He opened the double doors to Thomas Jefferson High School. A strange aroma from the chemistry class down the hall rushed up to greet his nostrils. The sky-blue lockers that lined the hall looked strange and out of place. The white tiled floors glistened from the recent cleaning. His name was Zak. It was the first day of school and he was a junior. The events of the past summer started to fill his head. The long days at the beach, sitting in the tide watching the sunset with her…

The thought of her made his stomach cringe with sorrow. Thank God the hall was deserted. He almost fell over with the grief. He gripped the strap of his backpack so hard that his knuckles turned white. He just stood in the same spot for a few minutes. Teachers who passed by him didn’t think too much about it, they just thought he was a new student who couldn’t find his locker or something. “Jen, I’m so sorry…” He muttered to himself. He finally walked down the hall to his locker.

“…Tomorrow you will need your literature books. We will read a poem out of it and then do the questions at the end. The bell is about to ring, so get ready.”

Zak had been waiting anxiously for the bell to ring for the last hour. He hated literature. He looked at his watch. It seemed like an eternity in this class “Oh! Class, one more thing. Your homework assignment is to write a thirty-page story about what you did over the summer. It will be due next week.” The class started to groan but the bell rang. Everyone stood up and scrambled through the door. Zak was at the end of the line. He finally got into the hall and headed towards his locker. The other students in the hall seemed to have no civility towards some of the other students; every time he started walking someone, mostly the jocks, ran him into. He finally made it to his locker just as the late bell rang.

“CRAP!”

He opened his locker and threw his books inside.

“Forget it. I’m going home.”

Zak sat in his room and thought about what he would write in his essay. He had never really enjoyed school too much, but he had always had a passion for writing. One day he wanted to be a famous author. He had already had several of his short stories published in magazines.

But ever since the summer, he had had a terrible case of writer’s block. He sometimes thought that he would never be able to write again. There had been one day where he had almost been able to start writing again; he had been thinking about Jennifer at the time. But the thoughts hurt him so bad that he pushed them out of his mind.

He rubbed the long, serrated scar on his forearm. Then the idea hit him. He would write about her. If he wrote about her, then maybe he would be able to cope with the fact that she was never going to wake up and move on. It was a terrible thought, but he knew that if he didn’t face reality, the he would never be able to forgive himself.

Zak went to his computer and opened the Microsoft Word file. He began to type on the plastic keyboard.

Zak pulled into the parking lot of The Lighthouse around noon on June 27. School had been let out for almost a month already but he had just gotten out of summer school a few days ago. Now it was time party the rest of the summer with his friends. He had been waiting a year for this.

The Toyota Camry skid to a halt in a parking space by the front office. Zak slammed the door shut and locked it, then entered the office. It was a small room with just a reception desk, two chairs, and a computer. He rang the bell and a dwarfish, corpulent man entered the room through an entranceway behind the desk.

“What can I do for you, young man?” the man asked, munching on an apple.

“Yeah, I need to find out which room my friends are in,” Zak explained.

The fat man eyed him for a moment and then asked, “What are your friends names?”

Zak thought for a moment and then said, “I think the room is under the name Coleman. Yeah, Eric Coleman.”

The man tapped on the computer keyboard and then asked, “What is your name son?”

“Zak McAlester.” The man glanced at the computer screen and then went into the back room. He came back with a room key.

“Room 420,” He said. “Up the stairs and down the walkway to the right. Enjoy your stay.” He took another bite out of his browning apple.

“Thanks,” Zak turned and left. He found the stairs and ascended, then turned right and found the room easily. He knocked on the door and said in a Mexican accent, “House cleaning, you need any towels?” He heard a groan come from inside and then an almost unintelligible “No!”

He knew that voice was Aaron’s. He couldn’t believe that they were still asleep. He unlocked the white door and walked into the room. Cigarette butts lay all over the floor. He saw a few beer bottles strewn here and there. The unconscious forms of his three friends were sprawled on the bed and the couch. Zak walked in and almost tripped over an empty beer bottle. He walked over and shook Aaron’s shoulder. He groaned and rolled off of the couch. He hit the ground with a thud.

“OW!” He looked around, bewildered, until he saw Zak standing over him.

“Oh, hey man. When did you get here?”

“Not a minute ago.” Zak looked around the room again. “What did you three do to this place, man?” Aaron struggled to get himself into a sitting position. “Had a party last night on the beach. Some of it moved in here. The fat guy at the front desk about called the cops on us.”

“Yeah, that must have sucked.”

Aaron turned to leave the room when he heard Eric roll over and exclaim, “Zak is here. Already!” Zak turned around and said, “Yeah, I’m just going to get my bags out of the car.”

“Wait a second,” Eric exclaimed. He fought to his feet. “I’ll help.”

“No. That’s okay. I can get it.”

“Nah. We’ll help.”

“Fine,” Zak turned and went down the steps. Aaron and Eric trailed groggily behind.

The waves washed up all kinds of seashells onto the white-sanded beach. Zak was buried under three feet of sand.

“You guys almost finished?” Aaron looked at him with crazy blue eyes. “Not even close, buddy.”

Zak laid as still as he could, but the sand really starting to make him itch. He thought that he felt little sand crabs crawling under his wet skin.

“Come on, man. It’s really itching.” Eric looked at him and exclaimed, “We don’t care!” Zak finally couldn’t take anymore. He struggled out of the sand heap and leaped into the choppy water, scratching all over.

“Hey, watch out man!” But Aaron’s call came too late; Zak plummeted into the most beautiful girl he had ever laid eyes on. They both fell into the water with a huge splash.

“Oh my God. I’m so sorry,” Zak stammered, trying to help her up. “Here, let me help you.”

He tried to help her but she was standing up before he was. “No, let me help you.”

She grabbed his hand and heaved with all of her might and pulled Zak to his feet.

“I’m so sorry about that,” he apologized “I wasn’t looking were I was going. Oh God, I’m so sorry.”

“It’s okay,” She looked into his eyes. “The only thing was that was my last beer.”

Zak paused for a second then blurted, “I’ve got some. You want one?”

“Sure,” was all the reply he got.

They both walked over to the towels that Aaron had laid out a few minutes before. The blue cooler was half-covered in white sand from where Zak had thrown it everywhere in his hurry toward the water. The towels were in no better condition.

After a few seconds of digging around blindly in the cooler, he pulled out a cold beer and opened it. She accepted it willingly.

Zak really felt like a moron, so he tried to start a conversation, but nothing would come out of his mouth, like a voice monster was strangling his vocal cords. Finally, he blurted out “What’s your name?”

She took a sip from the can and answered, “Jennifer Andrews.”

She was wearing an exotic bikini with glistening blue and red. As she turned to looked at the ocean the sun hit her bikini and it glistened with the radiant colors of the rainbow.

“Jennifer,” Zak repeated. “That’s a pretty name. Where are you from?”

“Atlanta. Where are you from?”

“I’m from Alabama.”

She laughed, “No, I mean what city.”

“Oh,” he blushed. “Birmingham.”

“I have an aunt that lives there.”

“Cool.”

They just kind of stood there in silence. Zak really wanted to say something to her, but he just couldn’t. He had known her for about a minute, but he was already in love with her. He didn’t know what it was about her. Finally, he managed to blurt something out.

“You’re very pretty.” She looked at him and blushed. Her face was as deeply red as the red on her bikini.

“Thanks.”

Finally, the voice monster seemed to have gone and let him speak.

“So, what are you doing tonight?”

She looked at him and bit her lower lip gently before she spoke.

“Nothing.”

Zak almost jumped for joy.

“So, you want to do something with me.”

She blushed again and nodded her head. Her sandy blonde hair glistened in the sun. She is so beautiful, he thought. Her tanned skin, everything about her.

“Sure. That sounds fun.”

Zak spent the rest of the day with Jennifer. It was love at first sight for both of them. They had decided to go out to eat at a seafood restaurant called Bubba’s. It was supposed to be very good. He picked her up at six and they drove down the Strip laughing and just talking. When they got to the restaurant there was a waiting list so they sat on the bench and learned more about each other. He stared into her beautiful blue eyes the whole time. They never noticed the line getting shorter. Their heads got closer and closer and then they kissed. It was a soft kiss. But it was cut short when the waitress called their number.

The food was delicious. They both ordered grilled shrimp with a bowl of spicy gumbo. After they ate, they went to the beach and watched the tide from under the pier. With the full moon and the lapping waves, it was very romantic. They were under the pier for almost an hour, talking and then kissing. There was no question; they were both in love

After the pier, they decided to go to the party back at the hotel room. They got into Zak’s Camry and drove back down the Strip. They stopped at a red light.

“Do you here that?” Jennifer asked.

Zak listened closely and he heard tires screeching. The sound was getting closer and all of a sudden…BAM!

Zak’s eyes opened. He felt something warm flowing through his eyes. He wiped some of it off and looked at it. It was red. It was thick. It was blood. He looked around and saw that he was on the ground. On the asphalt. There was broken glass all over the pavement. He looked and saw his car, his treasured Camry, crumbled up into a little box. Then he saw her… Jennifer’s crumpled body lay on the ground a few feet away from him. Her beautiful face was covered in blood from a huge gash on her forehead. He crawled over to her; his legs hurt to bad for him to stand.

“Jennifer? Jen?!” he said into her bloody ear. Her head turned towards his face.

“Hey babe,” she whispered.

He leaned over and kissed her. When he pulled his head away, she said, “Hold me Zak. Just a little while.”

They held each other tightly, when she said something that pieced Zak’s heart like a hot knife through butter.

“I’ve got to go now. I love you.” Then her body went limp.

“Jen? JEN!” Zak yelled. “Jen, wake up! Please wake up.”

Finally, the paramedics arrived. They put Jennifer’s limp body on a stretcher and into the ambulance.

“Wait,” Zak called. “I’ve got to go with her.”

“I’m sorry, son.” The paramedic who was tending to his wounds said. “She’s gone.”
Zak spent the night in the hospital. Jennifer was in a coma. The doctors said that she probably wouldn’t wake up.

A drunk driver hit us. He didn’t even have his headlights on. The impact threw us both through the windshield. Now Jennifer is in a coma and will probably never wake up. I will miss her so much. I don’t know what I will do without her. I love her so much, but now I will probably never see her again. And that was my summer.

Zak sat back in his computer with tears in his eyes. He loved her so much, and now she was gone, out of his life forever.

He was stirred out of his thought by the phone ringing. He got up and went to answer it. He looked at the Caller I.D. It said Gulf Shores Hospital.

Oh God, Zak thought. She died. Why else would they have called.

He picked up the phone, ready for the news. “Hello?” A professional sounding voice said, “Zak McAlester, please.”

“This is he.”

“This is Dr. Shultz at Gulf Shores Memorial Hospital. I understand that you were in a car accident over the summer with a girl named Jennifer Andrews?”

“Yeah. Why? What’s the matter?”

“Oh, nothing is wrong. She woke up about two hours ago asking for you.”

“What?”

“She woke up asking for you. She wants to see you as soon as possible.”

Zak burst through the doors of Gulf Shores Memorial Hospital a few hours later. He ran to the reception desk.

A plump woman was sitting behind the desk. “Yes sir. May I help you.”

“Yeah,” Zak panted. “Where is Jennifer Andrews room?”

“Oh, your Zak. Down the hall and to the right. Three doors to your left.”

“Thanks.”

Zak ran as fast as he could and finally got to Jennifer’s room, but it was empty.

“Jen?”

“Zak!”

He spun around and was embraced by the girl that he had fallen in love with on June 27.

“Jen. Oh God, I missed you. I love you!” Then they kissed. Just like the first kiss they had at the restaurant.

Zak and Jennifer got married five years later. After Jen woke up, his writer’s block disappeared. He wrote many novels and became rich and prosperous. Zak and Jennifer stayed together until they died many years later.