THERE WAS NO FEELING LIKE losing an AirPod.

Out of everyone in the world, Summer most definitely knew what it felt like. She's either lost her AirPods, case, or both all at once numerous times, which all resulted in a ten-year-old bratty meltdown. All in all, it was a feeling that made her feel sick to her stomach, and today just had to be the day that it would reenact once again.

It all started with work. Summer was casually doing her job, hustling back and forth between the kitchen to create sandwiches for customers. With one AirPod in her ear, she kept the other in her case and placed it into her pocket, thinking nothing of it. But now, she regrets it all with every part of her soul that she has left.

Assuming her soul is still in her body, of course.

It was the hour of noon, and customers tumbled into the establishment like crazy for casual lunches, work meetings — you name it. Fortunately, it was time for her to clock out for about twenty minutes for her lunch break. Instead of worrying about eating, she was searching throughout the kitchen for her AirPod case, which was nowhere to be seen.

"Summer, what are you doing?" Harley questioned as he observed the girl. "You look stressed."

"It's because I am," the teenage girl grumbled without looking up from the floor. "I lost my AirPod case and it has one of my AirPods in it."

"Oh shit," the teenage boy grimaced. "I can help you look for it."

Summer tilted her head. "I'm fine, Harley. It's your lunch break, too. I don't want to take up any of your time to eat."

"Fuck that right now. I want to help you. I'm not even that hungry," the brunette haired boy said simply. "I know what it's like to lose AirPods. I still haven't found mine to this day."

"Where'd you lose yours?" The girl questioned as she adjusted her curly bun.

"At my school, according to the Find My app," Harley shrugged. "But it's fine. I'm still pissed off, but wires are cool. Let's find your AirPods so you won't be pissed like me."

"I think they dropped somewhere on the floor. It probably got kicked under something accidentally," Summer informed as she exhaled heavily. "Fuck."

"It's probably under something around here, yeah," the brunette haired boy nodded his head in agreement. "What does your case look like?"

Summer planted her finger on her chin. "It's rectangular, but sort of wedged out to look like Nike Dunks. It's gray, white, and black."

"Cool case," Harley chuckled as he kneeled to the ground, swooping his head towards the kitchen supplies. Other than the aged dust that lurked, one thing caught his eye from underneath the bread rack.

A case of AirPods shaped like a deformed pair of Nike Dunks. Dangerously extending his arm under the rack, he stretched his arm so much in order to reach the case, bumping his arm against the rim of the rack through the process as he got it out.

"Harley, you could've just got a broom. You didn't have to stick your hand up under that thing. Who knows what's under there," Summer wondered, followed by a grin. "But thank you so much. You are my hero."

"Me? Your hero?" The brunette questioned.

"Did I stutter?" The curly haired girl insisted. "No, I didn't. I'd be in tears if my AirPods were lost forever. I don't know how you manage."

"I don't know how I manage either," Harley shrugged. "But shall we have lunch now?" We have like fifteen minutes left now."

"Sure," Summer said as they walked out back to the breakroom. Placed on a shelf was a tan tote bag that belonged to her. She rummaged a pre-packaged salad and a water bottle from the bag before placing it on a random table.

Harley took his lunch out as well, nachos dressed with a variety of salsa and cheddar cheese that was packaged into a bowl. He placed his things beside the girl so they could sit and eat together.

From the corner of her eye, Summer could see him take a bite out of a nacho chip. "Is it good?"

"Very," the brunette-haired boy mused after he chewed and swallowed his first bite. "What about that salad?"

"It's okay, I guess. Not the best, but definitely not the worst either," the girl shrugged as she poked her fork into another strand of lettuce. "So what's been going on with you lately?"

"Me? Literally nothing. My mom keeps being pushy about me spending almost the entire day in my room. That's why you usually see me walking my dog," Harley scoffed, mooning straight into the girl's eyes. "It's not like I'm in there for the entire day. Sometimes, I'll go out to the gym, and of course, there's work."

"Damn, you work out? I wish I could be as productive as you," Summer smirked.

The teenage boy shook his head. "Me? Productive? That's an overstatement — and exaggeration."

"If that's what you think, we'll go with that," the curly-haired girl shrugged. "But to make you feel any better, my mom gets onto me for just moping around, too. But it's fine because it motivated me to finish unpacking and decorating my room."

"Did you find anything cool while unpacking?" Harley questioned out of curiosity, his eyes widened.

"Yep, I found an old photo album. There were lots of pictures of me when I was a kid, so I took this as an opportunity to make a collage out of them on the wall," Summer explained as she unlocked her phone to scroll through the photo app to find the right picture. She tapped on the picture of her wall before tilting her phone towards her co-worker. "See?"

"Wow, that's true dedication," the brunette-haired boy nodded his head curtly. "Did it feel nostalgic to look through those pictures?"

"Uh-huh. I found one of me and my first grade class on a field trip to the zoo," Summer chirped as she put her phone away. "It reminded me of this old friend I used to have. He was so sweet, but unfortunately, I moved away and wasn't able to speak with him again."

Harley paused for a quick second, searching his mind for what to say. "I'm sorry to hear that. But what high school are you going to? Maybe you'll see your old friend there?"

"Mountain Oak High," the Black girl mused. "Are you going there too?"

"Yeah, I've been going there since freshman year," Harley said. "Maybe I can give you a tour and help you find your friend maybe?"

"You'll take any opportunity you can get to hang out with me, Rhodes," Summer quipped. "Not like there's anything wrong with that of course, so sure."

"You're just a cool person, Ms. Edwards," Harley shrugged. "That's a compliment."

"You must have a little crush on me or something," the girl chuckled before she spooned some lettuce into her mouth.

"Summer — I—" he stuttered as his cheeks visibly flushed. He was completely speechless, as if the words had been taken out of his mouth.

Summer winked. "I'm kidding, I'm kidding. I'm just messing with you, Rhodes. You look like a tomato now."

"I look that bad?" The teenage boy winced.

"Nah, you look pretty ripe."

***

"And girls, they wanna have fun," Loni sang harmoniously as she posed in front of a bathroom mirror for a mirror selfie.

"Oh, girls just wanna have fun," Summer added as she smiled brightly.

The girls were at their local mall, Cobblestone Mill Mall, located on the border of Crews City beside Haven Hills. It was beside a popular interstate, probably the only thing that brought attention to Haven Hills other than the mall itself. But regardless, Loni and Summer decided that it would be the perfect time to meet up at the mall for a girls date right after her shift at the sandwich shop.

After several silly poses and snapshots, Loni placed her phone back into her purse before she took one last look into the mirror. "I'm definitely posting these pictures on my Instagram Story. The iconic duo is back!"

"You and I could never ever be apart," Summer exclaimed as she held open the restroom door so her friend could exit before her. "Where should we go first?"

"PacSun," Loni remarked. "They're having a summer sale, perfect for you. Get it?"

Summer felt herself chuckle at the corny joke. Being that her name was also a season of the year could be interesting at times. Sometimes when people said the name, she'd often be conflicted on whether they were talking about the season or her. Not just that, but she'd also experience some cringeworthy puns.

Coming from Loni, she didn't mind at all.

"You are very funny, Lons," the girl laughed dryly as she smoothed her slick high bun with a finger. "PacSun is right here."

PacSun is a clothing store that provides Southern California inspired apparel designed for teenagers and new adults. So of course, as Loni and Summer strolled in, a bunch of teenagers and new adults were scattered throughout the store.

"Seems pretty busy for a weekday," Loni remarked. "I don't know about you, but I love shopping in peace."

"Me too, but let's be real — it's summer break and it's four o'clock in the afternoon. Everyone is here," Summer justified as she walked towards a rack of sweater dresses. She picked a striped mint green and white mini slip dress by the hanger. "Look at this. It's so cute."

"How much does it cost? That would look so good on you," her friend said as a smile spread across her face.

"It's on sale for only twenty-five dollars," Summer cheered. "I'm definitely trying this on."

"I'll come with you," Loni remarked, followed by an enthusiastic chuckle before her eyes darted towards a young man with shaggy dark brown hair and glossy blue eyes, probably a high school student. She turned to her friend to whisper. "Look at him. He's fine as fuck, hands down. I think I've seen him at our school. I just recognize him."

"Why don't you go talk to him?" The other girl winked as she walked into the fitting room area of the store. She strutted into an available room, hanging the dress on a hook so she could begin taking her clothes off. "You two could be a power couple."

"He's busy at the cashier. He kind of looks like Froy Gutierez from Teen Wolf," Loni mentioned from the other side of the door. "But what about you? Have you been talking to any boys?"

"Well," Summer hesitated as she slipped off her spandex shorts. "Yeah."

"What? Bitch, why didn't you tell me sooner?" Her friend cackled. Summer could feel her smiling like crazy right through the door.

"Hush, you're disturbing the peace," she hissed as she foiled on the dress face-first.

Another voice interjected, deep and broad. "Ladies, is everything okay?"

Adjusting her dress through the mirror, Summer cracked the door open to see who was there. It was the guy Loni had been crushing on, the one who looked like Froy Gutierez from Teen Wolf.

Remaining calm, Loni smiled at him. "We're fine, daddy."

"Daddy?" The employee raised an eyebrow, followed by some sort of smirk.

The room fell so quiet to the point where anyone could hear a pin drop. Definitely not the route this conversation should've took a turn at. 

"Ah, that's totally not what I meant. I-I'm sorry. I'm so embarrassed," Loni apologized instantly. "What I meant was sir. We're fine, sir."

Suddenly, Summer felt second-hand embarrassment for her friend. But at the same time, she realized that it was karma for being so loud.

"Ah, okay. I think I recognize you from somewhere. School," the Froy Gutierez-look alike mused. "You did go to Crews High, right? I think we had Physics together during junior year. It's Loni, right?"

"Yeah," Loni nodded. "And you're . . . Juan?"

"Yep," Juan whistled before he walked away. "I have to get back to work but I'll see you around."

The girl crookedly smiled as she turned back to Summer. "Well . . . that was something. What do you watch at night to be calling him that?"

"Nothing," Loni winced before she looked back at her friend. "Look at you, though. That dress looks adorable on you. I love the shape."

"Me too," Summer remarked before she spun around to take a better look at it in the mirror. It surely went perfect with the white Nike Air Forces she had on. "I think I'll say yes to the dress."

"Like the TLC show where these engaged women go out to buy wedding dresses?" Loni referenced. "Speaking of that . . . tell me all about this guy that you've been talking to."

"Well, for starters, his name is Harley. Harley Rhodes," her friend smiled as she closed the door so she could start to change out of the dress into her regular clothes. "He's white, has dark brown shaggy, curly-ish hair, hazel eyes, and a cute face. Him and I both work at Shane's Subs together. We also live several houses down from each other, which is crazy. Him and I will be going to the same school for senior year. He's real nice and sweet." 

"Oh?" Loni mused, probably smirking. "He sounds cute. Do you like him?"

"I don't know, Lons. I'm still getting to know him," Summer reasoned as she slipped on her white T-shirt, careful not to mess up her slick ponytail. "But there's something about him that makes him different from every other guy in this world. I can't figure out what it is."

"What do you mean?"

Summer grabbed her shorts from the chair tucked into the corner of the room. "It's just that I was telling him about an old childhood friend I had before I moved to Crews City. Him and I both go to the same school. I even told him about the picture I found of him in my photo album. When I was decorating my room, my mom said something about his name being something along the lines of Harold, but it doesn't match Harley."

"That's confusing," Loni uttered. "Maybe you could ask your mom about it again for confirmation? You could even look through your old yearbooks from your old elementary school. They never lie."

"You know what, that's genius. You're very smart, Lons," Summer remarked as she yanked open the individualized fitting room's door. "Well, except for about two minutes ago when you called your classmate 'daddy.' That was not smart at all."

"Don't even remind me," her friend shook her head in disbelief. "Hopefully he's at checkout still, though. I desperately want to talk to him again."

Looking towards the checkout counter located in front and beside the fitting room, Juan could be seen sitting around at the counter on his phone. "Your wish has been granted."