When Summer Ends

by Isabelle Rae

  I let my mind wander to other places and was happily daydreaming about Alex Pettyfer when I felt the row of seats that I was sat on move. I glanced to the side to see that Will had sat down in the seat next to mine. He wasn’t looking at me; he was watching the swimmers with a mock interested look on his face. I chuckled, wondering what he was doing here. A smile pulled at the corners of his lips as he finally turned to look at me.

  “What are you doing here?” I asked.

  He shrugged. “Same as you.”

  I laughed. “You’re watching your boyfriend swim?” I teased. “Which one is he? Do I know him?”

  He grinned and pointed to one of the guys who were just about to dive in. “That one, the one with the nice ass and lickable chest,” he joked in a camp voice, making me giggle hysterically.

  We sat there laughing for a couple of minutes which gained us glares from the swim coach, probably because we were disrupting his practice or something. I tried not to look at Will because every time I did I started laughing again.

  He leant in closer to me. “You know, those speedos don’t leave much to the imagination. Your boyfriend looks like he’s a little cold,” he joked, chuckling darkly. I burst out laughing again and quickly put my hand over my mouth to stifle the sound as I gained another glare from the coach. He grinned wickedly at me. “Maybe I should offer him a pair of my socks for next time you watch so you’ll be more impressed,” he whispered. I slapped his arm, biting my lip so I could stop laughing. I knew he was only teasing though, Olly hadn’t gotten out of the water yet so neither of us had no idea if he looked ‘cold’ or not.

  “Stop it; you’re going to get us thrown out of here!” I hissed, still giggling to myself.

  He grinned wickedly and shrugged. “Never mind, I’ll just drive you home if we do, then you don’t have to wait around being bored stiff.”

  Is it wrong to actually hope we got kicked out just so I could get in his car with him again? “I’m not bored stiff. I was actually just listing all of my music in alphabetical order inside my head,” I countered, shrugging.

  He raised one eyebrow playfully and I felt my insides do a little flip. “Maybe you could sort it into piles of good, okay, and downright awful, and then throw out all of your Daniel Masters crap while you’re at it.” He smirked at me.

  I rolled my eyes at his comment. What is it with guys and hating on poor Daniel? “Oh you know you love him really.”

  He nodded, looking a little thoughtful. “Yeah his chest is pretty lickable too,” he replied in a camp voice. I burst out laughing again but quickly turned it into a cough. Will patted me on the back, looking at me with mock concern as the coach glared at us. If Will wasn’t a teacher we would have been thrown out by now for sure.

  When I had calmed down, he smiled and stopped patting my back. “So what are you doing tonight?” he questioned, sitting back in his chair more and putting his feet on the back of the seat in front of him.

  I shrugged; I had no idea what Olly wanted to do. I actually just wanted to go home, but I had agreed to give him one last chance so I guess I needed to stick to it. “I don’t really know, maybe a movie or dinner, not sure yet. What about you?” I asked, biting my lip and hoping he wouldn’t say he was seeing Miss Teller tonight. I would hate to hear those words come out of his mouth.

  “Nothing much, I’m meeting Sam for a drink and then we’re going to my parents for dinner. I haven’t seen them in a while so my mom will probably want to feed me up or something.” He shrugged, and I couldn’t help but notice he looked a little sad for some reason. Does he not want to go to his parents’ house?

  “You don’t want to go there?” I asked curiously.

  He smiled sadly. “Yeah I do, it’s just that I get ten thousand questions about you all night, which is sometimes kind of awkward.” He shrugged.

  “Yeah I guess it would be,” I replied quietly. “Well tell them I said hi.” As soon as I said it I frowned. How the heck could he tell them that? I bet he’s just told them we’ve broken up; he couldn’t exactly say that he still saw me at school every day.

  “I will do.” He nodded and smiled. He stood up and looked down at me. “I guess I should get going then. I’ll see you tomorrow.”

  I nodded; I really didn’t want him to leave. Talking with him was so easy, it was so nice to be around him again and just enjoy his company that I didn’t want it to end. “Yeah, have a nice dinner tonight. I guess I’ll see you in detention for that rematch.”

  He laughed and nodded. “Yeah, see ya.” He actually looked a little reluctant to walk away, and I felt like grabbing his hand and pulling him back into the seat next to me just so I could hear him talk some more. Or maybe I should just tell Olly I felt sick or something and then ask Will to take me home so I could have another fifteen minutes of his time.

  I didn’t do either of those things though so he smiled and walked off, leaving me watching his back, my heart sinking with every step he took away from me.

  Wait, why did he actually come in here in the first place? He was only here for a couple of minutes, and all he did was talk to me. Mind you I guess he could have actually been talking to someone or doing something before he spoke to me. I’d been too busy daydreaming that I probably wouldn’t have noticed a herd of elephants if they were doing a little jig in front of me before he sat down. He could have been in here for hours for all I knew.

  I turned my attention back poolside and tried my hardest to watch Olly swim, but I didn’t even know which one he was. They were all wearing little blue swimming hats and goggles so they all looked the same. Jeez, I suck as a girlfriend; I can’t even pick my boyfriend out of a group of guys! I laughed quietly to myself and waited patiently for the hour to be over.

  When he was finally done and dressed we headed to this little restaurant that Olly said did the best scampi he’d ever eaten. I just smiled and went along with it, not really caring where we went. When we pulled into the parking lot I laughed to myself, it was a bar with a little restaurant on the side; I’d actually been here before with Will to eat. I smiled at the memory of us playing pool out the back and forced myself to get out of the car and follow Olly inside.

  When we walked in we were told that there was a little wait for a table, they’d had a rush apparently, so we were told to wait off to one side. I was sipping my Coke while we talked about his swim trials and the race he was in next weekend against all of the surrounding schools. I tried my hardest to be interested in what he was saying, but sports and stuff just weren’t my thing, so it kind of just went in one ear and out of the other.

  Suddenly someone grabbed me from behind. I squealed and slopped half of my Coke over the floor as I jumped with fright. My heart took off in a sprint thinking I was being mugged or something. The person whose arms were now around my waist just laughed in my ear. Olly stepped forward looking over my shoulder, his face was murderously angry.

  I squirmed and looked back quickly, only to see Sam grinning at me. I relaxed as soon as I realised I wasn’t being attacked or something. I elbowed him in the ribs. Unfortunately it didn’t really have much effect, just made him laugh harder and let go of me.

  “What the hell, Sam? That wasn’t funny!” I ranted as I slapped his chest, but laughed with relief at the same time. My heart was slowly starting to beat again and he just laughed his ass off.

  “Hey, Foxy. Sorry couldn’t resist. Maybe I’ll have to buy you a new drink though huh?” he teased, nodding at the wet puddle on the carpet at my feet.

  I rolled my eyes and looked at the glass I was holding, there was only about an inch left in the bottom. Stupid idiot boy! “Maybe I should throw the rest of this in your face for scaring me,” I suggested teasingly as I smirked at him.

  He shrugged. “It’s not like that’s never happened to me before, just try not to get it in my eyes would ya? Coke stings,” he joked.

  “We’ll you deserve the sting, you jerk!” I laughed as I slapped his chest again. He grinned and I sm
iled back. I really liked Sam; he was a great guy so I couldn’t really get mad at him.

  Olly grabbed my wrist and pulled me away from Sam as he just continued to try and kill him with his eyes. Oh my days, seriously? Again with the possessiveness?

  “Do you mind? You’re interrupting,” Olly growled.

  Sam smiled and shrugged. “I don’t mind at all,” he stated confidently as he crossed his arms over his chest. I fought a smile at just how brash Sam was. That was actually one of my favourite things about him, and Will was just the same too.

  Wait, holy crap is Will here too? He said he was meeting Sam for a drink, were they doing that here? I flicked my eyes around the bar and saw Will just walking out of the back, obviously coming from the bathrooms that were out there. His gaze met mine and a half smile crossed his face before he frowned and started walking over to us, weaving through the crowd. I couldn’t help but notice how hot he looked. He looked no different than when I saw him an hour ago at school, but just being out of that place made him look different. Younger, cuter, and definitely more handsome.

  I dragged my eyes away from Will and looked back at Olly as his grip tightened on my wrist. “Maybe we should go somewhere else to eat, Chloe. This place looks a little busy still,” Olly suggested, his voice tight and controlled.

  Sam grinned. “Nah, come on dude, they’ll have a table cleared for you in a minute. Why don’t I buy you a new drink, Foxy?” Sam smirked at me, his eyes twinkling with amusement. He turned to look at Olly. “Does your rebound guy want one?” he asked in a polite tone that didn’t match the words he’d said.

  Holy crap! “Sam!” I cried, frowning. What on earth is he doing? Is he trying to upset Olly on purpose?

  He looked at me with wide eyes, giving me the ‘I didn’t do it’ look. “What? I’m just being polite and offering to buy him a drink,” he said innocently, but his eyes were playful and teasing.

  Olly stepped forward, pulling me behind him roughly. “Why don’t you just back the fuck off?” he spat.

  Sam just laughed and rolled his eyes. “You don’t own her, you know. I think I’ll stay for a bit and talk to my friend.” He shrugged.

  “Just get lost before I make you!” Olly warned, stepping closer to Sam again.

  I stared at his back in disbelief. What the hell is his freaking problem? I yanked my wrist out of his restraining hold and stepped away from him. I know Sam is pushing his buttons, but he’s freaking crazy if he thinks I’m going to let him keep me away from one of my friends just because it was a guy.

  “Olly, don’t,” I warned, frowning. I noticed Will walk to Sam’s side, but I didn’t take my eyes off of Olly who was scowling at me angrily, his whole body tense and annoyed.

  “Let’s just go somewhere else.” He stepped closer to me and reached for my hand again. It actually looked like he purposefully stepped to the side to put his body between me and Sam - and that made me even angrier. Thankfully he hadn’t noticed Will standing there. If he knew that Sam was Will’s brother it might click into place that Will was the ex-boyfriend I’d told him about.

  I shook my head in rejection. “No. Let’s just eat here and we’ll all play nice together,” I suggested, wanting to see what he would do. He needs to try and let this go. I am allowed male friends, and he needs to accept it. This was his make or break, if he continued with this little jealous act then that would be it, his one chance would be blown.

  “For goodness sake, Chloe. Is this a freaking joke? Yet another male friend that I’m supposed to put up with having his hands all over you?” he hissed, looking at me in disbelief.

  I mentally groaned. He hadn’t passed the test. “You know what, Olly? Just shove it up your ass,” I retorted, turning and storming off towards the door. I ignored Sam’s laughter behind me, and Olly’s sting of cuss words that he muttered under his breath. I had no idea how I was going to get home, but there was no way I was sitting in a car with Olly, so I’d just hope that there was a bus route or something along this road.

  Just as I got about half way across the parking lot Olly grabbed my hand. “Shove it up my ass? What’s that supposed to mean?” he asked, frowning as he yanked me to a stop.

  I sighed and shook my head. Could I have said it any clearer? “It means you blew your last chance. I told you I wouldn’t put up with you being all possessive and you’ve just done it again. You promised you wouldn’t do it.” I shrugged.

  He looked hurt as he stepped closer to me, cupping my face in his hands. “Chloe, I’m sorry. I just don’t like guys hanging all over you all the time. I’m your boyfriend, I’m allowed to get jealous!” he said fiercely.

  I pulled my face out of his hands. “There’s a big difference between being jealous and being a control freak, Olly. I told you that you have no reason to be like that, but you just carried on anyway. It’s not right and I hate it. I’m sorry.”

  I flicked my eyes back towards the building and saw Will standing there, frowning angrily in my direction. Sam had one arm over Will’s chest, looking as if he was holding him in place or something while he spoke to him, but I was too far away to hear what he was saying.

  “So it’s over? That’s it?” Olly asked, throwing his hands up in exasperation.

  “I’m sorry, but you can’t do that. No girl likes being told what to do. You need to work out your issues, seriously, not all girls are like Christina but you’ve pushed my away because you can’t trust me. There needs to be trust in a relationship otherwise there’s no point in being together.” I shrugged. A rather large part of me was jumping for joy that it was finally over, that I’d tried, but it didn’t work out. Now I was free to wallow in self-pity about Will again.

  He groaned and gripped his hands in his hair, looking at me desperately. I felt guilty that I was hurting someone, but to be honest, it wasn’t my fault. We’d only been dating for a week, but yet he was acting as if we were breaking up from a marriage or something. It wasn’t the end of the world so he needed to stop overreacting. This wasn’t my fault.

  “I really like you, Chloe,” he said bending slightly, giving me the face that he was so damn good at.

  I felt bad that I just didn’t care this time. He’d gone way overboard today, first Nick and now Sam, that was too far, and he promised me he wouldn’t do it. “I’m sorry, but this just isn’t working,” I replied, trying to keep my voice stronger than I felt.

  He frowned angrily at me. “Fine. Whatever. Come on, I’ll drive you home,” he stated, his voice emotionless as he looked away from me, his face hard.

  I didn’t really want to get in the car with him again, I had a feeling he would be begging me for another chance all the way home and I really hated to say no to people and hurt them. I didn’t want to go with him in case I caved in or something. But, on the other hand, I actually had no idea how to get home from here, and I probably didn’t have enough money for a cab. I decided to call Amy and ask her to come and get me, she wouldn’t mind.

  “It’s fine, I’ll call Amy to come and get me.” I shrugged.

  He sighed and didn’t say anything, just turned and skulked off towards his car, his shoulders stiff and his body ridged. Well, Amy will be pleased now. Since she’d found out about Will she had convinced herself that he still liked me still, so wanted me to try for him again. The girl changed her mind too freaking easy.

  I felt an arm sling around my waist so I turned to see Sam smirking at me. “You can thank me later,” he teased.

  I groaned and put my head on his chest. This was going to make things a little awkward at school for a couple of days; we had two classes together so that would suck. At least we didn’t really have the same friends so he would just go back to his group and I would hang out with my usual friends the same as before this little relationship mishap happened.

  “You’re such a jerk, Sam,” I mumbled into his chest. He laughed and I could feel it rumble in my ears where I was pressed against him.

  “Oh come on, I did you a favour. Th
at guy wasn’t right for you at all, you need someone older. And blonds just don’t suit you at all,” he teased.

  I chuckled weakly. “Someone more like you, perhaps?” I joked, rolling my eyes and pulling back to look at him. Stupid flirt.

  He looked me over with mock disgust. “No way, you’ve got Will cooties all over you, I told you that before. My brother, on the other hand, he suits you perfectly.” He squeezed my waist lightly and started leading me over to where Will was standing. I laughed humourlessly about the little Will comment but didn’t say anything. I didn’t want to think about how perfectly he suited me.

  Will was standing there looking a little awkward, but I noticed the small smile on his face that he was obviously trying to disguise. “Everything all right?” he asked as we got up to him.

  I nodded and shrugged. I felt a little guilty that I didn’t feel even the slightest bit upset about the breakup, but I couldn’t force myself to feel something for someone after one week of dating, so I really had nothing to feel bad about.

  Will grinned wickedly. “Well at least you know you’re not missing out on anything, I mean you saw him in his speedos so it’s no great loss.”

  I burst out laughing and shook my head. “Don’t be mean,” I scolded playfully.

  He smiled happily and dug in his pocket for his keys. “Come on, I’ll give you a ride home.”

  Aww, he is so freaking sweet! “Yeah? Thanks, that’d be great. I was just contemplating getting the bus.” I smiled gratefully.

  He turned to Sam. “I’ll see you at Mom’s.”

  Sam nodded and pulled me into a hug. “Now you two play nice, I don’t want to hear anymore whining from him about how you made him act like a jerk to you,” he whispered in my ear.

  I pulled back and looked at him, confused. Will told Sam that I made him act like a jerk? I didn’t make him do anything; he’s the one that just jumps on me all the time for nothing. I sighed and rolled my eyes. Sam was probably just trying to push my buttons now.