When We Had Summer, page 22
“So,” Daniella continued from the stage, “this piece is called Summer Without, and it turns out, I had a lot to say. I’d like to dedicate this piece to my chosen family, my Summer Sisters: Carly, Lainie, and Penny.”
Lainie and Penny exchanged a look as the audience applauded. Zoe yelled, “Go, Daniella!” Then Penny slid her arm through Lainie’s, and they settled in to listen.
Daniella walked to her chair, sat down, and picked up her oboe. The first high, heartfelt notes made the hairs on Lainie’s arm stand on end. The melody reminded her of the call of laughing gulls, and how sometimes they don’t sound like they’re laughing at all but rather, crying out in loneliness.
The violin came in. Lainie thought of how you hear different music as you walk down the boardwalk, one store playing something, and then the next store blasting something different, so that the two songs mix together for a few moments. Daniella’s piece was a bit like that, and so sad…but then slowly, it wasn’t. It started to grow and swell as the viola and cello joined in, and the rhythm picked up.
It sounded, to Lainie, like hope itself. She glanced at Penny, who was listening with her eyes closed. On the other side of Penny, Zoe was still recording with her phone.
The piece ended in a surge of sound, the notes somehow high and low at the same time. Lainie could feel the vibrations of it through her whole body. Everyone was silent, letting this floaty, otherworldly feeling sink in. Then the entire recital hall burst into applause. Daniella put down her oboe and looked out into the audience, right at Lainie and Penny. She smiled, then wiped away a tear from each eye. Before Lainie knew it, she was standing up and clapping, and Penny was joining her.
Zoe stood, too, still recording it all on her phone. Then her parents, then Daniella’s parents, then the rest of the audience. The applause went on for what felt like a week.
Once everyone sat down again, and Mr. Novikoff came up to the podium to introduce the next piece, Penny leaned in to whisper to Lainie.
“A standing O,” Penny said. “That must feel amazing.”
“She deserves it,” Lainie replied.
“I wish I did something that people would stand up and cheer for. Setting up a beach umbrella doesn’t really cut it.”
“Penny,” Lainie said, “I mean it when I say, I’m pretty sure you have a standing ovation in your future.”
“Hopefully not for dropping a tray in the school cafeteria,” Zoe wisecracked from her seat.
Three pieces later, Mr. Novikoff came out and declared the recital officially over. All the students on stage burst into cheers.
Lainie turned to Penny. “Is it obnoxious if we beat Dee’s parents to the stage?”
“I have no problem with being obnoxious.” Penny took Lainie’s
hand and together, they rushed down the aisle, then up some steps, toward Daniella. They were locked in a three-way hug before most students had even put away their instruments.
“That was amazing!” Lainie told Daniella.
“I can’t believe you guys came!” Daniella exclaimed at the same time. “I mean, I’m happy. Just surprised.”
“You did invite us,” Penny said.
“Yeah, but…you guys never answered. I figured you didn’t want to come, but didn’t know how to say it.”
Penny and Lainie exchanged a look. “Oh my God, we never answered,” Penny said.
“You’re right, I didn’t know how to respond,” Lainie told Daniella. “I wanted to come, but not with Penny. We got into a huge fight and weren’t talking to each other.”
Daniella’s eyes went wide. “A fight?”
“And I was lost in boy drama. But then Lainie’s grandpa had an accident with the boat and—”
“He what?”
“It was scary for a little while, but he’ll be okay,” Lainie said, then elbowed Penny. “And the two of us are okay, too, now. We should have answered your message.”
“Let’s make it part of the Summer Sisters code,” Penny suggested. “Every message gets a reply, no matter what.”
Daniella laughed, and Lainie could see how relieved and happy she was. “I love that rule,” Daniella said.
“Same,” Lainie added.
A kid with black-and-white dyed hair came up behind Daniella and tapped her on the shoulder. When Daniella turned around, she and
the kid started squealing at each other, then hugging. Then, two more kids appeared—Lainie recognized them as Margot and Adrian from Daniella’s photos—and there was even more squealing and hugging.
Daniella broke free from Margot and grinned at Lainie and Penny.
“Summer Sisters,” she said, “meet the Glorious Oddballs.”
Lainie laughed. Out of the corner of her eye, she saw one more person standing near them.
It was Zoe, recording everything on her phone.
PENNY LEANED HER FOREHEAD AGAINST THE CAR window and tried to count the lights on the Lincoln Tunnel ceiling as they whipped past her. It creeped her out to think they were driving underneath the Hudson River. She needed a distraction.
“Mr. and Mrs. Franco, thanks again for bringing us along today,” Lainie said, leaning sideways against Penny in the backseat.
Daniella’s mom turned around from the front passenger seat, still radiant with pride even behind her sunglasses. “You’re so welcome, girls. I know it meant a lot to Daniella.”
Penny gave up on counting the lights; they were zooming by way too quickly. Instead, she closed her eyes and thought about the lunch they’d had with Daniella, her family, and Carly’s family. It was at a tiny Italian restaurant owned by a friend of Carly’s dad, and their table took up the entire place. After stuffing their faces with chicken parmigiana and garlic knots, Daniella, Lainie, and Penny had taken a walk on their own through Bryant Park, behind the New York Public Library, and over to Times Square.
It was the first time they’d ever spent time together away from the shore and Penny had felt weirdly…older. In a very good way.
After a minute, the car emerged from the tunnel and into bright, natural light.
Lainie yawned. “Wake me when we get to back to OPH,” she said, closing her eyes. Penny smiled, amused. It was weird to see Lainie tired, or resting at all. She was always going, going, going. Focused on what was in front of her, whether it was on a skateboard or planning a memorial or completing a Bucket List item. Maybe New York City really did bring out a different side of people.
Soon they were on the Garden State Parkway heading south. Penny looked over her shoulder at the disappearing Manhattan skyline. What did Carly think whenever she drove in the other direction at the end of each summer? Did she see those tall buildings and think, home?
Carly, I was in your ’hood today. I felt closer to you. And to Daniella and Lainie, too.
Penny’s phone suddenly rattled with an incoming text from Zoe. It was addressed to both her and Lainie.
figured you guys would want these
Three different videos popped up, one by one, on Penny’s screen. She watched the first few seconds of each one: Daniella’s introduction, the performance, and after the recital when they were all talking and hugging. Penny knew instantly that she would connect them into a longer video to give the Francos, as a thank-you for bringing her to the city. She loaded the clips into a video editing app on her phone.
An older clip in the app’s gallery caught her eye: footage she’d taken of Dex surfing. She pressed play, watching him catch a medium-size wave, then hop off Kiani into waist-high water. He looked at the camera and did a goofy-adorable dance for Penny. She could hear herself laugh in the video.
WTF? Why was she torturing herself like this? Sure, Dex had seemed perfect. And he’d liked her, at least for a while. But now she knew it wasn’t that simple. People don’t show you their true selves right away. Or they change, or their feelings change. Any couple that stays together for more than a month seems like a miracle.
Carly, I loved having a boyfriend, but I hated the way he made me feel about myself. I hope you understand.
Penny had asked for a week off from work for a “family emergency,” and Keri had agreed, no questions asked. It was a half-real request: Lainie and Daniella had both needed her. Hopefully, by the time she came back to her job, she’d be able to handle being around Dex all day without feeling queasy.
She opened the surfing video again and hit the trash can icon, the video vanishing from her screen with a satisfying ka-chunk sound. Then she popped in her earbuds and watched Zoe’s videos from start to finish. The lighting wasn’t great, the audio muffled. She’d make them look and sound better.
Wait. The Bucket List.
Make a music video.
Earlier that day, Penny, Lainie, and Daniella had wandered through Times Square and talked about what was left on the list. They’d agreed to wait until Daniella got back to the shore, and maybe by then, they’d have some ideas for how to tackle the few things they still had to do.
What if there was already an idea sitting on Penny’s phone? She’d been playing around with animations and filters on the editing app. She could try to make something. If Daniella and Lainie didn’t like it, they could do another together.
Penny popped a fresh stick of gum in her mouth and shifted in her seat to get more comfortable. There was work to do.
As the Francos’ car bumped across the river bridge into Ocean Park Heights, Lainie woke up with a start. She looked around, her eyes wide, her hair car-nap-crazy. Penny burst out laughing.
“Lainie!” she cried overdramatically. “Talk to me! Do you know where you are? What day is it? Who’s the president of the United States?”
Lainie narrowed her eyes. “Did I actually sleep all the way home?”
“Yup,” Penny said. “You even snored a little.”
“Sorry,” Lainie muttered, shaking her head.
“It’s fine. Better than fine. I had a chance to work on a little project.”
Lainie raised an eyebrow.
“Here, check it out.” Penny handed Lainie her phone, then leaned in to watch over Lainie’s shoulder as Lainie pressed play.
Penny had added a title screen that read summer with in big, funky letters. Then the word out slid in from the right side, forming the title of Daniella’s piece. During Daniella’s introduction, the video was in black-and-white. When it cut to the performance of Daniella’s piece, it changed to a light blue tone.
“I threw in some stuff,” Penny said.
Summer Without was still the beautiful composition Daniella had created, but in this video, with animated doodles and filters that slowly changed from faded colors to bright, electric ones, it was a total statement. When the performance ended and the video cut to Penny and Lainie hurling themselves at Daniella, everyone hugging and crying, Penny had added some sound effects of waves crashing on a beach. Then everything faded out, into a final screen that simply read #SummerSisters.
Lainie was silent for a few moments, staring at the now-blank phone screen.
“Is it stupid?” Penny asked. Lainie shook her head. “You think Daniella will be mad that I messed with the video of her piece?”
Lainie paused, then shook her head again. She turned to Penny.
“This is so…freaking…cool.”
“Is it?”
“Uh…yeah! How did you do all that in the car?”
“I have a couple of good apps,” Penny said, shrugging. “Then I found a couple more. It was really pretty easy.”
“Maybe for you,” Lainie said. “You’re good at this stuff. Like, really good. The colors changed to the beat and everything. It was practically professional.”
“Thanks,” Penny said. “You know, there’s a place in Philly that runs film and animation classes for high-school students. Maybe I should check it out.”
“You should definitely check it out,” Lainie said. “Promise me you will.”
“Yes, ma’am.”
The car slowed, and Penny glanced up to see that they were at her house. Damn it. She didn’t want to get out and face her annoying brothers, and her sad mom, and perfect, boyfriend-stealing Jamie.
“Dee will be back in two days,” Lainie said, putting her hand on Penny’s shoulder. “Summer’s not over yet.”
Penny nodded and slowly got out of the car, waving to everyone as they drove away. Then she headed toward her house, trying to think positive.
There was a Bucket List to finish. A memorial to pull off.
Summer’s not over yet.
Maybe it could still be saved.
THE PLAYGROUND LUNCH SPOT SUDDENLY FELT much smaller to Daniella.
Probably because Jules, Adrian, and Margot were all huddled on top of her.
“It’s a farewell pile,” Adrian explained. “When hugging just doesn’t feel affectionate enough.”
“I love it,” Daniella croaked. “But I also can’t breathe.”
Everyone crawled off her but stayed close. On the blacktop below, there were still traces of their chalk art that had not yet been erased by rain.
“You guys better come visit me,” Adrian said. “If you don’t…I have a whole gallery of low-key embarrassing photos of us from the summer, and I’m not afraid to post them.”
“Maybe we can all meet up at Thanksgiving,” Jules suggested.
Daniella perked up. Thanksgiving. “Hey, you know, my family usually comes here for the holiday. So yeah, that would work.”
“It’s a plan,” Margot said. “Even if I have to take the train or hitchhike or something, I’ll be there.”
The last day of the program had been only a half day, where the students could get feedback on their recital performances and fill out questionnaires about their experiences. Mostly, though, it was a time to say goodbye. Daniella had already packed up most of her things at the apartment so she could hang out with her friends as long as possible.
“Hey. Check it out.”
Adrian lifted his chin and they all turned to see Dimitri, the falafel guy, walking toward the play structure, a large brown bag in his arms.
“I hear you finished your music school,” he said. “I’m giving you sandwiches for free today.”
He handed up the paper bag, and they gave him a round of applause. “Dimitri, you simply rock,” Jules said, digging inside.
Dimitri shrugged. “They are just small sandwiches. Not the big ones I sell. I need to make some money today.”
He turned and started walking back to his cart.
“We’ll miss you, Dimitri!” Daniella called. “Thanks for all the awesome lunches this summer!”
Dimitri gave a forget about it kind of wave, grunted, and kept walking.
Daniella turned to her friends. “I’m sure he’s crying on the inside.”
They all laughed and passed around the little foil-wrapped bundles, warm and heavenly-smelling. Daniella watched as the others began to eat, taking in every detail she could. The way Margot would inspect her food before each bite. Jules constantly adjusting the spiked choker they wore every day. Adrian flipping his hair from one side to the other. Pigeons flapping their wings as they landed on the blacktop. A baby in a stroller, crying softly.
Somehow, this had all started to feel like home. Not like a house home. But a me home. A place where a part of Daniella had always lived, and (hopefully) always would.
“So, what happens when you get back to the beach?” Adrian asked her.
“We’re raising money for a memorial bench for Carly. When it’s ready, we’ll have a ceremony and a little party. Still a few things to plan, so I’ll be busy helping Lainie and Penny with that. Oh! I almost forgot!”
Daniella took out her phone and pulled up the video Penny had sent her that morning.
made this music video. hope you like it. OK if we post?
Daniella had watched the video on the subway. It made her sob right there in the middle of morning rush hour and she didn’t even care.
“Turns out, my friend Penny is some kind of freaky genius filmmaker,” Daniella told her friends as she held out the phone for everyone to see. She pressed play on the video and turned up the volume. Jules, Margot, and Adrian huddled in, smiling as soon as they saw the introduction screen.
When the video was over, they all applauded.
“Is it cool with you guys if we put it on FotoSlam as part of the Bucket List? You’re in that last section, so I wanted to make sure.”
“Duh,” Adrian said.
“Why wouldn’t we be cool with it?” Margot asked.
Daniella glanced over at Jules, who was quietly gazing at the phone. “Hello? You okay?” she asked, waving her hand in front of their face.
Jules bit their lip. “It really tells a story, Daniella. Even though I wish you’d shared it from the beginning, I’m happy I know it now…and I’m extra happy we got to be, like, part of it.”
“Same,” Adrian said. “If we all come back to the program next year, can we do the Bucket List with you again?”
It caught Daniella off guard. Next year? Bucket List again? She hadn’t thought past the summer.
“Yeah, maybe,” she said softly, not meeting Adrian’s eye.
“I’ll take that as a no.”
Wait. Stop. I don’t want to ruin this.
It was time to be honest for a change.
“I’m sorry,” Daniella admitted. “I’d definitely like to come back to the program, but I’m not sure about another Bucket List. We only did this one because Carly had started writing it before she…We wanted to do it for her, you know?”
And we barely survived it as friends, Daniella added in her head. Besides, Carly was the only one good at coming up with ideas for the list.
Adrian nodded. “I get it.” He paused, then smiled mischievously. “Next year we could come up with our own Glorious Oddballs tradition.”
Daniella reached out and hugged him. “I love that idea so much.”
“So, what’s left on the Bucket List for you to do when you get home?” Jules asked.
Daniella thought for a second. “Well, nobody’s kissed a boy yet.”
