02 | time of your life
SUMMER EDWARDS IS HAVING THE TIME OF HER LIFE.
After her shift at the restaurant ended, she ordered an Uber to take her home before she invited her friend over to her house, jumping out of her work uniform to her casual clothes — a neon yellow tank top and black shorts that landed way above her knee. It wasn't much, but it was completely appropriate for the humid ninety-degree weather outdoors. Natural light that peeked from the windows radiated over her face as she plopped herself and a tattered makeup bag at the kitchen table.
"Girl, how are you enjoying it here so far?" Summer's best friend, Loni Hendrix, remarked as she grabbed the zipper to open the makeup bag. She's been her friend since the beginning of her sophomore year at her former school in her old town, known to be a pushy yet caring friend and a complete fashionista, especially when it came to nails and hair. Her moisturized brown skin glimmered in the natural sunlight peeking into the kitchen, radiating her beauty.
Even if Summer didn't live in her old town anymore, the two friends were only separated by about half an hour, so they were bound visit each other whenever they wished. It was probably the only good thing about moving back to Haven Hills for her so far. At least she didn't have to be far from her friends back at Crews.
"It's mid. Everything is mid. It's nothing too interesting to talk about," Summer answered simply as she held out her fingers. "Do you have clear sparkly nail polish?"
"Uh-huh," Loni nodded as she fished a small bottle of the requested polish from its bag. "I can paint your nails this color if you want."
"Sure, thank you," the other girl acknowledged as she glanced up towards her friend. "Ugh, I hate moving. I don't want to be in Haven Hills. I want to go back to Crews City."
"Didn't you say that this is your old town?" Loni questioned as she popped open the polish bottle before she adjusted the girl's hand. "I can only imagine it being nice to move back to your childhood city."
"I mean, it's cool but . . . I've made more memories at Crews. Haven Hills is just . . . dry," Summer replied, careful not to fidget as the nail brush gilded against her nail to smear the polish all over. "My new job at Shane's Subs is okay, though. Not exactly my dream job but it's a start."
"That's good, at least," Loni chirped as she carefully observed the set of hands in front of her. "Have you met anyone new yet?"
"Like?"
"You know, friends," the girl clarified. "Potential love interests, maybe?"
"Nah, I've barely talked to anyone here," Summer grimaced as she frowned. "When you move to a new town, making friends is just difficult. It was like that when I moved to Crews, and now I'm feeling the same thing over again."
"Yeah, but there's always school when it starts. It'll make getting a friend a tiny bit easier," Loni reasoned as she dipped the nail brush into the polish bottle. "What school are you even going to anyway?"
"My parents are in the process of enrolling me into a nearby high school," the other girl explained as she scratched her head with her free, untouched hand. "Mountain Oak High."
"Oh, it's within the same school district as Crews City, then," Loni nodded her head as she smirked, placing a portable nail lamp under her friend's hand so she could work on the other. "I've heard some freaky things about that school."
"Like what?" Summer questioned as she cocked an eyebrow.
"People have been caught having fucking in multiple places. Not just the bathroom," the other girl cackled as she dipped the nail brush into the bottle so she could quickly adjust her shoulder-length twists. "A friend of a friend told me that someone had a threesome under the bleachers in the gym. Can you believe it?"
"Horny teenagers fucking in a public building is considered normal these days," Summer winced. "Threesomes under the bleachers definitely aren't normal, though."
"True, but maybe if you're lucky, you won't have to witness any shit like that. I wouldn't want to, especially at like, seven in the morning," Loni chuckled as she glided the polish-coated nail brush over her best friend's middle finger.
If anything, Summer's best friend knew how to keep a conversation, something that Summer knew she could do, but only with people she felt comfortable with. Being that she just moved back to Haven Hills, she hasn't met anyone new of any sort, so it was just her parents, Loni, and her against the world — maybe some distant relatives, as well.
But speaking of her parents, Summer could hear the garage door open, shortly before the thumping of bags crashing against the door sounded as shoes clopped against the ground. Spinning her head around, the girl could see her father, Joshua, a tall light-skinned man with a bushy beard and low-cut hair, set down several grocery bags on the island countertop before he glimpsed at the girls.
"Hey, Summer," Joshua greeted, his deep voice booming throughout the kitchen, ricocheting off of the neighboring living room's tall ceilings. "Hi, Loni. Didn't expect to see you here."
"Came here last minute, courtesy of your daughter," the girl giggled before her eyes darted back down to her friend's hand to paint her pinky finger.
Trailing behind her husband, Summer's mother, Idris, a dark-skinned woman in a five-foot-four frame placed a bundle of toilet paper on the small island countertop at the heart of the kitchen before she dropped a set of keys behind it.
"Hi, girls," Idris smiled, her voice perky before she walked to the sink to wash her hands. "It's nice to see you here, Loni. Would you like to stay over for dinner? You're more than welcome to invite your family over as well."
"Thank you, Idris. I'd love to," Loni remarked. "I'll text my parents after I finish with Summer's nails."
The girl painted one last coat of polish before she placed her friend's hand under the lamp, the heat radiating over Summer's fingers. If anything, she knew one thing: her parents are generous people. Especially being that their daughter's best friend was over and they just came back from the grocery store, the only ethical thing to do in their opinion was to invite Loni and her family over for dinner. They haven't met up in a couple of weeks, so this would be a great chance to reunite and give the Hendrix's a detailed, semi-complete house tour, minus the few boxes that were periodically located throughout the house.
Even though Summer would get to spend more time with her friend, going back to her real home, Crews City, was the real deal.
***
Harley Rhodes has come to the conclusion that Haven Hills is a socially challenged city.
He had every right to think that way. He's lived in the tedious city for his entire life, from birth to the present. If anything, he knew that Haven Hills is a small city — a quiet one. Being that not much normally went on, for fun things to happen, it depended on the people. If the people were lively, the town was bound to be lively. If the people were quiet, the town was bound to be quiet. Haven Hills was a people-dependent city. On a normal quiet day like today, the city was just too dull.
Like any other city, Haven Hills had obvious yet attractive things, like a busy movie theater, plenty of decently rated restaurants, and a local, family-owned outdoor farmers market with fresh produce. But still, the city was a rather quiet one. It was safe to say that the six thousand people that lived in the area weren't about that kind of life — the social, outgoing life.
But Harley didn't mind. He wasn't the kind of person to go out partying and out to dinner every other weekend. He was the kind of person who appreciated the littlest things, no matter what time of day.
It all started out with his family, the Rhodes. The family name had Latin origin, but still sounded as American as it could be. The family consisted of four people, five if the family dog, Rex, a full-grown Golden Retriever, was included. Rex is a charismatic dog that could turn a frown into a smile in the matter of seconds no matter what he does.
And then there's Harley's father, Otis, a thirty-eight-year-old white man with a Southern accent that was too thick to be mistaken for a literal cowboy. The colorful tattoos all over his arms even justified it. He works as a certified mechanic at a local car shop, so he was a practical nerd about cars. The dream was to get his son into cars, which Harley had been intrigued in as a kid, but as he got older, he discovered that he had different interests.
And then there is Harley's mother, Ivy, a thirty-seven-year-old dirty blonde woman who worked as a trained baker at a restaurant. Hence her job, she spends her time making sweets, on and off of her shifts. Baking was something she did with her son as a kid, which brought back old memories and nostalgia. Being able to spend time with his mother was one of the littlest things Harley appreciated doing in life. Maybe he didn't spend it in the kitchen, but the outcome was always a treat.
Lastly, there is Jace, his twelve-year-old younger brother, a boy who used to have strawberry blonde curls. A year ago, he was diagnosed with late-stage leukemia, a type of cancer caused by the increase of white blood cells in his body. Throughout the year of him getting the form of anemia, he hasn't gone into remission just yet, but the rest of his family was counting on it. Seeing their loved one suffer with hair loss and being poked and prodded over and over. Despite being ill, Jace was still as happy as could be. He's still the same person he was before he got diagnosed. He still got to play with his friends and annoyingly tease his brother. But Harley was okay with it.
If his brother was satisfied, he was also satisfied.
Even now, he was satisfied. After dinnertime, the Rhodes decided that it would be nice to let their dinner digest by taking a short walk around their subdivision. The sun had barely set, and it wasn't raining, so it would be the perfect setting. Originally, it was supposed to be only Harley just to take Rex out for a walk, but Otis urged the entire family to join in with his famous words.
Without hesitation, the rest of the family joined. Holding onto Rex's durable dog leash, Harley was practically speed-walking as his Golden Retriever strolled through the aged sidewalk.
"Looks like he wants to run," Harley remarked as he held onto the leash even harder, as if his dog was yanking onto it. It sure felt like it, judging that it was slipping out of his fingers.
Jace chuckled. "Or maybe he just wants that leash to be off of him. Rex doesn't like leashes."
"Don't take it off," Otis urged, completely unbothered as he trailed behind his two sons. "If he runs away, you two will be the one catching him."
"What he said," Ivy agreed. "Our knees are starting to get old."
Chuckling at the lame excuse his parents gave, Harley continued to look forward. His fingers gripped tightly to Rex's dog leash, as if he was holding onto a railing. So far, he was doing okay with making sure that his dog couldn't and wouldn't run away. Rex seemed calm and relaxed, up until a small, fuzzy critter caught his eye.
It was a squirrel. A chestnut brown critter, the exact color of the acorns it was most likely searching for. Jumping up, Rex eagerly began to sprint as if he was on fire, racing against time as he attempted to catch the squirrel. Harley could feel his heart sink as he was forced to run along with his dog. Up until the point where the leash fell out of his hands, which freely allowed Rex to run all he wanted.
"Rex, heel!" Harley hollered as he ran after his pet. Instead of listening, the boy could see Rex's ear flinch as he continued to run after the squirrel. Running into the yard, the critter leaped onto the wide, bony trunk of an oak tree, resting on a thin branch as it looked down at the Golden Retriever. Its paws glided against the rough trunk as it barked a couple of times.
Grabbing a hold of the dog's leash, Jace scoffed. "I'll walk Rex this time. I won't let him get away unlike a special someone here."
The shade was real.
Mouth dropping wide open, Harley planted his hands on his lips. "I did not let him get away. He just likes chasing squirrels, little man."
"Okay, you talk that talk. It's what you always do," Jace remarked as he pet a barking Rex, who was still focused on catching the squirrel.
If anything, Jace sure loved to throw shade. It was what he was best at doing, according to Harley's logic. As if he couldn't get sassy enough.
Before he could redirect the family pet away from the tree, which surely belonged to a stranger's home, the whirring noises of a garage door opening rung into his ears. That could only mean one thing.
Someone was coming.
"Come on, Rex," Harley hissed before anyone could peek out of the house. "Let's go."
The Golden Retriever didn't budge. Not one bit. It was still fixated on the oak tree, the squirrel still dangling from the top.
Another voice sounded. It was feminine, sugary like lemonade on a flaming summer day. "Walking the dog? I heard him barking from the inside."
Glancing upwards, Harley mooned at the beauty in front of her. Her thick, black curls rested upon her shoulders, covering the thin straps of her neon yellow tank top. At closer inspection, the teenage boy realized that the girl wasn't just any girl. He realized that she was the girl he met earlier at their local sandwich shop, Shane's Subs. The girl that supposedly cut her fingers before serving him and his brother a sandwich.
Summer was her name. Harley wasn't good with names, especially to people he faintly knew, but her name was easy to remember, judging the season of the year.
Feeling himself nervously chuckle, he just shrugged. Not because she was appealing to look at or anything, but because he was embarrassed that Rex had to chase a squirrel in the first place. Well, her being appealing to look at was a reason, as well. "Yeah . . . he likes to chase squirrels. Sorry if we disturbed you or anything."
"Not a problem," the girl smiled as she rolled a mobile trash cart behind her to park it at the side of the road. "Didn't think I'd see you here. Harley's the name?"
"Uh-huh. You remembered," Harley smiled before his eyes darted back. His family was still there waiting patiently. "Well, I'll see you around. Have a great rest of your day."
"You too," Summer flashed one last smile at the teenage boy before she strutted back towards the garage so she could go inside. Turning back to his family, Harley noticed a few things. Jace and Otis were smirking at him, Rex finally gave up catching the squirrel and was ready to go, and Ivy's eyes were wide open as if they were about to pop out of her head before she slowly began to smile.
"That must be the new neighbor," she mused. "Do you know her? She's pretty."
Before Harley could open his mouth to speak, Jace intervened charismatically. "Yeah, he knows him! That's the girl that he flirted with earlier when we were at Shane's Subs. I think he has a crush on her."
Harley's cheeks flamed like burning hell. Screw that, his entire face flamed like burning hell. Being that his skin tone was so light, everyone in his family had to have seen it. The living embarrassment and humiliation. All of a sudden, he had the urge to drill deep a deep hole right into the concrete sidewalk below him and die.
"What a surprise," Otis remarked with a beam. "You always isolate yourself from the rest of the world."
"I wasn't flirting with her. I was just getting to know her. There's a difference," Harley scoffed as he looked forward. "Now let's keep walking. It's starting to get dark."
"Like I said, you always talk that talk. That's all you do," Jace chuckled. He was surely one heck of a menace to his older brother at times. Even if it could be intimidating at times, Harley wouldn't do anything to get rid of it. He couldn't.
That was just the way younger siblings were programmed. And Harley was not living for it.
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