Boys of Summer 21-25

Melanie Ezell

New Kids on the Block got a bunch of hits,
Chinese food makes me sick,
And I think it's fly when girls get fine for the summer,
For the summer,
I like girls who wear Abercrombie and Fitch,
I'd take her if I had one wish,
But she's been gone since that summer,
Since that summer.

LFO- Summer Girls

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21.

Cassie woke up with her alarm clock and rolled out of bed, slipping her feet into fuzzy white bunny slippers before beginning the walk across the floor to the door. She glanced around sleepily at her room, admiring her canopy bed and vanity before heading for the bathroom to take a shower.

As she bathed away her dreariness, she considered what she wanted to do that day. Cheerleading tryouts meant she needed to start practicing her dance steps, and supposedly Eric Idle was going to be teaching biology at her school this year, along with some kind of special herpetology class.

Stepping out of the bathroom, she found the hallway flooded- how annoying!- and she was forced to take her canoe downstairs to breakfast, where her Mom and Dad were already awake and eating green eggs and ham with her Uncle Richard.

“Good morning, sweetie!”

“Morning Dad!”

“Good morning, baby.” Ruby rose from her seat and gave her daughter a hug, then Richard passed her the orange juice.

“A little late getting ready for your date today, aren’t we?”

“Huh? What date?” Cassie asked.

“Well, isn’t Avery picking you up for the dance this morning?”

She had forgot! And after setting up the entire thing with Geri, Melanie and Victoria, too!

“Oh, no! I have to hurry!”

“No need to panic!” Emily crowed as she came around the corner, carrying the most beautiful, shimmering dress Cassie had ever seen, in a scintillating pattern that reminded her of fish scales- with matching shoes! “Come on, he’ll be here any minute!”

Together the two of them dashed about, getting Cassie ready for her big dance, and when they were almost ready Kayla came in to help with her hair and makeup, wearing a black bikini.

At last, Cassie descended the stairs to see Avery in his basketball uniform, with her mom taking pictures as she melted into his arms, and he lowered his lips to hers-

~~~

“NOOOO!!!” Cassie shot up from her bunk before braining herself on a low roof beam. “Oww! Damn you, Kayla!”

The only response she received from the focus of her curses was a grumble followed by a soft snore.

---

22.

The weather had managed to clear up a good deal over night, and that morning Cassie decided would be the perfect time to ask her uncle about visiting the Cliff of Death. It didn’t take her long to get cleaned up and ready, and over a breakfast of toast and wild mushrooms she popped the question.

“Uncle Richard?”

“Yumgrnfl.”

Interpreting his mumbling as “yes, what?” She decided to press on. “I was wondering if we could go up to the Cliff today?”

Richard swallowed roughly, pausing before answering. “Well, I suppose I could make time in my busy schedule of relaxing to head up there-“

“Yes!”

“-and make sure everything’s okay for later this week.”

“Aww.” Cassie pouted. “But if it’s ready can’t we go up today and climb?”

Her uncle stifled a laugh. “I think not. One, it’s too slippery today, and I’ve got a lot of testing and replacing to do before I’ll feel safe lettin’ any of you even near that place. Two, we let ya’ll relax yesterday but there’s still a lot of work to do around the cabin.” Cassie shuddered at the idea of having to help dig a new drainage line for the toilet- again. “And lastly, I don’t know if you’ll wanna do a lot of climbing with all your recent, ah… changes.”

“Changes?” Richard gestured to her chest. “Oh. OH! Yeah, I guess that might be a bit, um, uncomfortable.” She recalled the harnesses from previous camping trips, and tried to imagine how much more painful they might feel when combined with the constriction from her ‘gaffe-thing’, and couldn’t hold back a wince, which her uncle returned in sympathy.

Richard took another bite of the mushrooms he had spent the previous day hunting down before continuing. “Not to mention if something were to catch and,” he scooted closer to her and in a whisper added, “rip off.”

She could feel the color drain from her face. “Yeegh.”

He just nodded. It suddenly occurred to Cassie that just maybe her uncle knew more about her mom’s preparations for this trip than she had thought.

She felt him chuckle as he patted her back in reassurance. “Don’t worry. I’ll head up today and check things out, see what needs to be done and all that. Maybe the day after tomorrow things’ll be dry enough to go up.”

Cassie smiled and nodded her head, but with a green expression on her face. Suddenly rock climbing had lost all its attractiveness, and been replaced by a hollow dread.

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23.

The clear air that morning was inspiration for another round of swimming, and while she had reservations Cassie decided it was better to get in the water again right away rather than torture herself for days before getting in again. After only a few moments- and a handful of threats from Kayla and Emily- she was able to ignore her fears and have fun, and by the end of an hour she was laughing just as much as she had been prior to the incident the day before.

She was having trouble believing it was already the fifth day of their trip. They had just arrived, and already things were a quarter of the way over- it always got to her at one point or another, but she was surprised it had come so soon this trip. Her distraction did not go unnoticed by the rest of the group.

“Hey, ev’rything alright?” Eric asked as he approached her, carefully and slowly as all the boys had been doing.

Cassie broke herself from her thoughts, and smiled at the look of concern on the boy’s face. “Yeah, things’re great. I was just thinking about how we’ve only got another two weeks out here before we have to go back.” She sighed.

Eric gave her a lopsided grin. “You really DO love it out here, don’t you?”

“If I could, I’d live out here all the time,” she agreed, taking a moment to gaze at the trees and wilderness around them. Then she laughed. “Well, maybe not ALL the time- the nearest movie theater’s at least three hours drive away, and don’t even ASK about decent Chinese takeout.”

Eric laughed with her, and her reverie broken she rejoined the rest of the group as they climbed out of the water for lunch.

They had a quick snack of potted meat sandwiches and mountain dews (Cassie cringed at the spread on her sandwich, ‘cat food’ by any other name…), and afterwards Kayla and Emily decided to drag her off for some sunbathing while Jobe grabbed both David and Eric and took the flat bottomed boat upstream ‘crawdad huntin’’. Eric was excited while David tried to act indifferent, though the slightly off look in his eyes told that his feeling about crayfish were probably similar to those of his sister.

As soon as the flat bottomed boat made the turn around the bend up the river and out of sight, Emily turned to Cassie and grinned wickedly. “My little brother likes you, my little brother likes you,” she chanted in sing-song.

Cassie steamed. “No he doesn’t! Come on!” The prissy look was back on Emily’s face, and a retort was on her lips, but Cassie knew exactly what to say to put her back in her place. “Do you want me to tell Jobe you have a crush on HIM?”

“WHAT! Eww!” Emily screeched. “You wouldn’t!”

“Then don’t pick on me about your brother. And YOU,” she said, turning on her sister, who was chuckling gleefully on her other side, “not another word about Avery, or Eric, or David or boys of any kind or you’ll wake up in the morning with nothing to wear but the clothes you slept in, so help me!” Now both of the other girls on either side of her were laughing, and she felt an irrepressible smile growing on her own face. “I’m serious you guys, please?” She got out right before breaking down into her own giggles.

“Oh, all right,” Kayla agreed after regaining control of herself. “But on one condition.”

“What?”

“Nope! Not gonna tell, you have to agree before I’ll let you know!” Kayla said solemnly.

“That’s not fair!”

“Nope, but it’s just the way things are, miss clothes-snatcher. We never did find my underwear after the last time you pulled that little stunt.” Cassie contemplated digging the bucket out of the attic where she had hidden it, but decided against it. Besides, Kayla had been twelve at the time, who knows what had gotten into them since then? Though…

“I could fetch them now if you want?”

“Oh, god, no!”

---

24.

“You made the right choice, little sister.”

“Yeah, well I’m still not sure I agree with you on that.”

“Oh, hush and enjoy yourself.”

The agreement had been horrible. Cassie debated with herself whether not being tormented about boys- if that were possible to begin with- was really worth the pain of this, this, TRAVESTY against her manhood. ‘Hold the phone, I’m sitting here with boobs and wearing panties. Screw that.’ She shrugged.

“You’ll have to redo my left foot, you smeared the polish.”

“Well, sor- RY, your Highness.” Cassie stared downwards at where her own left foot was currently sitting in her mom’s lap as she painted the nails a bright seafoam green. Manicures and pedicures went against the very fabric of what camping was about, but it was a price agreed upon by both Kayla and Emily for their relationship cease- fire, and even her mom had agreed it would be a ‘fun experience’ for her.

Not that she had to admit it.

Kayla plopped her own foot back in Cassie’s lap before handing her the bottle of solvent and a hand full of cotton swabs. With a ‘harrumph’ Cassie set about cleaning off the offending toes before placing more cotton swabs in between them. Retrieving the bottle of ‘Love-me-not Lavender’ from Emily’s collection, she got down to the work of repairing her work on her sister’s foot.

“Gentle strokes, and remember, not too much polish or-“

“’Kay, I got it!” Cassie grimaced, and bit down on her tongue as she concentrated on getting a smooth coat.

“This foot’s done, raise your other one. Same color?”

“No, pink!” Emily yelled from where she was performing the same action on Ruby’s feet.

“Not on your life! I guess keep the green.”

“It’s not green, it’s sea-“

“-foam. SORRY, keep the ‘sea foam,’ then.” Cassie shifted her feet before returning her attention to the toes before her. “God, Kayla, when’s the last time you cleaned between your toes?”

“Quiet, you. You know you’re loving this.”

“Whatever.”

“I love you too.”

The girls went silent for several minutes as they all concentrated on doing their best with their charges. ‘I guess the worst is over,’ Cassie thought to herself as she let herself relax and get on with the job before her.

“So what’s this I heard from Kayla about you having a crush on your friend Avery?”

“Mo-om!” Cassie tried to object, but her complaints were drowned out by the uproar and guffaws from the girls around her. And now she had to start over on her sister’s foot again, too.

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25.

Richard had agreed to cook the boys’ catch of crayfish for dinner provided they stayed to learn how to do it, and Cassie was more than happy she wasn’t in their group for that particular lesson. The first time he had cooked the things when they were camping, she had thought she liked the Cajun spices, and was excited about the warm spicy smell arising from the carrots and potatoes, at least until they added the ‘mudbugs.’ Whether the screaming sound was them or just the steam escaping their shells, she didn’t care- she hated the taste, she hated the smell, and she definitely hated cooking the things alive.

Kayla and Ruby stayed inside to help fix the sides, but knowing Cassie’s feelings on the creatures the entire family agreed to let her sit outside to avoid the smells. It was a warm night, with the crickets and frogs singing from the trees all around, and a full moon giving plenty of light for Cassie to take a short walk down the shoreline.

“Mind if I join you?”

Emily was at Cassie’s side before she could turn to see her, and Cassie was more than happy for the company. “Couldn’t stand the smell either, huh?”

“Ugh! The smell was bad, but watching your uncle suck the heads- god, I thought I was gonna be sick!”

Cassie laughed. “And THAT is why I came out for a walk.”

Emily nodded in agreement. “Your mom said we could have some of the carrots and potatoes later, but they were cooked with those things so I’ll probably just have a pee bee and jay sandwich, IF I eat anything.”

“Mom and Kayla like them, and so does Jobe. Uncle Richard’s crazy about ‘em, I swear if he could eat ‘em every day while we were out here he would, but lucky for us Mom put a stop to that after even her and Kayla got sick from the stench one year.” Spotting the rocky stretch of shoreline she was looking for, Cassie bent down to find a good skipping stone. “What about your brothers?”

Emily stuck her tongue out in disgust. “Ack, they were doing just like your uncle and cousin. They at least taste better, right?” Cassie glanced up and shook her head in the negative. “Eww.”

“Tell me about it.” Finally finding a good skipping stone, Cassie took careful aim from her crouched position and made her toss. One… two… three… splash. “And the worst part is the cabin’s gonna smell like that for another day or so at least too.” She located another stone and stood up for her next shot. “It’s pretty clear tonight- maybe Mom will let me come out in a tent to get away from the cabin?”

Emily sat down on the rocks next to her. “If she does, I’m joining you.”

Cassie took her second shot. One… two… three… four… five… the stone bounced off a high rock in the water before making a satisfying ‘plunk’ sound on the other side. Their silence was golden, as both girls simply sat and listened to the sound of the water and the woods around them.

“Cassie?”

“Yeah?”

Emily shuffled across the rocks until she was right next to Cassie. “Why do you get so nervous when we talked about guys?”

Cassie shrugged, a little nervous now. “I dunno. I, I guess I’m just not interested in guys like that right now.” She wasn’t sure if she liked where this was going. “Why’s it so important to you and Kayla?”

Settling down again on the large flat sandstone block Cassie was using as a seat, Emily sighed. “It’s just one of those things. Well, like I said before,” Emily paused.

Cassie turned to her, wanting an explanation. “What?”

Emily stared at her feet. “If you like girls, that’s okay too.”

Cassie blushed for a moment, before realizing she was being set up for getting teased again. Standing up, she stomped off angrily. “I thought the whole ‘pedicure’ thing was supposed to mean ya’ll were gonna leave me alone about relationship stuff?” She thought, ‘the guys at school give me crap ‘cause I’m small, what’s this about huh?’

“I’m sorry, I’m sorry! It’s just-“ Emily stood up herself, and began pacing around. Cassie crossed her arms and tapped her foot impatiently on the pebbles, waiting for an answer.

“Well?”

“Shit!” Emily turned to her, and approached quickly.

Cassie wasn’t sure what she had been expecting, but it most definitely wasn’t for the other girl to pull her to her and bend down, kissing her lips passionately. Cassie’s first reaction was to pull away, but her brain stopped her. Here she was, standing under the light of a full moon, with a cute girl holding her close and she wanted to get away?

Not really.

Wrapping her own arms around Emily’s neck, Cassie leaned into the taller girl and closed her eyes, enjoying the sensation of their bodies pressed together.

Whether they had kissed for a few seconds or hours, Cassie wasn’t sure, but Emily’s pulling away inevitably seemed to happen too soon. Cassie opened her eyes lazily, and with a smile on her face looked up into Emily’s-

To see her crying.

A sob escaped Emily’s lips as she jerked away from Cassie as though she were burning, and ran as hard as she could for the cabin, leaving Cassie feeling incredibly frustrated and wondering, ‘what the hell is going on, and what am I gonna do now?’

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