This Summer At The Lake

by Daphne James Huff

  He heard her running across the road but didn’t turn to look at her. Getting his bike upright without screaming in pain was taking all of his concentration. Could he push it along with only one arm? Hopefully.

  “What happened?” Her voice was so close, she must have been right behind him. He still didn’t turn around, though.

  “Nothing. Just some crazy driver ran me off the road.” The rough and angry voice that burst from his mouth was barely recognizable as his own.

  Cassie inhaled sharply. “You’re hurt.”

  “Nice powers of observation.” He rolled his eyes, though she couldn’t see it.

  Logan knew he was being mean, but Cassie had been mean, too, for the past 6 years. Well, not mean to him, exactly. Their last names of Hanes and Hart meant they’d been sitting next to each other in homeroom since middle school. She’d barely glanced his way their entire lives. Before tonight, he couldn’t have been sure she even knew he existed. So no, she’d never been mean to him. That much was true.

  But he’d noticed over the years how she would treat people. She’d be chatty and nice one day, and then ignore them the next. She’d gossip about people sitting just a few chairs away, as if they couldn’t hear her. Cassie Hart was the typical queen bee, head cheerleader, down to the impossibly beautiful face and body, and crazy rich parents.

  And, of course, her crazy rich parents would have a lake house. He’d probably even cleaned it a few times. And she wasn’t the only one from Helena Prep that would be up here this summer. The season was just getting started, and by the Fourth of July the lake would be crawling with all the people Logan wanted so desperately to get away from.

  But Cassie was the one he really didn’t want to see him like this: dirty, smelling like the restaurant, with his arm in a makeshift sling on the side of the road at midnight.

  Why’d it have to be her?

  “Logan, do you need help?”

  At this, the sound of his name, he finally turned to face her, his brows drawn together at the genuine concern in her voice.

  She looked perfect. Of course she did. He couldn’t help but notice how much of her tanned legs he could see thanks to her short jean skirt, so artfully frayed it must have been expensive. A sequined tank top beneath a luxury brand hoodie completed the casual yet sleek look he saw every day on the people he served at the restaurant. She was a walking, talking reminder of everything he wasn’t, and he hated everything about her right now. Even the fact that she was mysteriously being nice to him.

  “Why do you want to help me?” he spat, lifting his chin.

  She raised an eyebrow, a hand on her hip.

  “I realize the impression you probably have of me, but do you really think I’m the kind of person who’d just drive by someone laying on the side of the road?”

  It was like a punch to the gut. His head, already fuzzy from the fall and throbbing shoulder, tried to somehow justify his anger towards her.

  It was true; he didn’t know her. He’d gone to school with her for years, and they’d never spoken a word to each other before tonight. Had that been entirely because of her? Or was he partly to blame?

  “Well, thanks, but I’ll be fine.” He didn’t have the time or energy to deal with the fact that he was probably the one being a jerk right now. Nearly getting run over had to give him some sort of pass for things like that.

  As he turned and walked away, he could hear a slight huff of frustration from her. He smiled, despite everything, thinking that he’d actually said no to a cheerleader who wanted to give him something.

  He just didn’t think she had anything he really wanted.

  Chapter Three

  Well that went well.

  Cassie watched Logan walk away, guiding his bike with one hand, the other strapped oddly to his chest with his jacket. At least the night was warmer than usual. The really cold nights weren’t until later in the summer. This was still the golden period of warm summer nights and the lake was a perfect cool break from the hot days.

  Cassie felt like running into the lake now to cool off her burning face.

  Logan had been so mean to her, and she just wanted to help.

  This is what you get for trying to be a good person, she told herself, when you are clearly a horrible one.

  What she’d told him wasn’t true. She was the kind of person who’d leave someone on the side of the road. She just had, fifteen minutes ago.

  Her heart was beating a mile a minute as she got back into her car. Had he seen her behind the wheel of the red VW bug from earlier? It was Marissa’s, and completely impractical for Montana winters, but super fun to drive in the summer. Well, fun until she almost ran someone over with it.

  It had been dark, so maybe he hadn’t seen her. Everything had gone by so fast, she wasn’t even sure it had really happened until she’d come back to see Logan standing there, his arm tied up and his face red with pain.

  Now it was her face that was red, with a pain in her gut to match. As she drove home, she tried not to think about how bad it could have been. What would she have done if he’d still been lying on the ground? She walked into her house, distracted by the endless possibilities of how this night could have been even worse, not even noticing that her dad was standing in the kitchen waiting for her until she heard his angry voice.

  “Didn’t see enough of Spencer earlier, did you?” He stood with a hand on his hip, very similar to the pose she’d just taken with Logan.

  Cassie blanched. She wasn’t expecting a fight now, though she’d been prepared for one a half hour ago when she’d walked in the door supporting a totally passed out Marissa. Cassie had left her best friend snoring in the guest bedroom, putting a glass of water and empty trash can within arm’s reach before running out again to check on Logan.

  Now she was caught totally off guard. Should she tell her dad what she’d done? He always knew if she was lying. It was like his superpower. Now she almost wished she’d taken up Spencer on his offer to crash at his place. She would have had all night to think up a story.

  “Cass, come inside for a few minutes,” Spencer drawled when she drove up to his house. He gave her his best puppy eyes, which had worked on her at the beginning of the school year, but she was pretty much immune to them at this point.

  She really had to figure out how to break up with him. The drunken dancing with Marissa had apparently done nothing useful besides increase Marissa’s crush. Spencer had ignored her completely any time Cassie was nearby.

  “I can’t leave Marissa here,” Cassie said, turning away from his pleading eyes. She looked into the back seat where her best friend was snoring, her skirt hiked up to reveal a thong underneath. Cassie sighed and unzipped her hoodie to put on top of her. Cassie knew Marissa would be embarrassed as hell to know Spencer had seen her like this.

  “Bring her in, she can sleep on the couch.” His words were a bit slurred and about three volume levels too high for the quiet night. Cassie knew his parents didn’t really care, but her dad would. Huntington or not, she was not supposed to be out at all hours with a guy.

  “No, I’m really tired. I just want to go home.”

  “Fi-ine,” Spencer drawled, leaning in to kiss her. She turned her head so he got her cheek. When he grunted in protest, she gave him a look she knew he wouldn’t remember in the morning. Hopefully he wouldn’t remember most of the drive.

  “You stink.” She wrinkled her nose and shook her head. “Like cigarettes and beer. No thank you. Call me tomorrow when you’re sober and showered, please.”

  With that, she pushed him gently away and closed the car door before he could say or do anything else.

  She gagged at the memory of his smoky, stale breath.

  The gag made her dad take his hand off his hip and point a finger at her, his eyes hard.

  “Don’t tell me you drove drunk!”

  “No!” she cried, trying to regain control of her emotions. She stalked into the kitchen to get a glass of water, buying hersel
f a little more time. Her dad followed her and leaned again the counter, waiting. It was a routine they had been through before.

  Just tell him. He’ll know what to do.

  “I didn’t drink anything tonight.”

  Her dad raised an eyebrow from across the kitchen.

  “I didn’t! I don’t want college to be like high school. Really.”

  He pursed his lips but nodded. There’d been a huge lecture at the beginning of the summer after her particularly raucous grad night party. She was supposed to be done with all of the ‘high school nonsense’ as her parents called it, and it was time to get ready for the real world.

  “Where were you?”

  “I…” Tears started to form in the corners of her eyes. The heaviness in her stomach was still there, and now her chest was tightening. Her father’s eyes bore into hers, demanding answers she didn’t want to give. They reminded her of Logan’s, so hard and cold with anger, and she covered her face with her hands, reliving that awful moment when she’d lied to Logan’s face about what she’d done to him.

  Before she knew it, she was blubbering and running into her father’s arms. He grunted in surprise at the fierceness of her hug.

  “Hey,” he said softly, brushing a hand along her hair the way he used to when she was a little girl. “It’s okay sweetheart. Whatever it is, I can fix it.”

  She sniffed and wiped a hand across her eyes, her heart lifting a bit at the familiar words. He was in construction, after all. He was pretty good at fixing things. Taking a deep breath, she launched into the story, the words coming out in a jumble.

  “Spencer was distracting me when I was driving us all home in Marissa’s car and I didn’t see a biker on the road.” She felt her dad’s arms tense around her, and the gentle patting of her head stopped. Cassie’s voice cracked in her rush to explain. “He just fe-fell down! I didn’t know what to do, so I-I just kept driving.”

  Cassie shuddered as she thought about how fast it had all happened. She remembered swerving off the road and bumping along the edge. Spencer had laughed hysterically as she jerked the wheel back and the car found the road again. He told her to turn back and ‘scare Hanes again’ but she’d barely heard him over her pounding heart. Marissa had jolted awake, mumbling something about Beyoncé, then fell right back down in the seat.

  Her dad pulled back and held Cassie by her shoulders, looking straight into her eyes.

  “Did you go back to check?” His tone was serious and impenetrable.

  Cassie shivered and nodded.

  Her dad’s eyes grew cold, his lips pursed again in the thinnest of lines.

  “Why would you do that?” He dropped his hands from her shoulders, and stalked over to the other side of the kitchen. He ran a hand through his thinning hair.

  It was like a rock had rammed into her stomach.

  “Why would I go check to see if someone I hurt was okay?” She said the words slowly, trying to figure out why this would be a bad thing.

  Her dad turned and looked at her, eyes wide.

  “Please tell me the biker didn’t recognize you as the driver.” His hands gripped the side of the counter.

  “I don’t think so.” She bit her lip. “I dropped off Spencer and Marissa and took my car back out there. Logan was walking, so I don’t think he was that hurt. But his arm was all wrapped up.”

  “Logan? You know the boy?” His voice was urgent and trembling now, knuckles white on the edge of the counter.

  Cassie nodded slowly, but her heart was pounding fast now. Why would that make a difference?

  “From school. We sat next to each other in homeroom. Logan Hanes.” Though Cassie was embarrassed to admit that if Spencer hadn’t recognized him, she never would have.

  Her father’s eyes nearly popped out of his head. He threw his hands up in the air and groaned.

  “Of course it’s the Hanes. Those money grubbing scum will come looking for a check before we can blink.” He rubbed his face with his hands. “What did you have to give him?”

  “What did I…?” Cassie shook her head, words escaping her as she processed her dad’s reaction. It was so far from the comforting ‘fix-it’ approach she’d been expecting, she was struggling to calm her whiplashed heart.

  She’d never heard him talk about anyone like that, even his worst clients. And how did he know Logan, too? How did everyone know Logan except her?

  “He didn’t want anything. He walked away.”

  Her father shook his head.

  “That’s because he didn’t know it was you that nearly ran him over.” His eyes narrowed, and she felt the rock in her stomach start to roll around. It was his worst ‘I mean business’ expression. The one she’d seen him give countless guys on his building sites when they tried to explain why a delivery was late or why something hadn’t passed inspection. Those guys didn’t tend to stick around very long after their mistakes. At least he couldn’t fire his daughter.

  Right?

  “Why should who I am make a difference?” Cassie’s head was spinning. She leaned against the counter, exhausted, just wanting this awful night to be over. “I did what I could to help, he said no. It’s over, right?’

  “You have to find a way to help him.” Her dad started to pace around the kitchen. “Check in on him. But don’t make it look like it’s because you feel responsible. Just friendly.”

  Cassie let out her breath in a huff. It was like her dad hadn’t even heard her!

  “I tried. He said he didn’t need help.”

  “Don’t take no for an answer!” His voice rose and he turned to point a finger at her again.

  She jerked her head back, startled, and crossed her arms over her chest. She felt the edge of the counter dig into her back as she stared wide-eyed at her father glaring down at her. Tears started to pool in her eyes again and she let out a choked sob.

  At the sound, her dad took a deep breath and closed his eyes. Crying usually worked to get him to calm down, though it was rare that the tears were actually real.

  “Just…figure out a way to make sure that he gets whatever he needs this summer,” he said, his voice finally the familiar soft and soothing tone she was used to in crisis situations. “If he was on a bike, he obviously doesn’t have a car. Drive him to doctor’s appointments. If you see him at the lake, say ‘hi’. Invite him to parties, whatever. Just make sure he ends up thinking you’re a great girl. So he’ll never even think it could possibly have been you.”

  She bit her lip. This didn’t make any sense. She got why it would be bad for anyone to know the accident was her fault. But why was helping some random kid so important to her dad?

  Well, not completely random. She did know him, in a way. Not that she’d ever really paid attention to him in school, but that wasn’t her fault. They ran in totally different crowds. She couldn’t be expected to know everyone. But her dad apparently knew him. And he hadn’t seemed to care so much about the accident until he found out it was Logan.

  “Is everything okay, Dad?” Her voice was quiet.

  “Of course, why?” His gruffness surprised her, yet again. It was late, and she was tired, and every little reaction from him seemed to be amplified a hundred times. She tried so hard to make her parents happy and proud, and ninety-five percent of the time, she did. This was definitely one of those five percent times.

  “You just seem…I dunno, tenser than usual.” Cassie wanted to go over and give him a hug, like when she was a little girl, but his rigid back as he paced put her off the idea.

  He frowned and crossed his arms, leaning back against the counter again.

  “I have a lot on my mind.” A deep sigh rumbled through his whole body. “At work.”

  Cassie decided not to point out that he hadn’t been to any job sites or to the office for the past two weeks. But maybe he was working in the office in the house and she just hadn’t noticed. He couldn’t just be fishing and watching baseball all the time, could he?

  “I guess I’ll
try again with Logan,” Cassie said with a shrug and a sigh.

  “Thank you, Cass,” her dad said with a tiny smile. “It would help me out a lot if you kept the Hanes boy happy this summer. It would be one less thing for me to worry about.”

  Her smile back was a little confused, but she felt better at how relieved her dad looked. With a sigh, she resigned herself to another encounter with the boy who clearly wanted nothing to do with her. You’d think he’d be happy that the most popular girl in school wanted to help him. But then again, high school was over. She was no longer the most popular of anything. It was a thought that was both freeing and terrifying.

  She hugged her dad goodnight and headed off to her room down the hall, thinking it over. She didn’t have a clue why it was so important to her dad, but there might be a way that helping him—and Logan—could fit into her summer plans, too. Spencer would hear about her hanging out with someone else and maybe that would be enough to get him interested in Marissa.

  Her parents wouldn’t be too happy about it, but did they really expect her to stay with him through college? The path her parents had picked for her was a good one, but she wasn’t sure it was what she wanted. Parts of it were great. But not all of it. Definitely not the Spencer part.

  Going to Columbia had been pretty much a guarantee for her since birth. Both of her parents were alumni and kept up their contacts there. Her grades in high school had been good—better than she’d ever let on to her friends. It’s not that she’d intentionally spent four years cultivating a ditzy and gossipy cheerleader attitude in order to fool everyone, it was more that it was what people expected of her, so she played into it. It was easier to just let everyone think what they wanted about her. Except her teachers, who she’d been sure to impress as often as possible, and who had consequently written stellar recommendations for her.

  Now she had acceptance letters to three different schools: Harvard, Stanford, and Columbia. Her parents obviously wanted her to go to New York, but when she’d hesitated, they’d sent checks to all three, holding her spots. Now she just had to choose.