The Summer That Changed Everything

Felicity Park glanced at her mobile phone in despair, fully aware that there would be no notifications. She should have gotten used to it by now, but that didn’t stop her from checking the device for the tenth time in as many minutes. With a sigh, she dropped her phone onto her desk. It clattered against the wood with a loud clang and bounced twice before coming to a stop. Felicity knew her phone had endured enough, so she was confident she hadn’t damaged it with that motion. Letting out another sigh, she pushed herself away from the desk, using the wheels of her swivel chair to move away from her phone and the constant temptation to check it. It was only the second week of summer, and she found herself with nothing to do and no one to talk to. The two months ahead felt like they had the potential to be the longest of her life. Ugh, why on Earth did she agree to take this “break” with James? They had only been apart for a few days, and she already missed him like crazy. How would she cope for the rest of the summer? “Do you see why we have to do this?” James asked on that fateful day at the start of the week, which just so happened to be the very start of summer. His brow creased over his brown eyes as he looked at Felicity a little fearfully. “I… guess… I… do,” Felicity replied through gasping sobs. She swiped the snot from under her nose, using the sleeve of her jumper, as she tried to calm down. “It sucks… but I can’t… say no… can I?” “I guess not,” he let out a mirthless chuckle. He grabbed Felicity’s hands, ignoring the moist digits - no doubt he would get the hand sanitiser out as soon as she left - and he looked into her eyes. “Babe, I know we can do it. Think of this as a bit of a taster, right? In September, you’ll be in Durham, and I’ll be in Oxford; they’re almost 250 miles away from each other. Until now, we have spent no time apart, which, don’t get me wrong, has been great. I’ve loved every minute of it. However, we need to get used to spending time apart now, so it won’t come as a shock when we finally go to university. It’ll be tough, but we’ll get through it. I know we will.” “It sounds like a waste of a summer to me, though,” Felicity tried to reason. So that was good. She was finally forming complete, coherent sentences. That was the only thing she could find to give herself a pat on the back about during this situation. “Shouldn’t we be making the most of our time together?” James hadn’t planned that far ahead; he had to answer some rational questions. To tell the truth, he wasn’t expecting Felicity to kick up that much of a fuss, so this came as a surprise to him. I already know I can’t live without you, Felicity thought. But she refused to comment, as objecting was fruitless. It always was with James. She felt a profound sense of helplessness, hating the situation, but there was no way she could stop it from happening. When James set his mind to something, there was no way of changing it. Not even she - the supposed love of his life - could change his mind, and she knew that. Felicity’s cheeks felt warm and wet under James’ hands, while tears had spared her forehead (that area was probably the only part of her face untouched by salty tears). She thought the contact was a touch cruel, but revelled in the fleeting feeling, knowing it would soon be replaced by the harsh reality of not having him around. “If we can survive this, we can survive anything,” James declared. His words hung in the air, heavy with finality, and Felicity felt the weight of his decision crushing her spirit. That was also the last thing she remembered him saying before she ran out of his bedroom and sped to her house without once looking back. She locked herself in her bedroom for a few hours while she soaked her pillow with tears. Eventually, she calmed down and made the trek downstairs to see her parents once they returned from work; she refused to greet her parents in a state that was anything less than perfect. Felicity hadn’t told her parents about the situation, and she didn’t plan to. It was too embarrassing to think about, let alone relive; besides, they would get back together at the end of this summer, she was sure of it. So it felt pointless to mention this minor blip to her parents, and they had mentioned nothing so far - they must not have been too concerned about her welfare. But it was inevitable they would notice his lack of presence around the house... or the lack of her leaving it. Sighing, Felicity flopped herself back onto her bed and out of the eyeshot of her phone. Her brown hair framed her head in a halo shape on the pillow. She sighed in distress. She couldn’t even discuss the situation with her best friend. Layla wasn’t even in the country. No, scratch that, she wasn’t even on the continent. “America?” Felicity asked, incredulous. “You’re going all the way to America?” “Yep!” Layla squealed, clapping her hands together and bouncing up and down from her spot on Felicity’s bed. “I’m so excited I got accepted at last! You know it’s been my dream to do Camp America! I could never afford the flights, but I’ve saved and saved, and I can finally go!” Felicity shook herself out of her initial shock, and she pulled Layla in for a hug, now excited for her best friend. Of course, she was excited; if she begrudged her of Layla’s dream, she would be the worst friend in the world. “Oh my gosh, that will be amazing for you! But I’ll miss you so much!”