College is so strange sometimes. One minute all you want is for it to be done and for the work to stop. The other, you miss like crazy, not wanting to go back home and to have to work. Syracuse is going to be warm and boring. I'll just be cornered every three seconds with questions such as: How's the Big Apple treating you? and Are you okay? To the first I answer the same thing every time: Yes, yes, it's hectic, but I like it. And to the second I answer: Dude! It's been five years. Get over yourself and understand that I'm not a kicked puppy. The ride home is hot and long, Ivy sits next to me, almost jumping with excitment. I thought she like Columbia. I wouldn't know, we don't talk much, I go to NYU. I mean, we shared an apartment, but we barely saw each other and most of the time, she was otherwise occupied a.k.a. she had a boy's tongue in her mouth.
"Would you stop, you're stressing me out." She sits tight, but doesn't beaming like she's just learned she can meet Jim Morrisson and have his beautifully-haired babies.
"Sorry, I didn't think this would be hard for you. Are you-" I interrupt her.
"Don't you dare ask me if I'm okay." She sighs.
"- Hungry. I was going to ask if you were hungry, obviously." I nod, knowing that was a cheap escape. She turns on the radio and the Proclaimers are playing. I start to sing along, but feel weird when she stares at me. I read the sign and my hands start to shake. It's like she reads my mind because she says, "Fourteen miles, Syracuse. Home sweet home." You could say that. We continue driving and the tension seems palpable. I turn into the exit and drive to the now foreign city. I mean, I recognize everything, it's only a year since I finished high school, but it's still weird. I see old widow Rodrigez walk her dog and wave. She waves back and I drive past Merriweather. A shiver goes through me. Ivy notices, but doesn't say anything. I drop her off at her parents' place and tell her to have a good summer. We sublet the appartment for the summer, so we'll be living together again next year. I drive to my own home and park in the driveway. Mum and Dad are waiting on the porch, drinking coffee and holding each other. I smile and run into their arms. Mum is crying and Dad is all red. They hug me tight and I love this. I think my leaving brought them back closer. Thank you, Melinda. You've done it again. I carry my bags inside and they help me out. I slump down on my old bed, staring at my drawings on the ceiling. Mum pushes the door ajar and sits next to me, silent.
"We missed you, sweetie. We really did." I hug her hard and Dad comes in. He hugs us and I missed this so much.
"I love you so much." After this spur of the moment love, we seperate, kinda uncertain of what to do. "So, what I can I do to help with supper?" Mum chuckles, it's only four thirty p.m.
"Well, I was going to go to the market to get chicken, you want to come? Like old times?" I nod and shoo them out, so I can change into clothes that aren't completely stained with cheep fries and cheetos. I wear jean shorts and a gray tank top. My leather boots seem like they would ignite my legs on fire, so I put on Greek sandals. I tie my hair in a loose bun and go downstairs. I follow my mum to her car and we drive off, Dad waving us away. As if I was leaving again. We don't speak on the way there, but it's still nice. We walk over the parking lot to the market. She shows me the list and seems incertain.
"Mum, I know how to shop for food. You know, I have lived alone for a year now. I can even make more than toast. Incredible, I know." She smiles, the lines on face sharpening. Her long gray and brown hair frames her head and she looks good. Since she bought the Effert's, it's been going much better. She can finally get up after dawn and come home before it's dark out. She'll be able to retire properly. I fish the list out of the basket and decide to go look for orange juice and butter. I roam the aisles a bit, not wanting to go back to my mum, saying I couldn't find anything. I finally do find butter and when I reach the orange juice, I almost drop it. David is there. The David Petrakis. And he isn't alone. I can't believe he has a girlfriend. Unless that's a very, very friendly cousin. My throat goes dry. They grab ice cream from the giant freezer a few feet away. I turn away and take the juice. He rebounded. He's fine. He probably wasn't even sad when we broke up. For some reason, the thought that he would come back during the summer too didn't cross my mind. I just thought a doctor in the making like him was bound to stay in Boston for the summer. I was wrong. I was even more wrong to think that our breakup meant something to him. I walk in the other direction and meet up with Mum. She smiles at me, but then it dissapears when she sees my expressions.
"Why didn't you tell me David was coming home for the summer? I know you're friends with the Petrakises!" She looks down as we set our items on the cashier's rolling table thingy. I'm not sure what the name for that is. Conveyer belt, I would say.
"I didn't know how and anyway, it doesn't matter now. You know. Is he in the market? I'd like to say hello to him."
"No, you will not. He's with someone, anyway." As I say this, I feel a hand on my shoulder. I turn around to see him there, with the slut following him. She has beautiful red hair and a smile that would make Osama Ben Laden drop his guns and kiss her. "H-hy, David. I didn't know you were coming home for summer break." He looks as shy as I do. Never was quite the jock or socialite.
"Yeah, just for two weeks before January and I have an internship at a hospital." I know I'm blushing at the sound of her name. It's a pretty name too.
"January?" I have a slither of hope that this isn't her and that she really just is so girl he was giving ice cream too that became a stalker and followed him.
"Oh, yeah. This is January Rivers." She advances and smiles. She gives me her hand and I shake it against my will. "And this is Melinda Sordino." Her face lights up with reconition.
"Oh, you're Melinda Sordino." She says, with a British accent. Great, she's English too. Could she be better. Oh wait, she's a doctor! And that settles it. She's not some art major at NYU. She goes to Harvard. Stupid her. I know I've been staring for a while, but I don't care. "David told me so much about you. He's been eating my ear off." He blushes heavily and I do too. January doesn't notice. "Well, we better go. Mr. and Mrs. Petrakis are waiting for us and ice cream." He nods and they leave. God! My mother is already paying when I turn around. We finish checking out and leave. We cook the chicken when we arrive at home and eat in silence. Oh, yeah, this is the great beginning of a new summer. Just great.
Hey, this is January talking, not the person from Speak, but the author of this fanfiction. I also wrote a story about Divergent, so you can check that out if you want. Thanks for reading. Review if you desire.
