Endless Summer Nights
Uploaded by hilarios604 on Jul 10, 2002
I saw him again. A couple of houses down from our own little bungalow, a family of four was also spending the summer on the island of St. Croix. I yelled at my 12-year old brother to hurry up and slung my backpack over my left shoulder. I’ve noticed a guy around my age down the street. I didn’t know his name but I heard Dave, my step-dad refer to his family as the Williams Family. I watched as Jerry came running out of our beige summerhouse and leaping down the few concrete steps.
“What took you so long?”
“I couldn’t find my trunks,” he replied.
“Geez, you could’ve worn something else.”
“Give it a rest, DeLanna.”
“Well, hurry up. I wanna get there before it gets too crowded,” I snapped at my brother.
I quickly walked ahead of him while he slipped his runners on his bare feet. It was only nine in the morning yet the sun was already beating down on my bare arms. I scolded myself for not lathering sunscreen on before heading out to the beach as Jerry and I trudged along the narrow path towards the shore. I wish I hadn’t brought such a heavy load of books. The sun was really taking a toll on me. I looked over my shoulder and gave my brother a sign to indicate that we were almost there.
With a newfound energy, Jerry ran all the way there while I rummaged my backpack for the beach towel I brought along. I spread it out on the warm sand and took out the book I had been reading yesterday. I flopped down on my stomach and made myself comfortable, using my backpack as a pillow. While I searched for the page number I was on, my brother was already making a big noise, hollering for me to join him in the water. I ignored him and started reading. After about half an hour, I was so deeply absorbed in my book that I didn’t notice the red Frisbee that landed at my side.
A deep, friendly voice brought me out of my trance and startled me so much that I gave a small shriek and dropped my book.
“Hey, sorry about that,” the voice apologized.
It was then that I looked up and found myself staring, open-mouthed, at the guy I had seen several times before.
He smiled and said, “My name’s Josh. I’ve seen...