Copyright © 2020 by Cait Marie
All rights reserved.
No part of this book may be reproduced in any form or by any electronic or mechanical means, including information storage and retrieval systems, without written permission from the author, except for the use of brief quotations in a book review.
Image © Adobe Stock – Iris Productions
Cover Design © Designed with Grace
Interior Design © BooklyStyle
Contents
1. Saturday
2. Sunday
3. Monday
4. Tuesday
5. Tuesday
6. Wednesday
7. Thursday
8. Friday
9. Saturday
10. Saturday
11. Sunday
12. Sunday
13. Monday
14. Tuesday
15. Wednesday
16. Thursday
17. Friday
18. Friday
19. Friday
20. Saturday
21. Saturday
22. Saturday
23. Sunday
24. Monday
25. Monday
26. Thursday
27. Saturday
Epilogue
Also by Cait Marie
Acknowledgments
About the Author
To my mom, the Lorelei to my Rory, thank you for always being my rock. And for making me watch all the Nicholas Sparks movies. Without them, this book would not exist.
And without you, I would not exist.
Lila’s Summer Bucket List
Sleep under the stars
Attend a party
Get a tattoo
Use fake ID to sing karaoke in a bar
Stand under the lights on the football field
Go on a date
Sneak out of the house
Visit the baby goat farm
Go to Chicago
Midnight swim
Spend a day in bed watching movies
Stay up to watch the sunrise
Be kissed in the rain
Run through the halls of the high school
Conquer a fear
Paintball
Try something new
Dye hair pink
Sneak into movie theater
Climb water tower
1
Saturday
Gavin leaned in close to whisper, “You’re doing that wrong.”
Lila whirled around, her long hair nearly smacking him in the face. “What are you doing here?”
“Wow, nice to see you too, Weston.” He took a step around her to sit at the picnic table she’d been setting up. Grabbing the vase from the center, he spread the confetti around with his free hand before sitting the flowers back down on top.
“Seriously, why are you here? You weren’t invited.” Lila leaned against the end of the table with arms crossed.
Gavin had removed his graduation gown the second he and his mother got in the car after the ceremony. Ironically, the girl who worked so hard to get away from their small town still stood in hers with it hanging open, revealing a pink summer dress beneath.
He turned to face her, straddling the bench and meeting her glare with a smirk. “I live twenty feet away, do you really expect me to just hide out in my room all night?”
“Yes.” Her lack of hesitation stung, but he didn’t drop his smile.
She looked around, but they were alone in the shared backyard; he’d made sure before approaching her. Her mom stood in the kitchen, finishing up the food, and her father walked back and forth on the phone. Through the windows, Gavin saw Mr. Weston waving his arms around—no doubt speaking with another attorney in his firm. He had a habit of talking with his hands when frustrated.
“This is my graduation party. Not yours. Not ours. Just mine.” She sighed when he didn’t respond. “That was my gift from my parents and yours, remember? I don’t have to share.”
Gavin picked up a piece of metallic blue confetti. He twisted it, not sure what to say. She was right. As much as he hated it, his mother told him months earlier they’d have separate parties.
Tossing the confetti, Gavin stood. “Fine, but it’s going to be really boring then.”
She stared at him, not backing down, and narrowed her eyes. “No, it won’t.”
“Really?” He huffed and took a step closer. “You think people from school are going to show up after you spent the last several years ignoring them and acting as if you’re better than all of us?”
Her face reddened as her jaw clenched. “Maybe if you didn’t act so immature—”
“Me?” He shook his head. She was the one who’d shut him out for no reason. They were inseparable growing up, then one day she just decided she was done with him. Their eleventh birthday was the last time they’d spent together as friends.
“Go away, Gavin.” She stomped past him, and though he wanted to reach out and stop her, he let her go.
He watched as she started setting up the next table. Swiping a hand over his face, he turned and headed toward his house as he pulled out his phone. He’d show her immature. He texted his best friend, Dylan, while walking into his garage. Together, they’d bring her party to life.
Bright red sparks showered across the evening sky. Lila scowled up at the fireworks then to her neighbor laughing near the invisible property line. She stormed across the yard. “You ruined my party!”
Gavin laughed harder. “Weston, you need to relax.”
“How can I relax when you’re ruining everything like always?” she yelled.
He grabbed Lila by the shoulder and turned back toward the party. “Look around!” His hand shot out past her head, pointing to the people gathered in the backyard. They all smiled up at the colors exploding above them. “Your party was boring, just as I said it would be. Now, people are having fun.”
She couldn’t deny that they all looked happy. Most of the partygoers had moved to sit in the grass and stare up at the sky. A handful of kids ran around with sparklers near the far treeline.
Music played from the speaker Dylan brought with him. She still couldn’t believe Gavin invited his best friend. Not that she had a problem with Dylan. He was always the nicer one in that friendship. At least toward her. But Gavin didn’t have any right to invite people when he wasn’t even supposed to be there himself.
Rolling her eyes, she twisted back to face Gavin. “Your party is in two weeks, why couldn’t you just wait until then to do whatever you wanted?”
“Because I was bored.”
She wanted to smack the smirk off his face, but their parents watched from nearby. She could almost feel her mother’s glare burning into the back of her head. Their parents had given up on forcing them together to mend their friendship, but they’d made them promise to keep the fighting to
