Last Summer

I laid down on Everett's mattress, letting the cold breeze from the overhead vents wash over me and my sun-kissed skin. Even at night, after the sun had long set, the Australian summer air remained thick with heat and humidity. The cold air was like a breath of relief, soaking through my bones.

A day on the beach had left my skin buzzing with heat and sun sleepiness, and lying here with Everett's body beneath me, his chest pressed against my back, only made my eyes heavier.

Except, I didn't want to sleep. I wanted to stay awake. I wanted to savour every minute we had together, every second. I couldn't let the time slip past us.

Everett shifted from beneath me, one hand resting loosely on my waist, the other tugging a curl that sat on my forehead—an escapee from the bun I'd piled my frizzy curls into. I tilted my head up, meeting his eyes.

"Everett," I muttered. He hummed, looking down at me. "What were you like in high school?"

"In high school?" he echoed. "Why do you want to know?"

I shrugged, struggling to turn to properly face him. His hands slid over my back, holding me at my waist as I straddled him.

"I just figured that we never went to school together. We never will. I want to know what high school Everett was like." I poked him in his side, grinning. "Were you popular?"

"Oh, yeah. People turned wherever I went. Parted ways like the red sea. I was the Justin Bieber of my school, you know?"

I snorted, poking him even harder in the side. "Stop teasing me."

He chuckled, his hands sliding over my hips to rest on my legs. "I don't know. I had friends. It was high school. I don't know what to tell you."

"Tell me, like—where did you sit to eat lunch? What did you wear to school?" I paused, my lips twitching. "Were you a good student?"

"I sat in the cafeteria. There was like this one bench near the middle of the room that was right under the vents, so it had the best heating in winter. And then, after I—well, when I got back from Australia and online school, I started sitting on the bleachers. I wore a hoodie most days, which is why I have so many for you to steal. And yeah, I was a decent student. I didn't have the best influences around me, so I was in and out of trouble, but I got good enough grades."

I let my mind wander, imaging those bleachers that he'd sit on, imagining Everett sitting in a classroom, a textbook in hand, studying Pythagoras or something. It was hard to imagine an Everett that didn't live on the beach. His fingers squeezed my thighs and he grinned up at me.

"What about you?" he asked.

"Me?" I scoffed, my smile turning smug. "Oh, so now you're curious too?"

He rolled his eyes, but his grin grew wider. "Just tell me. In lots of detail. I want to imagine it."

He settled further into the mattress, closing his eyes theatrically and waiting for me to begin. I giggled, pinching his bicep, but he refused to give up.

"I'm..." I trailed off. "I don't know."

"See, it's harder than you think." He was looking at me now.

"It's harder for me because we have uniforms. And besides, Shellside Bay is so tiny. There's only, like, fifty kids in my whole grade. We don't have a cafeteria."

"I want to see you in your uniform."

"You weirdo," I teased, but his words made me warm anyway. I could imagine it for a minute, us going to high school together. Him teasing me for how high I would roll up my skirt. I imagined him ditching his blazer and unbuttoning his shirt collar, always getting into trouble by the teachers. Maybe we'd meet by the lockers and jig class together. I could almost imagine it. An Everett that was here, permanently.

"Do you think we'd be friends?" I asked.

"What do you mean? Are we not friends right now?" He gestured towards his lap, where I straddled his hips. "I'd say this is pretty friendly."

I snorted, whacking his chest. "I mean in school. If we met in high school, in class or something. Would we be friends?"

"We'd be friends," he said. He sounded certain. "I would've seen you on my first day and followed you around like a lost puppy. I would've enrolled into all the same classes and found a way to sit next to you in all of them. One day, you'd drop your eraser onto the floor, and I'd pick it up for you and place it on your desk and when you'd turn it over, you'd see my number scribbled on the back."

"You've really thought this through," I said, laughing. "I wouldn't call it. Your number, I mean. I'd think you were a total weirdo. I'd probably chuck it away."

"You'd call it," he said. "Extremely hot trumps total weirdo anytime. Besides, you have a thing for American guys."

"You're never going to get over that, are you?"

He shook his head, his fingers squeezing my legs as he looked up at me.

"Anything else you want to know?" he asked.

"I want to know everything possible," I said.

"I'll tell you," he replied. "Just ask, and I'll tell you everything about me, but you have to tell me too. Deal?"

I smiled back, dozens of questions already flooding my brain.

"Deal."

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I sat on the sand, my knees drawn up to my chest. Sky and River sat on either side of me, Sky resting her head on my shoulder while River frowned out at the horizon.

The beach around us was empty. No beach towels lined the shores, no umbrellas stuck into the sands, no bobbing heads or surfboards dotting the oceans.

I never thought I'd miss the tourists that seemed to flood this tiny town in the summertime.

Further down the shore, a few school students tossed their uniforms onto the sands, revealing swimsuits underneath. They laughed in those squealing, high-pitched giggles that high schoolers always seemed to do before they turned, sprinting into the cold waves.

Sky sighed, leaning further into me.

"Remember when we used to do that?" she asked. "Skip school and just mess around on the beach?"

"You mean when there were more than just the three of us," River added.

I turned to him, frowning. "Austin and Connor aren't dead."

"They might as well be," he muttered.

"River!"

"Just look around, Isla!" he snapped. "We drove all the way here and where are they? We've seen them for, what? A total of five minutes? Face it. We're not how we used to be, and we never will be again. Everyone's busy with their own lives now."

He was right, but it still hurt. I turned away from him, glaring out at the ocean. It pissed me off.

It pissed me off that I had nothing to say to him, nothing to counter with, because he was more right than he knew.

I'd realised it the second Everett left Sydney the first time, then I realised it all over again when he left a few months ago.

As much as we tried, as much as we wanted it, we'd never be the same again. Our scattered phone calls, our late-night texts, our conversations where we held back our complaints, trying not to worry each other because let's face it, there wasn't anything we could do 10,000 miles away—they were nothing compared to our summers together.

The Nauti Buoys had officially died with the end of summer.

"You guys are such buzzkills," Sky chimed in. She pulled herself to her feet, sand sliding off her legs as she stood before us. "Yeah, maybe it sucks that we can't hang out as much as we used to, but we made it. How many other people can say they escaped this town? Moved to the city and got into university?"

"You say that like it's a good thing," River said.

Sky narrowed her eyes at him, her grin souring. "I know you're a city boy and take it for granted, so I'm going to let that slide for now."

"She's right, River," I said, nudging him. He turned to me, and I shot him a smile. "I'm living in the heart of the city with my best friend. Why are we complaining?"

His lips twitched and my smile grew. I jabbed him in the ribs.

"I mean, other than the fact that you're hell to live with, it's pretty great," I added.

"Me?" he scoffed. "You leave stuff everywhere."

"I left my books in the living room one time."

"One time too many."

"I just went to the bathroom for a minute!" I narrowed my eyes at him. "And besides, you're the one bringing strange people home and throwing ragers every weekend."

"Which you love."

I rolled my eyes but couldn't help the grin that split across my face.

"I only love them because I love you," I teased, leaning towards him.

He shoved me away, laughing and scrunching his face in mock disgust. "Of course, you do. It's hard not to."

"Hey!" a voice shouted.

We all spun, finding Austin walking towards us. His hair was messy, and he wore his work clothes, stained with smudges of dirt and splatters of what I assumed to be paint.

"Austin!" Sky squealed first.

I scrambled to my feet just as he reached us, and I pulled him straight into a hug. He laughed, pushing me away and gesturing to his clothes.

"I'm filthy," he pointed out. "I don't want to get you dirty."

"Since when have I cared about a bit of dirt? Come here you big idiot."

He relented and I grabbed him into a tight hug. It was cut short as Sky pulled us apart, taking him into her own arms next. She squeezed him tight, pretending to try and lift him off the ground despite being half his size.

"What are you doing here?" I asked. "Aren't you supposed to be at work?"

"I'm on break," he said. He squeezed Sky's waist and lifted her up, eliciting a giggle from her. He grinned back at me, placing her on the sand. "Figured I'd find you guys here."

"Is Connor with you?" River asked, slapping his hand in greeting.

Austin shook his head, frowning. "I texted him, but he said he got held up."

The hope in River's eyes died and he glowered, sinking back onto the sand. I snorted, rolling my eyes. If it wasn't obvious that River was only here for Connor before, it certainly was now.

"I missed you," I said to Austin, shifting the topic away from River's depressing atmosphere. "We've barely been able to talk since we got here. No, since we left in the first place."

"Yeah, sorry," Austin sighed. "It's been crazy here. Connor and I are fresh meat so they're working us to the bone. It's like, I'm out the door before sunrise and home by sunset, and my brain and body are so fried I just go straight to bed."

I whistled lowly. "That sounds rough. I can't believe I was complaining about uni to you yesterday. Like, all I have to do is read a couple books."

He shoved my shoulder, chuckling. "Come on, Isla. Don't sell yourself short like that. There's a reason I didn't go to uni, and it's definitely not because it's easy."

He paused to glance over at River who had gone back to sulking on the sand and leaned in close to whisper. "What's up with him?"

I followed his stare, my frown mimicking his own. "He's depressed that summer ended. He just... misses what we used to be, you know?"

"Oh, believe me, I know," Austin muttered. He ran a hand over his face, sighing hard. "We used to run this beach. Bonfires, surfing, boating out to Isla. Now all I do is wake up insanely early, work until my eyeballs are sore, and then sleep until I have to work again. Like, I know I have texts I need to reply to, and phone calls I need to return, but I just—I get off work and have zero energy and—" he paused to release a tired laugh, shaking his head. "Look at me. I'm just ranting now. How are you? And Everett? Every time I pass your house, I miss you even more."

I shrugged. Really, I couldn't stop thinking about everything he'd just told me. I couldn't imagine Austin working his bones off every day, too tired to even glance at his phone. The Austin I knew was always full of energy, spending his days running from the sea to the sand. This Austin—his eyes seemed too dull to be the Austin I always knew.

He was busy with his own problems. I couldn't throw my problems on top of all that.

So, even if I was burnt out from uni and not understanding half my content, I wouldn't say it. Even if I was frustrated that Everett was 10,000 miles away, and he was probably asleep at this time, and the only time I could video call him was between classes and while I brushed my teeth at night, I wouldn't tell Austin that. Instead, I smiled lightly, and looked towards the ocean.

"I'm good," I said. "We're both good. We're making it work. He might come down in the summer and we can all be reunited again."

"Cool," Austin said. "That sounds cool. Maybe I could take some time off and we can pretend it's like the old days."

"That would be awesome," I replied. The thought of us all spending our summer just lazing around the beach was already exciting me. "I'll see when Everett's break matches up with mine and we can—"

I was interrupted by the sound of Austin's phone buzzing in his pocket. He jumped, pulling it out with an embarrassed smile, and glanced at the screen.

"It's work," he muttered. Suddenly, he looked ten times more exhausted than before. His entire face seemed to fall, and I wondered briefly if his body would fall with it. Instead, he shook his head and released a hard breath. "I'm sorry, Isla. I need to go. Talk later?"

I nodded. Before I could even say goodbye, he had turned, making his way back across the sand towards his car. I watched him walk away, his retreating back. It seemed to be the only thing I'd be seeing of him these days. Austin leaving. Everett leaving. Connor leaving. And soon, Sky would be leaving again.

The autumn breeze of Shellside Bay whipped at my hair and I wrapped my arms around myself, suddenly feeling a little colder, a little emptier than I did before.

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AUTHOR'S NOTE

Hey guys! Sorry for any formatting issues im posting from my phone tonight bc i just saw louis tomlinson live hehe i hope you loved this chapter! 💗

Next time: Isla has a deep convo?