“Will you tell me again what I’m doing up at this time?” I ask blearily, rubbing my eyes.
“It’s ten a.m. Autumn, hardly the crack of dawn.” Charlie replies, the keys jangling as he unlocks the garage door.
“Yeah, I know. That’s because we were only just going to bed at the crack of dawn,” I reply, just as Charlie finally manages to unjam the door and cranks it open.
“Do I have to remind you that it was you who agreed to this?” I follow Charlie into the dark gloom of our garage, picking my way gingerly around things I’d forgotten we owned: discarded wellies, my dad’s fishing equipment, a pair of boxing gloves from Charlie’s sports phase, and – inexplicably – a horse’s saddle.
“You already have,” I retort, as we finally find what we need, wedged in right at the back of the garage. “Several times,”
“Well,” Charlie grunts, his voice straining as he heaves a misshapen punch bag out of the way. “If you hadn’t agreed to go on this bike ride…” He finally gets to his bike, which is covered in scratchy brown rust. “We wouldn’t have to do this,”
I let out an exaggerated groan.
“Who even goes on bike rides anymore?” I huff, helping him to pull it out.
“You ride your bike to work,” He shrugs, giving one final tug, sending it springing back into his leg and letting out a shocked yelp.
“Yeah, but not for fun…” I mutter, slipping past him and examining my mum’s bike.
When Charlie told me about the plans I had mistakenly made last night, I’d thought I might be able to get out of them - seeing as I had left my bike chained to the rack outside of Two Scoops when Lucas’s mum had offered to give me a lift back. But of course, my mum chose that moment to remember her old bike, which she was more than happy for me to borrow. “Whose idea was this again?”
“If I remember correctly, it was yours.”
“Fine. Let’s just get this over with,”
*
Charlie said we’d wait for Lucas and ride with him, so we end up waiting another fifteen minutes, which gives me ample opportunity to complain some more. But, despite all my grumbling, I actually begin to enjoy it once I’m out there. It’s easy to enjoy being outdoors on a day like today, when the sun is making everything look like it’s been dipped in honey and the whole place pratically tastes of summer.
We’re meeting the rest of them at the top of Pestfurlong Hill, a sloping grassy descent perfect for sledging in the winter and picnics in the summer. Me, Charlie and Lucas arrive at the same time as Piper does, approaching from the opposite direction and pedalling hard, out of breath.
“Did you come up the hill?” I ask her, taking in her red-faced appearance.
“It…was…a…shortcut,” She manages to get out in between her laboured breaths.
“It seems like it,” Matty chimes in, leaning his elbows on the handlebars of his bike, flicking his hair lazily out of his eyes. Halle lounges nearby on her own lime green bike, her hair newly dip-dyed an autumnal orange and tied into a sporty ponytail. She grins when she sees me, and I wonder if she’s thinking back to our confusing conversation at the semi-finals. I know that I do, almost every time I look Lucas in the eye.
It’s starting to get a little embarrassing.
“What time is Jake turning up?” My brother asks, looking at his watch.
“We’re here!” I turn around (a difficult feat when you’re perched precariously atop a bike older then you are) and am greeted with the sight of Jake, waving as he pedals towards us. Following behind is Xander, his coppery hair glinting in the sunlight.
YOU ARE READING
The Almost Summer
Humor[ completed - 17/3/14 ] [ undergoing slight editing ] [ Wattyawards2014 ] [ featured on the Wattpad Official account's Summer Beach Reads list ] Autumn always knew she was named after the wrong season. She lives for the summer months, desperate f...
