This summer...
My mom was finally coming down to Cousins and I couldn't wait to see her. Susannah and Laurel decided to pick her up which means I don't get to see her until we get to Susannah's house for the fourth of July party. Dad was at the store picking up some meat to bring over there. My parents are divorce but they're the type of divorce where they can actually stand the presence of each other. I'm lucky to have that.
I, on the other hand, have been texting Jake for the last few days. As much of a player he is, he's also very sweet and kind. He told me about how his parents travel a lot so he has to take care of his little brother and sister most of the time. And how he also got accepted in one of his top schools but it's too far from his hometown. He doesn't want to leave his siblings just in case something happens but he also really wants to go to this college.
I've never had someone be this personal with me other than Cam when we were little. Everything about Jake Carter is perfect but somehow my heart is still longing for someone else.
Rory get ready in my room to use the lighting in there. I stand in my closet wondering what to wear. I grab an white dress that had a thin white bow in the center and called it a day. "Ribbons today, Gwen?" Rory asked. I stare at the rolls I have on my desk. For three years I went without them but ever since I've came back, the ribbons did too. I grab the red ribbons and cut the length I wanted.
"It's not an outfit without them."
Rory smiles and stands by me in the mirror. "Since being here Gwen, I've notice how happy you become. Despite the drama between you and Cam. I haven't seen you in your own element in a while." She's right. Since coming here, it's like all the things I've been stressing about at home just slipped away since being here. I'm not worried about cheer try outs, the AP classes I'm taking next year, or facing Cameron because I got Jake Carter.
When we finished getting ready, dad was in the backyard grilling a few racks of ribs. He was in the most Dad outfit I've ever seen. A white t-shirt with a blue and white plaid button up and jean shorts. Thankfully he isn't wearing her sandals but white sneakers Rory and I got for his birthday. "These are just about finished, you girls ready?" Dad asks while placing the ribs in a big tin tray. Rory and I nod while helping him with the other two trays.
"Geez dad, I don't think we'll finish three trays of ribs."
Dad scoffs. "You can never have enough of Matthew's famous ribs. These babies go like hot cakes." Rory and I laugh as we got in the car. I stare out the window as I watch almost every house decorated with red, white, and blue. I didn't care for the actual holiday. I love the fourth because I get to see the people I love and pig out on barbecue food.
When we arrived, there were a couple of cars parked in the driveway. The three of us carry the tray of ribs and already the debs girls were there along with my mom. "Oh finally! I've been craving these all day!" Susannah yells in excitement. She speed walks towards Rory and I and grabs my tray while my mom grabs Rory's. "Wow Gwen. I haven't seen you in ribbons in forever. You look so precious." Mom smiles at me. She was the one that got me into my obsession with them.
"The girls just got here so go mingle."
I didn't really know who to talk to. Belly seemed to be in her own world. It wasn't until I seen Adam, the boys father in the kitchen that Conrad came out. Soon, everyone who was once in the kitchen trailed out. "Gwen, we're heading the beach. Belly made a some drinks." Conrad says not leaving me to catch up to his soon rushed walk. I helped him grab some chairs and towels and we headed to the beach.
"Saw you and Jake getting pretty cozy and Nicole's party." I blushed as I set up a few chairs. "Uh, yea. He's a good guy." I tell him. "So...No more Cam?" I sighed and looked up at the boy who's been helping me with all my boy problems and shrugged.
"A couple days ago, he admitted to something I wanted to hear in a long time. But it was too late. He and Belly seemed to be...good?" Conrad nods.
We fell in silence as we waited for the others to show up. "I noticed your dad's here." I mention as I take a seat. Conrad scoffs and sits as well. "Yea. To be honest, I really don't want him here." Before I could ask why, the girls and Steven come rushing down with a few floaties. "I hear someone is making us some certain drinks." Nicole says as she takes a seat next to Conrad. "Hey Gwen, why don't you invite Jake?" Gigi asks. "Oh! Yes, that way the guys and I can actually play football on an even team." Steven smiles. I laugh and decided to do it. I text Jake asking if he was down to come over and he said yes.
Soon a very smiley Belly came down with a glass in one hand and a pitcher in the other. "May I present The Belly Special?" We all cheered as she passes cups around and poured some for all of us. "Wow, this is really good. Can't even taste the alcohol." I admit as I take a few more sips. While we were all enjoying our drinks, Jeremiah shouts out to us. "Look who I found!" We all turn our heads to see Cam and Jake. "Cam!" I hear Belly say with a tipsy smile. Cam makes his way towards Belly declining a drink from Conrad. Jake on the other hand took a cup from Conrad and poured himself some.
"Hi." Jake smiles at me and leans down for a hug.
"Hi." He takes the seat next to me and tries a sip. "Dang, this is good. Compliments to the chef." Jake jokes while tipping his imaginary hat towards Belly. "It's not a race, Con." Nicole snickers while Conrad is chugging down his drink. "But what if it was? Isn't that the premise of, like, every drinking game?"Belly asks. "You want to play a drinking game?" I questioned. Belly nods, "Why not? I mean, it's the Fourth of July, right?" The rest of the group shrugs it off and agree to play a drinking game.
I never played any drinking game and the one that we were playing was the confusing the hell out of me. "Okay, so you take your coin and you have to flip in the bowel and pick who you want to drink." Jake explains. I nod as I watch the other focus very hard on getting the coin in the bowel. Conrad is up and his eyes are Everyonefocused as well as his tongue that is hanging out the corner of his mouth. He goes for the toss and makes it. "That's how you do! Drink up Gwenie." He points and smirks. I roll my eyes while tossing the rest of my drink back.
It was mine turn to finally go and luckily I made it in first try. I cheered myself and pointed Gigi to drink up. We were all so competitive that once we all went three or four games, we moved on to different ones. The boys went on the play a bean bag toss while the girls and I dances and drank a little bit more. "Gwenie! Have some more!" Belly smiles. I shake my head and laugh with her. My body is too warm which means I'm already tipsy. "Oh no. I can barely see straight right now." I laugh.
"You okay there Russel?" I hear Jake ask. I nod while giving him a thumbs up. I took a second to calm my body down by laying on a towel and drowning them out for a bit. I focused on the waves and salty air. I could also feel his eyes on me. My sunglasses kind of covered where my eye were looking but there he was standing with Jeremiah just watching me with a small smile. My heart started to jump a bit. But then I saw Jake. After every toss he would look over to me. He was really sweet and I felt like I didn't deserve him.
Soon my sunlight was covered by a someone standing over me. "Gwen, we're heading to the deck. Too much sun." Nicole tells me while helping me up. We all pack up our thinks and head over to the deck.
It felt nice to get some shade. I stopped drinking the margaritas and drank the water Jake gave me. "Your cheeks got really rosy from the sun." Jake points out. My immediate reaction was to cover my cheeks and hide but he pulls my hands away.
"Don't hide. I like it."
I gave him a small smile and say thank you. I do like Jake Carter. He's the guy you're supposed to go for. The good guy. The guys called him for something which left me with the Nicole, Shayla, and Belly as we got into our girl talk.
"So, how is it with Jake?" Shayla asks.
"It's uh...Good. He's good."
Nicole and Shayla give each other looks and laugh together. I looked at them confused and to Belly who was also confused. "Just good? Are you sure you like him?" Nicole laughs.
"No" I want to say but instead I laugh nervously.
"Jake is sweet. He cares a lot about me and I never had a guy like him."
"Young summer love. So cute." Shayla jokes.
We talk bit more with each other and Cam decides to grace us with his presence. "You may want to hydrate." Cam hands the water to Belly. "Cam Cameron, you are so sweet. Isn't he sweet!" Belly smiles and pinches his cheek which causes him to laugh. It irritated me. The girls smile and nod. "Do you want to go for a walk on the beach?" Cam asks her but Belly ignores him and sips her drink. I watch his expression turn downwards. I wouldn't ignore him.
"Belly, by the way, I love that dress."
"Really? Thanks. Taylor got it for me actually."
"Taylor had great taste." Shayla compliments again.
Belly than goes on a small rant about how Shayla and Taylor are like twins. Which confused me cause I don't think I saw it. The time Taylor was here she seem annoyed with the environment.
"You're both mega-fashiony, You're both like baddies. And you both like the same summer boys. Which is..." My eyes went a bit wide at the last point but I don't think Shayla understood it.
"We do?"
Cam, over course, is to the rescue by pulling Belly up. "Come on! Let's go for that walk." But Belly decides she doesn't want to go. Her drunken self has taken over and she's about to reveal something she'll regret later.
"Look, Shayla, like, don't worry. Because my brother is an idiot. And it didn't mean anything."
"Belly, I think you should go on the walk." I butt in trying to help Cam. He gives me a sympathetic look but Belly continues.
"What didn't mean anything?"
"Uh, them kissing. He like loves you! Wait does anyone want another drink?" Belly confesses as Cam drags her away. Shayla watches her leave and Nicole and I didn't know what to do. "Shay, Are you okay?" I ask. Shayla nods and excuses herself from the deck. Nicole and I watch her leave.
☀︎︎ ☀︎︎ ☀︎︎ ☀︎
The rest of the party was a bit dead. Everyone seemed not to be in the mood. Rory ended up leaving for another party and the grown up were god else where. "Hey do you need a ride home?" Nicole asks while her, Shayla, and Gigi pack up. I shake my head. I can ask Jake for a ride. Belly and Cam were back from their walk and she was surprised to see everyone leaving. "Wait, Cam, everyone's leaving. Tell them not to go." She says. "Don't go." Cam gives a non convincing tone. "Shayla doesn't feel good. I think we had too much." Nicole replies.
I felt a hand pull me away from this interaction and was faced with Jake. "Hey, I thought I'd lost you for a second." I smiled. Jake shakes his head and his hands moved towards my hips. "I hate to leave but my parents want me back before sun set. They want me to set up for the fireworks."
"Oh, Okay." I smile up at him. "Do you maybe want to come?" I think about saying no but I don't. "I'll have Rory take me. It's at your house?" Jake nods. "I'll see you then." Jake gives me a kiss on the lips and then the forehead and then saying bye to everyone else.
"I'm actually gonna take off, too." I hear Cam tell Belly. "Why?" She questions. Cam takes the margarita from her hands and sets it down at the table. "I just think we can catch up when you're a little less..." Drunk. He wanted to say drunk but Cams not mean so we skipped over it. "Umm, just drink water. Drink a lot of water."
Cam leave from the back and I decided to follow him out. "Wait! You too Gwenie?" I shrug and gave her a small smile. "Jake invited me to his house for fireworks." Belly gave me a small frown. "Okay. I'll see you later." I gave her a nod and headed out.
I caught him right as he was opening his door. "Cam!" I called out. "Need a ride?" He smiles. I nod and he motions for me to get in. We buckle up in silence and his AC hits my warm sunburnt cheeks. "Do you and your mom have any other plans?" I ask trying to break the tension going on between us. Cam shakes his head. "Mom is at the club working tonight. Just me at the house." He shrugs. He sat in more silence as I contemplated on whether or not to invite him. I knew his mom worked crazy hours over the summer in kitchen and because it's the fourth, there were probably a lot of people at the club.
"Jake is having a firework show at his house. You should come."
Cam doesn't say anything for second but just shrugs another time. There's a look on his face that tells me he doesn't want to go. I hate how things went between us. This boy was my best friend and now we're like strangers. "I think I might end it between me and Belly." He brings up. I turn my head towards him to see him still just facing the road. "What? I thought everything was going good with you guys." I ask. Can shrugs once again and sighs. "I just think her mind is elsewhere and it's not me she really wants." I gave him a questionable look waiting for him to elaborate.
"I think she likes Conrad more than a friend."
We ended up pulling over a couple streets away from my house. I can tell Cameron need to get something's off his chest and this was the moment I could be the friend he needed.
"It's just I catch them doing these little glances at each other thinking they're secretive but they're not. It's like she using me because she can't have Conrad." Cam tone was very angry. He was talking so fast and I knew he bottled this all up. "I'm not to say I'm a saint either. But if I knew Belly liked someone else, I would've never went through with this fling thing."
"We were never official anyways. She kept avoiding asking me to be her escort," I gave his arm a friendly rub and squeeze as he continues to rant. "I gave up spending time with you." Cam's eyes finally met with mine. My eyes went big and my hand stopped rubbing his arm. "The day we went to the store, I meant what I said about liking you. I still do. When I found out you were coming back, I practice a whole speech apologizing on not calling you," He just kept going and I didn't know what to say. It's like I've waiting for this confession for three years and now that he's doing it, I'm stuck or frozen.
"The night at the bonfire was supposed to be my chance but you were so quick to avoid me that I just ditch it. Gwen, Since you've been back, I spend everyday excited that I might get the chance to just talk to you even if it's for a quick moment. That you might just look at me when I walk past. Everything about you is so special to me." Cameron's eyes were big and bright and smile now creeped onto his face as he confessed to me. My face on the other hand probably looked mortified or shocked.
""Then why did you stop talking to me after I told you I loved you?"
"Because I was stupid boy. And I still am one but now this stupid boy is telling you that I do love you." Those words were all I've ever wanted to hear. My heart was beating so fast by my eyes brought tears. "Why are you crying?" Cam question while holding my face in his hands. His thumb wipes the tear that slips out and I gently remove his hand. "I've wanted to hear that for years," He lets out a small laugh. "But, I can't do that Jake. I can't just leave someone because you finally told me how you felt." I cried. Cam expression changed from a smile to a frown.
"I waited years for you and now that you find it convenient to tell me how you feel it isn't fair to me."
Cam just nods and wipes his own small tear away. Something I never wanted to see was for him to cry. Ever. I wanted hug him and kiss him but I can't. Jake is the one that's good for me. He's the right choice. Cameron is from my past and we should just stay friends. "I think friends is who we need to be. For now." I tell him as I grabbed his hand. Cam nods and he begins to drive again. My head is running wild with everything this boy said to me. I just wished he said it a few years earlier.
Athena's Corner🧸🪴
Hello guys!!! Finally uploaded a new chapter. It's been too long so I gave y'all a lengthy update. I promise Gwen and Cam Cameron will get a happy ending soon. But I hope you enjoyed this chapter and give it a comment and vote!! 🫶🏼