Free Last Summer by Hailey Abbott

Kelsi said. She didn’t bother with trying to modify her tone. “Again.”
    Taryn gave her a sideways look, and then went and pulled on a T-shirt.
    “What?” Kelsi asked.
    “I didn’t say anything,” Taryn replied. “Does he have to work again?”
    “Some party,” Kelsi said. She could feel herself slumping on the bed. “It seems like Carlos’s idea of an assistant is more like a personal slave. I mean, this is Bennett’s summer vacation. You’d think he might get a weekend off every now and again.”
    Kelsi expected Taryn to agree, and thought they might rant about the unfairness of it all for a while. But Taryn was messing around with her hair in the mirror, and she didn’t seem particularly inclined toward ranting.
    “Well, that sucks for the two of you and your weekends,” Taryn said philosophically, “but that’s the job.”
    It felt a lot like a rebuke. Kelsi frowned at her friend, confused.
    “I know it’s the job,” she said.
    “Kels, every time I talk to him, he’s, like, fully incapable of containing himself,” Taryn continued, her eyes meeting Kelsi’s in the mirror. “I’m talking full-on joy. He can’t stop going on about what an amazing experience he’s having. He gets to watch Carlos work—it’s beyond Bennett’s wildest dreams.”
    Kelsi looked down. Why was Taryn saying all this like Kelsi didn’t know it?
    “I understand how cool it is that he has the job,” shemurmured, staring at the phone in her hand. She felt very young all of a sudden.
    “I’m going out,” Taryn said after a moment. When Kelsi looked up, she saw her roommate had pulled on a pair of skinny jeans. “Want to come?”
    “Where are you going?” Kelsi asked, trying to pretend her feelings weren’t hurt.
    “I don’t know,” Taryn said with a shrug. “I met some guys on the beach earlier. They said there was a party out by some freshwater lake. Are you up for it?”
    “Not today,” Kelsi said, and summoned a smile. “I think I’m going to take a nap.” And if she let herself cry a little bit into her pillow where no one would hear, who would be any the wiser?
    “Okay,” Taryn said. She walked toward the door, but stopped before walking out. “You know, he really does love this position, Kels. But it doesn’t mean he doesn’t love you.”
    “I know,” Kelsi said. But she didn’t look at Taryn. “I just wish he was coming up this weekend.”
    Taryn paused there for a moment, and it seemed like she might be about to say something, but then she set her mouth in a line and she walked away.
    Leaving Kelsi to feel even worse.
    Kelsi spent Friday night moping in her room, and then pretending to be asleep when Taryn staggered in just beforedawn. After finally drifting off, Kelsi got up feeling slightly better and wandered into the kitchen. It was lunchtime, and she figured she should eat something. She was surprised to find her sister already there.
    “I thought you’d be at the beach,” Kelsi said, walking over to inspect the Brie and leftover filet mignon sandwich Ella was making.
    “I was,” Ella said, wrinkling her tanned little nose. “But then I decided that I needed a Philly cheesesteak for lunch.”
    Kelsi eyed Ella’s plate.
    “I think that’s more Paris than Philly,” she said.
    “What can I say?” Ella asked lazily, waving a hand in the air. “I’m so Vogue I bring it to my food.”
    Kelsi smiled at that, and poured herself a glass from the pitcher of sun tea she and Taryn had made the day before. Then she settled herself across the table from Ella, and looked out the window. There were seashells and beach glass on the windowsill to catch the light, and out beyond the open screen, the fresh-cut grass and the woods. Everything was lush and green, with bees humming and the soothing sound of the surf in the distance.
    Kelsi just wished she could love her surroundings as much as she had in previous, pre-Bennett summers. Now it was as if she could only see the world through