Summer of 2007. I remember it like it was yesterday. It was, to me, the best year in my life. 18 years old, steady income, good friends. I had everything a teen could ask for.
I was in grade 12, Math class, the final class of my final year of high school. Finally. The anticipation of going camping with friends to my buddy's chalet right after school was torture. As soon as the bell sounded, I bolted out of my seat, turned around once I arrived at the door, stuck both my middle fingers up and told everyone to rot in hell before running down the steps and past the lockers.
I was the first one out of the school and headed towards the parking lot where my friend, Dominic, was waiting for me (He had skipped his last classes so he could prepare for the trip to his chalet). He had just bought the latest "Billy Talent" CD and was listening to it quite loudly. We rushed over to pick up our friend Jed and were on our way up to Dominic's chalet. It was about an hour away but it was almost like a second home to me. I had spent almost all my summers at that chalet and would visit Dominic and his family whenever I could. It was a nice, old, wooden home. It was pretty big too, and rested on a little hill before a lake.
When we got there, we immediately ran out of the car, down the hill and jumped into the lake. The sweet sense of freedom and care free security danced inside us. It was summer time and what better way to spend it than alone with some friends at a chalet. A few minutes later, more people arrived; my cousin Cedric, our friend Veronica and Dominic's friend Sam. I was the oldest of the group, but interestingly enough, the youngest was only 3 weeks younger. We were all adults, all friends and we all got along great.
That night, right after supper we turned on some music, went into the backyard and roasted sausages and marshmallows on the bonfire. Again, Dominic searched through his Ipod for some good songs and stopped on Billy Talent's Surrender. With a good amount of beer resting inside me, I closed my eyes and just listened to the music. I didn't think I could be any more comfortable until Veronica sat down next to me. She brought her legs to her chest and wrapped her arms around them.
"Are you cold?" I asked her.
"Yeah, I can't seem to get warm," she replied, "So I'm sitting next to you in hope of heating up a little."
I took my hoodie off and gave it to her. She put it on and zipped it only up to around her bellybutton area and rested her head on my left shoulder. Her long, fine, chestnut-coloured hair (with somewhat dirty-blondish highlights) smelled nice. I looked up only to see everyone just staring at me, not saying a word. I was confused at first, but it didn't take me long to figure out what their eyes were saying.
Veronica was a really pretty girl. I had met her in grade 9 after finding out my mother was close friends with her mom. I had always felt a little attracted to her, but I really was just friends with her and had never thought of it more than that. It was more of an attraction to her personality than it was to her physical self.
However, having her stuck so close to me, her head resting on my shoulder made me feel almost blissful. The feeling was almost unexplainable, but I didn't question it too much at the time. I ended up dozing off listening to the music and the sound of my friends chatting for some time.
I woke up slowly after realizing there was no more music playing, the fire had almost died out and I was, to my surprise, in a spooning position with Veronica. I noticed my right arm was around her, so I gently tried to pull it away before she woke up. I didn't want her to think I was trying to come on to her, it was an accident. As soon as I took my arm off of her, she woke up.
"Where is everybody?" She asked, stretching.
"I'm not sure, I fell asleep and when I woke up everyone was gone."
"Yeah, I fell asleep too."
I sat up but felt either too tired or too lazy to get up from the lawn chair I had fallen asleep on.
"What time is it?" She asked me.
"I have no clue." I replied with a chuckle.
I looked at her and suddenly felt something strange. Her green eyes stared at the ashes and embers of the dying fire and I realized exactly just how gorgeous she was and couldn't seem to take my eyes off her, even when she looked back up at me.
"What?" She asked smiling.
"No, nothing," I said, "I just realized something, that's all." I said.
"Yeah, and what's that?"
"I never realized just how much of a good-looking girl you are," I told her, "I've known you for this long and never really noticed it."
She smiled and I could see she was blushing which made me laugh.
