Summer Forever

10.

"Isla."

"Wake up."

"Isla."

I groaned, rubbing a hand over my eye. The room was too bright. Had I left my blinds open last night?

"Good morning, sleepyhead."

I opened my eyes only to immediately squeeze them shut again.

"Everett?" I murmured, my voice thick with sleep. I had forgotten he was here. It all felt like a dream. Except, he was here. He was really here, with his fingers in my hair and his leg pressed up against mine. I shifted onto my side to find him sitting up beside me. "What time is it?"

"Time for you to get up," he replied. "There's a lot we need to get done today. I owe you breakfast, you know?"

I shoved my face into my pillow. "Five more minutes?"

"That's five less minutes we have together."

I looked up, narrowing my eyes into a glare. "Are you trying to guilt trip me?"

"Is it working?"

I paused. He batted his lashes at me, smiling innocently, and I rolled my eyes. "Yes. Let me go brush my teeth."

He bolted out of bed, a wide grin on his face. "Yes! Great. So, I heard of this café a few minutes away, I was thinking we could—"

"Oh, shit." I paused, my phone gripped in my hand.

Everett's mouth snapped shut as he turned to me. I sat at the edge of the bed, my legs swinging off, feet brushing the floor as I unlocked my phone. I stared at the time, the date glinting at me beneath it, along with a reminder I'd set weeks ago. 3 days to midterms.

"I completely forgot," I continued, pressing a hand to my face. "I have, like, three days left until my midterms start. I'm sorry, Ev. I really need to study today."

"Oh." I didn't have to look at him to know his smile had fallen, but I did anyway. A whisper of a frown grazed his lips before they were tugging into a small smile again. "It's okay. We can postpone it, yeah?"

I nodded, shooting to my feet, and rounding the bed to face him. "We can get breakfast every day. And—And I mean, summer's not far away, right? Or—I mean, your summer. We can spend every day of every week together. I've still got some savings. Maybe I could go visit you in New York?"

His smile grew, but it was still a shadow of the grin he'd had earlier. I hadn't visited him in New York yet.

While I was in school and he was starting college, our holidays never seemed to line up—not until Christmas, and Christmas in Shellside Bay seemed to outrank Christmas in New York. At least, that was the case for Everett.

Christmas in New York meant family bonding with his dad and new stepmother. It meant cold weather and slippery roads. Shellside Bay was hot sand, surfing, and a few weeks with his grandmother.

So, I hadn't visited New York yet. Sometimes I wondered if he even wanted me to visit. It wasn't like he ever brought it up.

"Alright," Everett said eventually. He leaned closer, pulling me into his arms and squeezing me in a brief hug. "You start studying. Maybe you'll finish early, and we can watch a movie or something."

I smiled, leaning up to press a quick kiss to his lips. "Did I ever mention you're the best?"

"Not as often as you should," he teased.

By the time I got out of the bathroom, Everett had vanished. Frowning, I grabbed my laptop and stalked out of my room. As expected, he was sitting in the kitchen, River standing behind the counter.