A Summer Without You Novels & Stories

And if I fail, I lose everything. I need Summer. Need her to help me, to tutor me, to save my ass like she's supposed to. I grab my phone and pull up her contact. Call. It rings. And rings. And goes to voicemail. I call again. Voicemail. Again. Voicemail. "Pick up the fucking phone," I mutter, typing out a text. *Pick up. Pick up right now.* Nothing. *Pick up the fucking phone.* Still nothing. *SUMMER PICK UP*

“Cut the bullshit. We both know you’re not capable of falling in love. That’s like asking you to climb Everest without oxygen.” Before I can respond, a bright pink G-Wagon rolls up the driveway and stops right in front of us. The door swings open. Summer steps out in a tiny leather skirt and a leopard-print top that barely contains her tits. Her long blonde hair flows down her back as she pulls off her sunglasses. “Babeee!” She squeals, rushing straight at me. She leaps into my arms, wrapping herself around me like a damn vine. “I’ve missed you soooo much!”

Not ever. Summer sat by the window, staring out into the darkness. The cold breeze from the open window brushed against her skin, but the chill in the air was nothing compared to the unease gnawing at her chest. Hilda had just left for the night, and now she was alone, consumed by thoughts of what Jessica was planning. Her mind couldn't settle, turning over the conversation she'd overheard earlier. Jessica's words echoed in her mind—When the foxes leave tomorrow, Summer will go with them.

I still didn't get why they liked him. He was handsome, but well… I couldn’t quite get it. Maybe because he was my brother. Summer break was getting close in California, and there was something about the way the sun made everything smell that I loved. I had decided to spend June at my elder brother’s apartment before I resumed college. My brother, Davis, had moved out when he was nineteen and had been living alone ever since he started college. He was pissed off when I told him I was coming over, but what could he do to me?

He stormed out and slammed the door behind him. I sat on the couch, unable to sleep all night. At dawn, a friend request with a woman's profile picture popped up on social media. Within ten seconds, messages started flooding in. A photo appeared, showing a woman with bare shoulders. Next to her was Eli, sound asleep. "He will never marry you. So what if you have a daughter with him? We made love all night, and he just fell asleep. Eli told me that he despises you and finds you nauseating."

During a family trip to a private island, we agreed to leave at four thirty to watch the sunrise. I waited alone for half an hour before discovering that my parents, my brother, and my fiancé, Leon, had already left with my adopted sister, Selena. At the cliffs, they posed for a family photograph. Mom adjusted Selena’s wrap. Dad pinned my family insignia to her coat. Leon stood behind her with his hands on her waist. No one noticed me. Leon posted the picture: [The people I’ll protect for the rest of my life.] His fiancée wasn’t in it. For years, I waited for my family to choose me and for Leon to remember the woman he planned to marry. That morning, I stopped waiting. I took the first ferry

she added. I froze.“What?” “She doesn’t want to stay where she is,” Summer continued. “She still loves Daddy, and she doesn’t want to accept that she’s gone.” My stomach twisted. I swallowed. “How did she die?” I asked quietly. Summer went silent. Her expression changed. The small smile on her face disappeared, and she looked down at the floor again. For a moment, I thought she wasn’t going to answer. Then she spoke.“She killed herself,” she said softly.

It feels like the first week of summer all over again where we hosted this Welcome party. Now we're hosting another, and this time it's a send-off party. The kind of gathering where we say goodbyes to the friends we made over the holidays. I overhear a couple promising each other to call and text everyday, some breaking up because they can't commit to a long distance relationship. I can't even find Noah anywhere, and I'm nervous about how we'll end up after this summer. I don't want to be remembered as some random girl he hooked up with during a summer vacation in Hawaii. Yes, I want to be remembered, but not that way.

We lost the mood to have ice cream, so we didn't go. "Summer without ice cream is an incomplete summer. I always felt like something was missing. That's why I asked you to bring me here today."

Nick scoured every coastal region in the country, desperately searching for Mia, but his efforts turned up nothing. As time went on, fear began creeping into his heart. Dark thoughts surfaced, ones he couldn’t shake. What if Mia… was no longer alive? Why else, after all this time, would there still be no sign of her? Before she left, Mia hadn’t just donated all her valuable belongings. She had burned the rest—the items not worth donating. She burned everything, leaving nothing behind. It was as though she had erased herself completely, leaving no trace of her existence in his life.