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That Endless Summer
Chapter Three: Maybe baby, life just is.
"Cos we just wanna dance all night
live inside the spark of life"
-My Generation, American Dreams theme.
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I awoke the next morning with Luke's arms around me. It was familiar, yet I still managed to get butterflies every time it happened. Mum and Tony feigned complete innocence when it came to our sleepovers. Although I knew after looking at the clock which was flashing ten thirty at me, that there would be a note waiting on the kitchen table with information about their whereabouts today, and implications about where I had spent the night.
Rolling out of Luke's strong grip, and getting up out of bed, I stretched before standing a few moments, trying to wake myself fully. When I was satisfied, I shoved Luke not so gently, before half yelling 'wake up' in his ear. His response was a well-tuned groan before he rolled over to the other side and pulled a pillow over his ears.
Shrugging, I decided to have a quick shower and get dressed before a second attempt.
Fifteen minutes later I walked back into the room clean and dressed to find Luke still in the same position I had left him in. Now it was time for drastic action.
"Luke," I whispered, "Luke get up now. I have cold water in a bucket here, and I'm not afraid to use it."
Another groan.
Did this boy learn nothing about making me angry yesterday?
"Lucas Holden. I'm serious. Get up now, or I'm going to show everyone that adorable little photo of you when you were a kid, with that dress that you found…."
That was enough to get him rolling out of bed in fear.
"Matilda Hunter," he exclaimed "You swore you wouldn't ever bring that up again."
"I lied." I said nonchalantly, before shoving the clothes I had collected for him into his arms. "Now, quickly get ready before Cassie and Ric come over." I finished, pointing him in the direction of the bathroom.
"Woman," he muttered as he gave me a kiss on the cheek and began to walk out of the room. "you're going to be the death of me."
"Glad to hear it." I yelled down the hallway, as Luke slammed his door in response.
He was so not a good morning person.
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Luke reappeared in ten minutes washed and clean, with a unpleasant scowl on his face.
"What, no love for me this morning?" I said, pouting at him as he walked past me into the kitchen to make himself a cup of coffee.
"Oh, there's plenty of something…" he muttered as he poured steaming water into the mug, as someone began knocking on the door.
"My head. It burns." Luke said dramatically as I went to answer the door, already knowing it would be Ric and Cassie.
"Hey." I said happily, as I found them both smiles at the front door "Come in to the Holden's and Hunter's house of horror. Complete with grumpy old men and everything." I said sarcastically before leading the way to the kitchen.
"Hello sunshine." Ric said mockingly to Luke, who only looked up momentarily to glare before giving his attention right back to the coffee.
"Someone is grumpy because they got out of the right side of the best this morning." I said in a sing song voice. That was an easy hit on Luke. He'd get me back for it though.
"Not my fault someone hogged the bed last night." Luke mumbled crankily into his coffee.
"Suck it up and be a man Luke." I said sternly, before sticking my tongue out at him. "Well be in the lounge when you're ready. You better be in a good mood when you come in or else." I threatened.
"Or else what?" He scoffed, using the most energy I'd seen from him all more.
"Or else no Gilmore Girls for a month." I retorted, smirking at the sudden crestfallen look on his face.
"……..Give me ten minutes." He promised slowly, smiling at me for the first time this morning.
"And thus, the power of me." I said to Cassie as we walked into the living room.
"More like the power of Alexis Bledel and Lauren Graham." Cassie said, laughing as I pretended to sulk.
"With their fast banter and quick wit, who could resist the Gilmore Girls?" Luke said as he sauntered into the living room, perky and happy.
"You're not making the situation any better here Lucas." I said through gritted teeth.
"Of course, they've got nothing on you Nancy Drew." He said, kissing my cheek before sitting down next to me.
"Thank you." I replied happily before focusing to attention at the very clear and important matter at hand.
"This summer," I began in my professional voice, "Has got to have everything in it. Adventure, drama, romance, laughter, joy, sorrow."
"So basically it's a Mills and Boone novel?" Ric interrupted, smirking.
"And how do you know about Mills and Boone exactly?" I asked, arching one eyebrow, questioning him. That shut him up immediately.
"As I was saying. This summer is all time. It's the ultimate. We only have these last months together, because who knows where we'll be when everything begins to happen next year." I said softly, knowing that I had played the trump card, but it needed to be said.
It was the truth. We didn't know what we'd be doing next year, or where we'd be, or who we'd be with. That's why this summer had become so significant to me. Because it was monumental. At least it was for me.
The silence I had created proved that everyone was thinking about the future too. Now I just needed to cement the idea of an endless summer full of fun and games, of laughter and tears, of no boredom in their heads. That was the most important thing.
"Okay," I said loudly, interrupting their silence. "Ideas people, we need to get the ball rolling, because time is ticking away here."
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The next few hours were full of pathetic suggestions that made me want to pull out my hair in disappointment. Finally, I'd had enough.
"This is hopeless." I cried, throwing my pen down in frustration. "We've been here for hours and so far we've got camping and go-karting. And I don't even like either of those things." I said raising my voice.
"I still think a weekend at the Spa would be brilliant." Cassie chimed in, while Ric and Luke both shook their heads. "Well it would be for Maddie and I" Cassie muttered under her breath.
"Oh you mean like the Latin, Ballroom and Hip-Hop dance classes that were suggested too?" Ric asked Cassie with pretend anger. "Or the two day shopping trip to the city, on which you and she would conveniently manage to spend all of our money?" He said, gesturing between him and Luke.
"Argh this is hopeless." I cried again, standing up and angrily stomping over to the kitchen, beginning to prepare lunch for the four of us.
"Summer Bay has got to be the biggest hell hole in this world. I'm sure there are remote towns somewhere in, well, Northern Europe that are as boring as this place, but aside from that, this place takes the cake." I said angrily, my words somewhat just flowing out sporadically because of the lack of thinking process. I just needed to voice my anger.
"Can you imagine a summer in Europe?" Cassie said immediately. "Not our summer, and their winter, but their summer. How romantic could it be? How wonderful and exciting and breath taking would it be to walk down the streets of Rome, looking at sites that have been there for two millennia. And all the shops and stalls and the smell and the taste…" Cassie trailed off, content in her own blissful imaginary world.
"Europe in summer. Now that would be all time." I agreed dreamily. "With all those foreign boys and their cute foreign accents." I sighed, imagining all the things that we'd be able to do in Europe.
"Is it me, or does it appear that we've been replace by non-existant foreign males, probably with an Italian accent and a dark tan?" I heard Luke joke to Ric as they watched Cassie and I become lost in dream worlds.
"Everything is all so close in Europe. I mean, there's Spain right next to France and also right next to Austria and Germany, then there's Italy and the Chezk Republic, not to mention the UK. We'd never be stuck for ideas during summer if we lived there, we'd be able to jet off for a short shopping trip to Rome, before spending a week sun baking on the coast of Spain." I said, before I was interrupted by Luke.
"I thought the whole reason for this 'plan our entire summer' day was because you two were sick of sun baking" Luke asked somewhat accusingly.
"Well sun baking in Spain would be a completely new thing for us." I said, as Cassie nodded in agreement. "You two wouldn't be, well, let's say, jealous, of our imaginary guys, would you now?" I finished, turning his accusation on him.
"Well, you sun baking in a foreign country, it wouldn't be you I didn't trust, it would be those foreign guys. They wouldn't know what hit them, or what to do if you turned up on their beach." Luke answered, oh so very angelically.
And very lucky for him, that was the correct answer.
"Well, in the end, none of that even matters. Because guess what? There is no way in hell we'll be spending a summer in Europe. I mean, not in the next five years at least. But now that that idea is in your head, maybe we can just have a normal, no drama, very little fun, filled with boredom summer that involves spontaneity and very little planning?" Ric asked, almost pleadingly.
"No. We can't. But I do vote for a food and video break to maybe help us get some ideas." I said sternly to Ric, beginning to cut the food up I had gotten out before being distracted by dreams and fantasies of Europe.
"Well as long as it's our pick." Ric replied, pouting a little.
As soon as I nodded my head, he got up and went straight to the DVD cabinet, searching in the back for something or another. Sometimes, I swore he knew more about the DVD's we owned than I did. He often managed to pull one out I didn't have any recollection of buying or receiving.
Cassie stood up and came over to the kitchen to help me with lunch and drinks, while Luke and Ric poured over the DVD collection, occasionally pulling one out and having a silent argument about it, complete with head nodding or shaking. It was an art for them, the art of DVD picking. At times Cassie and I had marveled at how long they could spend in a video store commenting on what seemed like thousands of movies. But then again, they put up with our endless hours of sun baking, so it all seemed fair.
As Cassie and I walked over to the lounge, Cassie carrying drinks, me carrying an array of sandwiches I had created to please one and all, Ric and Luke looked as if they had finally chosen a DVD, and were busy putting it on.
They walked back to us as the title came onto the screen, which produced simultaneous groans from Cassie and I. At least I knew I'd seen this one before.
"Eta Kooram Nah Smech!" I half yelled, half mocked, as Luke pressed play.
"Shiny, just shiny. Who in the gorram 'verse..." Cassie began complaining, before Ric's hand over her mouth shut her up. He left it there momentarily, before taking it away, sure that Cassie had stopped.
But neither of us had finished yet.
I looked at Cassie and met her steady gaze, an evil gleam in her eyes.
"Earth that was could no longer sustain our numbers, we were so many." We quoted along together, in time with the movie, just long enough for Luke to hit pause, and watch he and Ric turn to glare at us, as we smirked, trying to look innocent.
There was an overwhelming silence that lasted for the whole of ten seconds before I burst out with "Well you know how Cassie and I feel about this movie. We can quote for god's sake. It's been forced upon us that much. I hate it when it's your pick." I said, pouting and crossing my arms across my chest in a very child-like manner.
"Yeah." Cassie threw in, before adopting the same stance I held.
"And yet it never deters us." Luke said to Ric, shrugging his shoulders. "There will be no quoting, or else." He said, pointing the remote between Cassie and I.
"Or else what?" I said, sitting forward, staring him in his eyes, drawing out the challenge, and tempting him to change the DVD.
"Or else, no Gilmore Girls for a month." Luke replied, smirking to himself.
Damn him, getting me back at my own game.
"Fine." I said angrily, sitting back and crossing my arms across my chest once again. "Have it your way. But don't think you two will get away with this. Just remember, it's our pick next time." I said evilly, as Ric and Luke's faces showed flashes of fear and horror, as they remembered the last time we'd been forced to watch this movie.
Oh yes. The boys weren't exactly big fans of Disney movies. And watching them sulk their way through Beauty and the Beast, especially when Cassie and I broke out into song, had been brilliant.
But they were strong. I saw Luke raise his hand, and knew we'd be subjected to it once more.
"No more quoting, or no more Gilmore Girls." He said sternly, before turning around again and pressing play.
Ugh.
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As the end credits finally rolled, I looked up to find the boys still enthralled by the screen. Some things never change; I thought to myself as they both sat back, with matching satisfied looks on their faces. I had a sneaking suspicion that Cassie and I wore matching looks on our faces too, however less happy than those the boys wore.
"Yay. End of movie. Now we can go back to planning." I said sarcastically as I stood up, taking the empty glasses and empty plates to the sink, cleaning them off before placing them into the dishwasher.
"Yay." Ric replied just as sarcastically, as he slumped back against the lounge, feeling a tad unhappy about the situation. "I still don't understand why we just can't wait it out till Christmas and New Year. There will be parties on every night, and you girls can go to those post-Christmas sales you love so much. Besides, some time soon we're all getting our results… then the Uni offers will come. And before you know it, summer will be over. I promise to you Matilda and Cassandra, that this summer will be anything but boring, even without meticulous planning. " Ric said, getting down on his knees as if he were pledging his life to us.
I sighed inwardly. Ric had a point. We'd sat around for hours today, and come up with nothing. Unless, by some miracle something happened over Christmas, we were destined to have the same kind of summer that we'd had the last two years running. Well, some of last summer had been different, but we didn't want a repeat of that.
I was more than a little disappointed, I was crushed by our lack of imagination, or by our already over active imaginations that had already allowed us to use up our infinite possibilities…
I had wanted so much for this to be a different kind of summer. To be that summer we'd always remember and smile at, if only because of the time we'd shared together, and the things we'd managed to do.
Maybe I was trying too hard to make that happen. Maybe I was forcing something that just wasn't meant to be.
Sighing again from the kitchen, I turned and nodded my head at my three best friends. I was too afraid to speak for a moment, worried about what would or wouldn't come out of my mouth. Taking a few deep breaths, I suddenly thought of something and smiled widely at them.
"Okay, but it's our turn to pick the movie, right?" I said, smirking at the crestfallen expressions on Ric and Luke's face.
Sighing in unison, they both nodded sadly, knowing they had sealed their fate long ago. I waved Cassie over before picking out the movie I had in mind. I showed it towards Cassie who clasped her hands in happiness before grinning and returning to her seat, letting me put the movie on.
As the title came up, Ric and Luke produced a similar reaction to Cassie's and my own only hours before.
"What's not to love?" I said, as Cassie quickly replied
"David Bowie…"
"… in tights…"
"… with an excellent mullet wig…"
"An epic tale…"
"with wondrous creatures…"
"and great singing…"
"and even more David Bowie." I finished as we laughed with one another, as Ric and Luke looked on, both looking quite stunned.
"Okay," Ric said eventually "We've gotta get you BOTH off the coffee, and away from those damn Gilmore Girls."
"Aww come on, we all know The Labyrinth is a complete classic. And we also all know you two are as in love with it as we are. So suck it up and watch, please, please, pretty please?" I asked, batting my eyelashes at them in an extremely juvenile attempt to get them to cave.
Luckily, these boys weren't immune to our powers.
"Fine." Luke said, throwing up his arms in defeat. "Just press play."
As I hit the button, I wondered if this would be how our summer panned out. Spending time between the beach and home, watching videos, laughing with one another, having fun. Maybe that wouldn't be so bad.
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AN: Firstly, thank you to jackandmartha, my wonderful Beta (or proof reader) for this story. Like I said, get your stories checked people, it's wonderful, they pick up on all kinds of things you miss.
This chapter was another slow one. The pace will pick up soon. I just need to pad it out to Xmas. That's when all the fun shall begin ;)
As always, read and review please.