The Summer of '98 (Wattpad Books Edition)

Leroy

ONE MONTH LATER

My leg bounced under the table while I ate a bowl of oatmeal with so much speed that I barely tasted it. In fact, I half-expected to choke. That'd be just how my summer with the woman of my world begins, dying at the breakfast table, being found facedown in a bowl of breakfast mush that doesn't even have sugar on it because my nerves are so damn fried as it is, sugar would have made it worse.

"Where's the fire, son?" Dad wandered into the kitchen, still half-asleep, in his boxer shorts and a tank top. The alarm on the coffee machine had been blaring but the noise was nothing but a hum in the background until the world came back into focus. He switched it off and poured himself a brew.

"Ellie's plane lands in two hours."

"Ah, Miss Ellie." Dad dragged his feet until he was sitting at the table, steam rose from his mug and he inhaled, staring out of the kitchen sliding door. The morning sun reflected off the pool surface, still and flat like glass. "You sure you didn't deposit that letter in the wrong mailbox the morning after that party?"

"Dad," I groaned, same joke, different day. After I'd told Dad that I had hand delivered a letter, addressed to Ellie, in her friend's mailbox after our night together, he came up with the joke that I'd put it in the wrong mailbox. So hilarious.

"Maybe you've been talking to some other girl all month, huh?" he roared with laughter. "You'll show up at the airport and there'll be some stranger running into your arms."

It was ongoing. Every other day when he knew that I'd been on the phone with Els, he said, "How's Ellie Maybeston?" It made me laugh, but I didn't show him that. Instead, I waited until I was alone so that he didn't get a big head.

"Good morning," Mom smiled, her hair done, makeup on, and her clothes immaculate. She kissed Dad and me on the head and went to pour a coffee.

Dad's exhaustion was intensified next to Mom who was, in every sense, a morning person. That had to do with the fact that she was still working as a news anchor. Dad had retired a while ago and he'd adjusted to sleeping in. There was once a time when both were up at four a.m. But after Dad retired from coaching in the NFL, he was at home a lot more. He did the school runs. He helped with the homework and, of course, the weekend football practice in the back garden. Truth is, I knew I'd miss having breakfast together when I was off at college in a few months.

"The spare room is organized for Ellie," Mom said, coming to join us at the table. "Fresh sheets and the drawers are empty. I can't wait to meet her."

"You're acting like the boy has never had a girl around here before," Dad said as he ran a hand over his tired face.

"This is different, I know it is. She sounds like an absolute sweetheart. It's serious. Isn't it, darling?" Mom looked at me, cup in front of her chin. "It's serious. I can tell."

"I care about her a lot," I admitted.

Noah came wandering in, his dark-brown hair standing up. All he wore was a pair of boxer shorts. The conversation continued.

"See," Mom nodded. "None of his other girlfriends lasted more than a couple of weeks."

Noah scoffed from where he stood with the fridge door wide open. "Let's see how long it lasts when she's here and has to put up with him."

Noah hadn't been quiet about the fact that he thought my relationship with Ellie was a joke. He assumed that we'd lose interest in the phone calls and I'd forget about her. When I told him that she'd be spending the next seven weeks with us, he almost blew a fuse. Noah being jealous wasn't new, though. He couldn't stand it when I had girlfriends because it meant that I wasn't available to jaunt around to parties with him whenever he snapped his fingers.