At the fair. Sticky hot, the kind that makes your clothes stick to you and hang heavily. They were all walking around in a tight knot, deciding what to ride.
"Ferris wheel?" Susan suggested, squinting up.
"Nope," Phil, Lil, and Angelica said together.
"Shake Rattle and Roll?" Tommy bounded up to it and got in line before anyone answered.
Now, Tim hated the rides that moved him around in circles and such. He always had. Most of the time, he and Kim would skip them and spend time trying to win stuffed animals. This time, she got in line happily without a backward glance. Tim sighed and stood behind her.
Ten minutes later, he stood right behind the exit, bent over, trying to hold on to what dignity- and lunch- he had left. He took deep shaky breaths until he felt that he stomach might be able to behave.
"I am so sorry." Kim stood in his line of sight, looking stricken. "I forgot."
He waved her away and stood up. All of his friends were looking at him with concern. "I'm fine, ya'll. What do you want to do next?"
"I was thinking the Tornado looked fun. Tim, why don't you sit this one out?" Dil suggested.
"Gladly." He walked over to a bench and watched as the rest of the group got in line. The rest of the day went pretty much the same way. Tim watched everyone go from twirling ride to spinning ride, and he sat on various benches, waiting for them to get done. The one ride he had wanted to do, the bumper cars, had been shot down by everyone as 'lame'.
"This was the best fair ever!" Tommy exclaimed, as he headed to his car. There were shouts of agreement around him as everyone got into their cars.
Kim leapt into Tim's passenger side. "Wow, I spun so much today, everything's still kinda turning. This rocked!"
Tim made a noise, not wanting to be disagreeable, and then started the car engine.
"Are you coming back with us tomorrow?"
"What?" Tim looked over at Kim. "Who's coming back?"
"Well, everyone. We figured that we would meet up after work. You know, get our fill of elephant ears and lemon shakeups before school starts back."
"I have to work late tomorrow," Tim said quietly.
"Oh." Kim looked vaguely disappointed, but she didn't say anything further. She started humming to herself and looked out the window. Tim drove her to her house. "Well, I'll, uh, call?" he suggested.
"Okay. See you later." She walked into her house quickly.
The next few days passed quickly for Tim. He was pulling double shifts at his job, so that he could get his textbooks paid for. He didn't even think about Kim until he got a late night call.
"Oh, hey," he said tiredly. "I'm sorry."
"Did you just get in?"
"Yeah. We did inventory tonight."
Kim paused for a minute. "Well, I'll call you back." He was listening to the dial tone before he realized that neither of them had said 'love you'. He was in bed before he realized that it didn't occur to him at all.
More time passed. Tim looked up and realized that not only was he leaving for school in a week, but that Kim and the rest of their friends would start back after this weekend. He went over to the phone.
"Kim," he said when she answered the phone.
"Tim? Hey, I've been meaning to call..."
"It's okay," he interrupted. "Do you have plans for tonight?"
"Everyone's going to get a movie and go over Angelica's. Meet me there?"
He sighed inaudibly. "Sure, what time?"
"Nineish. I knowyou won't be off work until then."
"Okay, see you there." He hung up, wondering why no one had thought to give him a call. Probably because they assumed that Kim would tell me, which she wouldn't except that I called.
He headed out the door, trying to not assume the worst of his friends.
"Your kids have touched me, and I'm pretty sure I've touched them too."
Everyone in the room groaned at the line. "And that's precisely not what to say when you're trying to convince parents about your character," Lil announced to the room in general.
"See, I'm assuming that he's cutting his losses by now, ya know? And it's not like we haven't seen this a hundred times. We know there's a perfectly good happy ending coming up," Dil interjected.
"I love the horrified looks on the parents' faces. 'That psycho, messing with my baby!'" Phil said in a squeaky voice.
Tim laughed quietly as he looked around the room. Everyone was scattered, snuggling on the various couches with their partners. Kim was in his arms, and was breathing quietly. Tim knew that within ten minutes, she'd be asleep if no one moved her.
"Run, Dewey, run!" Tommy said as the main character boogied down a hall.
"Wouldn't it be cool if we formed a band?" Dil asked.
"That would work if seven out of ten of us even had some musical talent," Angelica pointed out.
"Point," Dil conceded. "We could give the other ones tambourines."
"That would be a sight to see, three lead singers, and seven people with tambourines that they shook whenever they thought they should. Hey, we should totally do that for Talent Night at school this year," Phil laughed.
"Cool, but only if we can sing 'Wonderboy'," Tommy said.
"You and your Tenacious D fixation. Anyway, faculty totally wouldn't let us get away with that." Lil got up and stretched. "Anyone need something to drink?"
Everyone declined, so Lil shrugged and went into the kitchen.
Fifteen minutes later, the credits to the movie were rolling. "You guys wanna watch something else?" Angelica asked.
"Nope. I'm beat. See you guys later." Susan got up and went to get her purse. Chuck followed her out the door.
"I'm tired too. Kim, you ready?" Tim sat up slightly, forcing Kim to bend up too.
"Yeah, because I totally missed the end of the movie. 'Night, guys."
Tim said his goodbyes too and they walked out of the door. They were at the car when Kim stopped. "Oh, I forgot to ask what time we're doing breakfast Sunday!" She jogged back into the house, leaving Tom standing by the car. She came back out five minutes later, beaming. "Okay, we're going to do brunch at 10."
"Have fun." Tim got in his car and unlocked Kim's door.
"What do you mean?" Kim fastened her seat belt and turned to face Tim. "You know you're invited, right?"
No, actually, I didn't, he thought but bit back. "I have to work tomorrow."
"You always have to work! It seems like I've barely seen you this summer."
"You're working too," Tim pointed out, feeling unusually defensive.
"Tim, I quit. Back in July."
"Oh." A little shocked, Tim turned the engine and they drove down the street in silence.
"Tim?"
"Yeah?"
"We're... changing, aren't we?" Kim sounded sad when she said that, but absolutely sure.
"...yeah."
"I'm sorry." She sounded heartbroken, and Tim patted her akwardly. He almost said 'It's not you, it's me,' but he realized that wasn't entirely true. This was something that had been going on for sometime, and was bigger than both of them.
"I'll miss you," he said truthfully. 'I love you,' he added mentally. He was surprised to find that was still true.
Kim held up a shaking hand to her face. Sniffing hard, she said, "I totally didn't expect to come out here and break up with my boyfriend. Can I be totally bitter for a while and then call you like we're friends?"
"We'll still be friends, Kim," Tim said, patting her again as he pulled into her driveway.
"Yeah." She turned to slide out of the car, but then turned back. "Tim?"
"Yeah?"
"Have a good school year." She kissed him swiftly on the cheek and ran up the steps to her house.
"You too shorty," he told her as she entered the house.
September 1
Dear Kim,
I'm back in school. (Duh.) It's weird, because nothing's changed here. Even my dorm room is identical, along with the same jock roommate. Still, it's good to away from my parents.
I hope everything's going good for you at school. Senior year should rock.
Tim stopped writing for a moment, and glanced around his room. Even though school had only been in for a week, he and his roommate had made the space their own. His eyes fell on the prom picture that he and Kim had taken in May and he sighed unconsciously before turning back to his letter.
I miss you, Kim. Remember how we'd sneak out our houses to meet up, not to do anything bad, but just to explore? Everything was easier then. But, you were right- we've changed. I love you, and it hurts to think that we won't be together anymore. Maybe someday, it'll all work out, but I can't see how.
I have to go. I'm supposed to be studying for Chem 201, so I'll go and be scholarly. Behave, shorty.
Tim
Tim folded up the letter and put it in the already-addressed envelope. He took it downstairs and put in the campus mail before he could change his mind.
"Tim, you got some mail." His roommate dropped a stack of envelopes on his desk.
"Thanks, man," Tim said absently as he sorted out the pile. Bill... bill... oh... his eyes fell on an envelope with familiar writing.
Tim,
I love you too. I miss you. I wish I could say more, but I think I'll repeat what you said. Maybe someday...
Kim
PS: Behave? As if!
And that's the end of "Cruel Summer". Took me long enough, right? "Finally Seniors" is next, and no predictions when. Thanks for sticking with me!