Next Summer

by Hailey Abbott

  “So have I,” Beth replied. You have no idea.

  “And even though I know it’s been really tough on you—and I wish I could change that—maybe what happened was for the best.” His eyes were hopeful.

  “For the best?” she echoed incredulously. “Adam, everything has basically gone to hell.”

  “I don’t mean…” Adam looked down. “I just think that maybe things sometimes turn out the way they’re supposed to. Maybe your boyfriend stumbling in on us like that was just a really brutal way—”

  “Adam, please don’t,” Beth said, cutting him off. “I can’t…I mean, I really don’t know why I even came out tonight.”

  “To give yourself a break,” Adam said softly. “I know you’re upset, Beth, and I hate seeing you like this.”

  “Thanks,” Beth told him. “I could use a friend right now.” She bit her lip.

  “Beth, listen,” he said in a low, urgent voice. “I want to be your friend. But you know how strong my feelings are, don’t you? I think we could be so much more than friends. If we let ourselves.”

  Beth was about to remind Adam that they had let themselves, but then something awful happened.

  A huge crowd pushed past them and they had to take a few steps around a nearby table. Beth staggered back and bumped into a booth, where George was sharing a plate of fries with Kelsi.

  Time stopped.

  Kelsi appeared horrified. George looked frozen.

  Beth could only imagine the stunned expression she had on her face. “Oh, no,” she whispered.

  “Gee, this is awkward,” George said loudly, his eyes on Beth’s face.

  “We just came here to talk,” Beth tried to explain, gesturing to Adam.

  “Sure,” George said. “Talking. Sex. Same difference.”

  “You don’t have to listen to this,” Adam told Beth, putting his hand on her arm. “I told you this was all for the best.” He began to lead Beth away.

  George’s expression changed. “You should probably take your hands off my girlfriend,” he said to Adam, slowly getting to his feet.

  “Or what?” Adam shot back. He paused for a moment, and Beth could see that he welcomed this confrontation. “You want to take a swing at me, go right ahead.”

  Girlfriend, Beth realized, and she felt a surge of hope. George had called her his girlfriend, despite everything.

  “Yeah, whatever,” George said, sliding to one side of the booth.

  “What, you’re not man enough?” Adam challenged.

  “You tell me,” George said, stepping closer.

  “Both of you, stop!” Beth cried, hurrying to stand between them.

  George turned his attention to Beth then, and she almost crumbled when she saw how fiery his eyes were.

  “George—”

  “You were right. He’s really cool, Bethy,” he told her in a low voice. “Enjoy each other, okay?” Then he turned and walked off into the crowd.

  “I’m sorry, Beth,” Kelsi said, clambering out of the booth.

  Beth was too disoriented to respond. But she noticed how Adam threw himself down into the booth the moment it was vacated. He was literally trying to take George’s place.

  “I’m gonna go to the bonfire on the beach,” Kelsi said, giving Beth’s arm a gentle squeeze. “See you there?”

  Beth managed to shrug. Once Kelsi wandered off, Beth put a hand on her stomach, hoping to settle it down. Then she looked at Adam.

  “Take a seat,” he urged her. “We came here to talk, remember?”

  “I don’t want to talk,” Beth said, her voice steady at last.

  Suddenly, she was noticing that Adam really did resemble George. It was the way he tilted his head when he talked. But he didn’t have an ounce of George’s funny, genuine vibe. How could she have ever wanted to choose between the two of them?

  It made sense. Beth had missed George so much, she’d practically been drowning. So she’d grabbed on to Adam, like he was a life raft.

  Adam may have saved her life. But without George, her life was meaningless. I am George’s girlfriend, she realized. What am I even doing with this other guy?

  “I have to go,” Beth said abruptly.

  “What?” Adam looked startled. “You’re not going after him, are you?”

  “Damn right I am,” she said confidently. She hadn’t felt this strong in a long time.

  “Beth…” Adam seemed to be at a loss. “Don’t do this.”

  “I’m sorry, Adam,” Beth said softly. “I’m in love with George. I always have been.”

  “Wait a minute,” Adam pleaded.

  “I have to go,” Beth said again, very firmly. She felt awful for hurting Adam’s feelings, but every second she stood there with him was one second she was losing with George. She said good-bye again, then started pushing her way through the crowd.

  When Beth made it outside, she breathed in the cool night air. Her course seemed completely clear for the first time all summer.

  She’d do anything it took to get George back.

  “The thing is, Beth,” George said coolly. “I just don’t think this will work out. Okay?”

  Beth had caught up with him down near the beach. He’d been for a long walk, he told her. Communing with the rocks and the dunes.

  Which pretty much translated to, Avoiding you, Beth, the person who took a chain saw to my heart.

  “I can’t blame you for feeling like that,” Beth said. “I messed up. Big-time. It was a huge mistake.”

  George just raised his eyebrows at her, not disputing her choice of words.

  “So I don’t expect anything from you,” Beth continued. “But I just want you to give me one last chance.”

  He studied her carefully. Even though she almost always knew what George was thinking, now she couldn’t imagine what was going through his mind.

  “You left him?” he asked. “Back at Ahoy?”

  Beth nodded. “I went with him on a whim tonight, George. It meant nothing. I promise you.” She took a deep breath and added, “And nothing else I did with him ever meant anything. I want you to know that. Yes, we kissed and fooled around once. But I didn’t sleep with him, George. I never would have.” She swallowed hard.

  George furrowed his brow. “Part of me believes you, Bethy. But I don’t know how to…get past it all.”

  Beth felt relief flood through her. “Will you let me show you?”

  “How?”

  “Come on,” Beth said, and reached over to grab his hand before she talked herself out of it. “Follow me.”

  “Do you recognize this?” she asked a few silent minutes later, standing on the beach about midway between the waterline and the beach grass.

  “Um, sand?” George asked.

  “Last summer, you left your clothes in a big heap right here, while you were skinny-dipping with that girl.”

  George stared at the ground, so Beth knew he remembered.

  “I stole them,” Beth said, and tugged on his arm to pull him after her.

  He followed, still not saying anything, and she led him across the sand and onto the street. There was a streetlight casting a perfect circle on the ground, and Beth pointed at it.

  “I put them here.”

  “Just to be clear,” George said, and Beth was so happy to hear the familiar jokey lilt to his voice. “You’re actually admitting you stole my clothes? After an entire year of claiming it must have been a passing vagrant who did it?”

  It was the most encouraging thing she’d heard from him yet, but Beth hid her relieved smile.

  She walked a little bit farther up the road to stand outside a green split-level house. Everything around them seemed deserted, because everyone in town was attending the bonfire.

  “And this is the house you climbed on, completely naked, to yell at me,” she said. “I would climb up myself, to set the mood, but I’m kind of afraid I’d break my neck.” She laughed nervously. “Also, you know, I hate heights.”

  George looked up a
t the roof, and then down to the end of the road, where it ended right before the woods.

  “What are we doing?” he asked quietly.

  Beth swallowed, hard. “I wanted to show you that I remember,” she whispered.

  “That you remember what?”

  “Last summer. Us.” Beth felt something lodge in her throat, tighter than before, and swallowed again, even harder. “I want to show you that I remember everything. Every little detail. No matter how…lost I got while you were away.”

  George remained silent. Beth wished she could see his face, but it was dark and there were too many shadows.

  “I don’t think I can do this,” he said.

  “I’m not done yet!” Beth was desperate, and she could hear it in her own high-pitched voice, which had reached cartoon character levels. “It was right here, in this very spot, that I realized that I was in love with you—did you know that? And then later, we had our first kiss—”

  “I remember, Beth,” George said. “I never needed reminding.”

  That was all Beth needed to hear. Suddenly, she felt reckless.

  And inspired.

  “Stay here,” she ordered him.

  Beth turned and headed through the backyard, to the rear of the house. She eyed the lattice that stretched from the ground up to the roof, and steeled herself. She was determined. Her fear of heights would just have to go away…right…now.

  She began to climb—hand over hand, concentrating on the next hold and never looking down. Soon enough, she was pulling herself onto the rooftop. Her heart was banging against her chest and her breath was coming fast and shallow, like she’d just gone for a run. But she felt exhilarated.

  Beth scooted across the roof on her butt, and peered over the side. George was still standing there, gazing at the ground, lost in thought.

  “George!” she yelled.

  He looked around, and then turned in a circle, still not seeing her.

  “What the hell are you doing?” he called, sounding annoyed. “Come back here and…” His words trailed off as he glanced up, and gaped at her.

  “Check me out!” Beth said, and waved.

  “Beth, this isn’t funny,” he said nervously. “You’re going to hurt yourself, because if you fall, I can guarantee I’m not going to catch you.”

  Beth saw she had no choice but to stand up and start shouting.

  “I LOVE YOU, GEORGE!” she screamed into the night. “I LOVE YOU, GEORGE!”

  “Beth!” he hissed.

  For a second she thought about stopping, but Beth could hear that George wasn’t as pissed as he was pretending to be.

  So she got louder.

  “I’M SORRY, GEORGE!” she bellowed, waving her arms around. She had to close her eyes because she couldn’t look at the ground too much. “I’M SO SORRY! I LOVE YOU! BETH TUTTLE LOVES—”

  “Okay!” he shouted back, and he was definitely laughing now. Lights went on a bit farther down the block. “I get it. Just come down.”

  “I can’t,” Beth said.

  “Uh, why not?”

  “I’m afraid of heights,” Beth explained. “I’m pretty much stuck here.”

  He looked up at her for a long time.

  “Wow, living on a roof is going to be tough. Just think about what you’ll have to do if you need to use the bathroom.”

  “George!”

  “Okay,” he said finally. “I’m coming up.”

  George made his way toward the lattice, and for the first time since Thursday night, Beth had an inkling that everything might just work out, after all.

  33

  After Kelsi left the insanity at Ahoy, she found herself down at the beach, wandering through the crowd around the bonfire. Kids milled around in packs while adults settled down in folding chairs, armed with martini shakers.

  Kelsi looked around, trying to decide what she wanted to do. The summers always seemed to begin and end with a bonfire. Kelsi couldn’t believe she would be headed to college in just a few short weeks. Would college change her? What new discoveries awaited her there? She was nervous, but she couldn’t wait to find out.

  When a group of younger kids jostled past her, Kelsi smiled and shook her head. She’d been in what Ella called her Philosophy Zone. Ella claimed that Kelsi always lived inside her head, and as a result, missed out on good stuff happening around her.

  Sometimes her little sister had a point.

  Since it was a chilly night, she found herself a spot near the fire. She was about to settle down on the sand when she noticed a familiar group just a few feet away. The same big orange cooler, the same frat boy types, and, most important, the same Tim, standing with them.

  Okay. Kelsi knew now. She’d come to the bonfire tonight because she thought there was a really good chance Tim would be here, too. Deep down where all her rationality couldn’t reach, Kelsi couldn’t deny it anymore: She wanted to be with Tim.

  She watched him, talking and laughing with his friends. She studied his golden hair and tan skin and slow, easy smile. He left her almost breathless.

  Wow, Kelsi thought. I’ve got it bad.

  Tim looked over then, and their eyes met. His face seemed to freeze, and then his eyes lit up. Then, his usual smirk kicked in. Kelsi had missed seeing that expression so much, she felt an intense heat that she knew had nothing to do with the roaring fire. Tim raised his can of beer in a wordless toast.

  Kelsi felt paralyzed for a minute. Her mind was racing.

  And then Kelsi thought of Ella again and realized that this was no time to live in her head.

  There was a time for subtlety, as Kelsi had taught Ella, and then there was a time for action.

  Without a moment of hesitation, Kelsi crossed the distance between them.

  Tim looked surprised, then wary as she drew closer. Kelsi realized with a rush of relief that Tim didn’t look upset with her at all. He’d gotten past their fight. Maybe, as Ella had said, boys could put up with a lot.

  Kelsi came to a stop in front of Tim and looked up, soaking in his nearness and the sheer rightness of this guy.

  Then she reached up, took hold of his jaw with one hand, and kissed him.

  No words. Just her mouth across his.

  Tim was still for a heartbeat, and then he kissed her back, his arms going around her waist to pull her in tight against him.

  Even better than expected, Kelsi thought, enjoying the warmth and pressure of his mouth against hers.

  And then she stopped all that thinking completely.

  34

  “Just follow my hands,” George said in Beth’s ear. “You don’t have to look. Just close your eyes and feel.”

  They were stuck midway down the lattice. George was directly behind her, their bodies pressed close in a way that Beth would have loved if she hadn’t been paralyzed with fear.

  “I’m trying,” she whispered. But she was holding on so tight, the wood was cutting into her palms, and she wasn’t sure she was still breathing.

  “Come on, Bethy,” George said. “You know I won’t let anything happen to you.”

  Beth squeezed her eyes shut, pried her hand from the lattice, and let George guide her down.

  When they reached the ground, Beth actually rolled over onto her stomach and kissed the pavement.

  “You were fine,” George told her. “Except maybe for that middle part. I thought we might have to stay there overnight.”

  “Overnight?” Beth waved a dismissive hand. “I was thinking forever, like garden gnomes.”

  “We’re too cute to be gnomes,” George said, and laughed.

  Beth laughed, too, and climbed to her feet. She could feel George’s iciness dissolving.

  “We should probably get out of here before someone calls the cops, like last year,” she said, heading for the street.

  “You’re just jealous because my performance drew the cops down here, while yours was so uninspiring that no one bothered to call them,” George was chiding her again, just like it was
any other day.

  Beth thought he looked perfect, laughing in the dark under the streetlights. But then his laughter slowed a little bit as he looked at her, and his bright eyes started to darken.