Last Summer Read Online Free Page B

for, as they were tonight. That was the whole point of Pebble Beach.
    Ella took in a lungful of sweet Maine air. How lucky was she that her cousins were her best friends as well as her family?
    Ella and tall, toned Beth were the blonde Tuttle cousins, though they looked like two entirely different versions of the “blonde girl” stereotype. They both had long hair, though Ella’s was more golden than Beth’s and Ella wore hers down around her face in loose curls, while Beth preferred her sporty ponytail. And, apparently, Beth preferred outfits to match that sporty ponytail, despite years of Ella’s attempts to trendy her up a little bit. Which, Ella admitted reluctantly, suited Beth’s athletic figure best.
    What suited Ella was the tight little tank top and short-shorts she was wearing, which she knew accentuated all her curves. It was fun to be a blonde, curvy stereotype, Ella felt, and she had always been about having fun whenever and wherever possible.
    Ella’s sister, Kelsi, had also been a blonde once upon a time, but had decided to dye her hair a rich, dark brownbefore going off to college last summer. Now she and her friend Taryn looked sort of alike—both with short, dark hair and intelligent eyes. The similarities didn’t stop there. Both Kelsi and Taryn were wearing different versions of the same ratty jeans, flip-flops, and floaty tank tops. Kelsi’s was floral with spaghetti straps. Taryn’s was a halter top in Kelly green. Ella wasn’t sure how much she liked the fact that Taryn and Kelsi looked like peas in their college pod.
    Last, but not least, was Jamie, Ella’s gypsy cousin, with her dark curly hair, smattering of freckles, and bright green eyes. She was rocking her trademark thrift-store look, with her usual long, belted tunic and a raggedy skirt that showcased her slim legs. Not to mention the roughly seven hundred necklaces hanging around her neck and spilling down her front. Ella suspected Jamie had found the entire outfit for less than five dollars at some garage sale, which she supposed made it even more amazing that Jamie actually looked cute in her secondhand rags.
    Ella liked the fact that everyone looked so good, actually. She wasn’t one of those girls who liked to hang out with less attractive girls in an attempt to make herself look good. In fact, she thought she got a lot more attention when everyone was equally hot.
    “Let’s go, ladies!” she commanded, walking up to the little circle and inserting herself into the middle of it. She clapped her hands together like a coach.
    “‘Let’s go’?” echoed Beth. “Are you kidding?” Beth, her smooth athlete’s arms bare in the summer evening, laughed up at Ella from her seat on the wooden picnic bench. “You went inside to change all of twelve seconds ago. Literally.”
    “This is the new, improved Ella,” Kelsi told Beth, as if Ella wasn’t standing right there. “The one who can get ready for the annual party on the pier in five seconds flat—because she wants to see her boyfriend.”
    “Cute Jeremy, right?” Beth confirmed. “He was so nice at Thanksgiving. Didn’t he bring a casserole?”
    “He has many talents,” Ella bragged with a saucy wink.
    “Ella with a long-term boyfriend,” Jamie said with a smile, her green eyes dancing. “The mind boggles.”
    “Boyfriends are overrated,” piped in Taryn.
    Ella cocked her head to one side.
    Taryn smiled at Ella. “Unless he’s the right one, of course,” she added, possibly remembering that Kelsi also had a boyfriend. Who happened to be Taryn’s brother.
    Ella chose to interpret that as appeasement on Taryn’s part, and therefore decided to be gracious. She smiled back.
    “But I still can’t believe she got ready that fast, even for Jeremy,” Beth continued, shaking her head. “ I don’t even get ready that fast anymore. Did Ella and I switch places? How scary is that ?”
    “We have not switched places,” Ella told Beth loftily,and then let out a