Senseless Summer Love Story

Rumour Has It

Day one of summer vacation: officially happening.

I wasn't one for sleeping in and the first day of summer was no exception. The sun was leaking through my lace curtains as I shoved the duvet off of my sweaty body. The morning air was crisp as I made my way into my bathroom and stripped. I stepped into the shower, not bothering to let it warm up. I didn't really care, so long it woke me up enough.

Rumour had it Mr. Black's nephew was coming to stay with him for the summer. If that was true, I'd be forced to meet the kid. What's more, I'd be forced to sit through an entire meal with my mother and Mrs. Black talking about the stitching of another neighbours new tablecloth and my father telling Mr. Black about how he thinks what the government is doing with our taxes isn't quite proper all while trying to pretend that I wasn't in pain from the constant kicks to the shins the twins would give me whenever I looked too comfortable. Unless the nephew was interesting.

I blew my hair dry, not bothering with much else besides deodorant. It was summer. I didn't need to bother with much else- not that I ever did in the first place. I had good skin with a few freckles and my hair just felt softer when I had it blow dried.

I dressed absentmindedly in a white, dry-fit T-shirt and navy blue, athletic miniskirt that my mother had left folded on my dresser. I threw my hair into a quick ponytail with a polka-dotted scrunchie and headed downstairs. I'd be off to the court with Claud as soon as she rang, so wearing one of my tennis outfits wasn't impractical at all- plus, it was comfortable.

"Can I come play tennis with you and Claudia? Please?" Marley begged almost the same second I stepped foot in the kitchen.

"You won't have a partner." I said as an excuse to not have my thirteen year old sister tag along.

I sat down at the island and watched as my mother finished making breakfast. She didn't work, so she always had to time to do everything. She did everything she possibly could, too. Her makeup, laundry everyday, cleaned the entire house and managed to ensure we were all being kept busy. She also managed to make sure I was rarely left without a sibling.

"Nonsense! She can bring Romeo." My mother smiled as she put two pieces of French toast onto the plate in front of me.

"I don't want them to come." I deadpanned. "It's the first day of summer and I'm off to university next year. I'd like to spend as much time with the friends I won't be seeing everyday next year."

"Rude, much?" Marley sassed glaring at me as she shovelled a syrupy mess of food into her mouth.

"Well, sorry, but I see you everyday, Mar." I sighed.

"We'll just do something without her." Romeo said as he plopped down next to her. "The pool is officially open all hours now. Let's go swimming."

"Fine." Marley huffed.

"Well, you kids need to be home before three thirty today. The Black's nephew is arriving in town at noon and we're having dinner with them." Mom told us. "Marley, don't fuss, you and Grace are friends. Why don't you invite her to go swimming?"

Grace Black was the only child of Mr. and Mrs. Black. She was also a total brat and always got my sister into some sort of trouble. I didn't like her, but mom was good friends with Mrs. Black, which meant Marley was good friends with Grace and that I was required to be as nice as possible to the little shit.

"Good idea, actually." Marley smiled and put her plate in the sink, which was followed loudly by the clinking of Romeo's.

"Yeah. Grace is flippin' funny." Romeo chimed in. "We're going to get changed and walk down. Sound okay, Mom?"

"Yes, darlings." She smiled at them.

A loud honk came from outside. Claud was here. I gave my mother a quick kiss before slipping on a pair of white trainers and grabbing my racket from the hook I kept it on. I hurried outside and hopped into Britt's black convertible.

My mother hated Claud's car. She said it was too fast and dangerous. It would somehow make us feel like we're invincible and could rice recklessly. It did just that, but she'd never find out from either of us.

"Morning!" Claud smiled widely. "I grabbed you a coffee on my way over. Happy summer of freedom!"

"Thanks. You, too!" I laughed as she turned the last block before we could drive fast without either of our mothers finding our. "Are we meeting anyone there?"

"Yeah. I told Tom and Eli to meet us there." She smiled. "Your mother is friends with Mrs. Black, right?"

"Ok. And yeah. Why?" I looked at her sceptically.

She had to have a reason for wanting to know. It was Claudia Marris. She never did anything without a valid reason. I didn't mind though. It made my life more interesting and gave me something to complain about. She was Britt. There was nothing I could do or say to ever make her change.

"Rumour has it their nephew is coming up for the summer to check out the university. He got offered a late scholarship." She said. "And if it's true, that means the Black's are having your family over for dinner, right?"

"It's true." I said, pulling the scrunchie out of my hair so it could flow properly in the wind.

We weren't really talking. More yelling over the wind and loud music. I had to strain to hear what she was saying and mostly trie to decipher half of it.

"Invite me." She deadpanned.

"Claud..." I looked at her annoyed as we pulled into the parking lot. "You know how these things are."

"C'mon!" She begged. "I just wanna know if he's hot!"

"I'll tell you." I promised. "I can't ask. I'm already on thin ice from this morning with Marley. You know how they are."

"Promise me you'll take a picture of him, then!" She begged. "Please, Abby!"

"Fine. Only if I can make it seem like it's not obvious." I rolled my eyes. "Why do you have to be so nosey, anyways?"

"I'm the town gossip." She looked at me as if I were stupid. "It's my job."

I rolled my eyes at her and we laughed about what she'd said until we spotted Tom and Eli. They were rallying against each other so we let them finish before joining. Tennis wasn't usually a game of doubles, but it had been our thing since we were eight years old and the tennis instructor forced us all into the same court as there wasn't enough space. We'd made it work and ever since we'd done the same everyday every summer.

"The Black's having some creep come stay with them. Have you heard?" Eli said as he whipped the ball into the far corner of Tom's side of the court, ending the match.

"Is it true?" Tom looked from Claud to me.

"Ask Abby." Claudia smirked. "She's going to dinner with him."

"What?!" Both of my friends looked at me concerned.

I blushed.

"It's not like that." I glared at Claudia. "The Black's invited our family for dinner to meet him. That's all the information I have on the topic anyways. Sorry."

"Relax, Abster." Tom chuckled. "We know you're not like that."

"Yeah, far from it." Claudia snorted.

This was what she did. She chipped away until you snapped, but she made it look subliminal. It was annoying and often times hard to notice until I was in the middle of snapping and making myself look bad.

I shrugged it off and picked up my racket again.

"Play me, Eli." I nearly demanded and he didn't so much as argue with me.