ꜱᴜᴍᴍᴇʀ ʙʏ ᴛʜᴇ ꜱᴀɴᴅ|ᴊ.ꜰ

🀣𝟢𝟣𝟪🀣

ᴄʜᴀᴘᴛᴇʀ ᴇɪɢʜᴛᴇᴇɴ
↳ɢʀᴏᴡɪɴɢ ᴜᴘ.

   Dear, Nani.

   I didn't think you'd ever tell me the zoo story, but I'm glad you did. Now I know to never take you to the elephant exhibit. 
   Thanks for being understanding. But I don't think I'm doing this just for college anymore, if I'm being honest. Being here, even with me only being in training, it's giving me a purpose. I feel like I'm doing something that has meaning, like you with your music. I know you don't like the idea of me fighting in a war that isn't mine, but maybe I could help people along the way.
   Your dad taught me to smile through everything, even the bad days. And he taught me that I shouldn't spend my entire life wanting, and I should at least spend a portion of it giving, too. I want to give, and I think this is the way to do it. I wanna be here, with the men in my platoon, and I wanna get to know them and serve beside them.

   I think I should fill in some gaps too though. 

  After summer fifteen, my grandpa passed. I didn't really know how to cope with it. We were really close, and I spent a lot of time with him the years following. We knew he was getting older and that it would eventually catch up with him, we just didn't think it would be so soon.
   Gramps served in the military. He was a survivor of the attack on Hiroshima and Nagasaki. He was visiting Japan at the time with his then girlfriend, they were taking a vacation since he'd just gotten home from active duty. He had an honorable discharge for risking his life to save the men in his platoon while in battle.
   My grandpa taught me a lot of things. When he'd found out about you, he was so excited to meet you. I had told him that it wasn't really a good time with everything that was going on that summer. But I know that if he did, he would've loved the hell out of you, the same way I do. He was always telling me to make sure that I treat you right, but that you treated me right, too.
   We both failed in that department back then, but we're making up for it right now. 

   I love you, see you soon. 

   -M.R. 

--

   I was saying goodbye to Cousins today. While Laurel had helped in saving the beach house, it wasn't the same anymore. Something about Cousins just wasn't appealing anymore. I was ready to say goodbye to it and its inhabitants. Conrad was going back to finish summer school, and I didn't really know what Jeremiah and Belly had in store for them.
   They were walking on tight ropes with each other, and eventually, one or both of them would fall off. I'd packed up my duffle bag and grabbed everything I wanted to bring with me back to Chicago. Belly, Jeremiah, and Conrad were already standing in the driveway. "Why're you carrying a box?" Belly asked. "I'm not coming back," I said. They'd stood there shocked. "What? Why not?"
   "Because the beach house is the past. I don't need this home when I've already built one back in Chicago," I said. I could feel the tension begin to rise. No, no this wasn't tension. This was something else. "What does that mean for all of us?" Conrad asked. I shrugged. "We'll keep in touch, but I think It's time for me to move on... From all of you. Conrad, you'll always be the brother I never had, Jeremiah will be the boy I'll tell my kids about when it comes to one sided love, and Belly's the best friend I'll never forget."
   "Why do I get the worst one?" We'd all shared a laugh. "This is it... You're all grown up now, Nani." Conrad walked over and brought me into a tight hug. "I'll see you soon."