"C'mon Parker, let's enjoy this last night before you go off to the air force?" Regina pleaded with her boyfriend. She had been dating Parker since they were freshman and had known each other since they were in diapers playing in the sandbox together.

"I'd love to babe, but I really must pack and get some sleep for my flight in the morning."

"So that's it?!" No celebration send off before you leave?!" Regina pouted.

"Sorry, babe, but I can't be hung over from drinking when I show up for boot camp," Parker apologized. "Hey, tell you what, I get a week off after boot camp at the end of summer. How about we spend it on the beach alone when I come back?"

"Okay, sweetheart," Regina said, softening to Parker's promise. He always seemed to be able to soothe Regina with his promises.

"Oh, would you look at the time," Parker said as he glanced at his watch. " Looks like we better call it a night!"

He gave Regina one last kiss before leaving her on her front porch. The disappointment of being separated from her boyfriend for the summer, she looked forward to seeing him at the end of summer.

As she watched Parker leave in his beat up jalopy, it was the one thing Regina loved best about Parker. Even though his family had money, he was always fixing it up and adding new features to it.

When Parker's car was no longer visible, Regina went inside and up to her upstairs bedroom and dialed her bestie, Alice, to see if she was up for some fun.

"Hello, Regina," Alice said after seeing Regina's name on her cell.

"Hey, Alice, are you up for some fun on the town?"

"Wish I could," Alice said, bummed. "My parents are out and I'm on babysitting duty."

"Okay..." Regina said just as bummed as her bestie.

Ever since Alice's baby sister was born, Alice always seemed to be busy babysitting. She never seemed to have any time to hang anymore?

This was turning out to be the worst summer of all. The last summer they would be able to enjoy before they started their lives as adults. Parker was off at boot camp training for the summer and Alice was always watching her baby sister. Regina was left all alone.

Well, Regina decided in the morning she was going to make the most of this summer. Even if she had to go it alone, she would spend it on the beach drinking her favorite strawberry wine. This was going to be the best summer of her life, even if she had to be by herself, Regina vowed. That is, when she wasn't working to earn money for college.