“How do I get to this bar?” Iaskher.
“Hey,” a guy says into the phone. “Jade is a little wasted, so I figured I’d save you from driving in circles tonight. We’re at Bumble Grill. It’s just off Route one after you enter Ogunquit. Whereabouts areyounow?”
How is Jade blitzed out of her mind, and this guy sounds completely stone sober? “I just got onto Route one about five minutes ago,” I tell him. “And, thank you for helpingmeout.”
“No prob. You should see a sign for Ogunquit in about three miles. You’ll enter the center of town, and if you take your first right, you’ll see the bar. There’s some parking out front. I’ll make sure Jade is waitingforyou.”
“You’re a lifesaver,” Itellhim.
“She’s been talking about you nonstop for weeks now. You’re like a celebrity around here,” theguysays.
That’s Jade. The smallest girl with the biggest mouth—and the lowest tolerance for alcohol that I’veeverseen.
“See you in a few,” I tell him beforehangingup.
He was pretty accurate with the mileage. After exactly three miles, I’m entering the cutest little downtown area. Thankfully, I find the Bumble Grill right away, and there are two spots out front. The moment I pull into a spot, I find Jade out front, poking a guy inthenose.
I step out of the car and take a quick minute to stretch before . . . “Jules!” Jade shrieks, running toward me at warp speed before locking her arms around my neck, shoving me into the hood of my car. Not only am I winded by her embrace, but also by the scent of Vodka ... nope, that’s Tequila, and it piercesmynose.
“Oh, Jade.” I laugh because this is my Jade. “So, you’ve been enjoyingyourselfhere?”
With her lips pressed tightly together, a wide smile curves along her mouth. “I loveeee it here.” She takes me by the hand and leads me away fromthebar.
“You want to seesomethingcool?”
“Did you finally get a tattoo of a penis onyourboob?”
No, dummy, come on.” She grabs my arm and yanks me away from the bar. “Sandwich and Brewster, let’s go,” she hollers, waving them along as if they were dogs. Sandwich and Brewster. Please tell me those are their real names because that would start this summer off on anepicnote.
The sidewalk on the small bridge we’re on is empty, but as my focus settles on the horizon, I see we’re walking toward the ocean. Finally, I can sit on a beach and stare out at the endless waves of the Atlantic Ocean for my last summer of non-adultingfreedom.
“Excuse me,” a man calls. out. I glance around, finding a man lying on his back a few feet ahead of us with his feet up on the bridge’s fence. What the hell am I looking at? One of his shoes is beside him, and the other is in the middle of the street. “I said,excuseme.”
Jade is in a fit of giggles and turns and laughs with her oddly namedfriends.
“Are you okay?” I ask the man. As we come closer, it's easy to see how drunk he must be. This is a bridge, and he's lying on the sidewalk with no shoes. Maybe in a city, I'd think he was homeless, but he's wearing Docker shorts and a pink Lacoste polo t-shirt. This isinteresting.
“Cannnn, um, can you findmyshoe?”
I look around, thinking this is a joke of some sort, but besides the three others I’m with, no one else isaround.
I step off the sidewalk, grab the guy’s brown loafer and drop it down next to his other one. “Thereyougo.”
“Howyoudoin’?” he asks me in his best drunken Joey Tribbiani (fromFriends)voice.
Ah, okay, I see. “Just fine, and you?” I playalong.
“Want to help me up and go back to my place? I found a conch shell on the beach, and if you put your mouth up to it, you can taste theocean.”Wow.
One of Jade’s friends walks in front of me and helps the guy up. “Dude, really? First, most overused pick up line ever, and second, do you need a liftsomewhere?”
“Where’s Bumble Bar?” he asks inaslur.
Sandwich or Brewster point him in the right direction and get him up on his feet while handing him his shoes. “Have a goodnight,bro.”
I believe I have just entered party town. “That happens a lot here, but everyone is soooooo nice that it’s just funny. No one ever gets hurt, and we help each other out in a time of need,” Jadeexplains.
I look back at the guy swerving on and off the sidewalk as he walks toward the bar. “I guess so,” Ilaugh.
