I'm engaged in some World of Warcraft quests before Patty's party, when my phone starts vibrating with an incoming call. Mom's name pops up.

"Mom." My heart races every time she calls. I fear that she's going to call in tears asking me to come home, if she did, I'd be there in a heartbeat.

"Hey Max, I just wanted to check in." Her voice is lively. I'm glad she's in good spirits today and I'm instantly more at ease.

Slouching on my chair I reply, "I'm doing good, going to a party in a little while. How are you doing?"

Mom doesn't hesitate to answer, and I hear a smile in her voice. "I'm doing good. I have to work this afternoon, but I should be off in time to see some fireworks. Your aunt insisted that we go to the beach to watch them."

Her ensuing laugh is like music to my ear. Dad's messages cross my mind, but I refuse to put a damper on her good mood, so I don't mention them. I received another last night that said sorry. He made me wait all these months and now I'll return the favor.

"That sounds great, Mom. Hope you and Aunt Dawn have a great time."

"How's your uncle?" She asks. I detect genuine interest in the question. "You said something about a girl in one of your texts. My brother has a girlfriend?"

She sounds just as thunderstruck as I felt the moment Monica opened that door and it makes me laugh. "Yes, her name is Monica. She's actually really great and if you can believe it Rob's house is clean."

"I guess I'll believe it when I see it." She chuckles.

When she sees it. The words hit me hard, knocking the wind out of me. I need a second to collect myself. I wish she could be here to see it.

"How are your friends, Daniel, and Maya?"

"They are both really good, happy that I'm here."

"I can't wait to meet them one day. I'm glad you're having a good summer so far." She hesitates like something was on her mind, but she decided not to say it. "Well, I just wanted to check in. I have to get ready for work."

I'm so glad she did because I miss her like crazy. "Okay, Mom, enjoy your night off. I love you."

I may be a teenager on the verge of adulthood, but I'll always miss her. If I had the money, I would buy her a plane ticket to fly her out here just to spend more time with her.

"Love you too," she says softly before disconnecting the call.

I log out of my game just as Maya honks her horn three times in front of the house. Despite how typical her impatience is, I still roll my eyes. I'm thankful that Maya is driving us tonight. She doesn't drink and offered to be tonight's designated driver. Like a lot of teens, I fell into the trap of drinking at a party. I've never gotten drunk to the point of being messed up, but I'm not taking chances.

I pass by the living room on my way out. Monica and Rob are relaxing on the couch watching an episode of Starlien. Lennox's voice catches my attention, and I briefly stop to get a peek of her all decked out as Andi. They are on an episode that I've never seen, it's a later season for sure, because Lennox looks more like she does now. For a few seconds I can't get my feet to move. Shaking my head, I snap out of it.

"Don't wait up!" I shout, heading for the door.

"Never do," he jokes.

He yelps as Monica shoves his shoulder playfully.

"Hold up a sec, Max."

I slip on my checkered vans then head back to the living room. Maya honks the horn two more times. She will have to wait.

"What's up?" I ask.

"Monica's brother needs some help on Saturday. I know you're good with technology and things and thought you might want the extra cash."

Monica rests her chin on his shoulder, and he lovingly places a kiss on the top of her head. This is a new side to my uncle I'm still getting used to. I wish Mom could see it.

"Oh, yeah. Doing what?" I ask, forcing my attention to drift back to them.

I'm not an expert but technology is definitely something I excel at. Two years ago, with my joint birthday and Christmas money, I built my own computer. She still runs like a beaut.

"It's for a kid's birthday party. He needs some help on one of those video game trucks and the minute I heard games I thought of you right away — actually, Monica thought of you," he says looking at her lovingly.

In the short time I've been here Monica has taken an interest in what I like. In fact, a few nights ago we all sat down in the living room and showed her how to play Call of Duty. She was horrible at it but loved every minute.

"It's only for a few hours, but he said he'd give you two-fifty for the afternoon," she chimes in.

My eyes grow wide. An extra two-fifty would be great. Getting paid to play videogames is my idea of a good afternoon. "I'm in."

"Great, I'll give you the info tomorrow," Rob says pointing a finger at me. "Now go have some fun, but not too much fun, if you catch my drift. Mom would have my head if anything happened to you."

I laugh. Uncle Rob trusts that I'll make the right decisions while I'm out with my friends. With parents that were preoccupied with grieving I was never put on a tight leash at home, but I knew not to take advantage of that. I would never take my time here for granted and I respect my uncle too much to do something I'll regret later.

"It's not me you have to worry..." I said, my voice drifting as I thought of my friend.

"Yo, Max. Let's go!" Dan's voice carries through the open window in the living room as if summoned by my thoughts.

Outside, Dan is hanging his head out the window urging me to hurry. He's a little too excited. The only thing he's looking to do at this party is snag a date with Lennox. I shouldn't care but I'm low key hoping she says no.

***

It takes us about thirty minutes to get over to Patty's beach house with the holiday traffic. The entire twenty minutes we were stuck on the bridge consisted of Dan telling Maya all the things that could go wrong with being stuck there. When we finally reach the house, I imagine Maya jumping out of the car like in that Vin Diesel movie, The Pacifier. I think of the scene where Lulu jumps out and cries, land.

The bass from the music coming from the house vibrates through us before we even make it to the front door. We have to park down the street because of the sheer number of cars parked in front.

Patty's house never ceases to amaze me. It's a modern updated beach house raised off the ground to protect it from flooding in the area. It makes the other beach houses in the vicinity look like shacks. It wasn't just its size or looks that were impressive. It sits right on the beach and the backyard pool overlooks the ocean. It's as if Patty has her own private beach.

We take the sandy path around the left side of the house to where the party is. This year she went all out and decorated the pool deck with palm trees and white Christmas lights.

My attention is drawn to the pool and like magnets my eyes find Lennox's. She stands on the edge of the inground pool ready to jump in. I take all of her in, standing there dripping wet in her black bikini. Our connection is broken as she cannonballs hard into the water.

"Ah, my girl is here," Dan says, rubbing his hands together.

Maya stiffens beside me, and I reach up and put a hand on her shoulder.

"Now if you'll excuse me, I'm going to get myself a date with a movie star," Dan says confidently. He squares his shoulders and walks away like he's on a mission to save the world. I want to watch the train wreck that's about to go down, but I chose to focus on Maya.

"Yo, Lennox!" Dan yells, causing Maya to jump slightly.

I glance over at Maya. I can almost see the anger boiling off her like an angry cartoon character whose head is about to explode. Her eyes are hidden underneath her aviator sunglasses and her lips are pressed in a straight line. Meanwhile Dan crouches down at the edge of the pool to talk to Lennox. She doesn't seem thrilled to be talking to him.

I bump my hip into Maya's to grab her attention. She gives me a sad smile. There has to be something I can do to stop this, to help Dan see how much he's hurting her.

"I'm thirsty. I need some water," she finally says. "Want something?"

I shake my head. "I'm going to go make sure our buddy over there doesn't make an ass out of himself."

Maya's face lights up with reluctant humor. "That's a good idea, I'll be over in a few."

I stay focused on Lennox and Dan, contemplating my next move. This summer is going to get intense fast if I don't do something about this situation.