When Summer Ends

by Isabelle Rae

  I laughed when he came back with three more bags, dropping them onto my desk, grinning wildly. When he was playing around like this it reminded me so much of the time we’d spent together that it made my heart race. This one was my Will, the Will that made me smile, and blush, and giggle.

  By the time the bell rang, the floor was littered with little chocolate balls, and my sides hurt from so much laughing. It looked like giant bunnies had snuck in and made a mess everywhere. When the bell sounded Will frowned. “I didn’t realise we were doing that for so long, I needed to grade some test papers for next class.” He winced a little, looking back at his desk that was stacked with his work.

  I smiled. “Well maybe you should have done it at the weekend instead of leaving it until lunchtime,” I teased.

  He shrugged. “Should have done, but I had other things on my mind.” He smiled and pulled out another bag of Malteasers, handing them to me. “Here. I knew we wouldn’t actually get to eat any so I bought you some to take away.”

  I smiled. So freaking sweet! “Thanks.” I blushed again. Wow, Chloe, stop blushing! “Want me to help you clean these up?” I asked, looking around that the four packets of deliciousness that was scattered all over his floor. Out of the four packets we had played with, he had managed to catch about five, and I managed to get one - but even my one was only because he threw it into my mouth from close range to make me feel better.

  “Nah, I got it. How about a rematch tomorrow?” he offered; his eyes were twinkling with amusement. My stomach started to flutter.

  “I thought you were letting me off of the detentions,” I replied. I was actually kind of hoping he would change his mind and force me to spend the week with him because this was so fun spending time with him; it was nice just to pretend like we were at his place fooling around, instead of a classroom.

  “I did let you off for the week. But because of the mess you made of my classroom I kind of feel like you need to be punished for it,” he joked, kicking the little balls over to one side of the room trying to get them into a pile.

  I laughed and shoved my unopened books back into my bag. I hadn’t done one single scrap of work this lunchtime, and I couldn’t be happier because of it. “Punished, really? Most of these were your failed attempts!” I countered, smirking at him.

  “Yeah but let’s not forget who won overall. Your catching skills suck more than mine, Miss Henderson.” He flicked my nose lightly making me giggle and blush like crazy. I love it when he does that to me.

  “Okay, well then I guess I’ll see you at the same time tomorrow.” I shrugged and fought to keep the happy smile off of my face at the thought of spending another hour with him. I just prayed he was like this, instead of the jerk Will that I hated.

  “Yep, and I’ll see you in class in a bit.” He turned and headed to his little store room, coming back with a broom so he could sweep up. I watched him for a few seconds; he looked so hot doing that for some reason. His T-shirt rode up slightly at the back, exposing a little skin as he bent over. I couldn’t take my eyes off of that sliver of skin. Wow, I’m seriously deranged if I’m getting hot for him while he’s sweeping up. You really have lost the plot, Chloe!

  I swung my bag over my shoulder and headed towards the door. “See you class then,” I said as I bit my lip. He nodded, smiling. I hesitated at the door. I didn’t want to leave the room and go back to normality again. It seemed like every time I went away from him and saw him again, he changed. I didn’t want that to happen again today.

  I forced myself to walk out and headed straight for my Spanish class. Amy was waiting outside the door for me with Olly, he was looking at me apologetically, his hair still damp from his swim practice. He smiled as I got up to them. “So, how was it?” he asked, brushing his hand over my cheek lightly.

  I shrugged and felt the blush creep up onto my face at the thought of what it was like. ‘The most fun I’d had in ages’ was what I wanted to say, but I couldn’t exactly say that to him. “Okay, it was detention so…” I trailed off not really wanting to lie too much to him.

  He smiled and wrapped his arm around my waist, pulling me closer to him. “I’m sorry. Can I make it up to you after school? Maybe take you out somewhere? I have swim practice until four, but I could come to yours after, or you could wait for me here until I’m done. You could watch if you want,” he suggested, looking at me hopefully.

  Watch him swim? Hmm, not quite what I’d call fun, but I guess that’s what a girlfriend does! “Sure, I’ll watch and then we’ll go somewhere.” I shrugged. He grinned and bent his head to kiss me so I turned my head to the side quickly, making him scowl at me. “Seriously? I’ve just done detention for that!” I snapped.

  He laughed and kissed my cheek before pulling away quickly. “Couldn’t help myself, sorry. Okay I need to go, I’m late for class. See you in calculus,” he called as he ran off down the hallway at full speed.

  Amy was leaning against the wall, watching me. “Well? How was it really?” she asked, raising one eyebrow. I knew I couldn’t lie to her so I looped my arm through hers and dragged her into the class where we talked in hushed whispers at the back of the class. By the time I was done with my little lunchtime detention story she was practically vibrating with excitement.

  “I told you!” she hissed, grinning like a mad woman.

  I rolled my eyes. “Yeah, but that doesn’t prove anything apart from he’s a fun guy. It doesn’t mean anything, Amy.”

  “Does blindness run in your family?” she teased. When the teacher walked past we both started the assignment we were supposed to be reading through and translating.

  After class we walked quickly to calculus knowing that the seats would all be taken again. Hmm, I wonder if Olly will save one for us again like last time, hopefully it won’t be near the front because I’ll probably blush if Will even looks in my direction.

  When we headed in Olly was sitting in the middle with a couple of his friends, two empty seats next to him. I headed over to sit next to him. “This seat taken?” I asked, smiling.

  “It is now.” He grinned and patted the chair for me to sit down.

  Will walked in and I dropped my eyes quickly, pretending to look through my bag for something as I blushed like crazy. My heart stuttered in my chest. I heard him laugh so I looked up just as he bent down picking something up; he threw a Malteaser into the trash with a grin on his face. He’d obviously missed some when he cleaned up, there were a couple scattered around the floor. Bless him he never was too good at tidying up! I laughed too which made Olly look at me like I was crazy. I noticed that he was sitting quite far away from me today, his hands firmly on top of the desk. Will’s little lecture about him pawing me in his class had obviously had the desired effect.

  “Okay guys, so there’s another assembly for seniors again today so we only have class until half past two. I was going to start something new today but because we won’t have very long, how about a pop quiz instead?” Will offered, smiling.

  “What the?” I cried shocked. No way. I’m not prepared for a damn pop quiz! That’s totally not fair!

  Will laughed. “What the… what, Miss Henderson?” he asked, smirking playfully at me.

  “A pop quiz, seriously? Aren’t we supposed to get notice before these so we can study?” I whined, trying the begging face that he used to say made me look cute.

  He smiled and shrugged. “Well I guess this is an unannounced one. We’ll see how hard you guys have been trying over the last couple of weeks.”

  I groaned and put my head on my arms, trying desperately to remember everything Nick had taught me in the last couple of weeks. I at least had to do better than the last little quiz he set where I got everything wrong and he’d suggested that I get a tutor. I heard Will laugh and a piece of paper being put on my desk so I raised my head to look at him. He smiled his little smile that somehow always made me feel like I was the only girl in the world. I sighed dreamily as I thought about him just holding me agai
n, just a little hug or holding my hand, or something.

  The test wasn’t that bad actually. Nick did a really great job tutoring me on all of this stuff, and although I knew I didn’t get everything right, I knew I hadn’t failed completely which I was happy about. At two thirty we all made our way down to the hall for assembly. I sat on one of the seats at the end; I knew what this was about, the trip out with the money that we had been awarded. The voting had taken place on Friday so they were probably going to announce what we were doing.

  I sat there nervously chewing my lip, listening as Principal Sherman was droning on and on about the options and how proud he was that we had done all of the volunteer work in the first place and how marvellously it reflected on the school. I crossed my fingers and prayed for anything other than paintballing, which wasn’t my thing at all. If it got voted in then I’d just fake an illness or something. I would rather stay at home than run around getting shot.

  “Okay, so with an overwhelming number of votes, the activity that eighty-three percent of you all voted for was…” he paused for dramatic effect, and I felt my heart sink with every passing second. “Paintballing!”

  The whole hall erupted into cheers which drowned out my groan. A quick glance around the hall showed that it was only me and the group of cheerleaders that weren’t pleased about it. They were all screeching in a high pitched voice about their manicures and how the paint wouldn’t be good for their extensions. Wow, I can’t say I’m very happy about the company in my little ‘I hate paintballing club’.

  “Bet you’re pleased about that, huh?” Will whispered in my ear. I jumped because of how close he was to me.

  I turned and groaned. “I don’t want to go freaking paintballing!” I whined, pouting.

  He laughed. “Aww, poor baby. You never know, maybe you’ll like it. I know I’m going to enjoy it!” He grinned happily.

  He’s going? “Are you going too then?”

  He nodded. “Chaperoning,” he confirmed. “I got to vote too. I think it was my vote that swung it.” He winked at me before smirking at walking off. I chuckled, watching him walk away.

  Nick was practically jumping up and down with excitement. I laughed as he picked up Amy and spun her around making her scream and giggle. I smiled. It probably wouldn’t be as bad as I imagined, but if it was I could always fake an injury or something if I totally hated it. At least my friends would enjoy it, and I could sit on the sidelines and watch. It wasn’t for another two weeks anyway so at least I had a lot of time to prepare myself for it!

  Chapter Twenty-Three

  When the assembly was done everyone skipped off, talking excitedly about the trip. All I could hear were people talking about how ‘awesome’ it was going to be. Awesome my ass, this was going to be torture, but at least it pleased my friends. Amy and Nick were still fooling around like little kids, laughing. Nick looked so happy that it made my heart ache. I loved seeing him happy. Since his mom died I went to great lengths to make him smile that broadly, but it didn’t happen terribly often, especially not around the anniversary of her passing.

  An arm slung around my shoulder so I turned quickly to see Olly grinning from ear to ear. “Hey you. Are you ready to come watch me swim?” he asked.

  Oh crap, I forgot about that. Wow, another hour of fun! I plastered on a fake smile. “Sure.” I nodded. He smiled and started leading me off in the other direction from my friends. “Wait a sec I just need to tell Amy that I don’t need a ride.” I shrugged his arm off and went back to my group, with Olly following behind me like a little lost puppy.

  Amy smiled as I got over to her. “You’re so pissed about this, right?” She laughed wickedly.

  “Well, I’m none too thrilled with the thought of running through the woods and hurting myself, then getting shot with paintballs that apparently bruise when they hit you,” I admitted, frowning and pouting like a child.

  Nick burst out laughing. “I forgot you’ll probably break an ankle with all that running and we’ll have to carry your butt to the hospital!” he teased as he grabbed my waist and lifted me over his shoulder.

  I squealed, giggling breathlessly. “Put me down!” I cried, slapping his butt, laughing like crazy.

  “Nick, take your fucking hands off of my girlfriend!” Olly growled.

  Nick shifted my weight on his shoulder but didn’t put me down. “Oh calm down, Olly, you’ll burst a blood vessel,” he teased, laughing.

  I tried to look round at Olly, but I was facing the wrong way so all I could see was Nick’s back, feet and the floor. Is Olly being serious? He’s actually jealous of Nick touching me again? Oh my God, this has got to stop. He’s going to drive me crazy with all of this possessive nonsense!

  “Put her down, now!” Olly ordered.

  I could feel the anger boiling up inside me. I was not being told what I could do and that went for my friends too. I had been dating him for exactly a week but even then we weren’t even speaking this weekend so it was more like five days, and he thinks he can speak to my friends like that? Has he lost the plot?

  “Put me down, Nick,” I instructed, trying to push myself up. He immediately pulled me down into his arms and set me on my feet.

  I looked at Olly warningly. I didn’t want to have this argument in front of my friends and embarrass him so I’d just wait until we were on our own before I let him have it. I put my hand on his chest and pushed him back slightly, he was standing too close to Nick for my liking. The angry look on his face was a little scary and I didn’t want them fighting or anything. He frowned and took my hand off of his chest, interlacing our fingers as he stepped back, pulling me to his side possessively.

  I turned in Amy’s direction, noticing that she was frowning at Olly. “I’m going to watch Olly swim tonight so I don’t need a ride, Amy. I’ll see you guys tomorrow, okay?” I smiled reassuringly at both Amy and Nick. Nick looked really annoyed and was glaring at Olly. I shook my head discreetly telling him not to say anything about it, I needed to take care of it, and I didn’t want him involved.

  He sighed and nodded, looking away, frowning. “Yeah, see you tomorrow,” he muttered.

  “Are you sure you wouldn’t rather come home with me?” Amy asked, putting her hands on her hips as she frowned at Olly a little harder.

  “I’m sure,” I confirmed. “Olly and I have something to talk about.” I raised my eyebrows in explanation. A smile pulled at the corners of her mouth, she obviously understood that I wanted to give him hell for that little stunt.

  “Right, well I’ll pick you up in the morning,” she replied.

  I nodded and smiled before turning back to Olly and motioning with my head that we were ready to go to his stupid swim meet. Once we were out of the hall and on our own, I pulled my hand out of his grasp angrily. “What the hell was that?” I cried, throwing my hands up in exasperation.

  His eyebrows knitted together in confusion. “What? Oh come on he had his hands all over you! Am I just supposed to let that go?” he asked angrily.

  “Heck yeah you’re supposed to let it go! Nick and I are friends, nothing more. For goodness sake, Olly, this is pathetic, and you need to grow up! I won’t have this kind of stuff keep happening all the time, you need to trust me or there’s no point in starting anything!” I almost shouted.

  His frown deepened but he didn’t say anything for a few seconds as we just glared at each other, neither of us wanting to back down. I refused to be the one to break the silence. I hadn’t done anything wrong. He needed to accept that Nick and I were friends long before we went out, and I wanted to keep it that way.

  After about a minute he sighed heavily and looked away. The thrill of victory coursed through my veins. I always backed down in these types of situations; I never won an argument like that, so I was more than a little proud of myself.

  “I’m sorry, I shouldn’t have said anything about it,” he admitted grudgingly.

  I shook my head. I was still angry with him so I wasn’t letting
him off the hook that easily. “No you shouldn’t. Nick and I are friends. You either accept that fact or don’t, it’s your choice.” I shrugged, crossing my arms over my chest defensively.

  He nodded and stepped forward, bending slightly so he could look into my eyes. He plastered on the little lost boy face again. “Sorry, Chloe. I’m such an ass; I shouldn’t keep taking my insecurities out on you.” He reached out and brushed my hair behind my ear lightly.

  “You’re damn right there, and it’s not just me you need to apologise to,” I said sternly. I wasn’t just conceding because he was doing the face, if he wanted to try and be with me then he actually needed to try.

  He frowned, his jaw tightening slightly but he quickly rearranged his expression and smiled. “Yeah, I’ll speak to Nick tomorrow or something and say sorry.” He gripped my waist and pulled me closer to him, pouting at me. “Don’t stay mad at me. I’m really sorry. Forgive me?” he pleaded as he looked into my eyes.

  I sighed in defeat and nodded. Damn it, why can’t I grow some balls and just say no to people once in a while? He had one last chance, and that was it. As soon as he screwed up, that was it, we were over. No one could accuse me of not trying to get over Will; I was trying my hardest that’s for sure.

  “Olly, I won’t put up with it again. You need to stop with the being possessive stuff, I mean it,” I warned. He smiled and nodded, inching his mouth towards mine. I gasped when I realised he was about to kiss me on school grounds. Is he freaking serious? I put my hands on his chest and pushed him away from me. “Again? For goodness sake we’re at school and got into trouble for that this morning!” I cried in disbelief.

  He rolled his eyes. “We’re in a deserted hallway, Chloe; no one would have seen it.” He gripped my hand and pulled me towards the pool. I skulked behind like a spoilt child. He walked me to the poolside seats before going to get changed into his swim stuff.

  The swim meet was boring. I vowed that the next time I had to subject myself to this I would make sure that I brought a book or something to read. I was so bored that I even contemplated reading ahead in my calculus book in preparation for my next class.