The Summers of Us by Taylor Crooks

Author:Taylor Crooks [Crooks, Taylor]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Bookcomber Publishing
Published: 2025-05-12T18:30:00+00:00

Age 15, July 30

“I’d never been to a house party before, but Piper Island had a way of turning nevers into first times. Technically, it was a birthday party for one of Everett’s school friends, but I watched Holden shotgun a beer can in front of a beer pong table, so I was calling it a house party.

I leaned against the kitchen sink in the only lit-up spot in the house. What would my mom think if she saw me? Was this the line Blair would draw in the sand if she knew I wasn’t actually at Haven’s? I felt guilty. Even though I had no plans to drink, it didn’t make up for deception.

Holden finished his can, then high-fived Mason who competed with his own can of Sprite. The birthday girl, Kelsie Miller, high-fived both of them. A couple other people joined in the roar until a new song wound them into a dance.

I would have been wise to join them, do a little bit of living while I was here, but I didn’t know how to dance and I thought drunk people could tell who among them was not. I settled on watching, at least until Haven got here.

Chance wanted to arrive with Haven separately. It had been an uneventful summer for me, with Haven now spun into Chance. Holden spent a lot of time with Mason, helping him fix up an old speedboat he bought online. He was also trying to catch a glimpse of the great white shark that was spotted at the end of the fishing pier on Memorial Day. Jorge had been training for a skateboarding competition, in an angsty stupor that he swore was just nerves.

Hadley visited for an unexpected two weeks, so I dropped the nothing I’d been doing to build blanket forts and read more advanced constellation books in glowing flashlight bulbs. Hadley had expanded her interests to planets and weather patterns, but I didn’t think she’d ever forget the stars. It was hard to forget them when you got a glittery reminder every night.

Everett had been…well, I didn’t think Everett had been all that busy, other than with training for a 10K with Liezel. So, busy, but not with us.

The summer had run away from us, sent us scrambling to our own corners of the island to do our own things. Still, we’d stitched back together for the night. At least, as much as a house party allowed.

I looked down at my cup of fruit punch, sipped it, and wiped it off my mouth before it stained. It tasted a lot better when I was younger.

“Hey, Quinn, right?” Kelsie stumbled over some red cups littered on the floor and put a purple lei around my neck. “Thanks for coming. I love this whole thing you have going on, very on theme.” She pointed to my grass skirt and the coconut bra I tied over a tank top that matched my skin tone. Haven and I picked our outfits from Dollar World when we heard Kelsie’s party was luau themed.

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