It's the first week of summer. I'm driving from Worcester to Braintree, Massachusetts. It's hot today, probably the hottest it has been. My clothes are sticking to my body and the AC in my car has been broken for a while now, which makes everything worse. All the windows and my car are down, "All By Yourself," by Austin Gibbs is blasting through my speakers. As I drive over the speed limit, I ignore all middle fingers, dirty looks, and honks from other cars. I'm visiting Braintree to visit my best friend, Nick. My clock reads 1:42 in the afternoon. About twenty minutes to go...
...
I drive into Nick's town and laugh to myself. I drive past the park where Nick and I shared our first kiss in the second grade, the ice cream shop where I got my period for the first time ever while I had Nick with me, the grocery store where him and I buy boxes and boxes of Twinkies and sit out front and talk about life, and all the other memories we've shared as we've watched eachother grow up.
...
I pull up into the Santino driveway. From the corner of my eye, I see something moving up and down. I focus my attention to it and see Angus jumping up and down inside the door waiting to greet me. I step out of the car and lose my balance. Rubbing my tired eyes and pushing my sunglasses to the top of my messy hair, I hear a familiar voice calling my name.
"CLAUDIA! Look how beautiful you are! Agh, you've got to stop growing up!"
"Mama Santino, I've missed you so much!" I reply as I practically run into her big bear hug.
"You should just move in here. Nicholas is so lonely here. And besides, you're practically family!" She laughs.
"Hah you know I would," I smile. She's always been the coolest adult I've had in my life, ever since the first grade.
"Where is that lazy boy? He's been sleeping all day! NIIIICHOLASSSS!"
Nick opens the porch door and steps out wearing a Tom Petty t-shirt and Harry Potter pj pants. His orange hair is sticking out in every direction and he's rubbing his eyes to avoid the bright sun.
"Goodmorning Sunshine," I say sarcastically with a huge smile on my face.
"Hey Claudia, I've missed you so much ah!" He pulls me into a hug and lifts me off the ground as he spins me in a circle. I giggle. My nose is pressed up against his shirt as I embrace his smell, cologne mixed with some smell he's always had that I can never quite put my finger on. All I know is, he smells amazing.
He steps back and flashes me a smile.
"Nicholas get her bags from the trunk, her and I have catching up to do."
"But Ma-" he cries
She scowls at him and he sighs. She puts her arm around my shoulders and leads me up the porch stairs as I look back at Nick struggling. I laugh.
