Page 9 of Rival Summer

"Love you too, Chandler."

I stood up, feeling defeated as I scraped the now unappetizing mound of spaghetti into the trash with a dull splat.

“Can you believe that?” I sighed, placing my plate in the dishwasher.

“No, that sucks,” Kristina said, tapping her fingernails on the table. “But I do seem to remember you telling me someone in Bayside offered you a job.”

I let out a long sigh. Even though that was the last thing I wanted to hear right now, she was right. Could I really do that, though? Go back to Bayside? Into the heart of Blue Devils’ territory.

“And I seem to remember Papi Likes Butts asking you for feet pics. Maybe we could profit off those,” I said sarcastically.

“Now that’s an idea I can get behind,” she said, rubbing her chin. “But you should probably still get a job while I’m waiting for that compensation.”

I swallowed hard as my mind raced. Could I really take a job in Bayside? That small town was more than just a place—it was a reminder of painful memories and secrets I wanted no part of. Could I keep my heart guarded when it had already been so recklessly exposed?

And Boston and Reese… how could I be around them? I’d be forced to hang around the two guys I wanted most to avoid.

"Kristina," I murmured, her name slipping out like a call for help. "I don't know if I can survive another summer in Bayside with... with them. Both of them."

She raised an eyebrow, her stern expression devoid of empathy. "You're not going to just survive the summer. You're going to face it head on," she urged. "You need to get closure with Reese. And you should mend things with Boston. He came to your birthday, that has to mean something. You can’t spend your life running from things."

I swallowed hard. "But what if they don't want me around?" The vulnerability in my own voice caught me by surprise.

"Who cares?" Kristina's retort was swift, shoving away my doubts. "You're there for a job, remember? A good friend offered you this opportunity, and you're taking it. Don't fixate on anyone else—or how they feel about it."

Maybe it was possible to face both Reese and Boston, to sort through the tangled web of emotions that bound us all.

"I can get through this," I whispered under my breath, trying to convince myself. "I’ll just focus on work." But even as I said it, I knew it would take every ounce of strength not to feel anything when I got around them. I let out another sigh and sent a text message I never expected to send.

Me

so how much does the job pay?

Willow

SCREAMING! If I lie and say you have experience they'll start you at a decent rate.

Me

Get that spare bedroom ready

Guess I'm in

Willow

YAY! I’m so excited. This summer is going to be epic, Channy!

I wasn’t sure “epic” was how I’d describe it. But Kristina was right, I could make this summer about reclaiming the pieces of myself I'd lost last summer. Willow could be my sunshine in the Bayside darkness—a lifeline to cling to when things were hard. I wouldn’t be there for Boston or Reese, or any man for that matter. I would be there for myself and for Willow.

I glanced at my reflection in the mirror, searching for any sign of the fortitude I’d need to navigate this summer. Boston's shining blue eyes came to mind. They mirrored the ocean on a summer day, always so full of warmth, something I wasn’t sure he still had. And then Reese, with his hypnotizing green eyes that seemed to know too much, always challenging me. Others had warned me about him for a reason.

Fuck my life. I really was going to do this. Going back to Bayside, into Blue Devils’ turf, and hoping I’d find some strength to get me through. Maybe, just maybe, everything did happen for a reason and the unexpected detour could lead to something good. It could be a redemption, a summer that I could be proud of, one where I discovered myself—and I held the power not to let anyone distract me.

I thought back, lost in the reflection of how broken I felt back then. We’d been on the road back to Stillwater after leaving Bayside. I’d opened up to Parker about everything. Back then, my heart had been shattered, the fragments still raw from the abrupt ending of a summer romance.

I stared out the passenger window, tracing the raindrops with my eyes as they raced one another down the glass. My thoughts were a tangled mess—between Boston and Reese, and now thisbombshell of a secret that had detonated everything I thought I knew about both of them.

The silence in the car was overwhelming. We were still in shock—both trying to look back at all the signs we’d missed over the years from the boy next door, and his mother who we thought we’d known so well.

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