Summer sucks. I don't think you quite understand me when I say that though. I hate it; the disgusting humidity that comes from living on an island, the heat that insists you do absolutely nothing or you die, the insistence of people to hang out outside in the stupidly hot sun. Up until this summer, my only reliefs were my basement (which was basically winter year round), and the water, so tantalizingly close to my house. They were my only sources of salvation from summer. That changed one day.

And that day was horrific. Not just in my usual way of bitching about heat either, oh no. It was hot. Like forty Celsius hot. Like cook the pavement hot. Like ice water is always lukewarm hot. I imagined that to be pretty close to what a day on Venus feels like. But somehow my friends still insisted on being outside, and no amount of flushed glaring, serious death threats, or bodily injury could stop them from dragging me out on to the beach, them constantly saying how my attitude was enough to cool them off without the need of water.

I took one dip in the ocean and left.

Of course I was nice enough to provide the excuse that my mom needed me to buy stuff in town. Somehow it never surprised them that I still helped out my mother even though I was living on my own, as it shouldn't. I may've been a frigid asshole but I wasn't a douchenozzle along with it. Still, you would think they would've caught on by now…

At least the stores were air conditioned. I lingered as long as I could (not actually needing to get anything) and then had started heading back towards my deliciously cool basement when a new sign caught my eye. Strange…I was quite sure there hadn't been an ice cream place there before…

"Sora's Old-Fashioned Ice Cream." I read aloud. Not much of a name, but at least it was straightforward enough. And ice cream was sounding pretty damn good at that moment. So I went in, bell above the door jingling pleasantly behind me.

The first thing I noticed was, as expected for such a place, the temperature. About as cold as my 840 square foot love buried beneath my house. Then came the ice cream flavors on the menus behind the counter (because a place this small should not have so many and such a wide variety), and finally the guy working there.

Bright, happy, and basically embodying the sun without the oppressive UV rays, he introduced himself as Sora when he welcomed me into his little parlour. So he owned and ran the place, probably made all the ice cream too. Ambitious, for someone who didn't look older than me.

"So, what can I get for you?"

I smirked, taking a seat at one of the stools lining the front counter. This place must've been an old bar or fast food joint if it still had these. "Winter, though I don't think that's physically possible, so a double scoop of…" I paused, staring at the printed writing above his head a moment longer. "Tiger Tail. In a waffle cone. Dipped in chocolate."

Sora laughed lightly at the increasing pickiness of my order, but he set to it without complaint. He had a nice laugh; went well with his smile.

"Not one for summer?" He asked easily, like making small talk with strangers was an everyday thing for him.

I shrugged in response, leaning against the counter as I relaxed. "Not really. It's weird, 'cause I live on an island, but I really can't stand the heat."

The small pout I was shot surprised me a bit, but it was made up for when the brunette dropped his most recent scoop of ice cream on to the floor. The string of expletives was just as unexpected, but somehow, that combined with his initial impression and his appearance had me genuinely laughing. The stupid, sheepish smile it got me was totally worth being dragged outside that morning.

Eventually I was given my cone, but instead of leaving immediately after I had paid for it, I stayed. Didn't really wanna go back outside, and the company was pretty good. Even Sora looked happy with my decision, though the idiot was, for some reason, trying to hide it.

We talked. Mostly insignificant things, stories that could be exchanged with strangers, but some solid stuff too. Like how Sora had left veterinary school to apprentice under an ice cream maker. Or how I was currently trying to ignore family problems my mother was practically insisting I be involved in, when they were to do with relatives I'd never met or barely remembered. Or how we'd both lived on the island our whole lives.

"Yeah, I just recently moved here from the east end. Didn't know anybody here, and I kept to myself until I found a place to set up. A few of my friends were nice enough to drive out to help me," East and West on this island were only separated by a car trip of about four or five hours. "And we managed to get everything set up here in only four days. I opened just yesterday."

I whistled at that. I'd glanced the inside of this place a couple times, and it had been a total wreck; a place for nasty teens to hang out, get high, have sex, and graffiti the shit out of the walls. One of the windows had been smashed, and there had been absolutely no furniture.

"Those are some impressive friends."

Sora laughed and nodded, moving to greet a couple more people as they entered, looking for a treat to try to banish the overriding heat from their bodies most likely. I stayed where I was, chewing slowly on the cone. The pair left as soon as they had paid.

We continued to chat until I'd finished and got up to leave. He wished me a good day; I did the same and left without looking back.

Sora's face when I showed up the next day was priceless. Then came the smile that I'd been thinking about, and I had a feeling as I sat down that the remainder of my summer was gonna suck much less than I thought it would. Heat could be very bearable, sitting in an ice cream shop.

-Sable