Last Summer Read Online Free PDF Page A

little sigh, as if she were annoyed. “You are wearing what looks like a Nike running shirt and Gap jeans from, like, six years ago.”
    “They’re not that old!” Beth protested, although Ella noticed she frowned down at her jeans, obviously not sure. “And this is not a Nike running shirt!” She paused, considering. “Though I have gone running in it once or twice, now that you mention it.”
    “Meanwhile,” Ella continued, pleased with herself. “I am wearing retro Zara.” She indicated her outfit with a little flourish of her hand.
    “Can Zara be retro? By definition?” Taryn asked Kelsi, who laughed a bit harder than Ella thought was strictly necessary.
    “You both look adorable,” Jamie said, standing up from the table to link her elbow with Ella’s, tugging Beth to her feet with her other hand. “You look exactly like yourselves.”
    “Thank you,” Ella said, because that was exactly what a free spirit like Jamie would say. “Now I would like to hit the pier before it sinks into the bay. If everyone’s finished talking about how fast I can change my clothes?”
    “Oh, please,” Beth teased her. “You love the attention.”
    “I know,” Ella whispered, as everyone got up and started moving in the direction of the dirt road toward town. She gave her cousin a little wink. “But it’s fun to pretend.”
    All the cousins—and Taryn—walked together down the uneven dirt road, through the woods, and then spread out a little bit when they hit pavement on the other side. Ella found herself walking in companionable silence with Jamie, down along the road that ran into town.
    They looked at each other and smiled knowingly. Then they both took deep, dizzying breaths the way they had when they were little girls, to suck the summer straight into them. They broke into giggles.
    “Are you psyched about Amherst?” Ella asked when she could catch her breath again.
    “Yeah, it’s been my dream college,” Jamie replied, but there was a strange note in her voice. She looked out toward the boats bobbing gently on their moorings in the dark water.
    “I remember how much you loved it last summer,” Ella mused. “I, personally, find it difficult to imagine that I could ever love a school , but whatever. You and Kelsi are going to have so much fun, hanging out up there in Northampton.”
    “It’s a terrific place,” Jamie agreed, running her hand over the top of a well-pruned bush outside a clapboard cottage.
    This time, Ella knew Jamie’s tone was off. Amherst was all Jamie had talked about since doing that writing program there last summer. Shouldn’t she be a little bit more excited? Kelsi had been beside herself when she’d gotten into Smith,and she had never been crazy about that school the way Jamie had always been about Amherst.
    Weird, Ella thought.
    And then she forgot about Jamie, because they were finally nearing the pier. The entire town of Pebble Beach seemed to be there, reveling in the first big summer party. Ella found herself smiling at nothing in particular, as she breathed in the atmosphere.
    Ella could clearly remember other summers. Summers when she’d found the big inaugural party on the pier or the bonfire down on the beach boring. Summers where she’d felt restless and almost needy, like she wanted something thrilling to conjure itself out of seaweed and sand to sweep her away. But this summer she just wanted to embrace all of it. The packs of summer boys with their gleaming eyes and sun-kissed skin. She just liked looking at them. The urge to touch didn’t seem to be there at all. They were like pretty scenery.
    “I’ll meet you down by the bonfire,” Ella told her cousins.
    “ Please go find Jeremy,” Kelsi said, rolling her eyes. “You’re practically jumping up and down.”
    “Like this?” Ella asked her, jumping up from her toes a few times, mostly so Kelsi—whom Ella totally loved, but who had this whole prudish side to her—could look horrified at the