ꜱᴜᴍᴍᴇʀ ʙʏ ᴛʜᴇ ꜱᴀɴᴅ|ᴊ.ꜰ

🀣𝟢𝟣𝟥🀣

ᴄʜᴀᴘᴛᴇʀ ᴛʜɪʀᴛᴇᴇɴ
↳ᴄʜɪᴄᴀɢᴏ, ɪʟʟɪɴᴏɪꜱ.

Cousins. I've always loved Cousins Beach. I was back for another summer and I couldn't wait to see what was in store. Belly and I laid on our beach chairs, deciding to sunbathe by the ocean for a change. We'd usually go swimming, but we chose to break tradition this one time. She laid with her read heart sunglasses, the ones Susannah had gotten her some time before.
Belly secretly loved them, even if she'd never admit it. I had a new pair on, as always. They matched Belly's, only mine were white and black checkered. Susannah and Laurel were by the water, soaking up the sun and acting like teenagers again. I loved the sight of it. I always wanted a bond like theirs. And of course, I had Belly, but Belly and I were still on the fence.
We'd heard the sound of sand kicking up and deep laughs and we already knew who they belonged to. Conrad and Jeremiah had ran over to us, both finally home from work. It had been a long day for them, I could tell. Conrad sat with Belly, and Jeremiah sat down next to me. He plucked my sunglasses away from my face. "You know, it's actually sunny this time so I kind of need those."
I went to grab them back, but he'd softly caught my arm. He was always so gentle. "But why would you wanna block out a face as pretty as mine?" he joked. "It's pretty ugly, actually," I smiled. He cocked an eyebrow at me. "Mhm, you weren't saying that before. I'm guessing you haven't eaten?"
I gasped oh so dramatically. "Jeremiah Fisher, I expected better from someone who raised around woman!"

We'd laugh our first laugh together of the day. Jeremiah leaned down and kissed me and it felt electric. The feeling traveled through my veins and nerves and made sure I knew I was kissing Jeremiah. My Jeremiah.
"I missed you," he smiled. "I missed you, too. C'mon, I want yellow cake."

But I wasn't at Cousins. Jeremiah and I aren't together, and we haven't seen each other since that night outside of my house. Belly and Conrad aren't together and her and I hadn't spoken since clean up day that summer. And Susannah was dead.
I was in Chicago hauling boxes into an apartment because Mateo had just moved here. The sun was beaming down on me and I didn't have sunglasses to protect my eyes. Sweat dripped from my forehead as I sat another box down in the living room. "You should really get an AC," I complained. Mateo came up behind me and placed a kiss to my temple. "Or you could just move in with me now that we're both fully grown adults."
"We're eighteen, that's still a teenager," I corrected. I couldn't almost feel him roll his eyes. "I'm just saying, it would be easier than me driving uptown every single day, gas isn't cheap, love." I loved when he called me love. It made my heart all warm and fuzzy. "Then we'll just see each other on weekends," I suggested, "You've got training camp anyway, I'm sure your new coach wouldn't want you late."
Theo sighed. "Yeah... You're probably right. And coach is pretty scary." We headed outside to grab another box each. "Why'd you bring so much stuff?" I asked. I hopped into the truck and handed him one. "I didn't wanna leave anything behind, too many memories."

My phone ringed in my back pocket. It was my mom. I answered it. "What's up?" I asked. "I'm out shopping right now and I was wondering if Mateo needed anything else for his apartment?" She asked. I'd relayed the message to him as I followed behind him. "Bed set, a few lamps, maybe. Oh, and I'm gonna need kitchenware," he said. "Did you hear that, mom?"
"I heard," she said, "I think it's great he committed to a college he really likes. We'll be at all his games and everything." I laughed. "I'm gonna be crammed between being at the studio and classes, those games are gonna be life saver."
"And I could get you two sideline passes," Theo chimed in. I smiled. "You really are the boy of my dreams." He gave me a smug look. "I know."
"Well, I'll be over there in a little bit to bring everything by. Make sure you two don't run off on one of your little adventures."
When Mateo started visiting me in Chicago, I'd shown him around the entire city. And I mean every inch of it. He met all types of characters, but he enjoyed himself. That was only the first time. When he came for Christmas break, I showed him an abandoned skate park I used to go when I was maybe fourteen. I would go there to clear my head and escape the hell that was the old Ailani.