Page 2 of His Girl of the Summer

“I can’t believe you convinced your dad to let you come!” I dance in my seat and lean out the window of my best friend's ride. I throw my arms in the air and yell. This has been a dream of ours since we were kids. A fun, relaxing, but exciting spring break. Just the two of us. No parents, no rules, and no depressing thoughts. That last one might be more difficult to accomplish.

Harper may be able to run away from her overprotective but loving dad. I, however, can't escape the pressure of my parents. Not of their worry, just of their control, and not in a caring way. They don't care what I do, where I go, how long I’m gone. As long as I’m back in time for college, where they get to pick my courses and degree, then all is hunky dory. I’m brought out of those depressing thoughts by Harper's words.

“I had to pay my sister to help us out. She’s amazing with Photoshop, so we will make it look like we are doing a work exchange program in Toronto or something.” She gives me a wink.

“Ugh, an entire month of nothing but the beach. I am so excited!” I say, turning to hang my feet out of the window.

I close my eyes and let the wind blow through my hair as I smile freely for the first time in so long. An entire month to let my passion run free. I turn to look at my backpack in the back seat. It holds my most prized possession, and I know I can never let my parents see it. My sketchbook holds all my deepest thoughts, memories, and visions. It's my everything. It's not the first one I started; I ran out of paper in that one, probably around the sixth grade. Harper lets me keep the old ones in a box in her back shed, and as far as I know, she has never seen my sketches. It's one thing I keep for me and me alone, and as my best friend, she's always accepted that even when I can tell it's killing her not to see them.

I’m not sure what my parents would do if they saw them, though. Either trash them or burn them, or maybe my biggest fear of all, not care. It might hurt more if that happened, if they ignored the one thing I hold most dear in this world. They didn't care that I got accepted to one of the best schools in the state, and I willingly followed their path and studied law. Though they were a small part of why I decided to do it.

I went to college mainly because Harper was going and got accepted to the same school. I’ve done this life for so long with Harper at my side. I’m not too chicken to admit I was scared of what it held without her. She’s always shown me love and care, one of the few people to do that, so I’ve clung to her. If going to college and becoming a lawyer like them helps my parents notice me, that's just a bonus. I shake my head, not liking the path my thoughts are taking.

“Okay, so we need to plan out this perfect beach summer. I’m thinking maximum sun capacity each day at the beach, then move along to the pool, lounging under an umbrella with a cold beverage. Oh, how I wish we were twenty-one,” I sigh wistfully before continuing, “Then lunch on the boardwalk. Oh, I need to stop by…” I trail off when I turn and notice Harper's blank expression.

I know she’s gone down a touchy subject of her own. One with her own mother. My parents may not care for me much, but at least they stayed and provided for me. Harper can't say the same, and I can tell when she's letting her thoughts go down that slippery slope because it also happens too often to me. There's only one thing to get her to break.

“Ouch, hoe! What was that for?” she yelps as I smack her on the arm.

“Did you hear anything I said?” I ask, already knowing her answer.

“Sorry, no. I’m just thinking about my dad and how he’ll worry if he finds out,” she winces, knowing I’m going to berate her. It's time for Harper to let her hair down. To feel free for once. To not have to worry about her grades, her sister, her dad, or letting everyone in her life down.

This is my chance to make that happen for my best friend. I smile at her, secretly knowing just how to do that. Boy, I can't wait to see her reaction.

***

I laugh as Harper pushes me forcefully through the door of our room at the Inn she booked for this trip. I nearly fell on the ground laughing when she tripped up the stairs as I waved and maybe flirted a little with some random guys on the way in, but I just couldn't help it. I knew as soon as she pointed at those guys and they caught her staring that there was only one way out of this situation with dignity, and that was confidence. So I pulled back my shoulders and strutted my stuff. Unfortunately, Harper didn't get the memo. When I finally get my laughter under control, and she gets her flaming cheeks back to their usual pale shade, she finally loosens up enough to ask me about this trip. She still doesn't know the best part, and it’s been killing me keeping the secret all this time.

“So, what’s on the schedule for the rest of the day?” she asks, and I don't know if she can tell, but I'm nearly vibrating with excited energy while still trying to play it cool. Can't give it away without messing with her a little bit.

“Well, for the rest of today and tomorrow, I was thinking we can relax on the beach and get some sun. As for tomorrow night…” I fall off for dramatic effect as I dig through my huge, junky purse for my prize. I pull out a white envelope and hand it to her.

“What’s this?” she asks hesitantly.

“It’s my surprise gift for you. You know, for being amazing and coming on this trip with me. It’s no secret I’ve had a rough couple of years, but you stuck by me through it all, not once faltering in your support. Your family made me feel like one of you guys, and I want to say thank you,” I tell her, not knowing any other way to explain how much she means to me. I try to keep my emotions at bay as Harper tears up but then ducks her head and rips the envelope.

“Oh my gosh. Are you freaking kidding me? Charli, how did you get these? Obnoxious Allies? I didn’t even think they were selling tickets to this!” She dang near takes my eardrums out with her screech, but I can't help the smile that overtakes my face. Getting her the sold-out, special private performance for one of her favorite bands hadn’t been too hard in practicality. Mentally, it took its toll, but I would pay any price to make my best friend's dream come true.

“Why do you think I fought so hard to come to this tiny little coastal town that no one has heard of? I’ve been holding on to these for a while. It almost killed me to keep that little secret to myself,” I say, then laugh as she throws herself in my arms. I close my eyes and give myself a minute to soak in the love and support from my best friend before I pull back.

“Okay, okay, enough of that! Let’s get ready and hit the beach before we lose the good sun. I’m beyond ready for some sun and sand,” I say, heading into the bathroom. I need a minute to myself to get my melancholy mood under control.

I want to enjoy this vacation and not think about my sad little life. I’m so tired of my own little personal pity party taking over my thoughts. It's hard not to let them when I had to get these special tickets through my dad's assistant. What's worse? It was a birthday present. A late one at that. Like, my whole life late. I haven't asked for a birthday present since I turned ten and wondered why all my friends got birthday parties and presents that were wrapped. I asked my parents for an art set. I got the complete works of Shakespeare instead. I was told if I needed time to waste, I could do it with something productive. They also informed me their assistants would be working together to give me presents for my birthday from then on. I got more books the year after that from Sherry, my dad's assistant, and the year following that etiquette class from my mother's assistant. After that, the presents fell off and were forgotten, and I never brought it up again… until this year.

This year, I went straight to my dad's assistant. I might have mentioned the lack of presents since my twelfth birthday and that she’d forgotten to get me something for the past seven years. I’m not ashamed to admit I might have mentioned I would bring this up with my mother and father if she kindly got me these tickets. Sherry has connections everywhere, and it only took one phone call, as I suspected it would, before she had the tickets ready. I took them with a polite thank you, hoping and praying it never got back to my parents. They would have rather I got nothing for those birthdays than have one second of fun. I roll my eyes at those thoughts.

Looking at myself in the mirror, I decide right here and now that's the last time I will dwell on it. I'm going to the beach with my bestie, then to the concert of a lifetime. I won't let anything get me down.

Even as I tell myself that in the mirror, I can see the lie in my eyes. The sad fact is, I don't know that I’ll ever be able to run far away or fast enough to escape those demons, but come hell or high water, this summer, I’m gonna try.

Chapter Two

Kas

“Dude, what the fuck? We are grown-ass adults now. Why the hell are we sneaking into these types of things again?” I ask, ducking under the fence.

“Shhh… you're going to get us caught, you ass,” Grayson whisper-yells back at me. I roll my eyes because he’s full of shit. We’ve been doing this shit since we were eleven, running up and down the boardwalk and sneaking onto the gold course every chance we got. Usually, Beck and even Riley would be behind us, but they both had to work tonight, and Grayson wanted to see this band. I’m just here to make sure he stays out of trouble. Not that he would get into any, but I’ll have his back no matter what.

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