Chapter 5: Summer lovin'

Because he was still a teacher, and it was his duty to suck, Mr. Bryce called my parents. He called them up, unexpectedly, the day after the incident. My mom looked at me with wide eyes and then muttered goodbye to him and hung up. Then she sat me down and we had a long, stern talk about promiscuity, because he'd apparently also told her about the posters. My dad yelled, and I cried. I was hoping I never had to go back to school, knowing that I had Mr. Bryce's class first thing in the morning on monday, fun. I was not about to skip school though, no no no. I missed Jenna. If she was still around, she would've thought up a risky plan and we'd probably call the school and pretend to be my mom and get me out of math, and she'd also reward me for seducing a teacher, because that was how she rolled. But Maureen, on the other hand, gasped and sat there for a few moments, mesmerized. She also promised to hold my hand in class and sit with me to protect me from awkward moments where mine and Mr. Bryce's eyes would meet.

In the morning, when I was makeup-free in all my glory, Cora woke me up. She jumped on my bed with a thud, wearing her silky pink two-piece pajamas.
“Wakey, wakey!” She exclaimed, shaking me by my shoulders while bouncing on my bladder. The sun shone brightly through my window, and I squinted as I pushed her off of the bed. Her gaze softened and she reached over to my fluffy monkey pillow pet. When we'd seen the commercial for them, where the kids danced around with their pillows that looked like stuffed animals chiming: “It's a pillow! It's a pet! It's a pillow pet!” we'd automatically bolted to my mother and begged her for them. I'd gotten a monkey, and she'd gotten a pig, and my brothers thought they were too cool for pillow pets. Their loss. She took my pillow pet and pressed his nose against my face. She made a kissing noise, and I smiled despite my annoyance.

“Mmm, monkey kisses.” I teased, tickling her ribs. She hugged her sides, laughing loudly and ran to the doorway. She turned to face me and beamed. I heard my father and mother fighting downstairs as her smile shifted into a pout. Her shoulders slumped and she shuffled out of my room. I sighed, pushing my bangs out of my face, and stretched out on the bed. I released my clenched fists and fell back, sighing as I hit the cushion-y mattress in a thump. I got on my feet, feeling the warm June air through my open window. I closed my door and slipped into jeans and my Beatles t-shirt. I brushed my hair with Cora's brush, even though it made my hair all frizzy, because I honestly didn't care. I put on some foundation and mascara, and I didn't bother with lipgloss. I just went downstairs and waited in the kitchen for my mother to take us to school. I didn't ask why her and dad were fighting, I just took a hint that she wasn't in a good mood, and she was acting like a no-nonsense kind of gal.

I rapped on the wooden door, wishing the curtains weren't down so I could see what Mr. Bryce was doing. I wrapped my hand around the door-knob, letting my fingers linger on the metal for a few moments before I turned it slightly and peeked through a small crack between the door and the wall. The lights were off, as always, and I could see that the overhead projector was on.

“Mr. Bryce?” I called, opening the door fully. He was in his roll-y chair, facing the chalkboard. I approached him slowly, trying to get a better look at him.
“Hey, it's me, Peyton.” I said as I reached out and touched his shoulder with two long, thin fingers. He didn't budge. I placed my hand on the top of the leather chair and used all my force in my arm to turn him around to face me. When I saw his face, I pulled my hand back and shrieked.

The image still rests in my mind. That beautiful, work of art of a man, completely ruined. His face slit open in deep, bloody gashes, his eyes rolled back into his head. And a bullet inside of him, the doctors said.

“Mr. Bryce! Mr. Bryce, is that you?” I shook his shoulders quickly, kneeling before him. I rested my head on his lap, staining his pants with tears. He didn't move, he didn't even push me off. I kneeled there, clutching his fists in mine, smearing the blood from his knuckles all over my palms. And I waited for someone to come and call the police, to save him somehow, I waited for a miracle. But no one came. No one heard me. And no one had seen what happened to him. I finally shoved myself up onto my feet and ran through the halls, and out the back door of the school. In the soccer field, the girls' football team were practicing.

“Help! Help me!” I yelled, standing just outside the school. The coach stopped watching the girls and looked at me. She ran over to me, along with the co coach, while the girls bunched up in a circle, watching from afar.

“Mr. Bryce is hurt!” I grabbed the coach's hand and we ran into the school. I pulled her into his class and she held her hand to her heart when she saw him.
“Jesus Christ...” The co coach exclaimed, grabbing the phone off the wall. He punched in the number with shaky hands. The coach held her head in her hands as I waited in the doorway. And the rest I don't remember. There were flashing lights, and lots of loud voices. And there were people crying, and there was blood all over the floor. And in the back of the crowd of curious people waiting outside the school, there was a man smiling.

The week after Mr. Bryce's murder, school let out for summer.

It was a glorious day, hot and sunny like a day in the desert. We wore face paint, the whole school, and re-enacted the world cup. I was team Spain with Cam and Virginia and a bunch of kids I didn't know. And then in the middle of nowhere there was an earthquake. Not a big one, no, but a for real earthquake. I saw heat-waves mix with the quaking earth and I screamed. Virginia and Cam thought it was funny, but I was still shivering two hours later. The thought of the whole world shaking all at once made me feel nauseous. Because when someone had a house fire and their house burned down, it was scary, but not that scary. But the thought that even our entire world, the biggest and most un-explainable thing in, well, the world, could be threatened by who-knows-what, it scared the living s**t out of me. But despite that, the last day of school was a bittersweet day, full of tears and laughs, and looking around, everyone was glowing. It seemed like even the people who didn't have friends, the people who irritated us all year all seemed equal. Like for one day we could all just be nice to each other, and Quinn even smiled at me. Even though I thought I was above it all, I cried. I cried when all my friends' and I got together for a huge, tight group hug. And I cried when the last bell rang, and I watched everyone run out. I wondered what their rush was. If I could've, I would have chosen to stay in that day forever.

That summer, a lot changed. I changed. Stephen got a girlfriend, a tall blonde girl with big lips and a waist I could fit both my hands around. Her name was Katie, and she never talked to me, as if she was so much cooler then me. And also, yay yay yay, Virginia started hanging out with mine and Maureen's duo, and we become, happy day, a trio. It felt good to have two best friends, so I could depend on the other when one of them was being, honestly, bitchy. And another summer trivia fact, sadness and dead puppies, Jer also got friendly with the ladies. I always knew he would, or I wondered why he already hadn't. But it seemed that summer that suddenly all the girls saw him differently. He had at least three waiting around for him, and I no longer saw him. I no longer enjoyed those blissful half hours that he'd sit next to Maureen and I on the couch while we watched 'Phineas & Ferb', and he'd laugh too loud just to annoy us, and he'd noogie us, and I loved it, even though the noogies really hurt. Instead, every time I went over, Jer was at the pool, the mall, the movie theatre. It made me very, very jealous of those pretty almost tenth grade girls. But then, my dear bff numero uno Maureen, made my summer the best one ever and invited me to her beach house for an entire month! And Virginia was coming, and so were Jer and Cam. And she also told me that her cousins Garrett and Conor and their mom and dad would be there. It made me jittery, thinking about the long dinner table, lined with people, and we'd all be close by the end of the summer because we'd spend every day together. And I imagined swimming lots and lots, and staying up late roasting marshmellows. Though I had to dig my way through a lot of crap from my mother about abandoning my family for a whole month, I finally made my way to Maureen's beach house. Virginia was careful not to flash Jer and Cam while she climbed into the car. She wore a royal blue tank top with a high-waisted feathery white skirt. The skirt and top were seperated by a big bulky brown belt, and she wore white wedge heels. She'd never been to Maureen's house before, and when she laid eyes on Jer she glanced at me like she understood. I talked to her about him all the time, because Maureen got all fake-barfy when I mentioned my crush. I felt uncomfortable next to Virginia in plain white shorts and a turquoise tank top. Throughout the drive, we talked amongst ourselves, us three girls in the back seat and Cam and Jer in the front. Jer found a copy of the bible in the pocket on the back of the passenger seat and changed all the names of the people in it to our names to the ones that fit most. We all stopped giggling when he pronounced that I was Mary and Cam was Joseph, and we were... you know, married. But I was kind of grateful that Mary somehow had a baby without doing it because I was not very comfortable with losing my virginity to Cam. Maureen's dad was tall and awkward, with a bit of a unibrow, but he was really nice and he had good ideas for stuff to do. He was in the very front of the van, and when Jer said that Cam and I were married, he gave Cam a thumbs up, and we all laughed. Virginia glanced at me and raised her eyebrows like I was actually considering marrying him. I smacked her shoulder and grinned. Maureen began squealing: “We're here! We're here!” Halfway up the road from where we pulled in, and Virginia and I craned our necks to get a look at the house. It was huge. It was made from wood and white bricks, and there were big windows that took up whole walls, and I could see the inside was white, shiny and clean. I'd pictured it as a one story house made entirely of wood with charming antiques inside. I couldn't picture myself eating oatmeal and roasting marshmellows. That's when I saw the beach behind it, and my entire vision changed. The water was turquoise and sparkling under the hot sun, and I could see the waves lapping in and out of the shore, eating up the sand. A boys' face appeared in one of the windows, and he sat there as we all climbed out of the car and took our bags from Maureen's dad one after one. I carried my two big, black duffel bags up the front steps with Virginia, and we waited there for the rest of them. A pleasantly plump woman with a tan and tons of freckles scurried to the huge glass doors, prying them open with all her force.

“Hi! I'm Winifred, you must be Maureen's friends. I'm her aunt, her mother's sister.” She held out her hand for me. I took hers and she shook tightly. Her hair was the same as Jill's, Maureen's mom's, blonde and curly with a few white and grey hairs here and there. She looked like a bit of a wreck, but sort of effortlessly beautiful, like Jill, again. She ushered us inside, and we set our bags down in the entry-way. The boy who had been watching us gazed at us from the couch, and shuffled over to his Mom's side.

“This is Garrett, my younger son. Garrett, these are Maureen's friends.” Winifred explained. He was tanned with surfer-y brown hair with blonde highlights. His smile was cute and pinched up, and Maureen was right when she said, quote: “He's my cousin, but he's still pretty cute.” Virginia looked over at me as he raised his hand and waved. I heard a girl's loud horse-like laugh from upstairs, and two teenagers came bounding down the stairs loudly. One of them, who I assumed was Conor, was more pale then Winifred and Garrett, with brown eyebrows and blonde hair. Virginia glanced at me with wide eyes.

“Mine.” She muttered under her breath. The girl he was with was taller then him, and thin. She had big Angelina Jolie lips and I could tell she was wearing a lot of makeup, even though it was supposed to look natural. Her hair was brown and straight, to her shoulders. Her expression changed when she saw us. The boy inhaled, and he looked us up and down. He passed by me in a second but he took a few more moments to process Virginia. His loss. I shrugged.

“Conor, Tess, this is...” Winifred began, gesturing to me, and fell short. I smiled widely.

“Peyton.” I supplied, and Garrett smiled at me.

“And Virginia.” Virginia announced confidently, and Tess snorted. I shot hate-rays at her. Snobby girls were always snorting at Virginia, Maureen and I when we acted like spazzes at school.

“I'm Tessalyn. I love your skirt.” She jerked her chin at Virginia, and I stopped my hate-rays. Maybe I'd misinterpreted her snort. I processed her name. Tessalyn was a beautiful name, I decided.

“Cute, right?” Virginia automatically put on her fake-preppy face and began engaging with everyone. She did it when she was being sarcastic, but they couldn't tell. Maureen and her family came up behind us, and Winifred and Jill made sounds of Joy as they hugged eachother tightly, rocking from side to side. Maureen hugged Garrett tightly, and her eyes stopped on Tessalyn.

“What the...?” Jer trailed off, noticing her too.

“These are my rude cousins, Tess. Close your mouths and stop acting like it's such a surprise, this is my girlfriend.” Conor rolled his eyes. Virginia's fake-preppy face changed and she gave me her irritated-bitchy one instead. Jer broke out into laughter and high-fived Conor, as Cam participated in a manly-hug with Garrett. Once we'd all finished doing introductions, we stood there awkwardly.

“Go down to the beach, dear saplings. It's time for us to get our drink on.” Winifred shooed us to the stairs, and I decided then and there that I wanted her to be my mom. First, she let Conor have his girlfriend to their beach-house and was totally cool with it, and she admitted to drinking. That was the kind of woman I wanted to be. Not that I needed to be thinking about that, because I was so not ready to be a woman yet. Maureen grabbed my hand, dragging me past everyone and into a big blue bedroom. Virginia tagged along behind us. There were four beds, and we exchanged worried glances. Tessalyn came into the room, a big breathless grin on her face.

“Sup, roomies?” She teased.

It took me a minute to let the thought of Tessalyn rooming with us settle in my mind, but I got used to it pretty fast. Her bed was already un-made and there were scattered clothes on the floor around it. Maureen and Virginia were tongue-tied, so I acted like the bigger person and took the bed next to hers. Maureen settled in beside me, and Virginia in the one next to Maureen's.

“So. You're just her friends, right? Y'all don't really know the boys, do you?” She asked. She had a bit of a southern accent, and it was cute on her.

“No.” Virginia and I agreed.

“Well, summer is the season of love, right? You'll probably meet someone special around here.” She shrugged, and I wondered how long she'd been at their beach house. When Tess stripped off her top, Virginia shot me a proud smile, and scurried over to me.

“Itty-bitties.” She murmured to me, and I glanced at Tess' chest. Virginia pulled her shirt off, sticking out her much-larger b***s with pride. I broke out in hysterics, and Tess and Maureen exchanged curious glances. I'd grown a bit, so when I put on my bikini top I felt more confident in it. Tess changed into a one piece, black with a blue stripe at the top. It was strapless and it looked really good on her. Maureen wore a sailor-inspired one-piece, and I wore a white bikini with multicolour polkadots all over it. Virginia's bikini was pink with small white polkadots, and she looked like a supermodel.

“How old are you?” Tess' eyes bugged when she saw Virginia.

“13.” Virginia announced proudly, placing her hands on her hips.

“Jeez. Bras at 8 years old?” She asked, smirking. Virginia nodded like it was a good thing, but I expected Tess didn't mean it as a compliment.
“Swim-time, kids.” I remarked, and swatted Maureen. She scurried after me and we all made our way downstairs quietly. We saw that the boys were all already out on the deck, and I saw the huge pool they had, maybe a soccer field away from where the ocean started. Jer did a cannonball into the pool, and I braced myself for awkward staring as Tessalyn slid open the screen door quickly. The three boys outside the water's heads turned quickly and they gazed at Tessalyn, then at Virginia, then at Maureen, and then at me. I turned red as Jer swam to the surface, shaking some drops of water off the tips of his short hair. The awkward silence lasted for a moment, and Jer clapped once loudly, climbing out of the pool. He had muscles, I saw, but he wasn't gross and wrestler-ish. Conor was lean, and Garrett was plain scrawny. Cam had small muscles and abs that weren't very toned, unlike Conor and Jer's. I stopped drooling over four boys at once- it's a sport! And we all walked beside eachother down to the beach. The hot sand burned the bottoms of my feet, but my calluses helped me wince through it. Virginia, our entertaining city girl, screamed and jumped all the way down to the water. I caught Conor looking very intently at her derrière, and I shot him shame-rays. The kind that scolded: “Shame on you! You have a girlfriend!”

“Not a country chick, I'm guessing?” He asked.

“Nope.” I laughed. Virginia bounced around by the shore, giving us a lovely view. Maureen gazed at me and rolled her eyes, smirking. She was doing it on purpose, our s****y little Virginia. When we got closer, I slapped her arm.
“Virgil!” I scolded. It was an inside joke, between Maureen, Virginia and I. During the summer we'd taken to calling Virginia 'Virgil' when she was being bad, and it just stuck. It was pretty funny.

“Jesus christ, not that again.” She sighed, rubbing the sore spot on her shoulder where I'd smacked her. The others didn't question what was going on, they just watched curiously. Tess grabbed Conor's hand aggressively and before I knew it they were wading deeper and deeper into the water, dodging high waves. I took Virginia and Maureen both by the hand, and we walked in a line into the cold water. The surface was warm from the hot sun beams shooting down on it, but underneath was cold and gave me goosebumps. We got about waist-deep and stopped.
“Are you thinking what I'm thinking?” Virginia whispered. I cocked my head to the side in confusion and she stuck her chin out casually toward Maureen. I nodded in understanding, and we walked up behind her. In the blink of an eye, Virginia scooped our little Maureen up in her arms, and hung her by her arms. I grabbed her feet and we swung her back and forth slowly. Then, whoosh, she went flying toward where Tess and Conor were, and splash. She rose to the surface with a squeal.

“You guys!” She tried to stay angry but her laughter showed through. I gazed over my shoulder and saw Cam and Garrett grinning. Virginia leaned over, watching them out of the corner of her eye.

“Maureen's cousin liiikes you.” She taunted, and I rolled my eyes. I glanced at Garrett, and I kind of hoped he did. It always felt good to know that someone thought you were cute other then yourself. But for now, I didn't know for sure, and Virginia liked to stir up trouble.

“Bad Virgil.” I glared at her, and gestured to Cam for them to follow us. And splash, splash, splash, we walked over to where Maureen, Tess and Conor were. Virginia stood right in front of Conor, where he couldn't not see her. I ducked under the water, taking initiative for the group, and swam deep, deep, deep into the sea, and they all followed. When I rose to the surface and began doing egg-beater to catch my breath, a speed-boat stopped near me while the others caught up to me.

“You guys want to do some tubin'?” A rather hillbilly-like man said from the drivers seat. At first I thought 'ew, pedophile' but then Maureen swam up.

“Hey, Jerry!” She grinned. I gazed at her, expecting an explanation.

“This is my uncle Jerry.” She explained. I saw it now, he looked a lot like Garrett. I laughed, feeling silly for my first reaction.

“Tubing?” I asked her, and she nodded. We climbed on by the metal ladder hanging off the boat, and curled up in the white leather seats at the back of the small boat.

“Who's first?” He asked, tying the tube to the boat.

“Me!” Virginia exclaimed, throwing up her hand.
“Whoa.” I remarked, teasing her for her enthusiasm.

“I've never done it...” She pouted, but I knew I hadn't really offended her.

“Bikini, not a good idea. Mental note.” Tess told her. Virginia glanced down at her bathing suit and shrugged.

“Why?” She asked.
“Because it'll fall off, and then you'll be nude in the ocean.” Jer deadpanned.

“I know you'd like for that to happen, Jeremy, but I have some class.” She spat back.

“Some.” Tess murmured, and Virginia glared at her.

“You wanna throw down?” She taunted, and I could see that she was joking, and apparently so could everyone else. We all laughed.

“B***h, I got my lightsaber, I'm down!” Tess giggled, and they began to fake-fight, throwing punches at eachother. Conor stood up and pushed them both in the water while they were fighting, and when they rose to the surface they both looked stunned.

“We'll talk about this later, mister.” Tess narrowed her gaze, irritated but in a kidding kind of way. Virginia laughed and swam over the side of the boat and climbed back up.

“Okay, who's tubing with me?” She asked as Tess followed her up. I, being a good wing-man, nudged Conor, even though I didn't know him and he looked at me like I was weird.

“I'll go.” He volunteered, despite his confused looks. Virginia grinned, and skipped over to the back of the boat. She put one foot on the middle of the tube, reaching for Conor's hand, a risky move. I saw Tess' eyebrows raise when their hands touched, and I felt kind of guilty for nudging Conor. I shouldn't have been supporting him flirting with other girls, even if it was Virginia. Mental reminder, spank Virgil later. I told myself, and I couldn't help but smile. She jumped onto the tube in one mighty leap, pulling him right down with her. And- ouch, his face landed, splat, right between her... you know whats. We all burst out laughing, just because it was so awkward, and Virginia pushed him off.

“Perv, much?” She laughed, but she loved it deep down, I knew it. He shook it off, looking like he'd accomplished his life's desire. They lied down on their bellies next to eachother on the tube, holding the handles on the sides.

“Can you both swim well, or do we need life jackets?” Jerry asked. They both shook their heads no, and I was surprised Conor wasn't embarrassed that his dad saw him getting physical with Virginia. He just started the boat up and we started driving around in circles, getting faster and faster. Every time we did that sharp turn at the round corner of the circle, Virginia would practically fly off the tube, holding onto the handles for life. Conor would laugh at her, and she'd blush, flicking his forehead sloppily. After a few rounds for them, Jer and Tess went. Tess was a pro, and it wasn't half as fun to watch as it was for Virginia, because she didn't scream or fall off or anything. Jer was a little eccentric though, trying to stand up on the tube, he fell into the water a lot. Then Maureen, growl, forced me to go with Garrett, because her and Virginia had somehow, without speaking, gotten in cahoots in making Garrett and I fall in love. But despite the awkwardness, he wasn't shy, so he just talked to me like normal. I freaked out, though, that my top would fly off and it would be so so so so embarrassing. But no, I got lucky, and I stayed covered. Thank god. Then Cam and Maureen went, and then Jerry dropped us off and we swam back to shore. I could tell it was going to be a good summer already.

Reviews

[violet michelle]

Thanks Calypso and Jessiedoll!!!
Ily Jessica..

[J.A.N]

Virgil, ahahaha.
I like this character!
She's kind of cute, in a s****y way.
You know what I mean, right? No offence.

I can't believe Mr.Bryce is dead...
That really did happen, right?
Peyton wasn't just imaging it?
I read the last chapter as well, btw.
You always have stylish outfits for your stories, I love that.
Keep up the great writing! I love you!

[Calypso]

This seems like a good book. I will have to read more because I started in the middle and don't understand as much.