Hell to the No

Departure

A gloomy overcast of clouds cover the sky above us, but it's still hot as the 7th ring of hell because of the humidity. Kaitlin and I stroll down the sidewalks downtown, sipping at fruity, ice-cold shakes from one of the gas stations. My mango-flavored heaven provides a small escape from the heat as it quenches my parched throat.

"So... You'll be excited to hear that my summer won't be completely boring without you, after all," Kaitlin chimes furtively at me over her shake.

"What do you mean by that?" I narrow my eyes at her with a smile.

"I met someone," she says, clutching her pink drink while she contains her excitement. I raise my eyebrows, waiting for the story. "He's from another town, and I waitressed his table at King's."

"When did all of this happen?" I ask as we stop at an intersection to wait for the light to change.

"Just this weekend, it's nothing really serious yet... I just got his number, I forgot to mention it to you," she confesses with a giggle as we trot across the street.

"What's his name? What's he like?"

"His name's Chance. He came over to have dinner at King's from Bellport with his friends on Saturday night when I was working, he seems like a really fun guy!" I listen to her as she launches into a play-by-play of her night, vivaciously recounting the story with excited gestures. She had won a coin toss with another waitress for dibs on the table with the group of guys from Bellport, where they had come to meet up with friends from our town. They were grabbing pizza there, and eventually they had dared Chance to hit on Kaitlin, and get her number. Being, and I quote, "the suave, sexy motherfucker," that she was, she gave their table some good laughs with the wordplay between her and Chance, and ended up giving him her number after all.

"And he's sooooo cute," she breathes, flipping out her Iphone to show me a picture he had sent her. I nodded my head in agreement, after peering down into the screen at a bleach-blonde, shaggy-haired, lean-jawed, hazel-eyed hottie.

"Grrrowl," I tease, "Caught yourself a good-looking one, you did."

"Finally," she teases right back. I had always made fun of her for crushing on/dating guys that I thought were kind of fugly. It was nice to finally agree on the level of attraction in her love interest for once.

"You guys gonna hang out sometime?" I ask. She smiles around her straw.

"Soon, probably. He wants to come over and eat at King's again, he made me promise him I'd waitress his table. Then he wants to hang out after I get off work," she explains, and I can relate to that dreamy look in her eyes. My chest swells as her hushed, excited voice makes me think of the way I often feel about Roman. Kaitlin taps the home button on her phone, and sucks in a quick breath as she looks at the time.

"Shit, that reminds me... I have to be at King's in like 15 minutes for the lunch hours. Oh, come here, Allie!" She throws her arms around me, squeezing me in a tight hug. "I'm gonna miss you sooooo damn much!" I return the embrace, clutching Kait in farewell.

"God, I'm gonna miss you too," I tell her, and she pulls away beaming at me.

"We're both going to have amazing summers! Text or call me if you ever get the chance, okay? And if you need any advice about that dark devil," she teases. I give a barking laugh.

"Yeah yeah, you're the expert," I grin. She smiles even wider at me before giving a wave as she starts down the street back toward where we left her car.

"Bye, Allie! Love ya!"

"See you, Kait, loooove yooou!"

It starts to sprinkle by the time I reach my house, and I find my mother inside closing down all the open windows in the house.

"Hey baby, could you run to our end of the house and close it up?" she asks, busy in the kitchen with the windows. I trot down to the end of the house with our bedrooms, and close the windows against the increasing sprinkle of summer rain. I meet up with my mother again in the living room. We plop down onto the loveseat, and I cuddle up to her.

"I'm going to miss you so much," she says with her chin resting on the top of my head, her hand rubbing my shoulder. I nuzzle my face into her neck.

"I feel kinda bad for leaving you to miss Dad all alone," I tell her. She gives a high chuckle.

"I'm used to coping on my own, baby doll. But I'll miss having you around." She plants a kiss on my forehead. "I'll be looking forward to having you back to go out to Connecticut with." A smile breaks out over my face as I sit up to look at her.

"I'm so excited to go visit Daddy," I tell her, and her smile matches mine.

"Me too, darlin'. Are you all packed up yet?"

"Not completely... I started this morning, I'll finish right now." Momma nods, and we both get up from the couch. She follows me to my bedroom, and keeps me company while I continue packing about 2 weeks worth of clothing into a few bags. We end up spending all day in there, she helping me and talking to me while I pack, then clean my room. We pause for an early dinner, and spend the rest of the night watching comedies in the living room together. Roman texts me through the movie, asking me if I have everything, reminding me of specific items like bathing suits and closed-toed shoes for hiking and stuff. I go to bed way too excited to sleep, and I end up watching the rain beat against my window half the night as Roman and I's text conversation turns casual. Around 2:30, I think, I drift off.

The loud tune of "Big Wiggly Style" wakes me, and I squint drowsily into the streaming sunlight pouring through my window to land on my face.

Why would anyone build a house with the bedrooms facing the east? Seriously.

The smell of bacon makes my mouth water, and I rub the sleep and blinding sunlight out of my eyes as I use my empty stomach's feral instinct to guide me as I slide out of bed and stumble like a zombie through the house. My mother kisses me on the head as she drifts in from the kitchen, and I mumble a bleary-eyed good morning as I slump onto the bar seat. She asks me how I slept, probably already guessing by my state of consciousness. I confirm her supposition with a grunt, and my face against the counter. I hear her chuckle as a big mug of coffee clinks onto the table beside me.

I eat a delicious breakfast of an omelette and bacon with my mother, downing the heady and caffeinated beverage with gusto to help wake me up. The excitement for our departure today helps, too.

Mom helps me drag my bags to the front foyer, and we both wait for Roman to pick me up.

"How long is the drive to Alpine Mine, do you know?" she asks, sliding her arm around my shoulder as we both look out the screen door at the beautifully misty summer morning.

"I think it's about 2 hours away. Yeah, that's what Roman told me."

"That's not bad. Now, you'll call me when you get the chance? You're not even gone yet, and I'm dying to hear all about it," she says with a laugh. I give her a full hug as Roman's truck pulls into view in front of our house, engine running.

"Of course I will. I love you so much, Momma, thank you for letting me go with them," I tell her, and she kisses the side of my head.

"Absolutely, baby doll. I love you, Allie, have a great time."

Roman and Sage are trudging to the door by the time my mother and I are done saying goodbye, and we let them in to help carry my belongings to the truck. I end up just having to carry my black purse filled with cosmetics, books, and my phone and charger. I walk behind Roman down the front walk to his truck.

"I rike dat shirt, sugar," I say in that deadpan-cutsie way Kaitlin and I sometimes have a habit of speaking in, poking the fabric of the Asking Alexandria shirt covering his muscular back. He flicks his dark hair as he looks back at me over his shoulder, a beaming smile lighting up his face.

"Do ya, now?" he chuckles, throwing my duffel bag in the bed of his tuck. Sage tosses a second bag of mine to join it.

"Thanks, gents," I say, my voice still sounding tired. We hop up in the truck, Roman in the driver's seat, me in the middle, and Sage on the opposite side. All three of us wave to my mother, who stands on the front lawn, and as her form disappears down the street, I realize with an excited shudder of my heart that my amazing summer has truly begun.