietly, rubbing the back of his neck sheepishly. “You look great, by the way,” he complimented, raking his eyes down my body slowly. I felt self-conscious even though I wasn’t wearing anything revealing - just black pants and a green shirt; nothing special because I didn’t want to give him the wrong impression. Though maybe flirting with him all week had kind of given him the wrong impression already. But I’d vowed to really try tonight. Maybe he’d sweep my off of my feet, and I wouldn’t have given him a false impression after all. I guess we’d see as the night progressed.

  “Thanks, you do too.” He did look good, his blond hair was styled nicely, he was wearing jeans and a nice blue button down shirt. That shirt would look ten times better on Will. Oh for goodness sake, I need to stop thinking about my stupid teacher!

  “You ready to go?” he asked, looking towards his car. I nodded and followed him over to it, getting in and hating just how wrong this felt. Even his nice, clean car seemed wrong somehow. “So I was thinking we could go to Zac’s?” he suggested, making it sound more like a question.

  “Sure, I love Zac’s.” That was good because the place wasn’t too romantic either, just a nice little place that did really great burgers. Olly smiled and started the car, pulling out of my drive. We rode in awkward silence for most of the journey, making small talk about school and the movie we were seeing tonight. I actually breathed a sigh of relief when we pulled into the parking lot of the restaurant because at least we would have something to distract from the awkwardness now.

  I felt uncomfortable and weird the whole time we were in the restaurant. I honestly tried my hardest to like him. He was sweet and quite funny in a nervous kind of way, but we had nothing in common so a lot of the time was spent thinking of something else to talk about while we ate.

  Deep down I knew that although I was trying to give him a chance, my heart just refused to even think about him that way. Throughout the date I kept comparing it to dates I had spent with Will, laughing easily and always having something to talk about. Maybe it was because Will was older or something, more experienced, so he knew how to make a girl feel comfortable. I really couldn’t pin point exactly what it was, all I knew was that there was no spark between me and Olly.

  After we had finished eating we decided to head to the movie theatre where we were meeting the rest of my friends. I silently hoped that once we were around other people that we would both relax, and maybe we’d be able to salvage the rest of the night.

  Olly refused to let me pay for the food. As we walked out to the car I felt his hand brush against mine. Instinctively I jerked it away and pretended to look through my purse for my cell phone, just in case he was trying to hold my hand or something. I secretly wished I hadn’t suggested this little private dinner in the first place. The only reason I did was to try and make Will jealous and get some payback, but even that didn’t work out how I’d planned.

  We talked about music on the way there, and luckily, by the time we pulled into the parking lot, there were only a few minutes until we were supposed to be meeting up with everyone. I felt myself relaxing because the alone part of the date was over with, well, until he drove me home anyway.

  Amy smirked at me as we walked in the door. I resisted the urge to roll my eyes at her obviousness. I knew that she would immediately drag me to the bathrooms to get the gossip on the dinner. I wasn’t wrong. As soon as we got over to where her, Nick, and five of our other friends were, she grabbed my hand and nodded towards the restrooms.

  “Let’s go pee before the movie, Chloe,” she chirped happily. I sighed dejectedly, knowing there was no point in arguing, and just allowed her to lead me to the ladies bathrooms. As soon as the door closed she rounded on me, looking at me expectantly. “So?”

  I sighed and shrugged. “I don’t know, he’s a nice guy it’s just…” I trailed off, not knowing what else to say.

  “It’s just that you’re still hung up on the asshole,” she finished, putting her hand on her hip with apparent disapproval.

  “Amy, I’m trying, honestly I am, but I just keep thinking about Will all the time. This is too early for me to be out on a date with someone else. Olly’s sweet, and funny, and hot, but I just couldn’t stop thinking about Will all night.” I pouted and sat on the counter next to the sink, waiting for her to scold me again for not moving on.

  She didn’t though; instead she sat next to me and wrapped her arm around my shoulder. “I know what it’s like to have feelings for someone and not be able to do anything about it. Just look at me and Ryan, I’ve been crazy about him forever, and I’ve barely even spoken to him. It could be worse you know, you could have Will shoved in your face every day, because trust me, that’s hard!” She looked at me knowingly.

  I nodded and didn’t say that I had Will in my face all the time; I wished I could just tell her and then she’d understand more about why I was upset and was struggling to move on.

  “Give Olly a chance,” she implored. “Hold his hand, kiss him, see if there’s something there that you can build on. All you need to do is find him attractive. The other stuff might come along after. He’s a nice guy. He’d make a great boyfriend I bet.” She looked at me pleadingly as she squeezed my shoulder. “If you give him a shot and it doesn’t work out, I promise to eat ice cream with you until it comes out of our ears.” She crossed her heart and nodded.

  I laughed at her solemn vow and nodded in acceptance. “Okay, you’re right. Let’s go watch the movie.” I put on a fake smile and stood up. I just need to try harder, that’s all. She smiled, and we walked out of the toilets, heading to where they were standing chatting in the foyer.

  Olly smiled at me as we walked up so I smiled back and went to stand next to him. I gulped and let my hand brush against his on purpose. He looked down quickly, a smile pulling at the corners of his mouth as he traced one finger along the back of my hand. I held my breath and looked at him; his eyes were glimmering with hope, as if he was waiting for my permission or something. I smiled and turned my hand over so our palms were facing each other, silently giving him the go ahead; he grinned and took my hand holding it tightly.

  Wrong. Feels wrong. I shouldn’t be holding his hand! But I let it happen anyway.

  “Want some popcorn or something?” he asked, grinning.

  I shrugged. “Sure, if you do. I’ll buy though because you paid for dinner.” He rolled his eyes at me and pulled me towards the concessions stand, pulling out his wallet to pay even though I just said I would.

  The rest of the night was better than the start of it. Olly draped his arm over the back of my seat but didn’t make any other moves to touch me which I was grateful for. He kept stealing little glances at me through the movie, I saw him a couple of times from the corner of my eye.

  When the movie ended I felt sick. A car ride home with him meant that he was going to kiss me; the date probably looked like it was going well from an outsider point of view. He probably expected to kiss me at the door at the very least. Amy nodded in encouragement as we said our goodbyes in the parking lot.

  I chewed on my fingernails we walked to his car. He was still holding my other hand; his thumb drew little patterns against my palm as the silence seemed to overwhelm both of us. I smiled gratefully as he opened my door for me. And he’s gentleman too on top of being a sweetheart.

  We talked about the movie on the way home, telling each other our favourite parts. That seemed to fill the awkward silence that was lingering in the air. When we pulled up at my house I looked
over at him nervously, only to see that he was already getting out of the car. He jogged around to my side and opened the door for me, while I just sat there wondering what on earth I was supposed to say.

  Does he think I’m going to invite him in or something? Is that why he got out of the car? Wow, did he not get enough of my dad earlier that he wants to come in and see him again?

  “Olly, I can’t invite you in,” I mumbled, looking between him and the door nervously.

  He laughed and shook his head. “I was just going to walk you to the door.” He took my hand and practically dragged me up the path to the front door. I felt sick. My heart was beating way too fast in my chest. At this rate I was likely to have a heart attack before he kissed me.

  “I had a good time, thanks,” I muttered, still a little lost for words.

  He smiled and nodded. “Think I could take you out tomorrow?” he asked, looking at me hopefully.

  For once I was grateful that I already had an excuse so I didn’t have to think of one. “I can’t tomorrow, I already have plans all day, sorry.”

  He looked a little disappointed, and I instantly felt guilty. I hated to upset people, which was usually why I ended up doing things that I didn’t want to do all the time, because I had trouble saying no.

  “Oh, that’s okay… I guess I’ll see you Monday at school. We could have lunch together or something?” he offered nervously.

  Oh sugar lumps, another date. Well, kind of another date. I wanted to say no, I wanted to push him back to his car and tell him that I was totally crazy about my teacher. But all I could see was Amy’s face when she said I needed to try and move on, and Miss Teller’s face as she flirted with Will, and their little trips home and to school together everyday this week.

  I took a deep breath and swallowed the immense doubt that I had in my mind as to whether I was ready for this. “Sure, lunch sounds nice,” I agreed, trying to sound more confident than I felt inside.

  He grinned. “Great!” he chirped. “Well, night then, and thanks for a great night.” He stepped a little closer to me. I resisted the urge to slap his face as he started inching closer towards me.

  Oh crap, just do it, Chloe, move on already and stop comparing him to Will. Will’s moved on, so should you!

  Olly’s lips pressed against mine for a couple of seconds, and in that moment, I felt nothing. No heat, no sparks, no passion that seemed to run through every vein. Nothing. It was a nice kiss, soft and sweet, but it just didn’t do anything for me. It obviously did something for him though because he pulled back and grinned like he’d won the lottery or something. I forced a smile in response.

  He nodded back to his car. “I should get going then.”

  I smiled and laughed. “Yeah my dad’s probably watching from the window so he’ll be out here in a minute or two,” I joked, laughing as he flinched and flicked his eyes to the window nervously. “I’m kidding. I’ll see you Monday.”

  He laughed sheepishly and shook his head. “Yeah, see ya.” He turned and walked back to his car as I headed inside. Once I was in I leant against the door and resisted the urge to cry. I actually felt like I’d just cheated on Will, but that was just stupid because he didn’t want me. I sighed and pushed myself away from the door heading to bed.

  The next morning I rolled over and my hand slapped against something hard. The hard thing grunted so I jumped a mile, a scream about to rip its way out of my throat, until I saw Nick lying there sound asleep. What the hell is he doing in my bed? I shook his shoulder roughly. He hadn’t been there when I fell asleep last night.

  “Nick, what are you doing here?” I croaked. I settled back down next to him, snuggling into his side and resting my head on his chest.

  He yawned loudly. “Came to pick you up,” he muttered.

  I frowned and titled my head so I could see the alarm clock. It wasn’t even eight in the morning. He wasn’t supposed to be here until nine. “You came to pick me up an hour early and then just decided to take a nap in my bed?” I teased, laughing sleepily.

  He smiled sadly. “I couldn’t sleep so I thought I’d come over here early to see you. Your mom let me up here. You were still asleep so I decided to let you sleep instead of waking you up. I must have fallen asleep too,” he mumbled, rubbing at his eyes roughly.

  I groaned. He couldn’t sleep? I bet that’s code for ‘I was upset about my mom and laid awake upset all night’. I hugged him tightly and pulled the sheets up around us tighter. “Go back to sleep, we don’t need to go yet,” I cooed, setting my head back on his chest again and listening to his lazy heartbeat.

  He sighed, seeming to relax again as his arm wrapped around me, stroking the back of my head. He was deep breathing within minutes while I just laid there awake, trying not to cry because he was so sad. Today was the day I needed to be the strong one. Today was the day where I needed to take care of him and make sure he was okay, instead of the other way around like usual. I closed my eyes and finally drifted off to sleep again too.

  Two hours later and we pulled into the cemetery parking lot. I swallowed the lump that had formed in my throat on the drive over here. I hated it here just as much as he did, but I couldn’t let him do this on his own. I held his hand tightly as we weaved up the path heading to the back left where she was buried. When we got there I stopped a few paces away and let him put the flowers down on her grave. White lilies; her favourites.

  I stood there quietly, waiting to see what he wanted to do. Sometimes he wanted to stay for a while, but last time we came here, on her birthday, he couldn’t stay more than a minute or so. He’d given her flowers, and we had to leave because he couldn’t cope. Nick sighed deeply and sat down on the grass near her headstone. I moved and sat down at his side, pressing my body against his as I took his hand. His grip on my hand was tight as we just sat there in silence, looking at the grave, while he said whatever he wanted to say inside his head. After a little while I laid my head on his shoulder as his hold on my hand tightened, and his body began to tremble.

  “I can’t stay anymore,” he mumbled after about ten minutes.

  “Okay let’s go,” I whispered, not trusting my voice to speak. I wrapped my arm around his waist, clinging to him tightly as we walked in silence to his car. “Want to go get something to eat?” I offered, looking at his sad face.

  He nodded and put on a fake smile. “I don’t really want to eat anywhere out.” He shrugged; his whole posture was sad and upset. It made my heart ache.

  “Come to mine then,” I suggested, knowing he wouldn’t want to go home and see his dad while he was upset; they kind of avoided each other like the plague on sad days, with both of them coping on their own instead of with each other. Nick smiled gratefully so we headed to my house.

  While we were eating, Amy burst through the door - without knocking as usual - and practically screamed my name as she skidded to a halt in front of me. I looked between her and Nick, shocked.

  What on earth is this about? “Amy, what?” I cried as she practically bounced on the spot in front of me. She had her hands clasped together and the biggest smile on her face.

  “So I was listening to the radio and guess what?” she screeched, gripping my arm so tightly it was actually painful.

  “Ow! What?” I asked, trying unsuccessfully to pry her fingers from my arm.

  “Daniel freaking Masters is coming to town!” she screamed making my ears ring.

  “Holy mother of… no way!” I gasped.

  She nodded, still jumping on the spot. “Oh yeah and he’s doing a private concert for fifty people! It’s in like a month, and you can win tickets on the radio. They’re giving away two of them. All we have to do is wait for one of his songs to come on, ring the radio station, be the tenth caller and get the question right. They’re practically ours already!” she screamed, clapping her hands and running over to the radio in the kitchen turning it on full blast.

  I looked at Nick apologetically, but he was shaking his head in amusement. M
aybe seeing Amy all gaga over a pop star was taking his mind off of his mom. That was certainly a good thing. “Daniel Masters isn’t that good, his voice is kinda screechy,” he joked, earning death glares from both of us girls. Daniel Masters was the hottest singer around. Amy and I both had a little obsession with him, in the best way of course, nothing stalkerish or anything.

  All three of us sat there playing cards for over an hour before one of his songs came on. Instinctively Amy and I both dove for our cell phones, calling the radio station. And even though he couldn’t stand Daniel Masters, Nick pulled out his cell phone and tried to get through for us too.

  I shoved the phone to my ear excitedly, but it was just engaged so I hung up and tried again and again, but nothing. I glanced at Amy to see a desperate expression on her face as she pouted, doing the same as I was, just hitting redial over and over. When the song finished they brought someone on to the line who, of course, knew that Daniel’s birthday was February 7th, so the silly girl won the tickets instead of us.

  I growled in frustration and shoved my cell phone away from me, pouting.

  Nick laughed and shook his head, looking at Amy and I as we both sat there sulking like little kids. “It’s not the end of the world, it’ll be on YouTube,” he offered, shrugging.

  Chapter Fifteen

  My parents let Nick stay over that night. Of course we had to leave the door open all night so they could hear if anything went on, and Nick had to sleep on my bedroom floor, but they trusted us both to be in the same room which was nice. They knew we were just friends and that I was still hung up on Will so they let it pass because of his mom.

  In the morning he drove us to school and I ignored the fact that we pulled into the parking lot at the same time as the new hot teacher couple. I held my breath as they walked up to the school chatting happily; it was obviously going well for them. Will’s eyes flicked to me for a split second so I smiled and pretended I was fine with it. He smiled back and held the door open for his new little bed buddy to enter the school. As I walked up behind them, he stepped to the side, holding the door open for me too.