The sun was shining and it was really hot outside. I was laying by the pool, trying to get a tan and listening to my brothers' shouting as they swam in the pool. It was our last day there, on our summerhouse in Miami. It wasn't definitely the end of the summer, no, but my parents had some work to do so they had decided to leave early. We had only been there for a couple of weeks and... And I wasn't exactly sure if I wanted to leave or stay. It was possible for me to stay there by myself but did I really want to?

The incident at our place a few days earlier – Tony telling my mom that he was my boyfriend – hadn't really changed anything and I couldn't help but feel slightly sad about it. Did I want him to actually be my boyfriend? I had been trying my best to deny my feelings for him but come on... He was perfect in my eyes. He was handsome, he was smart, he was kind, he was everything I wanted in a man. But he had a girlfriend.

I hadn't really seen Tony in a few days regardless of my mom's questions like when was I going to see him or if he wanted to come over and have dinner with us. I didn't have the heart to tell her that Tony wasn't my real boyfriend – that he had just pretended to be that because my mother had caught him sneaking out of our house in the middle of the night.

But what I had found out about Tony and Kelsey made me feel slightly better, even if it made me horrible for being happy about it. They had been fighting a lot. Why? Because of that one morning and my mistake of answering Tony's phone. Kelsey thought that Tony was cheating on her – which he, by the way, was – but he didn't admit it. So there had been a lot of shouting and screaming recently and Mike, Vic and Jaime plus Jaime's girlfriend had spent a lot of time by the pool, outside of the house, giving the couple some privacy and room to argue in peace.

Somebody had stepped between the sun and myself and as I opened my eyes I could see my mother's face above my head.

”Go away,” I muttered and tried to push her away.

”Have you decided yet, Abigail? We need to cancel your flight now if you stay,” she said.

”Give me, like, five minutes,” I muttered. She disappeared and I closed my eyes again, enjoying the warmth of the burning sun.

I thought I did want to stay for the rest of the summer and see how things would go with Tony. But if he spent his time with Kelsey or his friends, I would be left alone and I'd have absolutely nothing to do and that would be no fun. But if I left now, there would be left a lot of unfinished business with Tony and I wouldn't get to talk to him in a year and there was a change that he wouldn't be in Miami the next summer... I decided to sent him a text message and asked if he could meet me as soon as possible.

His reply arrived an hour later and he told me to meet him at his car. I pulled on my clothes since I was still in my bikini, and started wandering to the front of his house where the car was parked. He was already sitting in his car when I got in. Then he started driving without a word.

”Where are we going?” I asked and looked at his face.

He looked somewhat sad and angry and he didn't say anything in a long time. All of the fighting and shouting with Kelsey must have had affected him.

”Tony? Say something,” I said quietly after a moment of silence. He let out a deep sigh.

I noticed that he had parked the car in front of the beach. Neither of us got out but he turned to look at me.

”Why did you want to see me?” he asked and looked straight into my eyes.

”I... I think I'm going home tomorrow,” I said quietly. He furrowed his eyebrows, obviously not understanding what I was trying to say.

”But aren't you staying for the whole summer?”

”My family leaves tomorrow and I could stay here by myself if I wanted to but...”

”But what?” he asked.

”But there's nothing here for me to do. I've always been with you but you're going to be with your girlfriend now,” I explained and looked away from his face.

My eyes landed on a couple that was sitting on the beach and laughing and having a lot of fun. I quickly looked away.

”But... But I don't want you to leave,” he admitted quietly.

I turned to look at him and studied his face really hard. He was being honest, I realized, as I looked at him. He wasn't lying or trying to convince me. He actually wanted me to stay.

”That doesn't make any sense. You don't want to be with me,” I said and shook my head, ”You only want sex but you could get that just as easily from your girlfriend. Why do you keep dragging me with you?”

”Because I want you.”

”But you don't want me,” I said, getting slightly frustrated with him.

”Don't you think I know better what I want?” he asked but he wasn't angry. There was a slight smirk on his face.

”Well what do you mean that you want me? In what way do you want me?”

”I don't know... I just, this summer has turned my life into a mess,” he admitted and sighed, ”Maybe being with you has made me realize that I don't want to be with Kelsey...”

”What?”

”You heard me. She's just so... She's so old.”

”She's your age, isn't she?”

”Yeah but the way she acts...”

”Two weeks ago you were so sure that you had to get more serious and start acting your age. That was why you didn't want to keep seeing me so why have you changed your mind now?” I asked.

”I'd rather spend the summer with you than arguing with her,” he admitted.

”Really?”

”Yes, really. Why don't you believe anything I say?” he asked and let out a laugh.

”Because a while ago you said the exact opposite things,” I said, ”And now suddenly you've changed
your mind about everything.”

”I can't help myself. I want to spend the summer with you, Abby,” he told me.

”But what about your girlfriend?”

”I don't know...”

”So... Should I stay here?” I asked him. He nodded and rested his hand on my thigh, squeezing it gently.

Tony drove us back to our places and I went inside to tell my mother the news. I found her in my parents' bedroom packing her suitcase, and sat down on the bed.

”I'm staying here for the rest of the summer,” I told her. She stopped packing and looked at me.

”Because of your boyfriend?” she asked and I grimaced slightly at the word boyfriend].

”Uh, well, partly yes,” I admitted and nodded.

”Is he going to look after you?” she asked.

”I guess so...”

”Should I have a word with him before we leave?”

”No, god, no,” I shook my head quickly, ”I'm going to be just fine, mom. I'm 22.”

”Fine then. I trust your word, Abigail.”

That night I spent with my family and in the morning they got a cab to the airport and left me alone in the big house. At first I was excited because, come on, I had the whole house to myself and I could do whatever I wanted to do. I wouldn't have to sneak out during nights anymore and I could eat pizza all day, every day if I wanted to. But then, as I really thought about it, I realized that I would be completely alone for as long as Kelsey was still staying with Tony. And what if she never left, what if Tony had just been bullshitting me and really wanted to be with Kelsey after all?

That summer was supposed to be all about having fun and spending nights with Tony. But so far it had only been full of stupid drama and fighting and being alone. I could only pray that it would get better but deep down inside I was expecting the worst. What if the summer would really suck and I never wanted to return to Miami and I would never get to see Tony again? My god, what a horrible thought.