Teror Pendakian Jalur Selatan Rinjani

The first day of summer break was met with a beautiful array of sunshine. It glared through my window causing my sleep to flee. I exhaustively welcomed the warmth of the sun on my freckled cheek. It was almost nudging me to get up and come enjoy its beauty.

I rolled over onto my back and stretched my arms high above my head, letting out a long, satisfied yawn. The first thing I noticed was the sweet, unmistakable smell of fresh-cut daisies. Mom had placed a little arrangement on my nightstand the evening before, probably knowing I’d appreciate waking up to them. She loved summer almost as much as I did, and it had become something of a tradition in our house to celebrate the last day of school with fresh flowers. It was her way of welcoming summer and reminding us that the best three months of the year were officially ours.

The daisies sat in an opaque yellow vase decorated with little white flowers that trickled down the sides. It was one of my favorites, cheerful and bright, and it looked especially pretty with the morning sunlight spilling through my bedroom window. A few of the petals had already begun to open, stretching toward the light as if they were just as excited about summer as I was.

I smiled, turning my head to admire them for another moment before reluctantly pulling my attention away.

Summer.

Three whole months of sunshine, late nights, swimming pools, bonfires, lake days, and absolutely no homework. No alarm clocks reminding me to get out of bed or teachers asking me where my assignments were. Just freedom. At least, that was the plan.

I fought the urge to close my eyes and steal another twenty minutes of sleep. My bed felt particularly comfortable that morning, and the cool sheets made getting up seem like an unnecessary punishment. I could easily convince myself that twenty more minutes wouldn’t hurt anything.

But I knew better. I had a long day ahead of me, and Baylen had already made sure everyone knew about his plans.

He wanted to drive out to Elmer’s Isle Beach and spend the day with our friends. Apparently, he’d been talking about it for days, and now that summer was officially here, there was no reason to waste a perfectly good Friday sitting around the house. Knowing Baylen, he’d probably already packed half the things we’d need and was just waiting for the rest of us to catch up.

Don’t get me wrong. I loved spending time with everyone. Casey was practically my other half, and I could never turn down a good beach day with her. But if I had a choice, I’d much rather spend the day soaking up every possible second with Keegan.

Selfish? Maybe a little.

But Casey understood. She knew how much this summer meant to me and Keegan. More than anyone, she understood that we were working against a clock neither of us wanted to acknowledge.

He was going to be moving so far away from us, and the thought of not seeing him every day made my stomach twist in ways I wasn’t ready to deal with. Sure, the drive was only about an hour, which wasn’t exactly across the country, but an hour might as well have been a thousand miles when you were used to having someone within arm’s reach.

And there was absolutely no way Missy Hamlin was going to let me make that drive whenever I pleased during my senior year. I could already hear the questions. Who was driving? What time would I be home? Was I planning on staying overnight? The woman could turn a simple trip into an FBI interrogation.

I rolled my eyes at the thought.

Nope. Not going there.

I wasn’t going to spend the first morning of summer worrying about the end of it. I still had three whole months with Keegan, and I intended to make every single one count. There would be plenty of time for goodbye conversations, difficult decisions, and all the other things I wasn’t emotionally prepared to handle.

Right now, I wanted sunshine, warm nights, and Keegan’s arms wrapped around me.

I wanted stolen kisses when nobody was looking, long afternoons doing absolutely nothing, and late-night conversations that somehow lasted until the sun came up. I wanted to make memories that would carry us through whatever came next.

Three months.

Ninety-something days.

I could work with that.

For now, I was determined not to let a single hypothetical situation ruin the summer before it had even begun.

My hope was to be recruited by the Louisiana Stats University softball team, so that we could see one another every day the following year. They didn’t invite me back to their clinic this summer however, so I was super nervous about how that would pan out. My mom told me to not think about that and to just focus on the present. She knows me better than that so I’m not sure what she is even trying to do with that narrative. Bless her heart for trying to get me out of my own head. I’ve already had five different scenarios and conversations that I delivered in my mind.

I rolled out of bed and slipped on my Scooby Doo slippers. I didn’t smell breakfast, so I was starting to get concerned. I didn’t even hear voices. Could I be the first one awake? I must be. Mom usually has a huge breakfast awaiting us on the first day of summer. This just seems odd. I don’t think she stayed at Ms. Kyren’s house last night so this was very out of the ordinary. And Baylen would have an absolute crash out if he didn’t have his bacon this morning.

As I reached the dining room I could see people sitting on the deck and smoke billowing from the Blackstone grill. Rubbing my eyes for clarity and from exhaustion, I rushed over to the sliding glass door to see who was all there.

I could see the blonde braids of the twins. Their hair looked like finely spun gold as the sun kissed it gently. They both had on matching rompers in different colors.

“I want eggs and bacon,” I heard one of the twins say.

“You will all serve yourself once it’s done,” my mom said, giving Kelsie a firm squeeze on her shoulders.

She turned to see me coming outside and greeted me with the warmest smile.

“There’s my Breesy girl,” she said, touching my face ever so slightly. “You hungry doll?” she inquired, while flipping slices of bacon onto the sizzling grill.

I nodded and looked around for Bay and Keegan. I didn’t see them anywhere.

“The boys went to get orange juice and milk at the store down the street,” Kailie said, as she studied my face.

“Your freckles don’t make a pattern. They are just kind of there huh?” Kailie continued.

I looked at her quizzically. “What are you going on about girlie?” I laughed, tickling her little feet as they hung off the side of the chair she was sitting in criss-cross applesauce. She tucked her tiny, pink-painted toes underneath her and playfully swatted my hand.

“You’re just really pretty Brees. I thought even your freckles must be perfect, but they aren’t,” she giggled.

“That’s fair. You are quite the beauty yourself Kai,” I said, returning her kind compliment.

As I sat back in my chair I could hear chatter coming from the garage. My heart started to race. I knew any minute I would see my boy. He and Baylen came through the side gate. They were carrying one bag each. Mom grabbed the bags and began to set the table.

It was still awkward for us around our parents and siblings. We just kind of glanced at one another and smiled. He sat at the table with Kailie and Kelsie and I remained in my seat. Thinking about how much fun we were going to have this summer. I watched him help the twins get pancakes and eggs onto their plates. He was so thoughtful to everyone around him. It made me love him that much more.

After breakfast, Baylen, myself and Keegan cleaned up the table. Keegan came over while I wiped down the chairs and planted a soft kiss right on my cheek. I smiled admiringly at him.

“How is my special lady doing today?” he asked, rubbing my back briefly with his hand.

“No, no, yuck,” Baylen interjected and threw down his bag of trash. “That’s my cue to leave,” he giggled and punched Keegan in the arm.

His departure was welcomed, as I had wanted just one single moment alone with Keegan. We looked at one another giddily and then embraced. He kissed my lightly glossed lips gently.

“I’m good. Just bummed about the whole LSU thing. I thought for sure they wanted to recruit me after last summer and with me being a two time Varsity letterman. I don’t know what I’m doing wrong,” I shared, looking down at the ground.

Keegan lifted my chin and looked at me intensely.

“Brees, you are an amazing softball player. LSU would be lucky to have you. But it’s also okay to go play ball somewhere else,” he said, rubbing his thumb on lips.

I moved away slightly in disbelief. I thought he wanted me to be at LSU with him. I thought we planned this out last year when he got recruited.

“What’s wrong?” he asked, reaching for my arm.

I brushed it away and folded my arms tightly. This was a discussion for another time. Not when our family was around.

“It’s fine, Kee. I just really thought you wanted me there is all,” I said, grabbing the last of the dishes and heading into the house.

“Babe, that’s not what I meant. You know I want you there more than anything. Can we talk about it?” he asked, chasing after me with two bags of garbage.

I shook my head and told him to drop it before we entered the kitchen. I wasn’t sure when, but we were going to have this talk and it wasn’t going to be entirely agreeable. But that was fine. Sometimes things had to get messy before we healed ourselves. And this would definitely be one of those times. My heart raced a mile a minute, as I wrestled with my thoughts about mine and Keegan’s first argument.