Maven unfastened her seat belt, staring up at the family summer home. A modern two story brick house with white shutters and a huge wraparound porch, lush green grass, and the perfect amount of shade and sun.

She wasn’t about to let Jake Summit ruin her summer.

 

THE BROWN-EYED BOY

MAVEN SAT DOWN on her bed. Looking around her room at all her favorite belongings; the rose-colored mirror, the antique vanity, and the queen-sized canopy bed her mother had had when she was younger, all that she loved coming back to every year.

She stood and went to her window. Just across the way were several families she was all too familiar with. They too migrated to Portwood for the summer. And they also had kids that attended school with Maven.

Nick tapped on Maven’s door. He wondered what his sister was contemplating so deeply. “You could have stayed at home and hid in your bedroom.” He stepped inside his sister’s excessively feminine bedroom, looking at all the photographs and art on her walls. He breathed in the floral fragrance. “I am going down for frozen yogurt. And seeing as you’re a die hard fan I thought you would want to come.”

Maven nodded. She knew if she refused, their parents would start with all their psychobabble. They were both doctors and they never stopped analyzing everything their kids did. It was best to keep that to a minimum.

“Let me grab my jacket,” she said, cracking open her walk-in closet for the first time in months. She smiled at the sight of so many clothes. She was that kind of girl—one who loved to wear nice things. She plucked a jean jacket from the hanger and hurried down the stairs after Nick.

Maggie had already beaten her to the door. She carefully applied clear lip gloss waiting on Maven and Nick so they could all head out for frozen yogurt.

When Maven was with Jake it was the same every year. Their parents vacationed together, ate together, played tennis together. Everything they did was together and that wasn’t exciting. Their fathers even worked together.

The Wilder’s and the Summit’s grew up together. Maven could remember the stories her mother would recount forever about the times she had with Jake’s mother on the high school cheerleading squad. It was almost like an arranged marriage.

All that changed rapidly when Tatiana Fleming rolled into town. Tatiana and Maven were nothing alike. She was raven haired while Maven was fair. Her parents were laid-back, while Maven’s were more formal. Maybe not strict, but they expected their children to act like upstanding citizens. That meant manners and no foul language. And of course young women were supposed to act like women. And men were supposed to have respect for them.

Because of these rules, many kids that grew up with Maven and her siblings coined them the goody goodies. It got Nick in tons of trouble. He was always trying to prove to everyone around him that he wasn’t always perfect or uptight. Maggie, the youngest of them, became the rebel, and Maven simply ignored what everyone thought about her and tried to be herself despite all the immaturity. She didn’t feel she needed to prove herself to anybody.

“What flavor you getting?” Nick asked, nudging Maven from her train of thought. She concentrated on the white menu with the little magnetic black letters. Noticing the L in vanilla was crooked. The line moved, bringing her back to reality and to her brother’s question.

“Orange.” She nibbled at a nail, staring at the back of the woman’s head in front of her as she ordered. She was almost certain the woman was from their neighborhood back at home, which meant most of her hometown was there too.

“Stop biting your fingernails,” Maggie said, she swatted Maven’s hand. “That is so unhygienic.”

Maven shot her a scowl, dropping her hand to her side. Just in time too. She could feel their eyes on the back of her like daggers. Nick shot his sister a quick look before resting his elbows on the counter. He leaned down to place his order.

“Just breathe. He probably won’t say anything if you don’t.” Nick offered.

Maven knew the odds of that happening were slim. Jake was a prick. If he knew he had an opportunity to showcase his new girlfriend, he would. She drew in a deep breath, letting it escape as she waited for the red-haired girl to return to the window to take their order.

Time slowed. Maven’s throat constricted at the thought of her and Jake coming face-to-face. She wasn’t sure if she could handle it. He had embarrassed her in front of their entire school and she didn’t want to experience that again, the last two weeks of senior year was enough for her.

Tatiana and Jake had been messing around behind her back for months. And sadly she was the only one who didn’t know. Even her brother figured it out and he was in college. And instead of letting it go, Jake insisted on rubbing it in her face whenever he could.

Maven snatched half the napkins from the dispenser in angst. Suddenly she wasn’t so cool and her jacket was doing nothing but making her perspire.

The red-headed girl gave a toothy smile and pulled the window open. The combination of warm air and candied nuts wafted past Maven’s nose. “What can I get ya’ll?”

Nick gave the sheepish smile he was so famous for, dragging his fingers through his messy hair before opening his mouth to speak.

“I’ll take the usual. Medium orange cone,” Maven said in a hurry to get to the next window.

As if her voice sent off bells, Jake took notice. He slid his hand around Tatiana’s curvy waist. It felt like gravity pulled Maven’s eyes in their direction. As hard as she fought against it, she had no choice but to look.

“Maven. I didn’t think you guys were already here,” Jake said, looking her over with his usual holier-than-thou expression.

Nick took hold of her elbow, guiding her to the next window. Jake grinned at Nick before casting his attention to the red head waiting for his order. Tatiana chewed her gum, giving Maven a cold smile. Maven didn’t know if she hated her or liked her. Chances were it was hate.

Maven looked away. She was beginning to wish she stayed back home with their Grandfather watching the pets and taking it easy. Anything would be better than staring at her ex-boyfriend with his trampy girlfriend.

At one time, she did have strong feelings for Jake. Well not anymore, now she thought they were just stupid feelings. She learned quickly that boys had a way of breaking your heart. And soon she was refusing to believe that love existed. To her, love was cruel.

Jake touched Tatiana’s cheek with his fingertips as they waited for their yogurt. She giggled a little too overdramatically for Maven’s taste. She wondered what he saw in her as they flirted openly. What made him choose to forgo their relationship for the likes of Tatiana? How is she any better than me? She almost wanted to ask him.

“Here you go.” The guy behind the counter said, sticking his hand through the window offering Maven her yogurt. But she was too busy watching Jake and Tatiana fondle each other in public, trying to figure out why.

“Maven heads up,” Maggie said elbowing her sister.

Too besieged with all the PDA going on, she stepped forward, grabbing for the yogurt, totally missing the yogurt and the step. She gasped, seeing only the face of the brown-eyed boy as she plummeted to the concrete. She swatted her brother away as he tried to help her up, her pride refusing to allow anyone to lend a hand, her hand shot above her head and blindly located the counter, she tried putting her weight on the counter, gave it a tug, broke the latch and fell back down again in horror. She dusted her knees and tried one more time at standing, silently begging herself to hold it together and take the orange yogurt so she could get out of there.