Summer 2012. Exciting. Fun. Crazy. Unforgettable. Totally unexpected.
Summer 2012. The summer that changed everything.
Summer 2012. The summer in which this story began...
The school bell rang. Shouts erupted from all the classrooms and students rushed out, into the hallways. With huge smiles etched across their faces, they jumped, ran and half-skid to their lockers. All in a maddening rush to get out of school, and not return for three blissful months. Huge crowds of students barged out of the building, high-fiving each other, whooping and punching the air.
After months of slogging, it was finally summer time. The one time they all made crazy memories together, one day after another. The best time of the year had finally arrived.
Niki ran up to Josh, who was surrounded by his usual gang of jock friends. She tapped him nervously on his shoulder, trying to get his attention. A few girls standing next to Josh rolled their eyes at her. She looked away, trying her best to ignore them.
She still didn't understand what Josh saw in her. She was extremely quiet in general and nerdy. Even after the one year that she had spent in this school, she barely had any friends, except Josh.
Niki still remembered the day she had first spoken to him. She had shifted from England and hadn't known anyone. She had been sitting under a few trees in the school grounds, all alone when he had suddenly come up to her. He had sat next to her, laughing and talking to her as if he had known her all his life.
The next thing she knew she was falling for him.
September 30th would be their one-year anniversary.
Josh turned behind finally and saw Niki staring at him with those mesmerising huge eyes of hers. He quickly muttered a "I'll be back" to his friends and took Niki to one side.
"Hi! I was actually wondering if we were still driving down to the beach tomorrow?" She asked him, chuckling nervously.
"Yeah. Trust me, it is going to be the best weekend ever. You are going to have the time of you life, I promise." Josh winked a her.
She blushed and looked away. Josh put his hands on her cheeks and forced her to look at him.
"I'll pick you up at three okay? Be ready." He gave her a quick kiss on her cheeks.
"See you then. Bye." Niki, a shade of bright red, nodded and turned to walk back home.
Josh stared at her retreating figure, thinking about her cute laugh, the weird face that she made when she was mad at him, her innocence, her breathtaking smile and about how different she was from every other girl. About just how special she was to him.
And that is exactly what he saw in her.
------x------
"You make me feel like I'm living a teenage dream. The way you turn me on, I can't sleep. Don't ever look back. Don't ever look back!" Josh yelled in a high-pitched girly voice as Katy Perry played in the car, The music was on full blast and the windows were rolled down. The pleasant summer breeze was blowing Niki's hair everywhere.
She started laughing at his fail imitation and started singing along too.
And just like that, with both of them singing at the top of their lungs to the latest songs, the two hour drive with the countryside passing by them, became one of the best drives of Niki's life.
She could already feel it. It was the beginning of a great summer.
As soon as they reached the beach, they saw that a huge party was in full-swing. Girls and boys were dancing and celebrating summer as a DJ lashed out dance tracks. Josh's excitement grew when he saw this and Niki watched in amusement as his eyes lit up with a spark of madness.
This definitely was not good. That very spark of madness meant trouble.
"A beach party? Hell to the yes. Let's go join!" Josh yelled out.
Yes. Niki was expecting this. She knew it.
She began to say something when Josh cut her off.
"We HAVE to go join that party!" Josh corrected himself and half-dragged Niki out of the car.
Niki had never been to a full-blown out party like this. Heck, she didn't even now how to dance properly. But Josh was insisting. They went to the middle of the dance floor and with the music pounding in her ears, Niki let herself go.
For the rest of the evening, Josh and Niki jumped, shouted, cheered, danced and went crazy. With a bunch of other people they ran across the beach, mixed drinks and lived up the first day of summer.
That's when Niki pulled Josh aside. She was exhausted from all that dancing. She needed a break.
"Let's go for a walk!" She asked Josh, pouting at him.
The sun had already set, only splashes of red, yellow and maroon lay sprewed across the sky. The waves were gently crashing into the shore and everything was just perfect.
"Yeah sure!" Josh put his arms around Niki and they walked away from the people and the music. Holding her heels in one hand, Niki walked alongside Josh.
They walked along the shore, close to the water, watching the last rays of the sun dissipate. It was like only two of them existed. Niki felt something flutter in her heart. She turned towards Josh and stared at his absolutely perfect face.
"Turn around. Don't look." Josh suddenly said to her. He ran in the opposite direction and forced Niki to look away.
Niki looked ahead, at the horizon. She had no idea as to what he was doing. She bit her lips in anticipation.
Suddenly, she felt something cover her eyes. The person led her from behind towards something. And that's when her eyes were uncovered and Niki found herself staring at something written on the sand.
I PROMISE I WILL MAKE THIS SUMMER THE BEST ONE EVER. I PROMISE I WILL KEEP YOU HAPPY. I PROMISE I WILL LOVE YOU FOREVER. -JOSH :D
Niki stared at the words, refusing to believe her eyes. Slowly a smile spread across her face. Deep down, she knew Josh would succeed. He would make her happy. Because after all, she loved him too.
Summer 2012. The summer with the craziest memories.
Summer 2012. Heaven on Earth.
Summer 2012. The best summer ever.
