C'est la Vie

By Ashley Boitson and Meghan Boitson

All Avery wanted the minute she graduated high school was to hop on a plane to Rome with her two best friends and spend the next three weeks sun tanning and eating gelato.

All Cameron wanted was to get away from home and lose himself crisscrossing Europe with no plan in mind.

When classmates Cameron and Avery have a chance encounter at the airport while jetting off to Europe with their friends, they end up stranded in Paris together for one night, neither one of their trips are going how they imagined. For Cameron, it’s perfect. For uptight Avery, it’s just about the worst thing that could happen. As the excitement moves from Paris to Monaco, Avery and Cameron discover that they needed to make a few wrong turns to end up where they were meant to be.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Ashley Boitson
• Release date: Jun 10, 2016
• ISBN: 9780995212916

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C'est la Vie

Ashley and Meghan Boitson

Copyright © 2016 Ashley and Meghan Boitson

All rights reserved.

Distributed by Smashwords

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Table of Contents

Chapter 1

Chapter 2

Chapter 3

Chapter 4

Chapter 5

Chapter 6

Chapter 7

Chapter 8

Chapter 9

Chapter 10

Chapter 11

Chapter 12

Chapter 13

Chapter 14

Chapter 15

Chapter 16

Chapter 17

Chapter 18

Chapter 19

Chapter 20

Acknowledgments

Bios

Chapter 1

Cameron

Beep beep beep. Beep beep beep. I groaned and rolled over; my head was pounding, and I was cursing myself for having forgotten to turn off my alarm. After blindly thrashing around on my night table, I finally found my phone and shut the damn thing off. I pulled my pillow over my head, burrowed deep down under my comforter, and willed myself to go back to sleep. It was the first day of summer vacation, and I planned on sleeping the whole day away, not waking up at the goddamn crack of dawn like every other weekday. No more early morning workout sessions, or meetings with the guidance counselor. Just the beach and parties all day and all night long; not to mention Europe in a few days.

My friends and I started the summer off with a bang the night before. Rylan had a huge party at his house that turned out to be even more epic than we had anticipated. It was definitely an awesome beginning to our final summer of freedom. Before we went off to college, or joined the military, or circus, or whatever the heck Rylan was going to do. But judging by my killer headache and the last thing I remembered from the night before (throwing up in Rylan’s mom’s priceless antique Turkish vase), it might have been too good.

Something was nagging at me that I just couldn’t seem to put my finger on. Like I had forgotten something. I went through a mental checklist, trying to organize my thoughts like my mom’s therapist was always telling her to do. Finals. Check. Graduation ceremonies. Check. Annual Father and Son golf tournament/schmoozefest at the country club. Check. It was summer, and I was free, yet I felt like I had something to do. Something important. My head was so fuzzy that when I sat up my eyes went blurry and I got lightheaded. Shit, my dad was going to be so mad if he saw me like this. I promised the old man I would lay off the partying a few weeks ago after the cops busted a party I was at. But it was the end of my senior year; I was celebrating. What did he expect? For me to sit home and knit scarves for the cold Boston winters with my mother? On a Saturday night? No way in hell that was happening. And my mom didn’t even knit. She did Pilates. And yoga. And her stupid spin classes and all that stuff that people try to pass off as sports but are really just a bunch of over primped women in way too tight spandex pants trying to show each other up. Even now I could hear the thumping bass of the stereo as my mom started her morning tai-bo routine in her studio right below my bedroom. I pounded my fist on the floor, begging her to turn down the music and be quiet until the sun had been up for more than ten minutes. She finally lowered the volume, and I fell back into a deep sleep for the rest of the morning.

The next thing I knew, my phone rang and woke me up. I swore and pressed ignore, only to have it ring again thirty seconds later. I looked at the caller ID. It was Rylan. What was he doing calling so early in the morning? He was probably still up and drunk-dialing me. The last time I saw him he was having a hey-day on the mechanical bull. I picked up my phone, and saw that it wasn’t early at all. It was two in the afternoon. I guess getting to bed at four in the morning would do that to you. I gave in and answered, knowing that he’d keep calling and calling until I did.

This better be good, I answered, my voice muffled against my pillow.

Dude, great night last night, huh? Oh man, you should’ve seen yourself! You kept trying to dance with that Brooklyn chick and she kept turning you down. It was freaking hilarious! Man, you were so shit-faced! Rylan exclaimed with way too much energy.

Well, glad I could give you a laugh, bro. Now seriously, what’s so urgent? I asked, hoping it was nothing that I would have to get out of bed for.

Oh, I was just wondering when you’re planning to show up? Max stayed the night and Tyler’s on the way. We’re pretty much all packed and ready to go. I just need like another fifteen minutes or so. Fuck. That was today? A week without any set schedule and I was already messed up.

***

Cameron, I really don’t know what we’re supposed to do with you. I knew we shouldn’t have let you go to that party last night, my mom said as she folded t-shirts and shorts and placed them neatly in my duffel bag. I mean, really, how could you forget? How are we supposed to let you go off to college by yourself when you can’t even wake up on time for something you’ve had circled on the calendar for months? If you pull this stuff at Harvard, I don’t know what your father will do. You’re walking a very thin line with him, you know. She looked up at me, trying to be the concerned parent she thought she was.

Well, he already stopped the checks, so I don’t know what else he could do, I snapped. His son got into Harvard; I don’t think he’d want to mess that up, no matter what I did to piss him off this time.

Cameron, don’t speak about your father like that. He just wants what’s best for you. More like what’s best for him. But I kept my mouth shut. I didn’t need any more drama today. I checked my watch. 3:00. I had time to grab a quick bite, and if I sped just a little, we could still make it to the airport on time.

I gotta go, mom, I’m late. Thanks for helping me pack. I picked up my duffel bag and pushed my way past her and out into the hallway. It was going to be so great to get out of Boston for the summer, and especially out of this house. Two months away from the parental units was going to be fan-freaking-tastic.

Bye, sweetie! She yelled to me, and followed behind as I made my way down the polished wooden stairs. I’d always hated those stairs. You could never get up or down them fast enough. Actually, I hated everything about this house. All polished hardwood and sparkling granite. Cold and clean, nothing personal about it. Just like the people in it. We’ll make sure to get in touch before you leave at the end of the summer. Your father says goodbye as well and wishes he could be here to tell you himself. Oh, right, sure he does. Where was he this week, even? New York? Dubai?

Have a good summer, I called over my shoulder as I opened the door to the garage, ready to get the hell out of there as soon as possible. This trip couldn’t have come at a better time.

***

Duuuuudes! This is going to be awesome! The four amigos, traipsing around Europe for two months! No mothers nagging us, no curfews, we’re legal; it’s gonna be the best! Rylan hollered enthusiastically as he walked down his driveway to meet me; his huge backpack slung over his shoulder, his ever present Bruins cap perched backward on his head. To say Rylan was excited for this trip was an understatement. It’s what fueled him throughout this last semester, the golden light at the end of a long, dark tunnel. Maybe not the trip as a whole, but definitely the few days we had planned in Amsterdam in August.

"Ry, it’s the three amigos," Max corrected. If there was a serious one out of the four of us, it’d be Max. He definitely was the smartest and the last to put up with all of the crap Rylan pulled.

Max, lay off. It’s summer! He punched Max on the shoulder. If you’re going to be ragging on me the whole trip, I don’t know if it’s such a good-

Hey man, tone it down, would you? Your party did a number on me, I said as I took my bag and threw it in the trunk of Rylan’s SUV. His younger brother agreed to give up an hour of video games to drive us to the airport.

Come on Cam, suck it up. The three of us somehow managed to wake up on time, Tyler joked. I can’t believe you almost forgot.

Well I’m here now, so get in the car unless you want to walk to the airport. I was not in the mood to joke around. I just wanted to get on the plane and sleep. Rory, I said as I gestured toward Rylan’s brother coming out of the garage door, let’s go. These guys decided they want to walk to Rome.

Woah, fine. Hey guys, Cam sure is cranky today. I wonder what put him in such a bad mood, Tyler said as he got into the back seat with Max.

"Yeah, I wonder what’s ticking him off, Tyler. Hmmm, he was in a great mood yesterday, we’re going to Europe today, so maybe, could it be, that he was DENIED by the Brooklyn Rodriguez? You know what Ty, I think that’s it. Our boy here has lost his game, and he’s simply in mourning."

You can’t blame the guy. That’s gotta be a major blow to his ego, Rylan piped in from the passenger seat. I let the three boneheads banter on for a while longer, their voices animated and exaggerated. This wasn’t unusual behavior for us. But today, I was just not in the mood.

Guys, knock it off already. I couldn’t care less about Brooklyn. I have a really bad headache and would appreciate some peace and quiet.

Fine, wake me up when we get to the airport, Ror, Rylan said as he turned around his hat and pulled it down over his eyes.

So, guys, I finally said, my curiosity getting the best of me. How bad was I last night? Most of the night had been erased by way too many tequila shots and cheap beer.

They laughed, loud and rumbling. Oh man, Tyler said, do you want me to start before or after the mechanical bull?

***

Rory pulled up to the departures gate, practically shoving us out the door and throwing our bags in our faces before he even came to a complete stop. I didn’t think we were that late, but whatever. Or maybe he was just anxious to be rid of us and get back to his bean bag chair.

I followed the guys toward Terminal E, still not believing that I almost forgot these plans. No way could I have survived another summer at the beach house alone with my parents. My friends and I had been planning the trip since Christmas and talking about it practically every day. It seemed like I couldn’t walk into homeroom second semester without Rylan jumping on me with his research from the night before. It was actually kinda good to see him focused on something for once. I hadn’t seen him that interested in one thing since the Riviera triplets showed up halfway through sophomore year. And now all of a sudden he had pages and pages of info printed up on German breweries and tours of the Red Light district in Amsterdam.

If our time in Cabo together over Spring Break was any indication, it was going to be a wild time. The idea kind of started off as a joke, how we could go all out to celebrate graduating high school. Maybe a huge party at my beach house, or Mexico again, and then someone brought up backpacking across Europe. And once we got that idea in our heads, we couldn’t get it out. I mean, two months, no parents, no itinerary, just going where the wind blew us? It sounded like paradise. The absolute nirvana of summer vacations. And come on, Spanish girls, Italian girls, and Scandinavian ice princesses? As far as we were concerned, the less English they spoke and the longer their legs, the better.

We walked up to the check-in desk, surrounded by chubby-legged older couples in Hawaiian print shirts and young mothers chasing their kids around. We handed our passports to the attendant and loaded our bags onto the conveyor belt as she gave us our boarding passes to Rome.

You guys, I’m so psyched! Tyler said as we made our way down the hallway toward security. I can’t believe this is finally happening! He had a huge grin on his face, but I’m sure I looked just as goofy as him.

"I know Ty, this summer’s gonna rock. Remember that one summer when we were like ten or eleven? We spent it at the Cape eating ice cream every day for dinner and sneaking into the arcade and PG-13 movies? We thought it couldn’t get any better than that. But, oh, man we were so wrong! This is it right here. The summer of our nineteenth year is going to be one for the books, I can guarantee you that," I said. We all cracked up at my dramatics.

We made it to security and waited in line forever, but finally all made it through without any issues. I was a little worried that Rylan would have forgotten to empty out his pockets at home, but we were in the clear. We stopped and grabbed some coffee, and headed toward our gate.

I was following the guys, my head bent over my phone, not really paying attention when Max stopped suddenly, and I bumped into him and spilled a good portion of my hot coffee on myself. What the hell, man? I asked as I shook out my hand and wiped my phone on my pants. I sure hoped he hadn’t spent his last pennies on this trip because he was going to owe me a new phone if it conked out.

Sorry, Cam. But check it out. He nodded up ahead. It’s your hottie at one o’clock. Maybe she’ll like you better sober.

I looked up to see Brooklyn and two other girls from our school. I ran my hand through my hair, not ready to deal with this quite yet. I still didn’t know all that had happened last night, and I was happy to leave it that way. I had hooked up with girls drunkenly a few times before and always dreaded the next time I came across them at school, making small talk and listening to them saying how we should go out, blah, blah, blah. We hooked up once; it was fun, end of story. Cameron Reece didn’t do relationships; it was as simple as that. But girls never understood that. They always thought they would be the one to change me.

I looked over to Brooklyn and her friends again, hoping that they hadn’t seen us yet. But they definitely had. Brooklyn and one of her friends, the one whose name I could never remember, were smiling big at us and whispering to each other. Her other friend, Avery, had a disgusted look on her face. That wasn’t usually an expression that was directed toward me. To each her own, I guess. As we got closer, I realized that the girls were standing at our gate. So I guess my plan of ignoring Brooklyn wasn’t going to work. According to the guys, by the end of the night I had worked my charm and Brooklyn was really into me. I’d just have to man-up and face the music, and break another girl’s heart. Luckily that was something I was good at. If only that was a class in college. I would totally get an A in Heartbreak 101.

Chapter 2

Avery

You’ve got to be kidding me. What the hell are they doing here? I said as I turned toward my friends, rolling my eyes.

Who are you talking about? asked Hayley.

I can’t believe she didn’t see them. Or hear them. They there were right down the hall. The obnoxious boys who used to