"Summer's End," or "Hoping for the Future"
A young girl climbed to the top of the diving tower at a crawling pace. She was dripping with water, having just exited the pool on the account of a dare: to dive from the highest diving board. She steeled herself to not look down, fearing the repercussions of her acrophobia. Slowly, the young girl reached the top and pushed her puffy pink hair out of her face as she stared towards the end of the diving board. She counted to ten aloud, took a deep breath, and took at it with a charge.
“BONZAI!”
The water splashed up violently, forcing Vera and I to shield their eyes from Diana’s near-perfect cannonball. It took plenty of coaxing from Vera and Amanda, as well as the promise of ten dollars, to convince Diana to overcome her fear of heights long enough to dive from the high diving board. It was only natural that the five friends who were instrumental in this plan would suffer from it the most as water cascaded down upon them from above.
After a couple of seconds, the Pinkerton girl broke the surface of the water, gasping for air and flipping water out from her hair. “That was absolutely, positively fun! I want to go again!”
Our friend Shari moaned with disappointment from her place on the cement. “No, Pinkie, you don’t. Your stunt is probably going to mess up my planned tanning today."
Amanda chuckled, ringing out her blonde hair. “Aw, cheer up Shari. It ain’t everyday that we can hang out ‘n have some fun here at the pool like this. Besides, it’s the last day of summer vacation.”
“Yeah!” Vera called out, “I mean, this could be our last chance for like, a whole year, we could have fun like this. You know how hard our school is...”
“I’d admit, Vera dear, that Riverside Preparatory isn’t much of a ‘lax’ school, but it isn’t that bad.” Sheri ran her fingers through her rich, violet hair to prevent knots. The school rules were clear with having no unnatural hair colors, so I knew that Sheri would be washing out the dye tonight. The only exception I could think of that Principal Kingston had with this rule was with Diana, whose hair was naturally an unnatural light pink, and Vera, who had stained her hair so much with her rainbow assortment that it’s become nearly impossible to remove. I, personally, had put magenta and lavender streaks in my black hair a while ago over the summer, but even I knew that it wouldn’t last either way.
Vera scoffed as she lifted herself from the pool and sat down onto the concrete ledge, kicking her feet in the water. “Pssshhh, year right. Sophomore year is stock filled with tests. The CSTs are the longest for us and we also have to deal with the CAHSEEs too.”
“Vera, the CAHSEEs are seventh grade level education...” I splashed at her. “Those won’t be hard...”
“For you maybe: you’re an egghead super-genius.”
“Rainbow... you’re embellishing the difficulty of the tests.” Sheri smiled and laid back onto her towel.
Vera smiled triumphantly. “I’m the cross country champion, not a bookworm.”
My name is Twyla Spark, and I am a normal California high schooler: if by normal, you mean a super-genius who loved to isolate herself from the outside world to read, then you were spot on. I settled with floating peacefully in the water, simply realizing how lucky I was to have ever found such wonderful friends in Amanda, Diana, Vera, Sheri and Amy, especially since all six of us were such different teenagers.
Amanda Dawson is taller than me, and much stronger. When we first met, her slight drawl had given her away as moving from Texas. Her hair was pale blonde and was always kept in a ponytail. She was smart in her own right, but she was especially talented with physical activities.
Vera Lynn was a similar case, but her background leaned her towards the athletic type, over the working type. She had long ago started dying her hair into the six primary colors of the rainbow, the school’s cross country team affectionately starting to call her Rainbow Dash afterwards. She was fast... known to be able to run the mile in just above five minutes, which made her popular among the athletic crowd. Still, her loyalty to her friends and to her country made her the best, though sometimes she could get a little too overboard with it.
Diana “Pinkie” Pinkerton would definitely be the wildcard of the group. She was wild, eccentric and was prone to episodes of ADD and ADHD. Her older brother, Floyd “Pinks” Pinkerton, was the same way, though his full on schizophrenia could be more severe problem. Diana loved to throw parties and would try to invite everyone at school if she could. Luckily, her father was a state senator, and would have none of that.
At the polar opposite of that spectrum, was Amy Nightingale, who presently was happy to simply float at the shallow end of the pool and play with the younger children. She was probably the most kind person Twyla had ever met, though her agoraphobia made her very shy. A while back, Floyd had started calling her Flutters because of her meek nature, and it stuck.
Sheri Belle was the group’s lover of fashion and design. Whenever an idea came into her head about making something, it stayed there until she drew it repeatedly and got to work on it. After years of practice, she had blossomed into an excellent seamstress, and she always was happy to help her friends with any potential problems involving the school’s dress code.
I couldn’t shake the constant thinking that I was lucky to have such wonderful friends. My brother, Shawn, spent most of his time with his new girlfriend, Candice, or with Floyd to hang out, but he always loved to come and spend time with his younger sister every once in awhile. Our sister, Nyx, never spent time with me. Recently, Nyx asked a girl out, Electra if I remember correct, and now she’s been spending most of summer with her. I can’t really belittle her: Electra had come over to our house plenty of times, and she always seemed nice and actually respectful of Nyx... a vast improvement from Nyx’s last boyfriend.
A quiet cough snapped me from my daydreaming. I looked over to see Amy floating next to the edge. She was never a strong swimmer “You’re thinking about school tomorrow,” she said,” aren’t you.”
I made my way to the concrete edge and simply floated next to her. “Sorta... I’m mainly thinking about how we probably won’t be doing anything like this after tomorrow...”
Someone called my name, and I turned to find Vera and Amanda standing on the concrete dripping. Pinkie was climbing out herself and Sheri was folding up her towel to sling over her shoulder.
“Hey Twyla!” Vera called me again, “Pinkie’s brother is coming to pick us up and take us to her house! It’s time to go!”
I smiled as both Amy and I got out of the pool so all six of us could head into the building and gather our stuff from the lockers together. I was drying myself as we walked and once I was as dry as possible, wrapped my towel around my waist. Diana choose a different approach, deciding to shake herself off like a wet dog and then leave it at that. Normally, that wasn’t a problem... except when you’re the one standing next her while she does it like I was. After all my careful drying, she soaked me again!
She looked over at me as I frowned. “Oh... hehe... sorry Twyla.”
The six of us were quickly in and out with our stuff, all of us waving back to the reception lady with smiles and a thank you. As we entered the parking lot, Floyd caught sight of us and waved to us from the side of his mother’s van.
Briefly earlier, I mentioned Diana had a brother: her older brother Floyd Pinkerton. I also mentioned that he was as much, if not crazier than her. Personally, I think he is cool people. He certainly is not the nicest person I’ve met but he’s not a complete pain. There was another thing about him that sometimes annoys me...
“Hey, are you guys coming or what? I’m tired of lying in the sunshine!”
...He loves to quote his favorite band of all time constantly. When I say “constantly,” I mean “every single chance he gets when the quote/statement applies” constantly. It made him a hard person to hang out and to listen to sometimes, but apparently his friends thought it was cool, so there’s nothing I can do about it except deal with it. Most of the time, he was kind enough to not drive anyone crazy with his madness... most of the time.
Floyd simply stood next to the van, his head tilted down so he could look over his shades at us walking towards him. When we got close, he reached over and opened the door for us like a gentleman. “I have an evil plan for something today girls, so we need to hurry. Sheri, looking fashionable as ever...”
“You flatterer...”
“Flutters and Rainbow... never change I see.”
“As if.” Amy simply shrunk behind Vera as they crawled in.
“Amanda, still country strong I hope?”
“Y’all better believe it.”
I got in last. “Twyla,” he said, “still as smart as yesterday I presume?”
I smiled. “You know it, Pinks.”
I buckled myself into the seat next to the window and stared out as Floyd started the car, made sure his sister buckled up in the front seat, and pulled out of the parking lot. Apple Valley, California, is a small, riverside town in the Sierra Nevada Mountains, just east of the capital at Sacramento, where I was born. When I finished elementary school, my parents decided to move away from the big city and to move here. It’s not a really special town, but it can be quite beautiful, especially in the winter time, when it snows. Much of the town is decorated with rich evergreen pines, which grow everywhere here in the mountain valley. The reason why the town founders decided to name the town Apple Valley eluded me... though I’ve heard it had something to do with Amanda and the Dawson family way back in the Gold Rush times.
Regardless of its weird townsfolk and rugged environment, I would never trade it for anything. Even when they were weird at times, people here were nice, and the mountains and trees of the Everfree Forest surrounding the town gave it a quaint beauty.
Diana and Floyd lived in one of the few two-story houses in town, the perpetual trees surrounding a grass yard with a big metal swingset planted in front. The house was made of wood, and was quite attractive. Floyd parked the car in the driveway next to his own black truck, and we all piled out of the van to get inside.
As the six of us entered and removed our shoes near the door (as was the Pinkerton family policy), Mrs. Pinkerton came from the kitchen wearing a big pink apron and gave her two children and hug and a kiss before addressing the rest of us. Sen. and Mrs. Pinkerton were kind people who loved that their daughter liked to have her friends over as often as she did.
“Why hello all of you. How are all of you doing? I hope you’re enjoying your last day of summer...”
We all answered in reply, “We are Mrs. Pinkerton.”
She smiled and wiped her hands on her apron, “Well you all go ahead and hang out in Diana’s room and I’ll bring you up a fresh batch of cookies once they’re done.”
Vera, Amy and Diana cheered at the promise of Mrs. Pinkerton’s cookies. Deep inside, I cheered as well. Through some secret family recipe she says was passed down from generation to generation, Mrs. Pinkerton’s cookies were always the best. We all headed upstairs towards Pinkie’s room. As I walked, I looked around, glancing at all the pictures of the family, the Pinkerton childhood memories and the various awards and degrees that both Sen. and Mrs. Pinkerton possessed. It was easy to forget how close to the Lucasian Chair Mrs. Pinkerton was by simply watching her bake for two hours. I couldn’t begin think of whether that statement was by accident or by design on her part.
As we walked into Pinkie’s room, the scene changed rather quickly into one of various pinks and reds. Her walls, her bedsheets, her chairs and her various items lying about were all various shades of her favorite color: pink. Diana plopped face down onto her bed, leaving the rest of us to find any other chair we wanted to sit in. This visit, as I had not sat in it before, I had chosen her bean bag. While I wouldn’t prefer it over my own chair in my room, it wasn’t so bad. For a couple minutes, the six of us just sat in her room, probably unable to think of anything to do or say. Surprisingly, it was Amy to speak first.
“Um... does anyone know what time it is?”
Sheri lazily looked up at the Hello Kitty clock Pinkie had hanging on her wall. “It’s a quarter to five.”
I was mildly shocked. They only had less than seven hours of summer vacation left, and here they were just sitting here lazily doing nothing. It felt anticlimactic and ironic really, to see us all sitting here as if we were those four guys from King of the Hill. That was when I realized something.
“Pinkie, what’s your brother doing today?”
“How should I know?” she replied through her pillow.
“Because you’re his sister,” Vera countered from her spot in the room.
“I think he’s at the Altman’s down the street,” she finally relented.
I perked up slightly at this, because the name sounded familiar. It took a couple seconds, but I finally remembered why. “He’s at Electra’s house?”
“Floyd’s best friends with her twin brother James. I think they’ve been planning something to do today all week.”
That was when Vera finally cut in again, “Then what are we sitting around here for?”
She stood up and spoke with a zeal. “This is our last day of summer! We should be out there doing stuff. If Floyd gets to go to a party we should go too.”
“Are you mad?” It was obvious that Sheri wasn’t so sure about her friend’s idea. “Just because we can’t think of anything to do dear, doesn’t mean we should go out and crash someone else’s good time.”
Vera frowned, before turning to me. “Twyla, you’ve met Electra before, right?”
“Well she is dating my older sister...”
“Does she like you?”
“Yeah. She’s pretty nice.”
“Then maybe she wouldn’t have a problem if you come and visit her house...”
“I doubt she likes me that much,” I explained to her.
“Come on, Twi’. We need to do something!”
I thought about it a bit more and sighed at Vera’s persistence. “Well I guess we could try...”
Vera picked me up from the bean bag and wrapped me in a hug. “I refuse to let the last day of summer go like this. Come on everybody, let’s check it out.”
Everyone sighed and got up from their respective seats, rushing downstairs. Diana took the lead as they all came to the door and got their shoes.
“Mom! My friends and I are going over to James’ house!”
“Okay! Be careful, and don’t forget your cookies!”
We all paused as we looked amongst each other at the word “cookies,” anxiously, we all hurried back in, grabbed our share, told Mrs. Pinkerton thank you and then we were back out the door again.
My friends and I all ran down the street, refusing to slow down. James and Electra lived on the opposite of the street in a smaller house than Pinkie, but still respectable in size. Sure enough, parked in the driveway was Floyd’s black pickup truck. My eyes were caught on the car next to it though. Parked next to Floyd’s truck, was a white 2011 Dodge Challenger with blue racing stripes. It was in pristine condition and was perhaps the best car the six of us had ever set eyes on. I couldn’t believe that such a car was even driven in this town, and by someone we all might know.
“Excuse me ladies... what are all of you doing here?”
We all jumped at the voice that came from almost directly behind us, careful that we didn’t accidently hit the car we were all previously gawking at. The man behind us was tall, towering above all of us at maybe 6 feet. He had dark hair and clear blue eyes, and I had the biggest nagging feeling that I had met him before.
“Well?” he asked. I saw that he was quietly looking over all of us until his eyes set on Pinkie, with whom his face softened. “Ah, Pinkie... how are you doing?”
Pinkie smiled. “Hiya James! Well, today Floyd said he was plotting an evil plan for today and we wanted to come over and see if we could hang out and participate.”
He scoffed happily. “Of course. We’re all in the backyard and in the clearing, so go ahead and make your ways back there. And who are your friends?”
Diana turned back to us, “These are Amy, Vera, Amanda, Sheri and Twyla.”
He turned to me. “Twyla Spark?”
“Yeah,” I replied.
“Your brother always speaks highly of you, Twyla...”
“You know my brother?”
He scoffed, as if it was obvious. “Of course, didn’t you know? All high school seniors know each other...” He switched his attention from solely myself to all five of us. “I’m James Altman: Electra’s twin brother.”
I felt a little stupid, really. Electra was his twin. Of course, she had already known this too. Electra mentioned him a lot whenever she came over, no to mention Pinkie had just mentioned it too. They looked pretty much alike, when you take in the fact that one is a guy with masculine features and the other is a girl with feminine. They even had the same dark hair and the same clear blue eyes.
“Go ahead and head to the backyard,” he told us with a smile. “Floyd is grilling hamburgers.”
On that cue, Diana made her way into the garage and into the house. We’ve all heard the stories of Floyd trying to cook or bake something with his mom... each one ending with the boy ruining everything he made. The rest of us made our way into the house more casually, Amy asking James if she could use his restroom, which he kindly pointed out to her.
It was a nice house. It wasn’t as cluttered as the Pinkerton’s so, even though it was smaller, still seemed to be more roomy. Adorned on the walls were several crucifixes, as well as several pictures of saints and of Jesus. One particular wall stood out to me the most. Hanging on the wall were multiple pictures of people in different military uniforms. There were Navy uniforms and Marine Corps uniforms, even an occasional Army uniform, each one worn by a person with either of two names: Altman or Venegas. On a ledge that cut into the wall underneath, were multiple more frames of awards and certificates. As I looked closer, I saw that they were all James’. The most recent award was titled to C/LTC James Altman and stood next to one that held a rack of numerous military ribbons and a picture of James in a completely different military uniform than the others.
It was impressive, and it took the coaxing of Vera and Amanda to take my attention away from it. We walked out into the backyard and onto a well manicured lawn. There was a large pool in the corner and an open wooden gate that lead to a clearing behind the house. I had to hand it to Floyd and James for pulling this off... it looked pretty fun.
“Twyla!” I turned to the pool to see a shocking, but familiar face.
“Shawn?” Sure enough, the man in the pool waved and smiled, even though most of his face was covered in his soaked, shaggy hair. I ran over to the side of the pool and stood at the bottom of the stairs that lead up to the top.
“Shawn, I didn’t expect you to be here.”
“Come on, lil’ sis, everyone is here... Electra even managed to convince Nyx to come.” I was reluctant to believe him with such an account, but as I stood on my tippy-toes and looked into the pool, I saw Nyx, with her pale skin and violet eyes, was leaning against the edge of the pool, the arms of her new girlfriend, Electra, wrapped around her.
“Who else knew about this party except us?”
Shawn splashed his arm out of the water and scratched his head. “Hm... Candice, Tia, Luna and Marceline are all here somewhere. I told Floyd to tell you guys could come over...”
Now I was frustrated with Floyd for refusing to tell us. That was probably his evil plan for today: to party with his friends while leaving us to sit around in boredom.
“Well, it doesn’t matter now,” my brother continued, “You all are here and the Altman’s have no problem with you staying. Floyd’s making the food, and it should be ready any minute... just relax lil’ sis.”
As he finished, his girlfriend Candice swam up next to him. I love Candice. She was the best babysitter in the world: always caring and playful. Her pale blonde hair draped over her shoulders as she leaned forward and gave Shawn a kiss on the cheek. I was happy that she was his girlfriend: they loved each other and each other’s family loved the other one... like a match made in heaven.
“Oh hey Twyla.” She smiled brightly and leaned out of the pool to get closer, where I had the “pleasure” of having a front row view to her C-cup breasts. (The whole reason I know that is because one particular day, I had the awkward luck to find one of her bras in our family hamper. While our parents might confuse it with Nyx’s... I’ve known Candice long enough...)
“Hi Candice!” I still managed to smile as I replied. She was still awesome...
“I imagine you and your friends are planning on staying?” she beamed.
I looked around at my friends. Vera and Amanda had removed their outer clothing and had just jumped into the pool together. Diana was standing next to her brother near the grill. Amy sat at the table across from Luna, who I had not seen yet, and was holding a quiet conversation with her. Sheri was seated in one of the many chairs in the backyard, and was now lying there with her eyes closed, relaxing.
I smiled as I walked up to the top of the stairs and striped down to my swimsuit. “I wouldn’t miss it for the world.”
