Always Summer

by Criss Copp

  Since my period was due this week, she suggested I wait for the first day of my period and start that section of the month in correlation to the day, and that I should be perfectly covered from then on.

  She provided me with written information and stressed the importance of taking it the same time everyday... preferably in the morning when I woke, since that would establish greater regularity.

  I felt pretty happy with it all really... although I’d never had unprotected sex... some of those novels I’d been reading talked about sex au natural being so much sexier and better... I was interested in giving it a go!

  *

  Blake didn’t wait for me to call him. He texted me at 8:00pm to ascertain whether I was available to talk, before calling me.

  “I didn’t want to wait for you to call me, I couldn’t wait to talk to you.” He said.

  I smiled, “That’s nice... I’m glad you want to talk to me.”

  “Busy day!” he understated.

  “Indeed!” I chuckled.

  “So what happened at the doctors?” he asked.

  “Ummm... I...” I stalled.

  “Summer?” he asked, but I was silent... trying to think of what to tell him.

  Blake sighed... “Summer... what’s happening between us?”

  I knew what I wanted to happen between us... what I planned to happen between us.

  I didn’t feel like that monster anymore... and all that reading was getting me pretty horny. I just found it hard to talk about it with him.

  “I feel weird about talking about us like that.” I said softly.

  “Why?” Blake asked. “We talk about all sorts of things all the time.” He reasoned.

  “I know.” I sighed.

  “Do you love me?” Blake asked bluntly.

  “You know I do.” I confirmed. I did... more than ever!

  “I love you too!” Blake informed me. “But I need to know where you want to take this... take us!”

  I sighed again... I could do this.

  “I-want-more-than-friends.” I said super fast as if it was all one word.

  Blake chuckled slightly.

  “Did I just hear you say that you want more than friends? Because I’m not sure if that’s what you said, since you said it amazingly fast.” Blake questioned.

  “Blake!” I scolded... I didn’t want to say it again.

  “Summer... I want you to be more than friends too. Will you be my girlfriend?” Blake asked.

  I laughed... it was just so corny... I couldn’t help it.

  “Shot down!” he said, hurt permeating down the phone.

  “No... I mean yes! I want to be your girlfriend.” I gathered myself. “I just couldn’t help myself; it’s such a corny question... of course I do.” I explained.

  “You know how to wound a guy.” Blake said with fake hurt, when actually I could hear a smile through it all. “Ummm... I probably won’t tell anyone here except Jewels though. I like my teeth where they are.” He reasoned.

  “Jordan and I broke up months ago.” I said.

  “Tell him that.” Blake grumbled.

  “Hmmm...” I groaned.

  “So... the doctor Summer... now that we’re a couple, you can tell me!” Blake said cheerfully.

  I chuckled... “I’m on the pill.” I said... embarrassed.

  “Okay... so does that mean no condoms?” he asked.

  He just narrowed in on that... just like that! No hesitation!

  “Ah, well...” I started. He had absolutely no shame! I just needed to run with it.

  “Well what?” Blake quizzed.

  “I had blood tests today too, to make sure I was clean.” I explained.

  “Did you have unprotected sex with Jordan?” Blake gasped.

  “No! She just said it was wise to do it... to be sure!” I replied.

  “Oh, okay!” Blake mumbled.

  “Blake? Have you had unprotected sex before?” I suddenly voiced, scared of the answer.

  “No!” he answered.

  “How many partners have you had?” I asked nervously.

  He groaned... I could tell he didn’t want to answer this.

  “Blake?” I asked again.

  “Fourteen.” He said sheepishly.

  “Fourteen?” I growled... major jealousy!

  Blake sighed, “Most of them were one night stands.” He softly said.

  At least he was being honest... I didn’t want to know, but this was the first and last time we would EVER talk about this!

  “Fourteen? Why so many?” I asked, flabbergasted. “And how is it I had no idea of them all?”

  “It wasn’t a topic for conversation between us... especially now!” Blake said.

  “I assure you, it’s not something I really wanted to find out!” I fumed... I was trying to calm down... I really was!

  “Look... after you lost your virginity to Jordan, he bragged about it! I lost my senses, and went out and screwed around! I was angry!” Blake explained.

  Now my anger had changed, it was now directed at me.

  “After doing that for a while, I tried to maintain a few girlfriends... but every time you broke up with Jordan, well... I broke up with them, so... Look... there’s no excuse. I wasn’t doing anything wrong regarding you at the time. If anything, I was being untrue to them, because I only ever wanted you!” he clarified.

  I was silent... it was true. He hadn’t been my boyfriend, and I was having sex with Jordan... so why would I believe he wasn’t allowed to have sex too? But he’d fucked fourteen girls in twelve months! I felt a little bit sick.

  “Summer? I’ll go get tested too... just to be sure.” Blake assured me.

  “Okay.” I said quietly.

  “Can we never talk about our past sexual encounters again please? I don’t want to tell you about mine, and I sure as hell don’t want to know about yours... there’s a very strong possibility I’d get violent with Jordan if I knew anything.” He explained, distress obvious in his tone.

  He felt upset about me with Jordan... who he had always known about! I could only imagine how it would feel to know he was off having sex with someone every other night... I could get through this... funnily enough; this knowledge calmed me down in record time.

  “Deal!” I answered.

  Blake let out a breath.

  “So... how long does it take for the pill to start working?” Blake asked.

  “We’ll be all good to go when we get to Hackettstown.” I said bashfully.

  Blake laughed... loudly!

  “She’ll be right mate!” he said in a bad Australian accent. It made me laugh too.

  We sobered...

  “Now look,” Blake began, “I don’t want you falling for any hot modeling guys you see tomorrow!” he told me.

  “I’ve already fallen for a hot modeling type guy.” I assured him.

  “He must be gay!” he replied.

  “He assures me he isn’t... and from what I’ve experienced thus far, I’m fairly confident that he was telling me the truth!” I smugly said.

  “Damn straight!” he said in another Aussie accent.

  Blake.

  My girl... she was my girl now.

  I wanted to tattoo my mark on her to warn off everyone else.

  I also wanted to buy some new furniture for our place. The apartment wasn’t furnished, except for a fridge, washing machine and dryer, and of course the stove. Thus far we had been pooling our resources regarding the lounge room stuff. Kitchen stuff too!

  I knew she was supplying a single bed for her room, and I had decided on a basic queen ensemble... I was too tall for anything else. Now I wanted something a little nicer than just a basic bed... So, I went online to look at furniture before I went to bed for the night.

  *

  I wasn’t kidding about not telling anyone other than Julie about Summer and I. Jordan had been over fairly regularly to ask me how Summer was going... what she was up to... and how he could get her back.

&nbs
p; I had the same standard answers:

  Good...

  Shopping (just check her updates on facebook man!)...

  Don’t think it’s gonna happen!

  He’d get all frustrated...

  “I do look at facebook, but it’s all so... uninformative...! But I love her man... I don’t think I could ever handle someone else even touching her, you know?” He’d say.

  Boy, I knew... and if he knew what I’d already managed to achieve with her... then it would be ‘Game On!’

  Julie was over the moon... jumping up and down and squealing and shit! Geez... she was such a weird lesbian... so not stereotypical! Mom and Dad didn’t even know about her yet... she had plans to tell them after the first semester of college. As if the distance would give her courage.

  Chapter 10

  Blake.

  Moving day was swiftly approaching.

  Summer’s test shots were apparently amazing...that’s my girl! She’d been involved in some workshops to learn some skills for the catwalk, and she had already been taken on a couple of photo shoots to get an idea of how they did things. Apparently her management was so keen on her, they offered her a contract; and they were all for her education to come first and were willing to fit work around it, which was just as well, since Summer explained to them, that college was more important to her.

  But more importantly for me, Summer was returning home today at lunchtime to begin packing her stuff for our move in eight days. I was so keen on seeing her that it was painful!

  The front door bell rang. It was, as usual, only Julie and I home (our parents both worked).

  “I’ll get it.” I shouted out to Julie.

  Opening it, Jordan was standing there; I went to say hi...

  “Motherfucker!” he shouted.

  I don’t remember after that... at all!

  *

  Where was I? Oh... I felt sick! I couldn’t see... I could hear though.

  “Why would he do this?” my Mom asked.

  “Julie? Why do you think this happened to Blake? They’ve been friends for years!” my Dad asked my sister.

  “How the fuck should I know!” Julie was lamenting.

  ‘Language!” Mom roused.

  “Julie... I want to know what you think happened!” my Dad demanded.

  “It’ll be over Summer!” she gave in.

  “What about Summer?” my Mom asked. She was always so naive.

  “Ella... really?” my Dad asked my Mom.

  “What? They’ve been friends for... oh!” Mom replied.

  Obviously a look was given that said it all.

  I slipped back into sleep...

  *

  “I came here as fast as I could…” Summer’s alarmed voice entered the room.

  “Blake!” she voiced.

  “It’ll be okay honey… They’re keeping him in a sleeping state for a while to make sure his brain’s okay.” My Mom explained.

  That sounded awful to me.

  “Is something wrong with his brain? Why is he on a respirator?” Summer choked.

  “He has some swelling,” my Dad explained, “He was king hit just behind his right ear… and he landed awkwardly on the tiles in the entranceway of our house. The respirator is because the drugs he is on interfere with his ability to breathe effectively, and he needs maximum oxygen perfusion to accelerate his healing Summer.” Dad said.

  “Oh my God, oh my God… this is all my fault!” Summer wailed.

  “Don’t be stupid!” Julie said, “Jordan is a loose cannon… he has been for months!”

  “But Blake warned me not to tell anyone…” Summer was crying.

  “What? Tell people?” my Mom questioned… oh please!

  “About us!” she was really crying now. “I was just so excited to be coming home and seeing him… I just sort of posted that I was on my way home to pack for college with my man!” she was inconsolable.

  “Shit!” Julie said.

  No-one corrected her.

  I slept…

  *

  “It’s not your fault you know.” My Dad said.

  “I feel like it is.” Summer replied, softly now... she was no longer crying.

  “You know, when I was just a little bit older than you... I was in college... and I sat down in a communications lecture one day, and across the aisle, I spotted this absolutely gorgeous young lady. I was so taken by her, that I followed her after class.” He explained.

  “That’s called stalking.” Summer gave a little laugh.

  My Dad chuckled. “Well, she had a boyfriend... And, to cut a really long story short... I stole her away from that boyfriend, and when he asked her why she was breaking up with him... she told him about me.”

  “Oh dear!” Summer said.

  “Oh dear, indeed.” My Dad laughed. “His friends all descended on my dorm, called me out, and proceeded to beat the crap out of me!” Dad announced.

  Summer took a huge intake of breath. “What did you do?”

  “I never blamed the girl... and I married her at the end of the semester!” he replied. “It wasn’t her fault he was such a sore loser... and if he wanted her that much, he should’ve been trying harder! She was quite the catch... still is!”

  Summer giggled. Then she sighed. “Jordan and I broke up three months ago. Blake and I only started a relationship once I went to stay with my sister. There was no overlap... not even a little bit.” She explained.

  “I realize that Jordan is hot headed... it suits him on the field, but not so much off of it.” Dad offered.

  “Agreed. He was becoming scarily controlling in my life! Right down to my friendships and miscellaneous acquaintances.” Summer said, sighing. “He wasn’t always like that... he used be really lovely!”

  “You’re a good girl Summer... I really like you!” Dad said.

  “I like you too, Mr. Austen.” Summer replied.

  I slept...

  *

  ‘Hello?’ I tried to say... but my throat was blocked and I was struggling to form words, then I realised I had no control over my breathing, and I began to panic.

  “Hello!!!” a cheery female voice stated in a singsong voice, as she reached over and pushed a button on the wall beside me. “You’re back with us!”

  Another nurse and a doctor arrived.

  They removed the tube remaining in my throat, and bustled around me for a while, checking monitors, tubes and my catheter...

  After half an hour, I found my scratchy voice, by which time the doctor had already left.

  “Can I have some water?” I asked one of my nurses.

  “Sure sweetie, I just have to finish some observations, and then we’ll see about your water.” She replied, smiling.

  Summer.

  How could I be so stupid to place that update on facebook? I really hadn’t thought it through at all... I was so excited; I had let my guard down.

  I still couldn’t believe that Jordan had taken such drastic action against Blake.

  Jordan was most likely home today... since he’d gotten bail. I knew I shouldn’t see him... but I just couldn’t help it.

  I drove up to his house and parked out the front. I’d been there plenty of times before, but I felt like a stranger now.

  I could see the curtains pull back and release in the front room. Then the front door opened, and his mother walked out… hurrying to the car.

  Shit, she looked pissed. I wound the window down.

  “Summer! What are you doing here?” she scolded, but up close she looked confused and only slightly angry.

  “I… I came to see Jordan.” I said.

  “You shouldn’t come here… he’s not really himself.” She began. “Turn around and go home.” She pleaded.

  “Anne, I just… I don’t know… I.” I had nothing really.

  She sighed, “I know… it is all screwed up.” She said. “He began losing it before school was over… he’s been… different! I’m scared for him.”

  “I
feel so guilty.” I said.

  “I wish you two had of worked out.” She said, smiling sadly. “But life doesn’t always give you what you want, does it!?”

  I didn’t want to say anything that would upset her further. I decided she was right… that I should go.

  What I hadn’t seen while we had been talking through my window, was Jordan making his way to my car; neither had his Mom…

  The passenger door opened, and Jordan sat himself in the seat.

  “Jordan! You should be inside… don’t go and do anything stupid!” Anne pleaded.

  “Mom!” Jordan shouted. I flinched… he continued, “Summer came here to talk, obviously… so we’ll talk! Now! We’ll even stay here, and you can watch from the window.” He seethed.

  Anne stood up straight, but didn’t move.

  “Mom!” Jordan commanded.

  She slowly walked backward a few steps.

  “It’s okay Anne… here.” I pulled out the keys and threw them to her. “That way you know we won’t be going anywhere.” I explained.

  She nodded, before moving around the car and walking back to her house. She not only opened the curtains in the front room window, but she left the front door open too.

  I turned to Jordan who was staring at me with a mixture of emotions on his face.

  I didn’t say anything… I waited for him to speak.

  “Two years… two years together… and you throw it away like it just didn’t mean anything.” He stated.

  I shook my head, an overwhelming feeling of guilt swelled up inside my stomach.

  “I can’t get over you Summer… but you just seem to be able to walk away as if it all meant nothing.” He reasoned.

  “I… I don’t think it meant nothing.” I said quietly.

  His breathing had increased and it was loud… he was crying, and though he was trying to contain it, he shuddered with difficulty to stop it.

  He choked, “Blake? How long?”

  “A couple of weeks.” I replied.

  He looked at me as though I had lied. His face was the picture of pain.

  “You haven’t been here! How could you have gotten together during the last few weeks?” he scolded through his pain.

  “It’s complicated…” I said.

  “Were you fucking him while you were fucking me?” he said cruelly.