Chapter one

Summer

Our gaze met at graduation while saying farewells to a life that felt like it would never end. Her eyes had the color of brilliantly polished emeralds and the shine of clear diamonds. She had alluring auburn hair that framed her symmetric face. She was staring back at me. There was something about her that pulled me in. It was something that left me looking lost, like a puppy who had forgotten his way home. Was it how her hair glowed in the sun or how her glasses fell on her face? Was it the way she stood confidently, though surrounded by strangers? I was never sure.

She approached me, pushing people aside as she strolled towards me. I felt as if I was being hunted until she stopped in front of me. Her cheeks slowly turned rose color. “I’m Summer,” she spoke. She looked like Summer, if one could ever look like a season. I felt as if I had always known her. Her presence didn't make me feel awkward but at peace; as if I was meant to stand by her. Something about summer made me want to just talk, tell her everything about me. 

“My name is Liam,” a name I have despised since I could remember. My mother thought it was a powerful name, meaning a strong-willed warrior, but if I am anything like that, I will leave it for you to decide.

“I love that name,” she said with an enormous smile and sparkling eyes. Her lips were perfectly symmetrical, raised just slightly. Her smile exuded joy, and I found myself smiling back at her with warmness in my heart. Our eyes locked with each other, and everything else around me became muted or ceased to matter anymore. It was just Summer and I, she had to feel the same. The silence between us was not awkward as we admired each other. “There is an after graduation party today on Grove street.” She asked me out first. I was so scared she would say no, but she asked first. That was one thing I fell in love with. It was the initiative she took. 

“At Marleen’s?” I paused for a second. If there was a name I had hated more than my own, it was Marleen's. “What were her parents thinking with that name?” She laughed.

“They are stuck in their own generation,” she said while laughing and then she looked back into my eyes. I could stay there forever, lost in the green pastures of her eyes. 

“Who are you here with?” I asked more seriously now. There was a certain tension that was built as she looked into my eyes. She turned, looking around at the crowd of people that they had forgotten about. 

“My friends, but I don't see them.” As she was looking around, her dark flower printed dress waved while she turned, one hand was shielding her eyes from the sunlight. It was the dress she wore under her graduation gown, and it followed her curves. I had only just noticed while she was searching for her friends. The dress ended at her knees and perfectly fit her body, perfectly accentuating her curves to her breast where it ended strapless. 

“Come with me,” the words came out of my mouth without thinking. I wanted her with me. I was afraid that if she left, I would never see her again. She looked me in my eyes again with that smile I adored so much.

“What time?” 

“Now,” I wore a suit under my gown and I was not willing to let her slip through my fingers to something I could have prevented. She took a step towards me, twisting her hair in between her fingers, smiling at me.

“We have hours before the party.”

“I want to know you,” my heart was racing at this point. I had found myself more nervous now than when I had walked across the stage. “There is a coffee shop just down the street,” I was pointing in the wrong direction. 

“Coffee is excellent… But,” she paused for a second, she was close to me. Close enough so I could feel the warmth of her body. I looked her up and down in a way she'd see me. I wanted her to see me, to know exactly what I felt for her. “Even though I rode with my friends, I can't  find them anywhere, so I have to take a ferry home to get dressed for the party,” she said.

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“I can take you!” Speaking rapidly, I revealed my desperation. I cleared my throat and lowered my voice. Just a hint, hoping she wouldn’t notice. “If that is okay with you,” I had hoped that fixed my look of desperation and, with her beautiful smile and nod of agreement, I took her to my car, an old Malibu with gold on the bottom and a black top, not a convertible, just a terrible color choice. I never considered the considerable rust to be a third color, but she did. I kept the rust that festered my car like cancer because she liked it. 

“Such a gentleman,” she said as I opened the door for her. I gave her extra time to get in the seat, so I didn't hit her as the door shut. There was time, hours before Marleen's party, so why I felt as if I had to rush to get her home, I couldn't tell you. 

There was no silence left in the car once it started and we were on our way. She was blunt, and said what was on her mind, something I took for granted. I never had to guess what was on her mind. It was that trip I learned she had no siblings, and she surrounded herself with friends to battle the loneliness of it. Her parents were supportive of her and, for the most worrisome part, she was single and so much more.

She was playing with the decolletage of her dress, looking at me while we waited on the ferry. “You've gotten more than an earful of me, so tell me about yourself. Who am I getting myself involved with?” She turned in her seat and looked at me with that contagious smile of hers. I wanted to share everything about myself with her, but I was so afraid that she would be frightened and have no interest in me after today. I bit my lip on the inside so she wouldn't notice the anxiety building within, but she must've noticed. “It's okay if.”

“My father was abusive,” I cut her off after battling with myself. I was looking down at my lap, twiddling my fingers. She laid a hand on my shoulder.

“It's okay if you can't talk about your family. Just tell me about yourself.” That's what she thought she wanted to hear, but my life was boring. Boring to where just talking about it would suck the joy from anyone hearing about it. 

“I guess I'm still discovering myself.” Something I didn't even know until I spoke with her. I separated the version of me that was a child from the version of me that lives apart from them. I didn't know who the new “me” was. 

“That's ok, we all are. I mean, what the fuck do we do after graduation?” She shrugged her shoulders and laughed. “Colledge?” She scoffed, “I'm going, but I wish when school was over, it would be actually over.” We both laughed, but school would have been easier. 

Conversation flowed easily without stopping while the boat docked, and we drove to her place. It wasn't a long drive, and I waited in the car while she went inside. I never understood why she needed to dress, but I wonder if she only planned it when she saw me. She came out in a blue, lacey dress that tightly hugged her curves. Her hair looked as if she had just curled it, and she wore shadowy eyeliner with precise dark lines, making her eyes feel more captivating and alluring. 

I became speechless as she sat in the car. My blood began pumping through every part of my body as we just stared into each other's eyes. She moved the hairs out of my face and slowly ran her hand down past my ear, tracing my jawline. “We are going to be late,” she said, breaking the tension. 

“R-right.” I put the car in gear and we drove to the party where our lives were changed forever. The party buzzed with people drinking and smoking. We took a corner, the most quiet I could find, and we drank and spoke about our lives. I was the most open with her than I have ever been. I had felt more comfortable with her than I had with anyone and we spent hours talking, laughing about senseless things. 

She was mid laugh before she looked up, and our eyes met. There were no words needed as she reached over and grabbed my hand. The touch sent jolts of electricity through my body, causing my heart to race. The air filled with unspoken words, and the surrounding noise, the people, faded as she guided me through the house stopping in a dark bedroom where she closed the door behind her. 

I could barely see her outline as the lacey dress dropped to the floor, and she pressed her lips, her body against mine, and started taking my clothes off. As the lacy dress dropped to the floor, she pressed her lips and body against mine while I wrapped my left hand around her waist and my right hand slowly traced her spine to the back of her neck. My tongue slipped into her mouth as I steadily moved my hand from her neck to the back of her head. I pulled her hair gently. She sighed as I kissed down the front of her neck to her chest. 

In Marleen's parents' bed is where our daughter, Amelia, was conceived.