When I woke up the next day, I could feel the positive vibes of the new year kick in.
New year, new plans, new me. But that doesn't really work for anyone does it?

I got off my bed and headed towards the bathroom, the aroma of my mom's delicious pancakes coming through. 

After a quick shower, I changed into my 'Yay! It's the new year' tee and sweatpants and went downstairs.

"Morning mom," I said hugging her from behind.

"Morning sweetie," she said half kissing me on my head.

With her apron on, she was focusing on carefully flipping over a pancake neatly into my plate.

My mom loved baking. She even had her own bakery near the beach. Luckily for her she could walk in and out anytime she wanted since it was run by a group of young entrepreneurs whom mom herself was training.

"Them skills though," I said laughing and headed over to kiss my dad. "Morning dad."

"Morning hun. Did you sleep well last  night?"

"Uh huh. I was nearly dead after last night's excitement."

"Yes, last night. Last night was good. Natalie and Andrew pulled it off real well didn't they?"

I chuckled, "you should have seen Hunter a day before dad. He was sulking like a baby."

Mom and dad started laughing. "I guess that was expected. Did he like what you gave him Summer?" mom asked.

"Yeah. Yeah he loved it so much he even k...." I stopped suddenly, aware of what I was about to blurt out.

"He even what?" pressed dad

"Cried. He even cried. He was so overwhelmed."

Shit. That was close.

---------------

After breakfast I went back to my room, to do my daily writing in my journal. I guess I owed her a special entry today, what with the new year and all and not to forget- last night's kiss.

I'll be honest with you, Hunter means everything to me. I've known him since my existence on this planet so how could he not? But I don't think I could ever think of him in the way that maybe, girls of my age are supposed to. Not now at least.

But at the end of the day, he was my first kiss so how could I not think about it? I guess I could say that I'm glad it was him after all,  though I wouldn't have minded Kyle Dawson either.

I was so absorbed in my thoughts that I didn't realise the noise coming from within my room. At least I thought it was from within.

It took me a few minutes to realise it was actually coming from outside. I walked to my window and opened it, the cold wind blowing in my face.

Strange. There was no one outside. Then suddenly a stone flew past me, missing my head and landing on my bedroom floor.

I looked up. There on my right was Hunter. Sitting on one of the branches of the tree outside my house.

"What are you doing? Planning to make me your funeral organiser before you go up?"

"I must say your sarcasm level has improved," he said, amused. "But no. I'm here to apologise."

"Apologise?" I asked, surprised. "For?"

I could see his cheeks turn red slowly. It took me every effort to suppress  my giggles.

"For um, you know. Last night."

"Oh my god. Are you still stuck on that?"

"Look, I don't want shit to get screwed between us because of some stupid thing I did okay?"

I saw him fidget with his fingers. He was nervous. It had been a long time since I saw him this way so I guess it meant a lot to him.

"You should probably come in first. I don't want to have a dead body in my yard."

It barely took him a minute to scramble into my room. Boys and their monkey traits I tell you.

Once he was safely in, I began.

"Hunter. If things were to get messed between us because of one kiss which wasn't even intentional, then people would definitely think that something was wrong with us. Our friendship is worth so much more than something silly like that. I couldn't imagine not talking to you just because you freaking kissed me on your birthday because you got emotionally overwhelmed! So stop fretting over it so much. When I'm chill, you should be too," I said smiling.

I waited for him to say something. For a few seconds there was an eery silence and then he looked at me and smiled.

It wasn't just any smile. It was his '32 teeth, carefree, dimpled' smile which meant he was back to himself.

"Hmmm. You're right. I guess I was worrying too much. Alright. Toodles. I'm off to my dream place."

"Yeah yeah.  Better hurry now," I said chuckling. "Your dream place awaits you."

He sensed my sarcasm and scowled. I simply stuck out my tongue at him. He was making his way back to the window when I realised,"why don't you go out from the front door now?"

"Your parents will wonder how I entered in the first place," he said grinning.

"Right."

"Yeah."

"Okay."

"Yeah."

"Okay go now!" I said staring at him, hard.

"Right. Bye."

He carefully climbed out of my window and made his way to the ground.

Total monkey I swear.

I leaned out of my window and saw Mike and Alex there. They saw me and waved; "Hey Summer!"

"Hey guys!" I waved back.

I leaned out till I saw them disappear and went back in.

Hmmm. What was I to do now. Maybe I should have gone for the comic-con too. But I'm not really that much of a Marvel fan. 

By now the sun was shining bright and the ground had cleared a bit. It was a perfect day to go for a walk and click some cool-ass pictures.

I put on my hoodie, took my camera and went downstairs. Mom and dad were still in the kitchen, discussing the latest news.

"Mom, dad, I'm going out for a walk. See you later!"

"Bye honey! Be careful and come back soon," said dad

"I hope you're wearing your jacket Summer."

"Yes mom. Yes dad."

---------------------------------

I decided to take the route towards the town square. It was a 20 minute walk, but definitely worth it. Specially on a day like this. The street towards the square is lined with tiny shops on both sides, with people bustling in and out, bells jingling and wind chimes swinging. 

The tiny shops are brightly colored and are surprisingly soothing during gloomy weathers like these.  In the center of the square is a statue of the warrior that apparently saved our little town from landing in the wrong hands centuries ago. And all through the year the square is filled with stalls and kiosks selling drinks and food that change according to seasons. 

I stand below the statue and aim my camera at the streets opposite me- the brightly colored shops filling my lens with the sun shining behind. 

Perfect. 

Satisfied, I walk towards one of the stalls where an old woman is selling hot chocolate. During the summer she sells lemonades and fresh juices while in the winter she is known for her home-made wine and hot chocolates. 

"Hey, Mrs Grundy", I say approaching the old woman. 

"Hello Summer dear. Out on the right day eh. Sky's a lil' clear today and I've got the right drink for you", she says handing me a hot chocolate. 

I breathe in the smell of fresh cocoa. "Mrs Grundy knows best," I say chuckling and hand her the money. "Later Mrs Grundy!" 

I check my phone. Hmm there's still time for lunch, I thought to myself. 

I decided to head to 'J&B's' . The only two-leveled shop in town. It was started by two sisters who were extreme fashion lovers, Jessica and Betty, with the aim to make the town a little more 'modern'.

It however, didn't go down well with the elder crowd of town of course but is definitely a huge hit with the teenagers.  This is because they somehow always manage to have the trendiest and latest stuff in store. 

For example, once I had seen this infinity ring on Instagram and the next thing I know, it's in J&B's.

So cool right? 

I walked in, the wind chime intimating the owners of my presence. J&B's was a beautiful shop. it was well decorated with intricate designs. It smelled expensive. The items sold inside were on a little high-end, but they kept sales and discounts quite often hence the time I usually went a tiny bit overboard shopping. 

This time though, they didn't have a sale going on. I had just missed it by a couple of days. 

I was moving through the aisles when I heard the wind chime. Someone had walked in. 

I had a habit of peeping up to see who walked in every time the wind chime made noise. This time was no different. What was different was the person who walked in. 

Kyle Dawson. And oh my was he gorgeous. The sunlight through the door made his blue eyes shine even more. His blonde hair more golden than ever. He raised up his hand to wave. Was he waving at me? OMG was Kyle Dawson saying hi to me?! 

I felt like I was in a fairy tale. With my prince charming walking towards me in slow motion. Ready to come up to me and grab my waist, looking deeply into my eyes. 

I was snapped out of my thoughts by a really squeaky voice saying "Hello Kyle. You're finally here sweetie." 

Ashley Corville. The so-called mean girl of school and every boy's dream.

Right now, her aim was to get Kyle to date her. And for that, she'd do anything. Like literally anything. 

"Did you really think he'd say 'Hi' to someone like you?" she sneered from behind. 

I turned around, about to snap at her. But what would I even say, really? I mean she was right, wasn't she? Why would someone like Kyle say hi to someone like me? He was way out of my league as it is.