Allora

Summer Heat

I have been dreaming of this summer ever since the first day of senior year, but this scorching Texas heat is killing me. I can't smell the lavender perfume I used this morning even for the name, instead I'm stinking. Who in the netherworld would decide to take their bike during this heat? Well, when you have a best friend like mine, just say goodbye to rational thinking.

"Lora, you are moving like a turtle. Just speed up."

I'm panting like a dog right now riding my bike to a hill. I stopped when I reached the top. No way this is ridiculous.

" Danny , when I told you to make our summer the most adventurous one ever I didn't mean this" I said pointing to my bike.

"Girl, bike riding is good for health, plus we just saved fuel and went eco-friendly."

" Jesus Danny, we've been riding non-stop for the past forty-five minutes, where the hell are you taking me". I'm so tired, all I want is to rest somewhere.

"Just relax, Lora. I promise this will be worth the pain."

We continued cycling for the next ten minutes until we came near the woods.

" We are here" Danny yelled, getting off the bike. I parked my bike near her bike and followed her into the woods.

" Do you have any plans to kill me Danny? Because you know that I'll drag you to hell with me"

" Of course we are going to hell, Lora darling, but let's take a glimpse of paradise first. Tadaaaaa...."

I really don't know what to say because of the view in front of me I just...

"I can tell from that dumbass expression that you are awestruck" she wiggled her eyebrows with her signature smirk.

" How did you find this place ? " I still can't believe I haven't heard of this before because me and Danny's hobbies consist of random adventures.

"My i***t of a brother told me about this place last night. Derek and his friend spend their senior summer here. This is a private property and not everyone knows about this paradise's existence."

She took her summer dress off and walked into the crystal clear water in her black bikini. I'm wearing my red bikini . Black is Danny's color and red is mine. It is like that ever since we remember. I tested the water and it was cool and just fine.

" This is my spot . All mine... I come here to read. I can't begin to tell you the number of books I've read here" my best friend declared in a dramatic voice.

" But the only thing you read is subtitles . You are allergic to books."

She frowned at me, " Lora, I'm now Elio . This is what Elio told Oliver."

" Well I'm no Oliver"

" Girl, you are missing the point , you are no fun" she said with her hands on her hips.

I took off my summer dress and went into the water . This is what I really needed after the exhaustive bike ride. The water is so clear and the trees around the lake are making it more beautiful. We swam around and played for nearly an hour until we felt hungry.

" God I love these, aunt Lucy can make these for me every day and I will never get fed up of these meatballs"

"Hey, too much anything is bad girl" I told her but she just rolled her eyes.

We are sitting on a towel on the banks . This feels so calming . She was right. This is really worth the pain. Too bad I only got to find this place when I was about to leave for uni. Maybe we can visit next summer.

"Tell me", Danny started waking me from my thoughts. " who is your latest crush?"

Oh no. Here we go again. "Danny, you know it never matters because it's really pointless to talk about it"

" You, my dear, have an infinite number of crushes since kindergarten."

" You are exaggerating."

"No I'm not. You lose feelings before you even catch some and that's the problem" she just shrugged as if she had got me all figured out. Well, she is kinda right .

" Having an innocent crush on guys isn't that harmful and, missy, you never questioned me on this topic before , why now?"

" You cannot go on crushing till you get wrinkles, and by that time everyone of our age will be married and Lorrie, you won't have anyone to crush on besides other women's husbands, and if you are interested you can crush on younger guys, but that's a no for me... Cause they will be the age of our...."

" Wait " I cut her off, " what are you talking about ? You are making no sense."

" If you don't want that senseless life, make a move next time you feel interested in a guy. Girl, you don't even look at them with interest , then how are they going to get the signal that you are interested? Life isn't like those stupid novels that you read where the boy just announces his love for the girl out of nowhere. Guys also have dignity , they also fear rejection."

I don't know what to say and how the hell did we get to this conversation. " Lora just remember what Dr Perlmann said. Our hearts and bodies are given to us once and before you know it, your heart is worn out and, as of your body there comes a time when no one looks at it." she concluded with a dramatic wave.

This talk just changed the calm atmosphere. "Who is Dr Perlmann? Anyone related to Dr. Phil?" I said intentionally to break life talk. I'm trying my best to refrain myself from laughing because Danny has this shocked face.

" I can't believe you are asking me this. He is Elio darling's father, and how many times did I make you watch the movie" she protested with an offended look.

" Si girl, the key word is made me watch". I can't admit to Danny that I feel sleepy watching all those award films she makes me watch during our sleepovers. Most of the time while watching Call Me by Your Name, I dozz off. But if I admit that the hardcore Timothee fan inside, Danny will kill me. So I kept quiet.

"Anyway, we are getting old, Lora. Just live and spread love" she beamed at the last word dreamily.

" I'm spreading enough love to my dear ones and if you are talking about the STD version, no thanks" I stated with finality in my voice.

" You are no fun Lorrie boo" she pouted, making me laugh.

" It's just I like admiring the beauty from afar. The vision gets ugly when you get to know them close. I'm content with the beautiful memories"

"Are you?" She asked with a ' I know you are bull sh**ting smirk '. And that's on having a best friend. I sighed at the wonderful sad reality. " You need to step out of the bubble, Lorrie. I do admit that it's not black and white. It's grey , but one can make it the most colorful version of grey if it's the right one. But we need to do our part. We must dive in if it is worth holding our breath." With that she continued devouring the meatballs.

I smiled at that . Yes, we need to do our part in life . But she doesn't know .... and it's better that way. I sighed at my memory of last summer. The summer I turned seventeen......