A/N: Here comes the last part of the second summer. Thanks to those who left reviews on the previous part and apologies for the fact it got equal parts sad and a sappy. I promise, this part is a little more fun ;)
(For disclaimer, etc. - see Prologue)
Chapter 6
Tuesday 27th July 1993
"I didn't really think you were gonna take to fishing," said George, smiling too much as he looked at Zoe.
"At least I tried," she said, shoving him a little as they walked along.
"That's more than I ever woulda done," Annabeth insisted, shuddering at the very idea. "Why anybody would want to handle worms and smelly old fish-"
"They don't stink when you catch 'em," Wade told her, rolling his eyes. "That's only when you leave 'em and they go bad."
"Maybe so," Annabeth said haughtily, "but catching fish just ain't what girls do."
"AB!" Zoe gasped. "Girls can do anything boys can do," she told her definitely. "We just don't have to if we don't want to," she said smartly, before Wade or George could argue with her.
They didn't even try, they just laughed. Zoe stuck her tongue out at the both of them and didn't care. There was no malice in anything they said anyway. Though Annabeth was a little too fancy for the boys and they were maybe a little too rough for her sometimes, Zoe was the link between them all. When the group of four hung out together, they seemed to find plenty to talk about and entertain themselves with.
Harley seemed a little less strict about Zoe wandering freely this year, though she was still only eleven, same as her friends. Maybe it was because Annabeth was with them so much and Harley knew such a proper girl wouldn't get into any trouble or allow Zoe to do the same. Not that Zoe ever thought George or Wade would get her into trouble either, at least nothing too bad. They just liked to have fun and most of the time they didn't go far anyway. There did always seem to be some neighbour or friend around keeping an eye on them all, and the more time Zoe spent in Bluebell, the more she appreciated the community that had come to embrace her so easily.
"Hey, Reverend Mayfair," she said as they passed by the church where he was pinning up a notice about a bake sale next week.
"Hello, kids. You all havin' fun on this fine day?"
"Yes, sir." Annabeth nodded politely. "My momma has plans to make at least two cakes and a pie for your sale next week. I'm gonna help with the decorating."
"I'm sure that'll be just lovely, Annabeth," the reverend told her with a smile before heading back inside.
"Yeah, just lovely." Wade laughed.
"What is your problem, Wade Kinsella?" Annabeth snapped at him. "I'm sure baking for charity is a lot better than going out catchin' fish all day."
"Actually, both are valid skills," said George diplomatically, "but when you think about it, a starving man would need to know how to catch a fish to live. Everybody likes cake, but nobody needs it to survive."
Wade only laughed harder at that, especially when he saw the real put-out look on AB's face. She folded her arms across her chest and flounced away, causing Zoe to stop walking so abruptly that George ran into her back.
"Why would you do that?" Zoe asked him and Wade both. "Do you know how hard it is to be your friend sometimes?"
"Hey, it ain't my fault she's such a... girl about everything," said Wade, shaking his head.
"She is a girl, Wade," Zoe reminded him, "and so am I."
"Yeah, but you're different, Zoe. You know that."
Zoe was never quite sure if her being one of the boys so much was a good thing or not. She liked it, but Annabeth didn't care for it much, which only reminded her that the other girls like Lemon looked down their noses a lot. Certainly, being torn between Wade and AB didn't thrill Zoe at all and she looked to George for help.
Heaving a great sigh, he turned to go after Annabeth, calling an apology on Wade's behalf. Zoe bit her lip when AB yelled back at him that she didn't believe Wade was sorry and she didn't want to hear it anyhow.
"He'll talk her around." Wade shrugged, shoving his hands in his pockets. "George Tucker's gonna be a lawyer someday, just like his daddy."
"I just don't like anybody getting upset." Zoe sighed.
"I'm sorry, Zoe," said Wade, nudging her shoulder. "I like Annabeth well enough, she's just... she's not like you and me and Tucker."
"She's a nice person, that makes her like us."
"Yeah, but she's also kinda like Lemon and those other girls too," said Wade, kicking a stone across the ground. "They never liked me much before anyhow, and now... well, with my dad the way he is..."
"Annabeth doesn't think less of you because of your family. She's not like that," Zoe insisted. "She's really nice to me, actually, and as much as I like hanging out with you and George, it is kind of nice to have another girl to talk to sometimes, you know?"
"I guess." Wade nodded, looking past Zoe when he realised George was waving for them to come on and catch up.
Zoe and Wade ran down the sidewalk to where George and Annabeth were standing outside of the Dixie Stop. AB still had her arms folded and wore an expression that said she was kind of mad about something yet, but at least she wasn't running off when they approached.
"I guess if I hadn't been so mean about fishing, you wouldn't have been mean about baking," she said to Wade, though she barely looked at him at all.
"I guess I wouldn't," he agreed.
It seemed nobody was actually going to use the word 'sorry' but things could be patched up from here with a little effort, Zoe thought. Reaching into her back pocket, her hand landed on the couple of dollars she had left from the money Dad gave her at the weekend.
"Who wants ice cream to celebrate everybody being friends again?" she asked, with a hopeful smile.
"So long as it's chocolate," Wade and Annabeth said at the same time, both laughing when they realised what they had done.
George heaved a sigh of relief as the four fell into step together and headed into the store. They were doing really well, Zoe thought, until Annabeth failed to look where she was going and ploughed right into an older boy coming the other way. His hands shot out to steady her before she fell on her butt and Zoe was put in mind of some old movie heroine as Annabeth made a big deal of being girly and thanking her hero.
"Well, he really is a hero," said Zoe, grinning as she recognised Lavon. "He chased off a bully last year who tried to steal my money."
"Hey, I remember you," said Lavon smiling back at her. "How you doin', Big Z?"
"I'm fine," Zoe told him. "We just came in to get ice-cream. You want some?"
"Well, that's mighty neighbourly of you, but Lavon Hayes has places to be right now. Maybe another time, alright?"
"Okay." Zoe nodded, watching him leave.
"He's just so tall," said Annabeth, staring overly much.
"People get taller when they get older." Wade rolled his eyes. "Now come on, there's ice-cream over here needs eatin'!"
.
Thursday 12th August 1993
"What's up with you today?" Wade asked Zoe as she stared into her soda, looking sad. "Somebody pee in your cornflakes?"
"Eew," said Zoe, making a face, but laughing anyway because she couldn't help it. "I don't know, it's just you guys will be going back to school on Monday."
"Don't remind me," grumbled Wade, shoving another potato chip in his mouth.
"It's bad enough that AB has to be with her family so much this week. You'll all be in school again soon and I guess I'm just going to miss having you around all the time."
"We'll miss you too, Zoe," George assured her with a smile, "but we can meet up with you after school or hang out on weekends, like last year. You're here a while longer, right?"
"For the rest of August," she agreed. "I think Dad actually likes getting me all to himself though. I am here to see him as much as anybody after all."
"It's nice that you call him Dad now," said George. "I mean, that's what he is, right?"
"I guess." Zoe shrugged. "He's a nice guy and he wants to be my dad. The guy who used to be my dad doesn't seem to care much anymore. It's weird though," she complained, pushing her plate away, sandwich and all. "I just feel kind of 'blah' today."
"Well, here's something that ought to cheer any person right up," said Wade, laughing heartily as he pointed out of the window. "Ain't that Jimmy Praboo?"
"Looks like him," George agreed, joining in the laughter.
"What happened to him?" asked Zoe, eyes going wide when she realised the boy running by had a really big hole right in the butt area of his pants, showing off his underwear to the whole world. Also, she would swear he had no eyebrows to speak of.
"I don't know and I don't care." Wade laughed some more. "He's a real bully, always pulling pranks and hurting other people. That buttface deserves everything he gets."
"Yeah, but who got him? Who would even dare?" asked George, shaking his head.
The door to the bakery opened and closed then as Lemon and Betty came in with Dr Breeland.
"It's such a horrible display, Uncle Brick," said Betty shaking her head. "I've never seen such a thing in Bluebell before."
"I'm sorry you had to see that, Betty," Dr Breeland told her. "Either of you. I'm going to have a word with that boy's parents about the things he gets up to."
"It's such a strange thing for a person to do to themselves, Daddy," said Lemon innocently.
"Well, I have to wonder if someone didn't do those things to him, Lemonade," said her father, shaking his head. "After all, didn't you tell me just the other day he had gotten into some trouble for picking on other children?"
"Did I?" asked Lemon, shaking her head. "I'm sorry, Daddy, I hardly remember."
She was smiling in such a way as she glanced over at the table where George, Wade and Zoe were sat staring, listening in on the conversation amongst the Breelands, simply because they couldn't help it. Though Zoe wasn't sure what to think, her friends clearly did.
"No way," said George, looking at Wade with wide eyes. "She didn't."
"Reckon she did," his friend replied, laughing all the harder. "You know, I heard somebody was messing with Lemon just the other day, making fun of her for being so right and proper and all. Didn't know it was Jimmy, but I wouldn't mind betting so now. See, Zoe, Lemon can be awful stuck up sometimes, but damn it, when she puts her mind to it, she can be fun too."
George admonished Wade for saying 'damn' and they started to bicker, but Zoe wasn't paying any mind at all. She had thought Lemon was far above pranks and such, but clearly, she had been wrong. Maybe there was more to that girl than met the eye. After all, she was friends with AB, she couldn't be all bad. Zoe still wasn't so sure she ever wanted to be friends with Lemon Breeland though. She would prefer to spend her time with the boys and Annabeth rather than those Breeland girls, whether that was 'right and proper' or not.
.
Monday 30th August 1993
"Summer just seems to have gone so fast this year." Zoe sighed heavily. "Doesn't it seem like the rest of the year goes so much slower?" she asked Harley.
"I sometimes think so," he agreed. "It has been a pleasure having you come stay here again, Zoe honey, and of course I'm sad you're going away again now, but you'll come back again next year, won't you?"
"Of course," she told him, smiling widely. "Bluebell is my summer place. It's practically home now."
Harley smiled so much when she said that it made Zoe all the more glad that she had said it, though she meant every word. She probably felt more at home in Alabama now than she did in New York, though it made no real sense. She had lived her whole life in the city, she ought to be more comfortable there than anywhere, but she had so few real friends and nobody who cared very much for her or anyone else, except her mom, of course. In Bluebell, everyone was so kind and nice, and she had real friends who she genuinely loved to hang out with.
"Hey, Zoe!" a voice yelled then.
"Wade Kinsella, you're going to get yourself into trouble!" she called back as he came running into view. "Didn't I make you promise not to skip school just to say goodbye to me this year?" she said as he came skidding to a halt in front of her by the porch steps.
"I never promised," he said, shaking his head. "You said I should but I didn't say anything at all."
Zoe rolled her eyes. "You are impossible to talk to sometimes."
"Yeah, but you'll miss me when you're gone," he said, grinning at her.
"Maybe," she told him, smiling back because she couldn't help it.
Harley stepped back out of the front door with the last of Zoe's bags in his hand and shook his head when he saw Wade.
"You really are bound and determined to be a scallawag, aren't you, Wade Kinsella?"
"Yes, sir," said Wade, clearly proud of the title. "C'mon, Dr Wilkes, you know I just had to say goodbye to Zoe before she left. She'd cry like the girl she is if I didn't come by."
"That's so stupid. I would not," said Zoe, though she couldn't help but laugh because she knew he was teasing her. She really was going to miss that until next summer rolled around. "Well, I guess I'm leaving... again," she said then, watching her dad check the trunk before they left.
"Yeah, but you'll be back again real soon," Wade reminded her. "Just don't go forgettin' you're one of us now, okay? You're an Alabama girl, Zoe Hart, even when you live in New York."
Zoe smiled at that, the biggest compliment he could've given her as far as she was concerned as she found enough bravery inside to let her give Wade a big hug. He held onto her for a second or two and then made a big deal of shrugging her off.
"Go on back to your big city now," he said. "Tell them fancy folks how you can climb trees and catch fish better'n all of 'em."
Zoe laughed even as she tried not to cry and Harley hurried her into the car so they could leave. Much like last year, Zoe waved to Wade through the window and he waved back until they were too far away for her to see him anymore. If it were possible, Zoe's second summer in Bluebell had been even more fun than the first.
To Be Continued...
A/N2: Look out for Summer 1994 starting next week, in the meantime, would love to know what you thought about the end of Summer 1993 :)
