CHANCE - BELLY CONKLIN

COUSINS HOUSE

FLORENCE WEBSTER HAD BEEN GOING TO COUSINS BEACH SINCE SHE WAS A BABY. Before she was born, her family went. Her mothers met there and even got married there too. It was a tradition to go there every summer with her mom's best friends, Laurel and Susannah, and their kids. It had to be the best part of her year. Except the car ride there.

She was in the back behind her siblings, them bickering about what movie to play for the rest of the drive while her parents were talking about what they would do when they arrived.

"Just put on Princess Diaries and shut up," Florence groaned, making her music louder to drone out their voices.

"I vote IT," Natalie said.

"I'd rather not hear children screaming in my ear as I'm driving," Evelyn said, shooting her wife a look.

"Exactly! So it's Princess Diaries." Grace said. "Thanks, mom."

"Thanks, mom," Harvey muttered.

The rest of the car ride was filled with Harvey begging Grace to turn it off, Grace telling Harvey to shut up, their mother telling her to stop telling her brother to shut up, and Florence going in and out of sleep.

An hour later, they were finally there, pulling to the house as the Conklins and Fishers came from the backyard. Belly ran over to their car to greet them.

Isabel — Belly had been Florence's best friends for as long as she could remember, then doing everything together when the others left them to go out. They told each other everything, including the huge crush Belly used to have on Conrad, excluding the fact that Florence used to have a massive crush on Belly.

"Bell!" Florence crushed her in a hug, despite her being wet. They must've done the belly flop already. She had begun to wear contacts instead of her glasses, and her hair was longer than before. She looked new.

"Belly button," Grace said, pushing Florence off the girl and hugging her. "you look hot."

"Thanks," Belly said, blushing a little. "Stevens over there." Steven and Grace had been on and off dating for three years, and right now, they seemed to be on.

Harvey was already carrying bags toward the house with Jeremiah. Jeremiah had told Florence last summer that he had a crush on her brother, and by the looks of it, it hadn't gone away. Everyone had everyone at the cousins' house.

Laurel came over, hugging Grace and Florence tightly and talking about how beautiful they were and the usual, then began a conversation with their parents.

Conrad was next, and immediately Belly's attention was on him. Florence fought the urge to roll her eyes. Maybe her crush was a little there.

"Flo," Conrad said, hugging her almost as tightly as Laurel did.

Despite their two-year age gap, Florence had always been closest to Conrad than the other boys. He was tied with Belly for being her summer best friend. She could tell Belly anything while she could do anything with Conrad. It was great.

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BELLY COULDN'T UNDERSTAND WHAT SHE FELT WHEN SHE FIRST SAW FLORENCE. She had cut her hair and pierced her ears; something Belly knew she had wanted to do for a long time. She couldn't help but stare when they returned to the house and started unpacking. They had shared a room since they were kids, which meant it would always be tight when Taylor came to stay.

When Florence had finished unpacking, she came over to sit next to Belly, and for some reason, Belly's heart started to race a little. From this close, she noticed more things: her black chipped nails, her jasmine-smelling perfume, the ink on her forearm.

"You got a tattoo?" Belly gasped, grabbing Florence's arm. She grinned.

"Grace and Harvey got one too," she said. "My moms were so pissed. Jessica did it."

"Awesome," Belly said, not wanting to take her eyes off it. It was the number twenty-one, and Belly guessed it was because their birthdays were all on the twenty-first of different months. "who's Jessica?" She added absentmindedly.

"My ex," Florence said, tracing Belly's fingers on her arm. "she's gonna come to visit soon."

Belly tried to ignore her heart, racing even more. She didn't even know Florence had ever even dated anyone, and here she was, getting a tattoo by the mystery lady. She felt a quick flash of jealousy, the way she felt when Conrad mentioned anyone.

"Oh," Belly said, trying to sound like she wasn't interested in hearing more about Jessica. "When?"

"The 30th, that's when Taylor's coming too, right?" Belly was about to respond when Grace popped her head into the open door.

"Me and the boys are going to go to the country club to hang out, and mom said we have to invite you guys. Ars you coming?"

Florence jumped up, pulling Belly along with her. "Should we bring bathing suits?" Grace rolled her eyes and nodded, then told them to hurry up.

They were going in Evelyn's car since it had the most space, and Florence and Belly were stuck in the third row like children. Belly hated it. Harvey was driving while Jeremiah flipped through the radio stations, and Conrad was a massive third wheel while Grace and Steven cuddled up in the second row.

Conrad turned around and gave Florence a grin. "So, how was your trip?"

"What trip?" Belly asked, giving Florence a look.

Florence rolled her eyes at Conrad. "My spring break trip. It was fine."

"More than fine, I heard," Conrad said. Belly perked up. She was now very interested in this trip. "I saw what Dane was posting. What a love fest that was."

"Who's Dane? Why am I left out of all this information?" Belly asked. She was left out of many things regarding the Fisher-Websters, but it was never by Florence, her best friend here and anywhere else.

"Dane is my friend," Conrad was about to interrupt and say something else, but she cleared her throat before he could. "anyway, for my birthday this year, I want us to go to an amusement park. One of those fancy ones like Kings Dominion, not the boardwalk. Grace and Harvey will pay for our tickets."

"I never agreed to that," Harvey said from the front seat.

Belly grinned, and she shook her head. She didn't care about the secrets Florence and Conrad seemed to share. She didn't care about Florence's cool and different friends back at home. In Cousins, none of that mattered. It was just them. Their summer.

AUTHORS NOTES:
I'm gonna try to update every week but I suck at updating so...