ꜱᴜᴍᴍᴇʀ ʙʏ ᴛʜᴇ ꜱᴀɴᴅ|ᴊ.ꜰ

🀣𝟢𝟢𝟤🀣

ᴄʜᴀᴘᴛᴇʀ ᴛᴡᴏ
↳ᴛᴡᴏ ᴘᴇᴀ'ꜱ ɪɴ ᴀ ᴘᴏᴅ.

When Jere and I had finally become friends, we were inseparable. Beck and Laurel called us two peas in a pod because of how bonded at the hip we were. When at Cousins, we'd spend every waking moment together. So, after his little stunt of throwing me in the pools, we'd swim around for a little bit before bringing my bags up to my room. We'd tracked water across the floor, obviously being scolded by Laur and then Susannah chiming in and telling us it was okay.
"Why do you always bring so much stuff? It's like you're planning on moving in or something." Jere sat the two suitcases on the bed and unzipped them. "Why do you always feel the need to go through my clothes before I unpack? Is there something you wanna tell me, Jeremiah?" I questioned. Jere narrowed his eyes at me when he picked up one of the dresses I'd brought. I didn't get into wearing them until last summer.
It was baby blue and strapless --- really tight, too. "This is like for a project you're working on, right? Tell me this isn't the finished product cause if it is, you're not walking outside with this on." I snatched it from his hand and threw it back in the bag. That's enough of that. We shoved the bags off of the bed and plopped down on it.

Side by side, arms touching and the smell of chlorine lingering off of us. We just sat there in silence for what felt like forever so we could take in the fact that we were really here. We're at Cousins beach together. And sure, we're always at Cousins Beach together, but this year is different. This year I'm pretty, and Jere and I solidified our friendship last year by getting matching Slytherin pins.
He was actually a Hufflepuff, not that he'd ever tell anyone that. I turned to glance at him. "I got my braces off, that's probably why I look so different..." Everyone kept telling me I'd looked different without them --- a whole new person, even. He hummed, but he'd still shake his head. "No, no... That's not it either. Did you change your eyebrow shape or something cause you really do look different?"
And I'd shake my head. "Nope, still the same shape." And we'd let the silence engulf us again. We just laid side by side on the full-sized mattress, the baby blue, silk comforter, and sheets slowly soaking up the water that was dripping off of us. It would smell like chlorine, but that's nothing a little laundry detergent couldn't fix. And Susannah always bought the best one, the one that smelled good for a really long time.

Laurel would always scold her. Not because of the laundry detergent itself, but because of how expensive it was. It was the fact that Laurel and the boys had a lot of money and we didn't. And even though Laurel wasn't my real mom, she provided for me like she was.
She and Mr. Conklin had helped me pay for my own apartment, my mom having to give me permission to get it without really having a choice, either. Laur and Belly and Steven had all really become my family when I turned sixteen. And now I'll be seventeen, one year away from being an actual adult.
While laying there, Jeremiah and I had linked pinkies. We were both in our heads, and It was our way of telling the other that it would be okay. Because it would be, there was no doubt about it. Cousins made everything better. "There's a bonfire tonight, you should come with me. You could meet all my friends," he said. He'd broken through our barrier of protective silence. "But I've already met all your friends," I countered. "Okay... Then you can meet your own friends."

My brows knitted, "But I already have Belly." Jere had cocked a brow at me because of my choice of words. "Sorry, and you and Conrad and Steven," I corrected. "Actually, I just wanted you to add my name in, you didn't have to say the other two."
I hummed in response. "I don't think Conrad would want me and Belly there," I said. "Who cares what Conrad thinks? You're not five anymore, Nani. You can do whatever you want, and it's not like my mom or Laurel cares, either." Yeah, that's kind of the issue, Jere. I want them to care. But I could say that to him, of course. "I'll think about it." And we'd leave It at that.
Belly would come knocking on my door sooner or later. "Get out, Jere, I need to talk to Nani," she'd push Jere from his spot next to me, him landing with a thud. They'd get in competitive states whenever I was around. It was like two siblings fighting over who would get to spend the most time with their favorite sibling.
"They're nicer ways to tell someone to leave, Belles." Jere would leave with a huff, but not before sending me a small smile from the doorway. Belly pulled me to my feet and closed the door. "Remember the guy from the gas station? The one I was talking to at the counter?" She asked.