Free A Summer to Remember by Jessica Gunhammer

she wasn’t going to get anything out of me without food and caffeine first.
    When we got to the pool, we weaved in and out of groups of elementary school kids and looked around for two empty chairs. By this time it was late morning, so it was already pretty packed. This pool is where most of the richer parents took their kids for play dates. Or should I say, where the richer parents had their nannies take their kids for play dates. It was one of the nicer pools in town. There were giant umbrellas for shade and a covered sand pit for the kids. It also had three different pool areas for different age groups; a small pool for toddlers, a bigger pool with a play area for elementary aged kids, and one with waterslides for the older kids. We managed to find two chairs under a giant blue umbrella, so we dragged them to the grassy area near the back fence, farthest away from all the screaming kids running around.
    “So how was it?” Lily laid her towel down on her chair and made herself comfortable.
    “It was amazing. You’ll never guess where he took me.” I sat down on my chair.
    “Where?”
    “Rooftop Terrace.” Lily flew up into a sitting position. I laughed, I didn’t even know she could move that fast.
    “Shut up! How did he even get reservations? Steven and I have been trying to get in for months, and when I say months, I mean literally months!”
    “Apparently his uncle works there so he was able to squeeze us in. Not only that, we were upgraded to a VIP dining room because one of their regulars had to cancel at the last minute.” Lily laid back down in her chair.
    “Oh my God! I am so jealous right now! You have the best boyfriend ever. Well besides Steven, of course.” Boyfriend? I guess I hadn’t really thought of calling him my boyfriend. I started to get a little giddy inside at the thought of it.
    “Of course.” I joked with her.
    “So how was it? Was it amazing?” She pried for details as usual.
    “Oh yes. The view was absolutely spectacular!”
    “I wasn’t talking about the room.” She lowered her sunglasses onto the tip of her nose and looked at me.
    “Of course you weren’t.” Lily never failed to make me laugh. “It was great. I haven’t had that much fun in a long time. Well. Except…” I thought about the bombshell Adrian dropped on me last night. I could feel a lump forming in my throat just from thinking about it.
    “Except what?” Lily was concerned. She must be able to see how upset I was even behind my bug-eyed sunglasses.
    “He’s leaving in two and a half months.”
    “Leaving? Leaving for where?” She looked at me, confused.
    “Florida,” I choked out.
    “Like vacation leaving or moving leaving?”
    “Like leaving, leaving. This might be the last few months I get to spend with him. I may never see him again after this.”
    “Oh Ava, I’m sorry.” She sat on the edge of my chair and hugged me. I didn’t realize tears were running down my cheeks.
    “I don’t understand. What’s in Florida?” I wiped the tears from my face and explained to her what he had told me the night before.
    “Okay. Well, that’s an amazing job offer. Do you really like him?”
    “I haven’t known him long, but I think I do.” I didn’t want to explain to her the stunt I tried to pull last night. When I woke up this morning I was feeling a little embarrassed about the whole thing. I should be able to control myself and not just throw myself at someone I’d just met.
    “Well, why don’t you see how things go this summer and if you still feel the same way…maybe you should go to Florida.”
    “You’re crazy! I can’t do that.” I was shocked she would even suggest such a thing.
    “Why not? I mean, I’m your best friend and I would hate to see you leave, but I think this guy is really good for you and I want you to be happy. Besides, Florida is definitely not the worst place in the world to be.”
    “I’m already enrolled to take classes at Brant in the fall and my