Last Summer Part 12

**Okay, so I didn't think that I'd be able to get this out, but I am using my dad's laptop charger. So this will be the last one for a while because I'm going to my mom's tomorrow :/ Anyways enough negative, I hope you all enjoy this!! (I really enjoyed writing this part.)

Tiffany came into my room later that night, with her wet hair wrapped into a pink cotton towel and a mud face mask plastered over her cheeks and forehead. "You look pretty," I joked, sitting up in my bed and rubbing underneath one of my eyes involuntarily.
"So wasn’t tonight just amazing?!" she squealed, "And don’t tell me no because I saw you talking to that guy at the bar!"
"It wasn’t as bad as I thought it’d be," I admitted but then added, "But still not fun. I’m glad you had fun though."
She smiled and then asked, "So did he kiss you?"
"I knew him five minutes!" I exclaimed; did she really think I was that desperate for some kissing?
"So?" she teased, "I knew Paul for like ten minutes."
I slapped her with my pillow and jokingly screamed, "Slut!"
Her mouth dropped in fake shock and then she laughed. "Yeah, I guess I am."
"Well, at least you can admit it. That’s the first step."
"But what if I don’t want to change?" she asked, a twinkle in her eyes.
Tiffany walked out of my room a few minutes later, leaving me alone with my thoughts. I turned off the lamp next to my bed and then snuggled underneath the covers.
Of course, the first thoughts I had were of Caleb. The picture of him earlier at the beach flashed before my eyes and I shivered. How had I ever let myself get involved with a guy like that? A guy that looks like Caleb only causes trouble.

But then I remembered me promising him that I would meet him at the ice cream parlor. I had promised to meet him hours ago so he had probably already figured out that I had stood him up. What was he thinking about me now? Was he ever going to talk to me again? Probably not, but that was a good thing. Even though the sight of him was fun, his personality sucked. Well, it did this summer anyways. He stood me up for an entire school year, so I was allowed to stand him up. He deserved it anyway.

When I woke up the next morning, I felt a whole lot better. I had no idea what had come over me, but I felt renewed, refreshed. Even though Tiffany had gotten on my nerves yesterday, maybe she wouldn’t today. She was my best friend; that counted for something. I did love her.
Ten minutes later, I trudged down the stairs and smiled when I noticed the glaring sun outside. It was filtering in through the closed curtains, making staying asleep impossible. Well, not for everyone-Tiffany was still sacked out on the sofa. She had to be exhausted. Plus, she would probably have a little hangover seeing as how she had more of her fair share last night-and I’m not talking about the guys.
I walked over the fridge and got out a glass of orange juice. This was the best kind you could get in the country; at least that’s what my grandma had told me. She had told me this big long story about an old boyfriend of hers that owned an orange grove not too far from here. I had been there before; it was magical.
I put the carton back into the fridge and took a sip-delicious. I tip-toed my way to the back door and then softly opened it, not wanting to wake up the sleeping blonde on the couch.
As soon as the door was open, heat washed over me. The sun felt so good to my still half way asleep body. The rays beat down onto the back porch, making all of the plants sparkle. I sat down on the hammock that looked down the pathway to the ocean. I could see the waves crashing against the shore; see the way the sun made the blue glisten. How could one place be so beautiful?

I sighed, placed my orange juice on the ground beneath me, and then placed my arms behind my head. A slight ocean breeze swept around me causing the leaves to rustle. I could smell the ocean from here and it smelled simply amazing.
This porch held so many memories for me; ones that actually included my parents, back when they cared about me. My dad had actually proposed to my mom on this porch and my grandparents had been watching the whole thing through the blinds. The wonderful story made me smile to myself.
Even though my parents weren’t the greatest, they still loved each other like there was no tomorrow. I could imagine my parents doing a lot of things, but never anything to hurt each other. That was exactly the kind of relationship I wanted, except I would actually want to love my child.
The door opening behind me caused my eyes to open, but I didn’t move from my position; I was far too comfortable. "Morning, darling," Tiffany greeted and then let out a very manly yawn. How I wished a guy would hear that; would he still think she was perfection?
"Morning," I muttered seemingly pleasantly, still a tad annoyed at her for ruining my pleasant thoughts. Good thoughts about my parents rarely ever came and when they did, I cherished them.
"So what are we doing today?"
"You just woke up…go brush your teeth for a start…"I mumbled towards her and then looked once more out at the ocean. We didn’t get a perfect view of it, but it was enough to make me wish I was playing in the ocean blue right now.
She whined, "Can you please, please, please, be in a good mood today? You’re downing my beach vibe."
"I’m in a good mood; I’m relaxed." But I had a feeling I wouldn’t have much time to relax now that Tiffany was here. She wasn’t the type of person to just relax; she had to be doing something.
She announced, "Well, I’m going to get a new bathing suit. See you later."

It was about noon when the doorbell rang. I had just gotten dressed in my bathing suit and was about to go to the beach when the familiar ding dong echoed throughout the house. After I let out a frustrated groan, I slipped on a T-shirt and then ran down the stairs.
Who would be showing up here? Tiffany was out for the day and I hadn’t given Todd my address; just my phone number. But then something occurred to me: Caleb. He was probably showing up to trash talk me for not showing last night. Great, I thought to myself full of resentment. Now I actually regretted standing him up.
And of course, as soon as I opened the door, Caleb was standing in front of me. His mouth was pressed into a straight line and he was wearing a Florida Gators shirt over his swim trunks. It was obvious he hadn’t shaven in a while and my fingers curved into fists; I had to restrain myself from not reaching out to touch his perfect stubble.
He gave me a once over and smirked. Of course he would find amusement in my large T-shirt over my bikini. "What?" I demanded, even though I fully knew why he was here.

But his appearance just brought out the hatred in me. The rising sun enhanced all of his features; it showed just how gorgeous he truly was.
"What, were you not able to find the ice cream parlor or something? It’s right down the street!" He scolded, letting me have it full force. Good Lord, he was pissed. He didn’t even try to beat around the bush. He had only done this to me once before; last summer when I had gone under water too long and he had thought I had drowned. It had been such a stupid argument, but it had shown me how much he had cared.
"I had plans last night, had I forgotten to tell you?" I faked. I tried my hardest to look innocent and like I was telling the truth, but Caleb knew the truth. It was just how he evil he truly was. I hated how he could read me like an open book.
He ran his hands through his hair in an aggravated motion and rolled his eyes at me simultaneously. "Don’t lie to me, Nik," he seethed, using my nick name from last summer on me. Why had he had to bring that up? Just hearing that brought up so many memories.
But I forced them down; not even letting the memories pass before my eyes. I wasn’t going to soften up in front of him. "Don’t call me that," I commanded and then added, "And I’m not lying to you. Why would it matter anyways? I bet you were like an hour late."
"Actually," he pointed out angrily, "I was there early."
"Whatever," I scoffed and then tried to shut the door on him. But he was far too fast. He had his hand on the door and forced it open before I had time to yell at him. He barged into the house and then shut the door behind him.
I crossed my arms over my chest and stood against the stairwell. Just because he was in my house didn’t mean I was going to talk to him. I was just going to stand here in silence until he left.

Who did he think he was anyway? Did he really think he could invade the home of the girl he obviously regretted ever spending any time with? Well, I was going to show him that he couldn’t. He couldn’t waltz in my house like he owned the place because he didn’t. Just because he had been over here so many times last summer didn’t mean he could walk in here again. If he hadn’t noticed, I hated him. I hated him so much that it wasn’t even funny. Just the sight of him made my blood boil.
"I’m going to call the cops on you," I warned and then walked into the kitchen. The sun was filtering in through the windows, illuminating the whole room without even needing a light. It was such a pretty sight contrasted with the ugly situation at hand. Last summer, Caleb and I home alone would have equaled nothing but happiness for me. But now, all it equaled was a major headache.
He chuckled and asked doubtfully, "Call the cops on me, eh?"
I wheeled around on my right foot and realized that Caleb was closer than I had expected. His face was inches from mine and this brought back way too many happy memories for me. But I couldn’t move from the position; I was stuck way too close to him. Realizing the effect he had on me, Caleb smirked and then bent his face towards mine.
That caused me to back up and then head over towards the phone. Caleb was just about to kiss me. Caleb was just about to kiss me! The realization made my headache get so much worse and made me feel slightly dizzy. What pissed me off was that I actually wanted him to kiss me. Wait, no, I didn’t. I wasn’t ever going to want him to or let him. I was stronger than that. Or at least I could try to be stronger than that.
For the first time, I forced bad memories to come to mind. I pictured myself lying in bed, weeping my eyes out and forcing pounds and pounds of chocolate down my throat. I pictured myself sitting at the dinner table with my parents and refusing to eat because of my upset stomach. Okay, good. Now I was getting somewhere. I was starting to hate him again.

I picked up the receiver and looked at the buttons. Caleb thought I was kidding, but I really wasn’t. I was a woman on the edge. My finger pressed down the nine, but before I could press the first one, Caleb jerked it from my grasp.
"What the hell?" I yelled, pivoting around to face him. He held the phone above his head and wouldn’t give it to me. I yelled again, "Give me the damn phone or get out of my house!"
He shook his head and then stood on his tip toes so that the phone was even higher. Even this little gesture made memories flood back. But last summer, we had been kidding around and flirting. Now, I was threatening to call the cops on him. It was a total difference.
"Nikki, calm down," he instructed and then placed the phone back on the counter. He wrapped his fingers around my arms in a calming gesture, but it did absolutely nothing of the sort.
"I will once you leave," I spat at him and then jerked my arms from his grasp. "I don’t think your grandparents will like to know you’re harassing me."
He smiled and teased, "See, that’s the thing. They’ll actually be happy to know we’re spending time together."
"We’re not spending time together!" I corrected. "You’re here without my permission."
"You used to love it when I showed up by surprise," he pointed out. His mouth wasn’t smiling, but his eyes were and I hated him for it. He was bringing up last summer and he knew how mad it must have made me.
"That was then, this is now," I stated, blinking back the tears that had started to form. My day had started out so peacefully and now he was taking it away from me. I could’ve killed him if he wasn’t so much bigger than I was.
He pursed his lips in thought and then crossed his arms over his chest, making the muscles in his arms bulge. If I didn’t know how big of an ass he was, I would have totally melted. "What’s the difference?"

I wanted to say "I loved you last summer and now I just wish you would go away," but of course I couldn’t. Instead, I told him, "I was stupid last summer."
His head snapped towards me and he frowned. Even his eyes stopped sparkling. I must have hit a nerve. Good. The more pain I caused him the better because there was no way he could feel as bad as I felt over the school year. "Well, I wasn’t," he admitted, looking down at me as if that was supposed to make me forgive him.
But I didn’t forgive him; not one bit. I bit down on my lip, willing myself not to cry. Why couldn’t he just leave my house? My eyes darted around the room; I wasn’t allowing myself to look at him. Not yet. Not while I was on the verge of crying. After a second, I looked up at him and muttered, "I’d really appreciate it if you left now."
By surprise, he didn’t smile and then make some joke about my discomfort. Instead, he nodded solemnly and then walked out of the room. He didn’t say anything as he made his way out of the house and across the street. As much as I didn’t want to, I watched him through the kitchen window. If I didn’t know any better, I could have sworn I saw tears falling from his eyes. But it was probably the Florida sun playing a mean trick on me. There was no way I meant enough to Caleb to make him cry.