Page 4 of The Summer of Everything

“You don’t?”

“Nope. I’m good. Happy and single.”

“Single, yes,” Ella agrees, then raises her eyebrows. “Happy? Depends on how you classify it.”

“I classify it as Wes Hudson, a guy on the verge of getting his shit together.”

“So, the utter opposite of happy.”

“Ella, I’m not going to spend my summer chasing after boys to fill some emptiness you think exists.”

“Well, not boys,” she replies, “but hopefully you won’t be chasing the same boy.”

Wes’s hands curl into fists in his lap. He knows where this conversation is going. “You can stop implying.”

“I will when you stop avoiding.”

“I’m not avoiding anything,” Wes hisses, but he is. He most definitely is. “I just want to spend this summer kicking back. Go to a party or two. Read comics. Avoid Leo. Hang out as much as possible at Once Upon a Page. That’s it.”

Ella sighs heavily. “Oh, here we go…”

Yup, here we go.

Wes is certain they’ve had at least ten different versions of this discussion over the short span of their friendship.

“All you do is spend time at the bookstore,” says Ella. “As if all you want out of life is that damn place and Nico.”

There, she’s said it. Now it’s all Wes will be thinking about for the next fifteen minutes.

Not as if Wes hasn’t thought about this one thing since, well, tenth grade. But he’s a realist. He knows discussing his massive crush on his best friend with anyone has never solved the problem. Iftalkingabout all life’s problems solved anything, people might actually be a lot further along with their goals than just hashtags on social media.

“Listen,” Wes says, angling his body in Ella’s direction. “Life’s good. We’re done with high school. I smashed my college essay, and we’re headed to my dream school…”

“Your parents’ dream school,” Ella corrects.

Wes’s parents are UCLA alumni, not that that had a direct impact on why he chose to stay closer to home. Santa Monica is his life. So maybe he wanted to be somewhere all his memories with Nico exist, since Nico won’t be at UCLA with him. He doesn’t think that’s a bad thing.

“What I’m trying to say is, the rest of this summer is going to be killer.”

Ella rolls her eyes. “Whatever you say, pal.”

The car pulls into the parking garage behind a pale pink building. Wes doesn’t care if Ella agrees with him. He’s home. He has two months left to execute his nonexistent plan. And he’s damn sure going to make the most of what he’s got.

Chapter Two

The Five Things I Love the Most:

Number Two—Once Upon a Page

I don’t know if I believe in magic. REAL magic. Not the stuff in Marvel movies. But I think everyone has that one place where they believe anything is possible.

For me, that’s Once Upon a Page.

When I walk inside, I feel like I’m safe. I’m invincible. The Adult World can’t touch me. I don’t have to worry about leaving my mark in life. College? What’s that? Career, who?

Maybe there really is a spell cast on the bookstore’s doors. Once you enter, you’re a kid again. You’re free. Nothing—not even goblins like Leo—can take this away from you.

I guess I do believe in magic.

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