That Summer

My name is Mel, and in a few years you won't remember that. I'll become nothing more than a passing moment, leaves floating in the wind. But to one person, I'll always be a special memory, significant, and wonderful.

He and I met the summer before my senior year. My family took a two month long vacation to the beach up in Ogunquit, Maine. We stayed in a hotel a little less than a mile away from the beach. My parents acknowledged the importance of that summer by allowing me to bring a friend, and I chose my best friend Chrissie North. My parents gave us our own room, and the hotel messed up our reservations, keeping our rooms on different floors.

We met the night of the 4th of July beach celebration. I'd already been in town for a week and learned a few good places to eat, bought some cute new outfits, and called home to my boyfriend a thousand times. Chrissie was disappointed in me, but that night she saw potential in me.

We got to the fair at around seven that night. Being girls, it took us a half hour to get ready, but I looked truly perfect in my new floral print mini skirt, yellow spaghetti strapped tank top, and blue jean jacket. My hair was in soft curls, the sides pinned up, my lips dabbed in gloss. I was radiant, and so wasn't Chrissie.

Chrissie had dragged me into the water. She had run in knee deep, but I was still only ankle deep with my sandals in my hand. That's when we first saw him. Really, he saw us first.

He walked right up to me, extended his arm, and blurted out, "You wanna dance with me?"

I must have looked confused; all I could think of was his hair and how it flopped in front of his eyes. I managed to get out and "No", and two seconds later he asked me, "Well, why not?"

"'Cause I don't want to."

I pulled myself away from his gaze and walked towards Chrissie.

"Did you see how close to me he was standing?", I whispered.

"Mmhmm, I think he likes you," she teased.

I rolled my eyes. "Come on, let's go get a soda..."

But as we left, I looked back and saw him staring at me from exactly where I left him. I checked back a few times, but he just stayed there staring at me.

Later that night, Chrissie and I were by a food stand that served fries and fried dough, when that guy from earlier in the night came up to us and offered his hand.

"I'm Cole Calhoun." I stared at him in disbelief, but Chrissie took his hand.

"Hi, Cole, I'm Chrissie, and this is my friend Melly." She shook his hand vigorously, and I tore her arm away from him,

"Chrissie!"

"What?"

I ignored her question to ask my own. "Look, kid, what do you want with me?"

"I just wanted to introduced myself, and maybe ask you out. So will you go out with me?"

"No."

"No?"

"No."

"Well... Alright..."

Then he made a dash towards the ocean and started swimming. "God Damn, it's cold!" But despite his calls, he kept swimming further and further out. Chrissie pulled my arm and I dropped my fries in the trash as she dragged me to the waves.

"What are you doing?", I yelled out across the water. I laughed slightly at his stupidity, because it was freezing just standing by the ocean.

"Well...," He yelled back, his arm stretching over his head. "I'm gonna keep swimming until you agree to go out with me."

"How is that supposed to make me go out with you?"

"I'm hoping you agree before I reach Europe."

"Okay, fine, I'll go out with you!"

I laughed as I yelled.

"Sure, now that I'm going to Europe."

"No, I want to!"

"Come on, Cole!", Chrissie started yelling. "She said she'll go out with you! Just come on back."

He made to stand up and sunk back down, one of his arms flailing in the air. I ran into the ocean, a little less than knee deep and waited for him to come back up again. "Cole!", I shouted. He came up again, took a deep breath, and sunk back under. I ran in a little deeper and dove into the after. I swam fast, furiously moving myself closer and closer to the boy I'd just met. I reached him, grabbed his hand, and started pulling him back to shore. I laid him flat on the sand. The waves crashed up against us, and I lowered my mouth to his to perform mouth to mouth resuscitation. My lips touched his, and for a brief second my heart stopped.

And then he started to kiss me. His tongue tried to move itself into my mouth, but I pulled away.

"Uh! You think you're SO smart, don't you?", I screamed.

"Well, I'm no Steven Hawkins, but I'm sure Ben Affleck is feeling a little less secure."

There was a loud thud when my hand hit the sand, and an even louder exhale of exasperation. I lifted myself off the ground and power walked away from him, screaming the whole time.

"UNBELIEVABLE!"

Chrissie followed me closely, offering me her jacket, but I was much too angry to respond.

Back in the hotel room fifteen minutes later, I was peeling off my clothes, searching for a new outfit, and complaining. A lot.

"And that boy is unconscionably rude! He knows absolutely nothing about me. I could have mono, I could have a cold. I could have a boyfriend!"

"You do have a boyfriend."

"And you! What did you do? You just stood there and... what are you doing now?"

"Looking for something for you to wear. How about my black mini?"

"No, it's getting cool. And that kid.. my God."

Chrissie came from the closet with a pair of flood pants and a long sleeved white shirt. "Here. Perfect."

I smiled at her. "And my hair?"

She shrugged her shoulders. "I'll braid it."

I smiled brightly, grabbed the clothes, and went into the bathroom to change. Chrissie had managed to save the day, like she always does.

And that was the night I met Cole. We missed the fireworks, and I barely slept. But there was something magical about that night.

This is not one of my best works¼ But it's cute, right? Anyways, you can find the RP journal at Much cuter with the full affect.