Chapter 1

 “Summer is finally here!” Nathan Mitchell, my best friend, exclaimed as he got in the driver’s seat of the car. “Up top!”

I laughed and my hand against his. “One-hundred and four days of freedom!” Stella Simmons, my other best friend said and pumped her fist in the air while the other rested on the back of the seat.

“You got that right.” I smiled, shaking my head in amusement. “Where are we going?”

I didn’t know why I even asked. It was pretty obvious where we were going. It was the last day of junior year and we all decided to celebrate. Summer calls for celebration, right?

“The local diner of course!” Without any second thoughts, Stella drove to our favorite diner, The Big Apple. Living in New York, it isn’t very original. There’s like two or three more different places with the same name.

Stella parked her car in front of the diner. We unbuckled our seat belts and got out of the car. We entered the eatery and sat in our usual booth.

“Riley, Stella, Nate, your back!” Lydia, the owner of the diner greeted us warmly. She and Natalie, her daughter, were old friends of ours.

“We practically never left.” Stella smiled and gave her a hug. We first came here when we were seventh graders. The three of us were walking home when it suddenly rained. The diner was the nearest place to take shelter so we ran there. We made the best of that day, ordered ice cream (even though it was freezing outside), and made new friends too.

“Hey guys!” Natalie greeted us from behind the counter. “What flavor will it be today, Riley?”

“Milk and Cookies.” I said after careful thinking.

“You had that yesterday.” Natalie frowned. “Are you sure about that?”

You see, I have a goal of tasting all of the Ben and Jerry’s ice cream flavors. Ever since my mom introduced my first pint of Ben and Jerry’s, I’ve been trying to find all the flavors of the company. It’s silly I know but it’s really fun. Nathan, Stella and I have a ball finding all the different flavors in scoop shops and grocery stores. Out of a hundred and six flavors, the three of us managed to find and taste a hundred flavors. It was pretty hard getting to that number but it was worth all the road trips and grocery shopping. The last six flavors are surprisingly hard to find though.

“Yeah, I’m sure. I just feel like eating milk and cookies today.” I assured her with a smile.

“Well that’s the first time you’ve eaten a flavor twice.” Stella claimed, chuckling. We shared stories about our last day while we waited for our ice cream to arrive. The bell above the door ringed, signalling a new customer.

“Popular people are in the building.” Nathan said in a low voice. I turned around to take a look. Nathan was right. I saw Nick, my best – I mean my ex-best friend – walking towards a booth with his friends. They were laughing, smiling and having fun. I rolled my eyes and turned back to my friends.

“Nathan, don’t remind her!” Stella scolded, swatting Nathan’s shoulder.

“She’s over it. It’s been almost four years now. You are over it, right Riley?” Nathan asked me, his eyebrows knitting in concern.

“Yeah, I’m over it.” I plastered on a fake smile. The thing is, I wanted to say no but I didn’t. Nick and I were the best of friends when we were in middle school. I’d rather not go into detail what he did.

 Natalie brought our ice cream over and said, “Enjoy guys.”

Nathan got his spoon from the tabletop and looked at us. “What are you guys going to do this summer? I have an internship at a photography studio.”

 Nathan loved photography. He loves taking photos of anything and everything. That’s why Stella and I have a lot of photos together and I mean a lot.

“Really? That’s great, Nathan!” Stella exclaimed from beside me.

“Just make sure that you don’t take photos of dogs eating or taking a bath. We all know what happened the last time you did that.” I smirked while Stella laughed. When he took a photo of his dog eating, it ended with a broken camera and an angry Nathan.

“I remember that! What did your parents say when they found out?” She asked with an amused expression on her face.

“I told you guys to never bring that up again.” He pouted and crossed his arms. Stella and I looked at each other and bursted into fits of laughter again.

“We’re sorry, Nate. It’s just really funny.” I said when I stopped laughing.

Nathan rolled his eyes but nevertheless, smiled and inquired, “What are you guys going to do this summer?”

“I have an internship at a bakery for this summer.” Stella told us. She’s a whiz at making cupcakes, cookies and everything sweet. Stella could turn stale bread into something amazingly delectable if she wanted to.

After the congratulations, my best friend turned to me and asked, “What about you, Riley?”

 “Oh, you know. I’m just going to count grass and watch paint dry. Maybe I’ll even have a staring contest with the wall.” I said, sarcastically. I took a spoonful of ice cream and put it in my mouth Mmm… the creamy goodness.

“If you have nothing to do, get an internship somewhere and trade in your shirt plus jeans combo with a cute shirt and maybe a dress.” Stella held the fabric of my black shirt. I slapped her hand away, annoyed.

“Yeah.” Nathan agreed. “You’re outer appearance doesn’t do you justice to what’s inside.”

“Wow. That may have been the sweetest thing you’ve ever said to me, Nate.” I said, putting my hand over my chest as he rolled his eyes. I looked to my side and saw Stella frowning at me.

“Ok, fine.” I sighed defeated. “Maybe I’ll find a job. But if all have jobs, try and not let it interfere with our summer plans.”

“Of course.” Stella replied, beaming. “Now eat up. I want to get home.”

We ate what’s left of our ice cream and paid the bill. We got up and got our things. I followed Nathan and Stella to the door as my eyes glanced at Nick and his friends. I was shocked when I saw Nick looking my way. When he saw I caught him staring, he looked away quickly and conversed with his group. I didn’t even know if I just imagined that or not. I shook my head and got in the front seat with Nathan in the driver’s.

“You took longer than usual to say goodbye to Nat and Lydia. Maybe you said hello to Nick?” What Stella said while I was buckling my seatbelt sounded more like a question.

“No, I didn’t and if I did, I doubt he would remember me.” I stated, not meaning to sound bitter.

*****

“Hey, look. Isn’t that your aunt’s car?” Nathan asked me when we arrived. I looked at where he was pointing. I saw my Aunt Mikayla’s cherry red convertible parked in our driveway.

“It is.” I said, intrigued. “I wonder why she’s here.”

“Thanks for the ride Nathan. We’ll talk to you later!” Stella said, waving goodbye.

“Bye guys!” He said. We ran to my doorway as Nathan drove away. I unlocked the door and got inside as quietly as possible. “Be as quiet as a mouse, ok?”

Stella looked at me as if I’d grown two heads but after a moment she nodded.

I don’t want to talk to my aunt, especially if her visits are unplanned. She normally comes by only when my mom decides to cook pot-roast, which is once in a blue moon by the way, or when something’s going on. Something bad.

The last time Aunt Mikayla dropped by, I had to wear a Victorian themed bridesmaid gown for a wedding of a good friend of hers because nobody else was available to look like a Marie Antoinette but me. Tall grey wig and all.

I didn’t smell meat and vegetables cooking. So I’m betting it’s the other reason.

Stella and I made it safely to my bedroom without making the steps creak. I softly closed the door behind me while Stella threw herself on my bed. I sat down on my desk chair and swiveled to face my laptop. I pressed the power button and waited for it to open.

“I can’t believe you still have this picture.” I turned in my chair to find Stella standing near my dresser. There was a bulletin board above that held all my photos. Since Nathan likes to take photos, there were a lot of pictures in my room. She was holding the edge of the one of Stella and me eating cotton candy when we went to a carnival together. It was taken just a few months after we first met.

I loved photos. I love how they’re worth a thousand words. Looking at the old Polaroid’s I have always made me nostalgic. I feel as if they transport me back to that one moment in time and I could relive it all ever again. The moment was vivid in my mind.

I walked over and admired the picture with her. “It’s one of my favorites. This one too.”

I pointed to the photo where the three of us were running on the beach. I think my mom took that and Nathan just developed it to give it to us.

“You still have a photo of you and Nick.” Stella said in a low voice. She said it so quietly that I almost didn’t catch it. I think she didn’t mean for me to hear it.

I followed her gaze on the photo. It was my favorite photo of us, taken when we were nine, I think. It was the first wedding we went to.  I was dressed in a pastel colored dress while he had on his coat and tie. It brought back so many memories. We were so happy back then. We were so close.

Rap music started playing loudly, making Stella and me almost jump out of our socks. It wasn’t coming from my house so it must be coming from my neighbor’s.

I marched to my window with Stella hot on my heels. The culprit came to view as I drew my curtains back. Nick was sitting on his bed talking to someone on the phone.

Have I mentioned that we live next door to each other?

I crossed my arms around my chest and frowned. I hate rap music. Stella cleared her throat and shouted over the music, “Hey! Can you turn down the volume?”

Nick was walking around his room with the phone now. He turned around, his eyes shifting from Stella to me. He walked over to his stereo and lowered the volume. Stella smiled in appreciation and said, “Thanks!”

She then left me standing there, still staring at Nate. He glanced at his phone’s screen. I could still hear the soft sound of someone talking on the other line. He looked up and stared straight at me. What he did next took me by surprise; he waved at me and smiled.

I glared at him even though I was surprised. I quickly pulled the curtains closed and backed away from the window. My mind was preoccupied with thinking of reasons why he smiled when I forgot that I had backed into the wooden chest at the end of my bed. I knocked over most of my pocket books, making a huge racket as the fell on the wooden floor with a load thud.

“Riley?” I heard my mom shout. “Is that you? Come down. Mikayla and I want to talk to you.”

I internally cursed my clumsiness.

Maybe she’d think it was just the wind of something.

I almost thought that I was in the clear until Stella chose that moment to step on the wrong floorboard, the one that emitted a load creak.

“I know you’re there Riley!”

I glared at my best friend who gave an apologetic look. “You’re coming with me.” I said through gritted teeth. We both bounded down the steps and went to the kitchen, me taking as long as possible to put my right front in front of me then my left and so on.

 “Riley! Great, you’re here.” My aunt greeted me with a hug. “Stella, long time no see.”

Stella smiled and said, “Hi Mikayla.”

She was like family so my aunt insisted on calling her by her first name.

“So why is it great that I’m here?” I asked as I got an apple from the fruit basket.

“Your aunt has good news for you.” My mom said with a smile. “You’ll love it.”

Oh, no. My mom doesn’t know what I love.

“I’m offering you an internship at Fairytale Weddings!” She exclaimed and clapped her hand giddily.

I was expecting another crazy costume wedding thing so I was definitely surprised. “No! No way in this universe.”

“What? Why? It’s your dream job!” Mickey said, slightly taken aback.

“Yeah,” I snorted, sarcasm evident in my tone. “Four years ago.”

“It’ll be fun.” My mom urged. “It’s a chance to get out of the house for most of summer.”

“Mom.” I said, like the word was a scold itself. My mom knows why I don’t want to do this. She knows about the Nick thing. So why is she encouraging me to go back to that place? “I’m not going. If it would mean working near weddings, I won’t go. I’d rather eat dirt.”

I know I’m kind of overreacting but I don’t want anything to do with weddings. It was our thing, mine and Nick’s. Working at my aunt’s wedding planning company, would be walking right into a room full of undesirable memories.

I just can’t handle being reminded of times with Nick. Times of me being some lovesick puppy, pining for a guy who doesn’t even know I exist. Who ditched his nerdy best friend for cooler people.

I was pathetic.

And I certainly do not want to recall being that.

If I hadn’t met him… if I hadn’t gotten my heart broken, I probably would’ve jumped at the internship and would now be thanking my lucky stars that my aunt was a wedding planner. But the universe had other plans.

 “Riley you have to take it!” Stella said quietly. She seemed to have thought it out since she was quiet the whole conversation. “It’ll be great experience.”

I glared at her. I thought she was supposed to be on my side.

 “I am not going back to that pink, glittery, cliché named place of yours! I shouted in irritation. “Ever!”

I thought I was done with that abhorrent place. I thought I was done with fairytales, after all I’m not a stupid kid anymore. I also thought my mom and aunt were finally taking my side after hours of arguing.

But I thought wrong.

 Hey! I hope you enjoyed this :) 

Thanks to the old readers who stuck by. Thanks to the new readers, too! All of you deserve cupcake. So yeah, VIRTUAL CUPCAKES FOR EVERYONE! :D

I have a new project coming up and the teaser/prologue thing will be posted right after this. It's a Christmas story for those eager holiday lovers like me who wants December to come faster. The story's called "Learning to Love Christmas". I hope you guys check it out! 

Dianna Agron (Riley) on the side >>> 

Comment for a dedication. Vote for more Niley (or maybe you guys can think of a better ship name?) and Fan so you'll know when I update. Questions, suggestions, and corrections are appreciated. 

Ta-ta for now! 

- K. Cassidy xox