Story 1: Curley Fries

The summer loomed over us in the sticky air like a gigantic rain cloud waiting to explode and pour over us all. That summer, when remembered, is smiled upon with fond memories. It was the summer of naivety, the summer where oblivious ignorance was accepted and encouraged and when we were just kids. I was 15, and I was happy for the most part. I was the typical teenager: always right, misunderstood, bratty, and somewhat of a rebel (in my own small rebellious steps)."Hannah!" I heard the familiar voice of Gracie, my best friend, hanging outside of my first floor bedroom window, "C’mon I know you’re awake. Lets go somewhere. Please please please." I smiled as I lounged on my bed, melting over a book I was currently reading. I took off my glasses and walked over to my window. Through the glass I saw the friendly and rather familiar face I had grown to recognize from a mile away.Gracie was beautiful. Gracie was sweet. Gracie was funny. Everyone loved Gracie. Everyone loves Gracie. Every guy wanted to be with her, and every girl wanted to be her, or at least be her best friend. I had that privilege. When we met, I was the dorky new kid and she was the sweet girl next door who took me under her wing. As the years went by, Gracie became more pristine and beautiful then ever and I, on the other hand, just became more awkward. It was a unique friendship, probably because we were complete opposites yet marveled in each other’s presence. I was always there for her after her late nights out, and she had perfect attendance for my late nights in.I opened the window to the cool night air. The rush of air that rustled the curtains sent a shiver down my spine and I could feel goose bumps rise on my bare arms."What, Gracie?" I huffed in my usual exasperated and joking tone. She smiled her glittering smile and her face shined in the moonlight."Well, what do you want to do? It is your birthday, remember? Or at least it will be in," she paused checking her watch, "ten minutes. Come on, stop playing by the rules and sneak out for my almost birthday treat.""What will possibly be open this hour? I don’t expect your talking me to Denny’s again, are you?" I whispered, leaning on the window sill."No, of course not! you KNOW I never do the same treat twice. Its special, I swear," Her grin widened. "Please." She pouted and tugged at my arm, which I had let casually hang over the sill."Fine, hold on a sec." I disappeared into the black depths of my room and pulled my favorite sweatshirt over my head. I pulled on my sneakers and whispered over my shoulder, "Can it be that you let me sleep as your treat next year, I mean seriously, this sleep deprivation as a birthday treat, does nothing for the dark circles under my eyes."In a minute I was outside standing in the grass, and being blindfolded. Oh, birthdays. She was tugging my arm along as we walked down streets, in the eerie pale glow of lamplight. I was not fond of being disturbed and brought trudging on an adventure. Thank God I took a nap this afternoon, was the thought running through my head. She lead me for a good ten minutes through silent, deserted streets and I followed diligently, hoping patiently to reach our secret destination. She had me sit on a patch of grass, and I could see the moons glittering reflection through the blindfold."Alright, take it off." She whispered, kneeling behind me. I slowly untied the blindfold, and then I smiled. It was my favorite scene of all time. That of course, is the New York City skyline. It shimmered against the black night, and every illuminated window was a single star in the world I dreamed of being a part of. Yeah, they say its every suburban teen’s dream to survive the city, but it was more like a necessity for me. I smiled at Gracie and gave her the tackled her into a bear hug. She laughed."I knew you’d love it. Happy Birthday." she said. She reached into a bag I hadn’t seen and she pulled out a small tupper-ware container with two cupcakes. A funfetti one with chocolate frosting and a plain chocolate one. She took out the plain chocolate one for me and stuck a candle into the cupcake, and lit it. She held hers, and laughed, "Make a wish."I closed my eyes and wished. Maybe I wanted a life in the city, but what I wanted all of that, was something real. Not some guy who settled for me because Gracie was unavailable, a guy who was interested in me initially. I smiled and blew out the candle. The one little flames demise had no effect on anything. The night still was lit by the city lights and the stars that hung over head.
I slowly opened my eyes, feeling the sun-rays warming my arms through the open window. I groaned in frustration, turned on my side facing away from the window and pulled the blanket over my head. After about a minute of sleepy bliss, I began to realize just how stuffy it was under the blanket. The stale air was not what I wanted to breathe first thing in the morning. I flipped the blanket off, the cool, fresh morning air filled my lungs. When I finally gained the strength to sit up, low and behold, I found a creature curled up on the floor next to my bed. Of course, that creature was Gracie who had camped out at my house the night before. I rubbed my eyes, and stretched my back and yawned grumpily. My feet touched the bumpy carpet and the edges of Gracie's makeshift sleeping arrangement. I sighed and clumsily pulled her onto the bed. I stumbled, yawning into the kitchen, and found the house completely empty. I grabbed the apple and the note that was conveniently placed on the table.Hannah-I went out. There's bagels on the top of the fridge. Help yourself. Be back around noon-ish. Love, Mom. P.S. and yes, I noticed Gracie took refuge in your room last night. Make her some coffee. And ask me next time, alright? I grabbed the bag of bagels from off the fridge and started to brew some coffee for Gracie. I laughed at the fact my mom cared about Gracies caffine needs more than mine. I finally remembered to look at the clock it read in cube-like, stern numbers:9:37 AMI rolled my eyes. My biological clock had me waking up this early? UGH! U spread creamcheese on the everything bagel and turned on the TV. After about 5 minutes of mindless commercials, I started to smell the brewing coffee, when the smell started drifting through the house, a groan errupted from my bedroom. "Awake, Sleeping Beauty? Good Morning!" I hollered. I heard a muffled "Fuck you" but decided to ignore it. She trudged in about a good five minutes later rubbing her face."What ya got to eat?" She sat at the table expectant of food. "Bagel?" I threw her the bag. That definatly woke her up, after catching the bag she threw me a death glare."Your too lucky Hannah, that I have lightning-fast reflexes in the morning"

"Oh yeah, that's exactly what I'm lucky to have" I chuckle as I roll my eyes and take a bite into my bagel. I shrugged and smiled. For an instant I choked on my bagel, which sent both of us into a fit of laughter. That always happens. The first bite you take out of something, turns out to be a complete fail. 

The rest of the morning was lazy and slow like the air surrounding us. It was thickening by the second, and i could feel the pressure and heat weighing on my skin. When i told Gracie my mom would be home by noon she looked at me.

"Let's go to my house then. I live near Brett, as you know" She raised her eyebrows at me. 

Ooh, Brett. Was I in love with him. Well, i guess one would say "obsessed" or "infatuated" after they learned I had never talked to the kid. Yet, for some reason I could feel that we had chemistry between us, even with the distance. When I told Gracie this, she told me I was insane and laughed in my face, but I knew I wasn't crazy for no reason. I mean all he had to was glance at me, and I'd have nothing better to talk about that week. Too bad he was such a jerk. Even with his silky black hair and his soft golden skin you couldn't help but be repulsed at his chosen idiocy and goofy friends. I just wanted to go over to him, slap him over the head and yell "WHAT ARE YOU DOING?!?!?" He would stare dumbfounded back at me, blank as a deer in headlights. I wanted nothing more than to shake his shoulders and tell him to "WAKE UP" because the way he's going, the only thing he'll be able to do is dream. But at the thought of the sweltering summer heat and Brett, well then, how could I refuse?

I fanned myself mockingly with my hand, "Oh Brett. Of course I'll go over Gracie's to see you. You don't have to ask twice!" I swooned and fluttered my eyelashes. 

"Get a GRIP, Hannah," she said, pulling my arm out the door. I held her up long enough to jot down a quick note to the madre, and lock my door and then we were gone. 

We waltzed down street after street begging for shady sidewalks and cool breezes. It was such a hot morning my shirt was almost soaked through, it was clinging to my moist skin with determination. How attractive. I wiped my temple with the back of my hand. Needless to say, this was not the time (precisely 11:11) i wanted to meet a cute boy and a younger girl walking towards our sweaty beings. Noticing this guy, Gracie had transformed into guy patrol in a hot second and was now invitingly and flirtatiously giggling with me about our... situation.  

"Do you have the time?" I looked at my cell phone.

"It's 11:11, actually." 

"Make a wish!" Gracie squealed. She glanced at the kid, smiled and then clenched her eyes tightly. The girl also had her eyes tightly shut. The kid remained unfazed and indifferent to the whole situation. I closed my eyes lightly and wished for the same thing i did the night before.

"It's her birthday you know" Gracie said, nudging me. The boy muttered a "happy birthday" and the girl erupted into a fit of squeals. 

"Oh my god! that means your 11:11 wish is like... doubly powerful! The kid rolled his eyes.

"By the way, We're new here, what's there to do?"

"Gracie and I looked at each other I started "Well, there's uhhh.... the movies, the mall and TGI Fridays?"

"So nothing, then."

"Yeah, i guess you can say that" I smiled. She was a cute kid, short, about 13, i think. She had dark brown frizzy curls and pale skin with warm brown inviting eyes. She stuck out her hand.

"I'm Mallory" She inserted.

"Hannah," I said shaking her hand. "Mallory this is Gracie" Little did I know, Gracie was making googlie eyes all over the other kid. That's step one, here comes boy friend number 14. 

"Oh, I'm sorry, this is my obnoxious brother Max." He shrugged. His shoulders were broad and his figure on the scrawny side. He had dark brown hair and piercing blue eyes. He didn't look obnoxious or mean, just surprised, amused, and passively annoyed. 

"Where are you from?" asked Gracie, smiling and glittering at Max.

"We're from Chicago" Mallory said, trying to get Gracie's attention. "Just moved here last week" She looked proud, almost excited.

"That's cool, I've never been to Chicago. What brings you guys here?" I asked, trying to distract Mallory from Gracie's obvious attempt at wooing Max. 

"My dad's job moved. And we needed a bigger house for Pamela's new baby. Pamela is our step-mother, by the way. Our mom lives in NYC, so now we'll get to see her more often. Which will be AWESOME!"

"Exciting" Ugh. Now I'm actually going to have to be friends with this chick?! I mean she seemed nice and all but ah! she's a 13 year old. A noisy, nosey, obnoxious 13 year old. No. I refuse to have to put up with his all summer. And then i felt bad if someone happened to be reading my thoughts at that exact moments. Then I smiled at my idiocy and insanity, and felt eyes on me. I looked up to catch Max smiling at me.

I gasped. 

I knew he was something from the first moment i met him. After she shrugged, indifferent to Gracie, and smiled at me, piercing me with his eyes, I knew he was something. Even now, those eyes give me jitters. Maybe it's their intensity. Remembering that summer directly leads to Max in whichever respect i think of it in. 

Like always, Gracie interrupted my lounging thoughts with a not-subtle-at-all pound on the window. The bang rushed me back to reality and I smiled. I opened my window to the cool breezy night. I slipped on my sneakers, like clockwork, and met up with Gracie in front of my house. 

"Hello" I said, leaning on the hood of her Jeep Wrangler. 

"Hello" she copied mockingly. 

"What's the deal? Why did you knock?" 

It was the first night of summer, you could smell it in the air. It was the last summer of our high-school career.  Next fall we'd be off to college. The air felt free, and I inspired by relief wanted to take a risk. 

"You, want to take a risk tonight" she said smiling. She always had a way of knowing exactly what i needed. "C'mon." 

We drove off into the night, singing songs off various mixed cds and reminiscing high-school memory after high-school memory. The tell all "Remember when..." was used approximately 437 times. And of course, we both remembered every single instance.

"Let's go to a movie," Gracie laughed.  I loved seeing movies in the theatre late at night. It was desolate, it was second only to seeing movies early in the morning (with a goodnight of rest the night before, anyhow). 

"Sure," i smiled "who else is coming?"

"Well," she paused, "Max for you, and Tristan for me!" She took out her phone. 

"Why does everyone think that Max and I should be together- we're not! We're just friends, besides he won't come out this late."

"Of course he won't" Gracie winked as the radio was replaced with dial tones. They all faded into the background as i let my very dazed and very tired thoughts drift into space and what lay beyond time. I picked up sparse pieces of conversation. 

"Hey.... Wanna go to a movie Max?".... "Me, Tristan, Hannah, ya know..." ... "No, we don't..." ... "Whenever, I..." ... "What? No! We..." 

We lurched to a stop and I was thrashed out of day dream. Gracie squealed. "Max is coming because you're going, I can tell! Something is going to happen tonight, I can feel it!"

"You're full of it." 

"Parking and emerging into the brisk night air, Gracie and I start to quickly walk towards the theatre. 

"It's cold" I shivered.

"You're CRAZY. IT's SUMMER!" Gracie sounded astonished. Then she smiled, and i knew that Max and Tristan had arrived. Apparently, with guests like Justin, Aiden, Sylvie, Morgan, and Ashton. Justin and Aiden were typical varsity football jocks, Sylvie was a cheerleader, and Morgan and Ashton were the sweetest cutest couple at our school. Great. They joined us at the ticket counter.