First There Was You

Chapter 18: Elle

June 28

Loon Call Island, Lake Rosseau, Muskoka

The phone rings, over and over, and I wait for Vi to answer. It's been nearly two weeks since we've spoken at any great length, aside from texting, and I need to hear her voice. I miss her like crazy. She's the only girl I would ever talk about boys with, Mads, and Jules, well I'm just not there yet with them. Vi is the only person at Beaton who I trust wholeheartedly, who I know won't gossip.

When she doesn't answer, I text, then call back immediately, impatient. It's super late there, like two in the morning, I think.

This time, she answers with a breathless laughing, "Hello?"

"It's me, Vi."

"Elle!" Her squeal of excitement is shrill in my ear, and I hold the phone away, laughing. I hear music in the background.

"How are you? God, I miss the sound of your voice! Tell me everything you're doing in Stockholm. I want to hear every single detail."

"I'm at my cousin's place now, we've been celebrating non-stop since Midsummer, but I was just leaving to walk home."

"Just a sec, Elle." I hear Vi speaking to someone, and I let the sound of her sweet, happy Swedish roll over me.

"Sorry, I'm back. Gosh, every summer, I always forget how bright it is here. I mean, come on, it's after two in the morning, and the sun is out. I can walk home through the forest, and it feels like the middle of the day."

"How's your family? What've you been doing all summer?" I relax almost instantly as she takes over the conversation, her voice is animated and happy as she tells me all about her grandma, and their house there as she walks home.

"I've been riding almost every day, you'd love Gretta, the horse I'm taking care of. She's a little spitfire."

"Sounds perfect for you, Vi." I eagerly take in the familiar sound of her voice, comforted beyond measure to have her chatting in my ear. I close my eyes and pretend she's here, sitting next to me, grinning as her animated story flows over me.

She's been swimming at their family lake, partying with her cousins. It's odd to hear her talk about these people I've never met, but I find a strange parallel to our summers.

She has a group of such close friends and relatives, just like I do, connected to each other since birth. The only difference, really, is that she has to leave them for nine to ten months of the year.

I realize how lucky I am, to keep my friends so close all the time.

"Also, I've met someone here," she pauses dramatically, waiting for my reaction.

"Oh? Spill, then. Is it serious?" At this point in time, I don't expect it will be, not when she knows she's coming home in less than eight weeks. Vi's nothing if not practical when it comes to her own heart.

"It all started when I was out with my cousins, we went to this funny little bar nearby, Tegelbruket something or other. There was this boy, by the bar."

"By the bar? Isn't the drinking age eighteen?"

Vi laughs, "Well, they sometimes let you in at sixteen here, but I'm using my sister's ID while I'm here, mums the word, okay?"

I'd never break a secret with Vi, from her lips to my grave if she asks. "Lips are sealed."

"Anyway, where was I? Yes, Dante, this boy. He's so hot, but we started talking when he teased me about my Swedish. I guess I talk more like my grandmother and aunts than I do like my cousins and people my age. So, here I am, this teenage granny, and he totally digs it."