The Summer Everything Turned Ugly

Chapter 8

I stayed in my room all day, enjoying the luxury and stuff.

A comedy show was just playing when I heard a knock on my door.

"Summer? I'm coming in," Jeremy says. "Are you naked?"

What the hell?

"What kind of a question is that?" I say in a disgusted tone as he walks in and closes the door behind him.

"My kind of question," he says smoothly, taking a seat on the edge of my bed. "And don't worry, it's nothing I haven't seen before."

"Ew," I gag.

"I'm eating lunch at P. F. Chang's with my two best friends. You wanna come with?" he asks.

"When?" I ask, raising an eyebrow. "And if I'm not mistaken, it's a fancy Chinese restaurant that has all those stupid dim lights, you can't even see what you're eating."

"You know your food very well," he chuckles lightly.

I can't help but compare it to Eli's.

"And I think these 'two best friends' of yours are kind of together," I predict.

"What?" he says, and his voice was almost an octave higher. "Psh, no."

I give him a pointed look.

"Well, they aren't exactly together. But Sean's gonna ask Maddie to be his girlfriend tonight."

"And why do I have to come to meet your friends?" I ask. "You can go by yourself, you know."

He pouts, looking like a lost puppy begging for food.

"I don't wanna look like a third wheel."

I laugh.

"I can't go, I gotta stay here," I say. "I'm cooking for Mom and Dad."

He brings his feet up and crosses his legs.

"I already talked to Susan about it, and she said she's cool with it."

I always wanted to go out and meet new people.

I mean, this is Florida.

It's a whole new place.

Why should I stay here with my fluffy pillows and soft bed while I could be doing something Florida-ish?

"Okay, fine, I'll go," I say, with a smile on my face. "But only on one condition."

"Anything."

"Take me around to see Florida," I request. "I wanna see every inch of it."

He laughs.

"Why don't I ask Maddie to come with you to the mall?" he suggests.

"You need to come with."

"Why?"

"It's part of the deal," I shrug. "And besides, Dad says you're practically family."

"Okay," he says with a smile. "I'll come."

"One more thing," I say with a cheeky grin. "Please call Mystique."

He chuckles and gets out of my bed and calls for Mystique, which buys me a little time to think about Eli and what he'd think about this.

It wasn't really a date, but I was gonna have dinner with a guy.

What would Eli think about that?

Mystique jumps onto my bed and licks my palm.

"How's my baby? How's my cute little baby?" I say as I rub her stomach.