Serena's POV
It's the end of June and I'm 3,000 miles away from campus preparing for Alex's visit. I wanted her to fly over with me, but she insisted that Abbie and I have some time alone because of all that Abbie has been through lately with her ex-boyfriend. Abbie's summer visits are an annual tradition. We usually spend the first half of summer at my place and the second half of summer at either her dad's ranch, her mom's house in Houston, or her grandmother's house in Dallas. Stability is something Abbie has never known and she says she wouldn't have it any other way.
Right now we are lying on a giant trampoline in my backyard, listening to some music from the '60s. A few hours ago, we raided the attic and found some '60s style clothes that probably belonged to my grandma or my great-aunt. I'm wearing a white peasant blouse with flare jeans and a thin headband that goes around my forehead. Abbie is dressed in a bare-midriff halter top and a long, flowing skirt. Her long hair is straight down and parted in the middle. Around her neck is a peace sign necklace and she even let me paint a daisy on her cheek. Abbie isn't very fond of anything that has to do with '60s counterculture, but since I'm her best friend and I really wanted to do a hippie-theme photo shoot, she went along with it. We must have snapped 100 pictures before retiring to the trampoline.
When a song by Bob Dylan starts playing on the radio, Abbie and I immediately stop talking. It is the perfect song for this moment.
"Come mothers and fathers throughout the land and don't criticize what you can't understand. Your sons and your daughters are beyond your command. Your old road is rapidly aging."
"When I listen to this song, I swear I can close my eyes and feel as if I am taken to a different time," I tell Abbie.
"I think it applies perfectly to this generation just as it did to young adults in the '60s," Abbie says to me. "Can you imagine the people who were our age when this song came out? They're in their 60s now. I bet you they thought they'd be young forever and now they are probably grandparents."
"We'll age just like they did," I add.
"I can't even imagine being thirty. Hell, I can't believe we're going to be seniors in three months."
"it's mind-boggling that my little brother is away at freshman orientation right now. It seems like just yesterday we were freshman," I tell her.
"And I kissed you for the first time after that frat party," Abbie says as she inches closer to me and gently kisses me on the lips. The two of us always kiss each other like this. Sometimes we feel such a close bond to each other that we can't help it. Alex knows about it, but she doesn't mind. Abbie is my best friend and we'd never be anything more. My heart completely belongs to Alex.
"You were my first kiss and I had the hugest crush on you. Then you had to go and be straight," I tease.
"I'm not exactly the straightest arrow," Abbie says as she smiles at me. "I like to think of myself as heteroflexible."
"What?" I say in disbelief.
"I think I'm in love," Abbie confesses.
"What's his name?"
"This person isn't a he," Abbie tells me.
"Abbie, I know you're in love with me, but I'm completely taken by Alex."
Abbie starts to laugh. "Get over yourself, Serena. I know I'm not gay, but lately I've realized I'm falling for Megan Cabot."
"But she's so…taken, Abbie!"
"I know she is! And I know Allegra is like a goddess, but when I'm with Megan, I feel so complete, like the way I feel when I'm with you."
"Abbie, you have to stop—" I warn her but she interrupts me.
"When I hooked up with Megan at the pool party, it was the best sex of my whole life."
"Abbie…no!"
"Rena, I can't help it," Abbie says as she covers her face with her hands.
"Megan had a free pass but it's over now. She'd never cheat on Allegra," I tell Abbie. "And let's face it, Allegra could probably kick your ass."
"Let's just drop it," she says to me. I can tell this topic of conversation is making her sad. Abbie is a beautiful girl, but she has the worst luck with relationships. She is always dating the people who don't deserve her and overlooking the ones who do.
After five minutes of awkward silence, Abbie asks the inevitable question. "How are things with you and Alex?"
"We're doing great," I tell her. "I can't wait until she gets here."
"Have you done it yet?"
"Abbie, you're my best friend. Don't you think I would have called you the moment after it happened?"
Abbie gives me a half-smile. "I'm glad she's not pressuring you. You have a good woman, Rena."
"I think I'm in love with her," I confess.
"Then do something about it," Abbie teases.
"What do you think we're doing the moment she gets here?" I joke.
My girlfriend is arriving in two days, but for right now being with my best friend is more than enough. It's our last summer before graduation, which means it's our last summer before we have to worry about starting law school and living in different states instead of sharing a room in our sorority house. Every summer I spend with Abbie is better than the last so I'm going to try to cherish every moment of the next three months; our last best summer.