Hey everyone! It has been a long time since I have been on my Fanfiction account, but I have missed writing for a very long time. I have been looking at the stories that I have posted to the account in the past, especially The Summer I Met You, and I realized that I could do a lot better and fill in a lot of plot holes so I decided to take a shot at re-writing it. I hope y'all enjoy this version, leave a review and let me know what you think :)

Chapter One

May

I had always thought of my life as normal or at least somewhat normal being raised by a single mother could be. It wasn't until I reached the age of seven that Melanie Rodriguez made me realize that my life wasn't normal. It was like any other day in the second grade until our teacher Ms. Watson made an announcement.

"Now I am sure that you are all anxious to get home," Ms. Watson said as she walked around the room with a stack of pink paper in her arms, "But I wanted remind all the girls that the Father and Daughter dance is coming up."

The boys groaned, fidgeting in their seats or with the straps of their book bags waiting for their bus number to be called. They could all care less about some stupid dance. Ms. Watson's lips curled into a small smile as she placed the flyers onto each girls' desk. She was getting closer to mine. I couldn't help but bounce in my seat. Uncle Beck and I had been practicing our dance moves all week. He had need promised that I could stand on his feet when the slow songs played.

"I want all the girls to take these handouts home with them and make sure to show their dads," She instructed, "Remember to write the date on your calendar." The teacher placed a flyer on my desk and grinned at me. I had always thought Ms. Watson was pretty and was envious of her very curly, blonde hair that bounced as she walked. She continued her way through the classroom when one voice spoke up.

"But Ms. Watson…"

"Yes, Melanie?"

"Lucy doesn't need a flyer though, does she? She doesn't even have a dad so who would go with her?" My stomach dropped as all eyes turned on me. The teacher did not seem to be fazed by Melanie's question or at least she tried not to be. Ms. Watson gave Melanie a small smile, "Now Melanie, every girl in this class is invited to the dance. I would like you to apologize to Lucy please."

Melanie grumbled an apology before grabbing her own flyer and shoving it into her backpack. That was the very first time that I realized that my life was different from everyone else's. I went home that day with the pink flyer in hand. Mom was home, surprisingly. She was usually at the hospital before I got home from school. She stood in the front of the stove, stirring whatever she had in the pot. My nose crinkled a little. I thought we had made it a rule that Uncle Beck would do all the cooking. Everyone in the family knew that Mom was more known for burning the food she tried to make.

"Hi sweetie," Mom said, turning and smiling at me. "How was school today?"

"How come everyone has a dad except for me?"

My question caught my mother so off guard that she almost dropped her ladle on the ground. She caught her composure and took a deep breath, "Who said you don't have a father?"

"Melanie Rodriguez."

"Ah. Well you do have a father if that's what you were wondering. How else would you have been born?" I cringed at my mother's statement. She had always been super open with the whole "birds and the bees" conversation so I knew how babies were made. It definitely wasn't from the magical stork that all the other kids in my class believed in. Mom's younger brother Beck had tried to get her to lay off by saying that I was "way too young" to know that kind of thing. Mom had snapped back that he was allowed to tell his children whatever he wanted whenever he got around to having them and stopped being such a fucking player. Her words, not mine.

"Yeah, but where is he?" I asked. I dropped my backpack to the ground and sat on a chair at the kitchen table.

"That is a long story, love bug," Mom sighed, turning away from me and focusing on dinner. Her shoulders slumped slightly as she focused on whatever she was stirring in the pot. In that slight moment, my mother looked so much older with the dark bags under her eyes and gray in her blonde hair. I remember Mom looking so sad and defeated in that moment.

After that, I decided to not mention my father anymore. I didn't need one. I had Mom and Uncle Beck and that was the only family that I needed. I went on with my life and was living a damn good one if you asked me.

"Can you believe that we're graduating today?" Maggie squealed, breaking me away from my thoughts. I let out a small gasp as she wrapped her arms around my torso in a giant hug. We both laughed, straightening the caps on top of our heads before falling into line with the crowd of black gowns. My best friend looped her arm so we fell into step with one another.

"We are done with high school," She shouted. A group of guys walked passed us and chuckled. "Oh please, like you aren't excited to get out of this hellhole," Maggie shouted after them.

"Maybe you should refrain from calling our high school a hellhole until after we walk across the stage," I laughed. Maggie shrugged as we walked through the entrance to the football stadium, where students were being directed every which way to the appropriate seats for the ceremony. Mr. Dobbs, the chemistry teacher, narrowed his eyes at the both of us and crossed his arms.

"Alright Ms. O'Neill, Ms. Perrin, there will be plenty of time for socializing after the graduation ceremony is over." Maggie opened her mouth, I'm sure to tell Mr. Dobbs where he could shove the gradation program he had in his hand. I gave her a warning look and hissed, "Remember, we still have to graduate, Mags." She settled for taking a deep breath as we went our separate ways towards our alphabetical seats, which were only a few away from one another. I glanced at Maggie and she winked, sticking out her tongue at me. I giggled before turning back to look at the makeshift stage that the school had put together the night before; thinking of the past four years being in high school was so surreal. It was like in a blink of an eye the entire graduating class of Santa Monica Regional High School were all moving on to the next chapter of our lives. The graduation ceremony went smoothly. Row by row identical navy blue cap and gowns getting up from white plastic chairs and shaking hands with the principal and all the teachers that have watched us grow over the past four years.

"The possibilities for us are endless now," my classmate Nora Ottoman whispered as we both made our way down the stage to return to our seats. I almost didn't hear her over all the clapping and cheering from family members and friends sitting in the football stands. The rest of the graduating class got called one by one, but the cheering and clapping next missed a beat. It went by so quickly that I blinked and saw all my friends and classmates shouting and throwing their caps in the air that I realized the ceremony was over. The students were dismissed first and I dashed off to find my mom and uncle. The California heat was sweltering and beating down on all of our heads that I took off my dark gown over my arm, making my way to the football stands.

"Lucy Liz," a male voice yelled as burly arms wrapped around my torso and lifted me up into the air. I giggled, holding my cap to make sure that it didn't fall off my head. "Put me down, Uncle Beck," I squealed as he spun me around in a circle, "You're making me dizzy!"

"You being dizzy should be the least of your worries now that you are officially a high school graduate," My uncle chuckled, setting me down on the ground. He looked so much like mom with his dark blonde hair and gray eyes that everyone always asked if we were siblings. It always made Uncle Beck feel good when people thought that he was younger. He wrapped his arms around my shoulder, hugging me close to his side, "I can't express how proud I am of you right now, Luce." Uncle Beck kissed the top of my head and chuckled, "This is going to be the best summer of your life. Now let's go find your mom." I laughed and followed him through the crowd of families and my fellow graduates. I didn't know it then, but the summer was about to take a wild turn.

Leave a review and let me know what you think of the re-write!

Love,

Owly