Summer in London

Chapter 2: Summer Kickoff

I rounded the final corner of the road and drove into the parking lot that led to the public beach entrance. Taking one final look at my hair, I got out of the car and started walking to the beach. I didn't see Sophie or Christie yet, but I did see Nick.

"NICKKK!" I yelled from across the beach to him. He looked around, saw me, waved, then motioned for me to join he and his friends. I jogged over and the guys greeted me. "Have you guys seen Sophie or Christie yet? I was supposed to meet them here."

"No, we haven't," Nick spoke for all the guys. "Looks like you could've taken me up on that offer to give you a ride after all." His blonde curls looked silky, despite the humidity and the muscles in his arm rippled as he punched my shoulder playfully, smiling.

"Yeah, yeah, yeah," I said. "Even though you've been working out, I bet I could still take you." I punched him back. Nick was still smiling. "Well, I'm gonna go look for the girls. Catch you later!"

"I'll get the music rolling! See you later Mel!" Nick called after me. I turned and gave him a friendly wave. I looked around for my beat friends, but they apparently hadn't arrived yet, so I made my way toward the food. There was so much, I didn't even know where to start. Hot dogs, hamburgers, subs, and pizza were some of the many choices. I grabbed a hot dog and added some delicious sides to my plate. I was squirting ketchup onto my hot dog just as Sophie came out of nowhere and grabbed a plate for herself. Christie was not far behind her.

"Hey, I've been looking for you guys!" I said, still preoccupied with adding more and more food to my plate.

"Yeah, Nick told us, but it looks like you've been looking for the food!" Christie laughed her loud laugh. I made a face at her. Sophie joined in on the laughter this time. The three of us carried our plates of food down the beach to the water where we set up a little picnic for ourselves. As a few other people came to join us, we all started to reminisce over the memories of high school.

"Yes, I remember that!" I burst into laughter along with Ashley Reynolds, another one of the people I'd known since kindergarten. Everyone was telling their favorite stories. Christie recalled her first kiss and Sophie remembered when she first made the state swimming team back in ninth grade. I was recalling many memories as well, and we were all having a great time.

"We should get in the water, it's too hot out here!" I suggested. Everyone agreed, so we quickly stripped down to our bathing suits and ran for the water. Some guys had brought boogie boards and were riding the waves. Girls were laying out on floats, soaking up the first sun of summer. Christie and I were splashing eachother while Sophie took off for a swim into the deeper section.

Dusk was nearing, as it was getting darker and darker outside. I went up to where my towel was and checked my iPhone; it was 9:46 p.m. I also saw I had two missed calls from Sophie from earlier. I laughed. She always worried about me. She must have been calling to see where I was.

As everyone else got out of the water, I looked around to see that many more people had arrived to the party. Nick was at the D.J. stand, playing non-stop party hits. I glanced around to see a lot of people dancing in the sunset to Icona Pop's "I Love It." Meanwhile, the fire roared with all our backpacks and books we were burning in its hot flames. It was the most perfect way to spend our first day of summer.

While I was standing there, looking out over everyone like a complete creep, Nick appeared and dragged me over to where everyone was dancing, including my best friends. I laughed and ran with him, taking both his hands and jumping around like a mad woman. He danced the same way and twirled me around a few times.

A slow song came on, and everyone looked around to find a partner. Christie had a little crush on Nick, so I pulled him over to where she and Sophie were standing. She saw us coming and smiled.

"Hey Mel. Hey Nick!" she said excitedly. Nick towered over Christie, who was a tall five foot nine. I had never really noticed how cute they would be until I saw them together.

"Wanna dance?" he asked her, smiling.

"Of course!" she said beaming, tossing her blonde curls over her shoulder. They started dancing and talking, so I joined Sophie who was talking to Katy Silverson.

"May I have this dance?" I asked Soph, holding out my hand. Katy laughed at our usual silliness and took off to find a dance partner.

"I thought you'd never ask!" Sophie yelled dramatically, grabbing my hand, and we started dancing together.

"I think we're ruining the romantic atmosphere," I said. She burst out laughing. Finally, the song ended and another party song came on. Everyone started dancing in a big group again. I was mostly mingling with everyone, realizing I would miss them all so much. Our senior year of high school had come to a close and reality was finally hitting me.

At around 11:30, the party started to wind down, since we could only be on the beach for another half hour. Half the people had left, including Sophie since she had to be home at 11:00, but Christie and Nick were still here starting to clean up the beach. Pop bottles, paper plates, and a random assortment of trash covered the north end of the beach, so Christie and I went around with the trashcan. Nick was over on the east end beginning to put out the fire. Other people helped pick up trash too, and some people were still dancing.

Midnight neared, and most everyone had cleared out.

Christie and I said good-bye to Nick and walked to our cars. "This was such a great night!" she said, jingling her pink keys. Her bright sandals clicked against the pavement softly as she walked.

"I know! It was amazing," I agreed. I approached my silver sedan. "Night Chris!"

"Goodnight, doll!" She hugged me, smiling and ventured through the darkess to her car. I honked to her as I pulled out of the lot. On the way home, I thought about what a great night I had had and what a great summer with my friends was to come! I turned on the radio for the ride home.

"Mom, I'm home!" I yelled as I walked in, knowing she would still be up. Instead of finding my mom in her usual spot in the living room, I walked into the kitchen to find both my mom and my dad sitting down at the table, talking.

"Hey honey, we have some news for you!" My mom said, looking excited as she saw me come in. "Come sit!" I walked over and sat down. I looked down and saw my feet were dragging sand through the house. "You'll never believe the summer we've planned for you!"

I looked at them both, my eyes shifting between them with a million questions filling my mind. My stomach instantly dropped as they explained.