A Scorching Summer Day

All the locations and characters used in this story are fictional

***

“This is the last time I’m warning you”

The stern librarian who works in the Wellkon town library, Ms. Woodlocks, scolded the two friends, Jack and Delia. Ms. Woodlocks eyed the two troublemakers in the eye with a deadly glare. And by deadly? I mean it.

“If,” the librarian continued, “I were to hear you shouting gibberish in the library again, your library card will be taken away until both of your mothers call.”

“Yes, Ms. Woodlocks.” 

The two friends groaned. They would whine in protest, but that would get them in trouble. Ms. Woodlocks seemed to be pondering about whether she should reprimand the friends for speaking to her that way, but she decided against it.

“What a Karen,” Jack whispered carefully to Delia, making sure that Ms. Woodlocks wouldn’t hear. Delia replied with a loud giggle, to which the librarian -who was already 4 meters away, sorting books- flinched and frowned at. 

***

It was, and had been for the past 4 days, a scorching summer day. Both Delia and Jack’s mothers refused to turn on the air-conditioner. It was, as they called it, an “enjoyable” weather. Upon hearing the rejections of their mothers, they threw the biggest tantrum they could. Jack was ultimately kicked out of his house, while Delia’s mother ghosted her. Furiously, Jack, who wore a worn-out pair of shoes, ran across the street to Delia’s house. They were neighbours and friends for as long as they could remember. Delia welcomed Jack into her house and mocked Jack’s ugly running face. Jack wasn’t ugly at all. As a matter of fact, the two friends have been labelled as the town’s visuals-and they were only 12! Jack had eyes as green as the Amazon forest and hair that gave off Goldilock vibes. No one would’ve had the audacity to call Jack ugly, as they would be labelled as hypocrites, unless it was Delia. Delia was literally Snow White but prettier. Delia had blue eyes that sparkled like jewels, and silky black hair that exaggerates her smooth, pale skin. Nonetheless, the pair’s personalities were the complete opposite of their elegant appearances. Instead of behaving elegantly like they were expected to, Jack and Delia were quite the troublemakers. Anyhow, Jack, who was welcomed into Delia’s house, was horrified by the fact that the air conditioning was off.

“Mother didn’t want to turn it on,” Delia explained to Jack.

“Why, my mother had also refused,” Jack exclaimed.

The two friends shed a tear. How would they possibly survive in this hot, blistering weather? Delia ushered Jack into her room, where she kept a small fan. Delia’s room was surprisingly organized. All her beauty pageant trophies were kept on a bookshelf beside Delia’s king mattress bed. Photobooks of her and Jack were also seen on the bookshelf. A big, fancy closet decorated with posters was right in front of the bed. The walls were painted in a colour called “Bashful”. The floor was a fluffy carpet, with crumbs of Dorito chips on it.

Jack tsked while entering the room. He had no idea how Delia managed to be such a clean freak with her wild personality. Delia responded with a shrug while fetching the fan from her closet. Delia was right. The fan was small. Miniature, as Jack called it.

“This won’t do,” Jack complained, “It barely is turning on!”

Delia nodded. She very much agreed. The fan was old and broken. “This is the best option we have,” she replied. Jack, who was lost in thought, was surprisingly quiet. A few minutes passed. It was so quiet in the room that Deliah’s mom was concerned.

“Delia honey, are you alright up there?” Delia’s mother, Mrs. Jones, inquired in her strong yet soothing voice.

“Yes, mother!”

Delia elbowed Jack to wake him up from his land of thoughts. 

“You’re surprisingly quiet today,” she joked.

“I was just thinking,” Jack said with a sly smile on his face, “where is a building - a public one - that has air-conditioning blasted fully every, single, day?”

Delia responded to Jack’s sly smile with an even more sly smile.

“Mom, Jack and I are heading to the library!”

***

This brings us to the current time. It was in the afternoon, just an hour after lunch, and the sun was more powerful than ever. Jack and Delia tried their best not to make any noise. It was especially hard. Jack looked over the shelves of books and snorted. He pointed to a book called “Mr. and Mrs. Banana”. It was a children’s book, but the title was overwhelming. Delia giggled, planted her face on Jack’s shoulders, trying to stifle the laughter she wanted so badly to let out. Upon seeing his best friend laugh, Jack’s laughter had also risen. Jack was in a furious battle, trying not to let his laughter get the best of him. They looked like trembling idiots, but they were taking the situation seriously. If they were to make any noise, Ms. Woodlocks and her superhuman hearing would’ve gotten them in trouble. The pair sat down on the ground, having won the battle against their waves of laughter. They were proud and satisfied. Delia went over to the magazine section and chose one with her face on the front page. She began flipping through the pages, with Jack peering over her shoulder. They found an interesting article that would’ve kept them busy. What was it about? Well, it's quite weird.

An hour had passed, and the friends had surprisingly kept quiet. The librarian decided to close the library early, and Jack and Delia were kicked out. The sun had given up a little, but it was still scorching.

“You want ice cream?” Jack mumbled to Delia, exhausted already from the heat. Delia nodded furiously, causing the sweat on her face to fly everywhere. Jack gave her a disgusted look but began to lead the way to his house.

***

The friends arrived at Jack’s house in minutes which had seemed like days.

“Ma, we’re home!” Jack shouted.

Jack’s mom was called Mrs. Law. She was an elegant, mannerly woman. Mrs. Law frowned, looking displeased when Jack shouted. Jack’s father, Mr. Law, just chuckled and greeted Delia.

Jack and Delia took off their shoes and headed to the kitchen. The kitchen’s marble floor was cool, and the pair laid on the floor for minutes before Jack pulled opened the freezer, revealing rows of tubs of ice cream. Delia jumped up excited. She took the chocolate chip ice cream and scooped two big scoops. She scooped some more for Jack. 

“Mmm, delicious,” Delia was enjoying the ice cream more than anyone could imagine. The creamy and cold ice cream was everything to her. Jack giggled upon viewing Delia’s reaction. Jack’s little brother, Oliver, wandered into the room, demanding ice cream. Delia scooped one big scoop into Oliver’s bowl. Before they realized it, the tub of ice cream was finished. Jack and Delia each ate 10 scoops! Oliver whined and threw a tantrum, for he had just finished his first scoop. The pair escaped the house, avoiding a lecture from Mrs. Law.

Being the restless troublemakers they were, they headed to the park. The park was a small and peaceful place. The swings were rusty but functional. The tiny red slide was barely 2 meters above the ground. However, the large fountain to the right of the swings was the reason the park still existed. It was a beautiful fountain. The water was so clear and clean it's drinkable. Jack ran and hopped on a swing.

"Ouch!" The swing's metal chains were much affected by the hot weather and burnt Jack's hands.

Delia walked slowly towards Jack, who was intrigued by the blister slowly forming on his right hand. Delia sighed, shook her head and pulled Jack's hands into the cold fountain water. Jack let out a loud sniff.

"Does it hurt?" Delia asked, assuming the sniffle was due to pain.

"No, I'm just so touched that you care for me"

Delia, disgusted by Jack's sarcastic remark, pushed Jack into the fountain. Jack came back up with a handful of pennies (gathered from the bottom of the fountain, of course). He grinned. Delia shook her head in disapproval.

"The coins are much too rusty"

Jack groaned but still returned every penny back to the fountain. The pair started playing tag, but time passed faster than the speed of light. Upon seeing the sun setting, Jack decided it was time to head back to the house.

“What should we do now?” Delia pondered. The sun had almost set completely, and it wasn’t as hot as several hours ago.

“Dunno” Jack replied carelessly, kicking a small pebble down the street.

“Let’s call it a day?”

“Yes, let’s.”