Page 4 of To Love or to Lose
There is a desk to the right of the door, and the blinds on the large windows behind the bed are pulled open, giving me a full view of the garden out back. This house keeps getting more and more opulent.
The garden out back is covered almost entirely in patio space, while the yard itself is sectioned into a space for the pool. For the grill, there’s even a fire pit built into the patio right off the back door with enough seating for the royal family surrounding it.
Then, there’s what looks to be a guest house on the far side of the property, which reminds me quite a bit of my mom’s house in Italy—small but luxurious.
I sit on the edge of my bed as I take in the utter wealth these people exhibit—the view of the pool and pots of flowers surrounding my peripheral vision. All I can do is think about the year to come, and hope this will be everything I need.
Once I get my swim trunks on, I follow Logan outside to the pool. It’s relatively dark outside, but the jets under the water all have lights and the living room lights illuminate the space enough so we can see.
“So, tomorrow there’s an end of the summer party at Hagen’s Lake. It usually lasts all day, and it’s pretty fun, if you want to go,” Logan tells me as we get in the pool.
For a moment, I think about how much I have to do before school starts. I knew I'd be up late unpacking, and Wren offered to take me shopping for all the quintessential things I didn’t bring with me.
Maybe it’s not the best idea to join Logan, but it could also be an effective way for me to acclimate to the town.
So, I agree. “Yeah that sounds fun. Are your friends going to be there?”
Logan nods, as much as one can while halfway submerged in water. “The guys are coming, and Winnie is still trying to convince Gen to come.”
“Is one of them your girlfriend?” I ask out of curiosity. Nobody mentioned anything about Logan dating, but I feel inclined to ask.
“No, no,” he says almost too quickly. “Genevieve and Winnie are two of my best friends; we grew up together.” He points over the pool to the neighboring house, the only reason we can see it is because of the few lit windows. “That’s Winnie’s house.”
I hum, nodding in understanding. I sense there could be more by the way he reacted to my question, but I say nothing further on the subject.
“So, what does everyone do at the beach?” I change the subject. “I mean, besides the obvious.”
“There are food trucks the parents all pitch in to rent in the parking lot, courts are set up for beach volleyball, and a bunch of other stuff,” he says, hopping out of the pool and jumping straight back in off the diving board. “Me and some of the guys are planning on letting off fireworks toward the end of the night.”
“I wasn’t expecting American towns to actually be how they are in the movies,” I say.
When I have visited America, I typically stayed in bigger cities, but even the smaller towns I went to never seemed like this.
Logan laughs. “Most of them aren’t. Fairwood is just so small that it’s fun for all of us to take part in these types of traditions, especially the senior class.”
“I must have picked the best one then,” I joke, stretching my arms out below the water to keep myself afloat.
“I promise you, Fairwood is as cool as it gets around here. Some people hate the small-town vibe, but it can be super fun if you’re in therightsmall town.”
I look around again, taking in where I am—not in London, my home, but in Connecticut. I’m in possibly one of the classiest small towns in the state, ready to start another year of school.
“Well,” I pause, looking up at the night sky. “Let’s hope this truly is the small town you make it out to be.”
Logan grins as he swims past me and toward the ladder leading out of the pool. “You will not be disappointed, man,” he replies.
As I get out of the pool, all I can think is that I really hope he’s right.
Chapter Two
265 days until graduation
Summer is slowly coming to a close, meaning Hagen’s Lake is the most popular place to be all day and night.
I normally have much better things to do than tan on a beach and jump into the water off an old, rickety dock, which holds true for a large majority of the summer. This summer especially since I’ve been focused on college tours and filling out applications for different Universities.
But Winnifred Carter and Eloise Taylor are persuasive, and they refused to let me go all summer without going with them at least once.
My friends have been able to bring bits of peace to my life when I’ve been too stubborn to do it myself. They understand I need it more than I do sometimes, and I’m truly grateful for it.
