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That Endless Summer
Chapter One: What's past is prologue.
"Starting out just like any summer
days have felt the life time love"
-Now and Then, Susanna Hoffs
Reaching over to my Ipod, I turned the volume control up and let Nirvana's 'Nevermind' fill my ears. I lay back down onto my stomach, and pulled my sunglasses over my eyes, letting the warmth of summer wash over me once again.
Sighing, I wondered if it were possible to be any boarder than this. School was over.
For good.
It had been for a while now. Well, for a month. Which is why I was now so damn bored. Weeks of endless sun baking and letting loose had come and gone. And sometimes, there were only so much of these activities one could handle.
Lying next to Cassie, while Ric and Luke sat out in the water waiting for the next good set of waves, my mind flashed back to the boredom I had felt last summer, and how different it felt to this new boredom. I was bored because there was nothing to do now. Last summer I was under the mistaken idea that I was bored with my life. How wrong I had been.
That summer changed the course of the year that had come and gone. While we don't speak of the events that occurred, we all know that we're better because of it. Together we can stand united against the evils of the world.
Or the boredom that was Summer Bay.
The bonds are yet to be broken again. But the bonds are also yet to be tested again. We all grew from that summer. Grew up, made certain decisions. We all changed.
Yet we'd managed to keep the little clique we'd come to know and love. No one could touch us in our last year of school. But this summer posed new and unanswered questions about bigger things. About our futures, our adulthood, and what lives we would lead.
While we had tried as best as possible to block out the looming threat of separation during this year. Focusing on something, anything to take out minds off it, we all knew it had to be faced one day, and that day continued to grow closer as summer arrived in full force in the bay.
We had gone back to school bruised and battered, but not broken. We had grown stronger and stronger as the months went on, talking more to one another. Trusting within ourselves, and within our relationships. For Cassie, Luke and myself, school and studying had become one of our main priorities.
Cassie worked hard in PE and Science, hoping to gain a spot in one of the best Physical Education and Psychology courses Australia had to offer in the prestigious University of New South Wales.
Luke focused on his maths, much to my horror, and had spent hours slaving away at equations and functions over the weekends. His heart was set on accounting, and no matter how hard I tried, he wouldn't change his mind. His argument was that I had enough creativeness for the both of us in our relationship.
And I couldn't fight with him there.
Torn between Art, English and Drama, I was the least certain out of the three of us about my future. For the first time in my life (last summer aside) I had no direction. Something that both excited and scared the hell out of me. Especially with Cassie and Luke so certain about their own futures.
Ric stuck out school because we were there. He spent lots of time in woodwork and metalwork, and at the TAFE link courses offered in car maintenance and repairs. And while he applied to University, we all knew that it was the last place he wanted to be.
Together we worked our way thought the highs and the (many) lows that came with year twelve. Assignments seemed to multiple each week, as soon as you finished one, there were two more sitting there, just waiting to be started. Second term was the worst of them all, but as each of us became ready to throw in the towel and give up, another would step in, offer support and help us out of the car wreck we'd managed to get ourselves into.
That was just how we dealt with everything.
Eighteenth birthdays became minimal celebrations, as we all opted for dinner with the family rather that massive parties full of people we either didn't know or didn't really like.
But the two most exciting events of the year came with Martha and Jack.
They had a lovely autumn ceremony on the beach, their closest friends and family in attendance. As with all beach weddings, the bride looked stunning in a knee length white peasant dress, her hair blowing with the slight wind that was on us. The groom had chosen cream trousers and an open collared white shirt.
Together they radiated love and trust, and as I watched on, I knew that together they could take on the world. There is a hint of a bump in those photos that grew and grew as the months progressed, until crappy August rolled along.
Right in the middle of trials, major works and major performance's, Isabella Maria Holden announced herself into the world, kicking and screaming, but winning everyone's hearts, as only Jack and Martha's child could. August 17th, 2007. That's when the most spoiled (in a good way) child was born into the world. A playmate for Robbie and Tasha's beautiful boy Matthew, a granddaughter for Tony, a niece for Luke, and another child for Mum, Sally, Cassie and I to faun over.
She almost made crappy August just plain August.
Almost, but nothing could completely take away the pain that month caused, with hand aches from writing, and headaches from too much studying and not enough sleep.
Then came the dreaded holidays. On the other side of these lay the exams that would decide our lives. So we studied. In the house. In the park. On the beach. In the diner. Together, we crammed as much knowledge into our minds. We actually tried.
On reflection, I can't actually remember the month that followed. There are bits and pieces in my head, but not full hours, nor full days. Just aspects of one exam, or the feeling of utter joy the moment you wanted out of another, able to tick it off your list.
The month after the exams is just as blurred. A month of endless celebration, or formal's and parties, or drunken moments, stolen moments between couples, between friends. Moments that had been pushed aside during the last months when you simply focused on yourself.
The formal was a night to remember. Mum and Sally made us pose for what seemed like thousands of photos before they almost began to cry. Thankfully, Tony had shoved us out the door only moments before, telling us to behave and have a good time.
Cassie and I looked stunning. Selecting the more semi-formal approach, we'd scouted around almost every shop on offer here in Summer Bay and Yabbie Creek before finding them.
The perfect dress.
For each of us.
Cassie looked elegant yet classy in pale yellow, her hair swept off her face, her slim legs looking even longer where the halter dress ended at her knees. She had chosen simple thongs instead of strappy heels, which completed her simple, yet stunning look.
My black shoestring strap dress fell to mid-thigh, soft layers of silk and chiffon flowed with each step I took. My small black heels added a few centimeters to my height, while my hair flowed to the middle of my back in soft curls. I had chosen the more seductive, sultry look. And pulled it off with style.
The boys looked equally as gorgeous in the tuxedos. Ric had chosen a plain black suit with a dark shirt and pale yellow tie to match Cassie's dress, while Luke had found a black pinstripe suit, which he wore with an open collard white shirt, no tie.
Together, we'd have stolen the show had we tried. But mostly, we only cared about letting out hair down and having fun, because it'd been so long since we'd done that.
I don't even remember laughing as much as we had that night. Eventually we'd wound up on the stretch of beach about one hundred meters down from our house, with alcohol and a bonfire. With Luke's jacket around my shoulder, I'd cuddled into him as we each took turns telling stories about anything that came into our heads.
About when we first met. Or our first memory of Summer Bay. Our first feelings about living here, or how we managed to end up just like this. Or about whom we'd forget at school. Who we'd always remember. What we'd always remember about our final years in the educational system. What we couldn't wait to forget about school.
We just told truths, about our pasts, our futures, or our here and now's. And as the sun rose on the horizon, with all the reds, oranges and yellows merging into the fading dark blue sky, I began to feel a certain type of heat on my face. Shutting my eyes tight, soaking in the rays, I remember thinking that morning, of only one thing.
Summer. It was coming in full force.
Together we'd slowly ambled back to our house that morning, and just crashed into bed. Months and months of continuous work finally catching up with us. None of us emerged for longer than half an hour in the next twenty-four. We just slept. Slept off everything that had happened in the past year.
Finally came graduation. With the tears and the joy and the bone crushing hugs from Mum and Tony. And even more posing for thousands of more photos once again. Then even more crying from Mum. Like it was the end of the world. Her baby was done with school. What would she do now?
It was weird. I had spent so many hours thinking about what would come after this moment, but not actually thinking about this moment. Where everything really begins to change. Right about where I begin to have a little freak out in my head.
Nothing is the same now. Or will be the same at least. We can pretend for a while that we'll stay the same, that there will be structure, that the constitution that I've spent the last thirteen years hating will suddenly not be there. And that I'd actually be lost without it.
Because when there is no stable constitution, there is even less certainty about life, and about us staying together.
And we could only avoid that small fact for so long, before it came back to haunt us.
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AN: The sequel has arrived. That was just explaining the year that was. I left some things hanging in the last chapters, and that sort of brought them together. We needed to know what happened in their last year. It's going to effect them in the future. It was short, but there will be more soon. Hope you enjoyed it, remember to please read and review.