august - jeremiah fisher (on hold)

001 || first day of summer

isla hamilton
it was the first day of summer, and everything already started to fall into place.

my suitcase rolled smoothly against the hard concrete and my small personal bag hung tightly on my back. i looked up slightly to look for gate twelve; i was only next to gate five. shit. i have to be boarding my train to boston in three minutes.

i began to pick up my pace.

passing gate seven, the loudspeaker turned on, "any passenger leaving for boston must go to gate twelve now. we will be leaving within the next few minutes."

i started running.

my suitcase began to hit my shins as i rushed to gate twelve. the conductor out front of the train doors began to turn around, but then turned back as i shouted for them to wait. he nodded his head at me, acknowledging that i was there, and i began to run a little faster.

"thank you so much." i smiled the best i could to the conductor. damn, i was out of breath.

waking to a seat at the lower level in the back, i sat by myself across from a blonde girl who had headphones on and stared out of the window. feeling my eyes on her, she turned to face me and smiled. i waved, feeling slightly embarrassed that she caught me looking. only slightly.

the girl nodded to the empty seat next to me. i assumed she was asking if she could come to sit with me, so i nodded. it was about a four-hour train ride from new york to boston, i could use some company.

she packed up her stuff and made her way next to me, her earbuds were popped out and hanging loosely around her neck, "hi, i'm lillianna!"

the name sounded familiar, but i didn't dwell on it because it could be anyone.

i smiled, "hey! i'm isla. how are you?" i started reaching into my bag for a specific item.

lillianna placed her ticket on the little hook in front of her, "im pretty good, how are you?"

grabbing my inhaler, i took a quick two puffs as lillianna watched me carefully. i started to laugh softly as her eyebrows shot up, "i'm very asthmatic and i just ran very fast to get here. i could feel my lungs closing in. don't worry i'm all good though."

she leaned back into her seat with an amused sigh, "good, girl you had me worried there for a second."

i put my inhaler away and exchanged them for my earbuds. i didn't put them on at first, just in case, lillianna wanted to talk some more.

good thing i did, because she asked, "so where are you headed? boston, but anything in particular?"

smiling, i looked at her, "i'm headed to this beach. it's called cousins. my family owns a beach house there and we go every summer. unfortunately, no train will take me there directly, so i have to go to boston and then hitch a ride there." she nodded along with every word i had to say with an eager smile. it made me curious as to where she was heading. "what about you?"

"i'm going to cousins too! i have a cousin that lives over there year round and he and i have always been close."

my jaw dropped, i have never met anyone who heard of cousins before. especially from someone in new york. most people go to the outer banks or the hamptons. "i'm surprised we haven't met before, i usually know everyone who goes to cousins."

"it's my first time going there. you might know my cousin though, his name is leo. leo paxton." lillianna explained.

boy, do i know leo paxton.

laughing uncomfortably i replied, "yeah i know leo. he and i are pretty close. actually he was my first kiss. and well the first person i had sex with." i continued, "no wonder your name sounds so familiar! he talks about you all summer long."

lillianna cringed, "i did not need to know that my cousin has had sex already." her face softened though, "and he does? i would say he talks about you, but he's never mentioned anyone named isla to me. actually, he never really talks about his friends."

i understood exactly what she was saying. one night, when it was just me and leo, he had told me he wants to keep this life private. granted he lives at cousins all year long, he wants it to be his private getaway. his friends are the little secrets that like to keep him going.

he's always been someone who enjoys the chase. i've seen it first hand when we first did what we were doing.

i did it to try and get my mind away from someone as did he. leo had never tried to chase me for my love, but someone else's. 

thinking about that someone. i smiled to myself. completely zoned out from everything around me.

jeremiah fisher.

my number one best friend. my crush for him started-

"isla? is everything okay? is it your asthma?" lillianna's voice invaded my mind, causing me to interrupt my mind.

clearing myself from that mindset, i nodded, "sorry, i'm okay. just zoned out. but yeah, no totally, he likes to keep this part of his life a secret from everyone. i'm sure it'll be better now that you're actually here."

she nodded with a small smile, "i hope so. i really want to like cousins and well, being around my cousin."

"i'm sure you'll love it! it's great. the people, the parties, everything is just great." i smiled back at her.

"good." she looked eagerly at her phone and earbuds, "if you don't mind i'm gonna go back to listening to music. maybe take a nap."

i shook my head, "no problem at all, i'm gonna go to the same thing."

with one last smile from the both of us, we turned our heads the opposite way. i stared out of the window watching as the skyline of new york faded away. soon i'll be in cousins and everything will be perfect.