Summer’s Over
It was the day of Stab-A-Thon and Charlie still had a ton of setting up to do at the old abandoned hotel they were hosting the event in. While Robbie, the social media whore that he is, was responsible for getting the word out, Charlie was responsible for a lot of the setup. He almost used the fact that he was busy as an excuse to not have to deal with Summer for another day at least. However, he decided against that chickenshit move and texted her to have her meet him at the hotel instead of at his place.
Robbie wasn’t slated to arrive at the hotel for another 30 minutes or so, which Charlie was hoping would give him enough time to get it over with. He dropped the last cardboard box on the stairs right as Summer’s old silver Dodge pulled up. He wiped the sweat off his forehead with his arm as he made his way over. “You find the place alright?” he asked as he met her at the front of her car, taking in the sight of her half-smoked cigarette, which made his stomach turn. She rolled her eyes before taking a long drag of it and flicking it to the ground. “I’m not helpless, Charlie. So what’s the big deal? You gonna go all Leatherface on me?” Charlie smiled anxiously and leaned against the hood of her car. “I figured we needed to talk, and I’m setting up for Stab-A-Thon, which is why I had you drive out here,” he motioned toward the hotel with his thumb before continuing. “Robbie will be here to help in a bit.”
Summer scrunched her nose up as Charlie brought up Robbie, but chose to ignore it. “We need to talk? That’s what people say before they dump someone. Newsflash, Charlie, you’re not my boyfriend.” She felt the heat rush to her face right as she said that. She didn’t mean to sound as heartless as she did, but she was instinctively on defense. “I know that,” Charlie replied, his voice low, “And I want it to stay that way.” Charlie cringed as he replayed the words in his head right after he said them. “What I mean is, is that this shit just isn’t fun anymore, Summer. It hasn’t been for a while, and I think you know that.” Her face softened as she saw Charlie’s similar expression. She was exhausted of playing this game that no one ever seemed to win. She let out a breath, ready to finally mention the thing that has been bugging her for weeks. “The morning after we hooked up, I knew something was different. You were completely elsewhere.” She shrugged, stuffing her hands into her front pockets. “I knew that if it wasn’t over then, it was going to be soon.” Charlie looked over at her, catching Robbie’s car down the long road in his peripheral vision, then nodded. It was that same morning that Charlie finally realized what he had to do.
“Please don’t say that it’s not me and that it’s you, or how you want us to be friends,” Summer said with a light laugh. Charlie chuckled, extremely thankful and shocked that Summer was being so civil. “Okay, then it’s definitely you, not me, and I definitely don’t want to be your friend.” Summer swatted his arm playfully before pulling down her sunglasses and gripping her door handle. “Don’t forget about me,” she whispered, allowing him one last vulnerable moment before getting in her car and driving away.
