Finding Myself - 4. Chapter 4: Independence Day

July 3 2017

I woke up late in the morning feeling groggy. My nose was stuffy and I felt a little shaky. I must have gotten a cold from being in the chilly water last night. My stomach growled, however. This cold clearly wasn’t ruining my appetite. I got dressed while Jake continued sleeping.

I was eating some oatmeal for breakfast when I heard a knock at the front door. “I’ll get it,” I announced. Jake’s parents seemed to be busy with other stuff.

“Aedan?” Katie asked as I opened the door. I fought off the urge to whistle. She was looking fine in a tank top and mini skirt.

“Oh, hey,” I smiled, sniffling a bit. “What’s up?”

“Oh, uh, we’re leaving town today. Going to be up in Boston for July 4th.”

“Cool. Have fun,” I smiled. She leaned in to kiss me. “You probably shouldn’t. I have a cold,” I sighed, my voice a bit raspy.

“Oh, I hope you feel better,” she blew me a kiss. My cheeks blushed as I waved and gently closed the door. My stomach filled with butterflies.

“Someone’s happy,” Jake teased. “Was that Katie at the door?” He was in his pajamas still. He popped his retainer out of his mouth. I nodded. He noticed the tent in my sweatpants. “Hmm nice, bro…”

“Shut up!” I blushed, hiding the area with my hands.

Later in the afternoon, I was resting in my bed, drawing in my sketchbook. A wastebasket sat next to my bed for my used tissues to go into. I was feeling worse now than in the morning.

Jake entered the room. “Hey, man. Dad and I are going to pick up some fireworks for tomorrow. Wanna come?” He grabbed his hoodie and pulled it on over his head.

“Nah,” I croaked. “I’m feeling worse than this morning,” I blew my pink nose into a tissue.

“Oh, uh, okay. I hope you feel better,” he smiled.

“Thanks,” I smiled back before coughing a little and Jake left the room.

Jake and I didn’t talk much through the evening either. I went to bed early, and I was still kind of upset with him.

July 4 2017

After some much needed rest, I began to feel better on the Independence Day holiday. I slept for ten hours before waking up at the crack of dawn at 6AM. My nose was still a bit stuffy, but getting out of my pajamas and into a warm shower helped. I got dressed in a red tank top and my blue and white swim trunks for the day.

“Hey, Aedan,” Jake smiled as he sat up and scratched his chest.

“Mornin’, Jake,” my raspy voice managed to squeak. “I’m still a bit sick.”

“I can tell.” He paused. “I’m sorry.”

“Don’t worry Jake,” I shrugged as he pulled on a shirt. “It’s just a little cold. And my mom’s a nurse, so she can check on me when I get back tomorrow. Seriously. I’ll be fine.”

“I meant about the other night,” Jake walked into the bathroom and pulled out his retainer. “I feel really bad for deceiving you. I’m an awful best friend.”

“Dude,” I sniffled. “It’s alright. The whole scavenger hunt seemed realistic. I’d be lying if I said I didn’t have any fun with it.” I sat down on my bed. We spent the morning eating breakfast and playing video games.

The beach was relatively crowded during the day. Jake and I hung out at the beach during the midday hours playing football on the beach and eating watermelon. We had hot dogs for lunch before Jake and I went back to the beach and got in the water. I, as usual, stayed close to shore since I can’t swim yet.

We came inside around 4pm to shower off the sand and rest a while before eating dinner at 7. I had put on some nicer clothes: a button up shirt and cargo shorts.

We had some steak and potatoes for dinner, which we ate at the table on the back porch overlooking the beach. After dinner, Jake and I did the dishes, putting the plates, cups, and silverware in the dishwasher. By the time everything was done, it was 8PM and the sun was about to set.

“You ready to go watch the fireworks?” Jake asked. I nodded. “You might want to bring a sweatshirt. It can get chilly out on the water at night.”

“Okay,” I blushed. I grabbed my hoodie from the dryer since I had it washed after using it on the fishing trip. We climbed into the back of Jake’s dad’s car and rode down to the marina where we got on the yacht. There were a lot of people gathering in the local park for fireworks, but Jake’s family insisted on viewing them from the boat. The water was calmer than it had been the other day, so I wasn’t as queasy. The fireworks began and they looked pretty awesome in the clear summer night sky. I put my hoodie on to stay warm in the cool sea breeze.

“Jake, I don’t want this week to end.” I said, laying on my back on the boat’s deck.

“It’s been pretty fun hanging out,” Jake agreed. “But we have to go back home tomorrow.”

“I know, but, like,” I stuttered, and a couple tears formed in my eyes. “Is it kinda crazy that I don’t want to go home?”

“Is it related to your bruised ribs?” Jake asked.

I looked at him with wide green eyes. “H-how did you know?”

“Dude, you thought I bought that story about your brother? River isn’t able to do that. So, you better tell me what really happened.” I paused. “Aedan, you can trust me. Whatever it is, I won’t tell anyone. Promise.” He pinky-swore to me.

“Ok,” my voice became shaky. “It was my dad,” I said, as a couple tears rolled down my now pink flushed cheeks. “I had a date with a girl that evening. With Nina. I had a curfew of 10 pm, and I came back 30 minutes late because of traffic. My dad proceeded to beat me for it. Nobody else saw, of course, no one ever does.” I paused to take a deep breath. “I really don’t want to go back home. This.... shit... has been going on since I was ten. Mom and dad have been fighting a lot too because dad has been without a job for a couple years now.”

“Aedan, I’m glad you told me. But, like, you should get help. Tell your mom or something. It will be ok. You can always come by my place, too.” Jake hugged me, despite my illness.

“Thanks,” I smiled weakly.He was really the best friend I ever had.

After the fireworks, we returned home, and Jake and I went to get ready for bed. Despite my exhaustion, I had a hard time falling asleep. “Aedan?” I heard Jake whisper an hour later. I checked the clock. It was a few minutes before midnight. “You still up?"

“Yeah?” I groggily responded, coughing. “Can’t sleep?”

“Nuh uh...” Jake responded. “Guessing you can’t either?” I shook my head and sat up, immediately shivering with that chill you get when feeling feverish. The fact that I was shirtless with just red plaid pajama pants wasn’t helping.

“I think I have a fever,” I hugged my knees up to my warm chest and sniffled my nose. I got up and walked over to grab a t-shirt to put on so I wouldn’t shiver. I also took a Tylenol, as my mom had packed me some if I ever needed any. I thought I wouldn’t need any medicine, but I guess I was wrong. “Other than this stupid cold, this trip was awesome, thanks to you.”

“Don’t get all mushy,” Jake playfully threw a pillow at my head. I smirked and grabbed the pillow and got out of bed to smack him with it. This immediately turned into a pillow fight, like most of our sleepovers back home. A few minutes later, Jake’s dad entered.

“Boys, please keep it down. Jake, your mother and I are trying to sleep.”

“Sorry, dad, we’ll stay quiet,” Jake responded. Both he and I blushed with embarrassment as I climbed back into my bed. “Want to play some video games?” Jake offered. I shook my head.

“Naw, we’ll get too loud again,” I laughed.

“You’re not wrong,” Jake smirked, getting back into his bed. We ended up talking for a while until we both fell asleep.