Mirrors

Chapter 1

I never truly liked my California summer that I had every year. The weekly heatwaves made me ache to leave the big city I called home to the nearest beach. Although it was truly unbearable, it was a part of me and all of my life too. And although I never like to admit it, the short drive to a beach is not too much of a hassle. I knew I was going to miss it this summer.

"Caroline! We have to get going soon please hurry!" My mother shouted ripping me out of daydream. I huffed and looked over at the woman in the doorway. "I'm ready" I said quietly.

A few weeks ago the worst thing imaginable had happened to me. My parents, after several years of turmoil, finally decided to separate. That along with a few other not so nice situations led to my parents deciding to send me off to spend the summer with my godmother and her family. Along with her family would be the Conklins.

My godmother Susannah was an angel. I rarely got the opportunity to see her but she never forgot about me. Every Christmas and birthday the perfect present would arrived with the most gorgeous wrapping and heartfelt card arrived from Susannah. She always had the power to cheer me up and I truly wish I was able to see her more.

I typically saw her and her family twice a year or whenever my parents had the opportunity to coat it her. I always admired her and her optimism. She also adored her two boys with all of her heart. Although we were never close, I admired both of her boys. Conrad was always the honorable one and Jeremiah was always the kindest boy I had ever met.

We always played together as children, but I never had a connection to them like the Conklins did.
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I took a big deep breath in taking the large summer house in. I had finally arrived to Susannah's summer home.

I quickly tipped the taxi driver and he helped me get my bags off. I slowly walked to the front door of the house and nervously waited for nothing. My nerves stopped me from knocking on the door.

Right as I was about to knock the door flew open revealing Conrad Fisher. His eyebrows raised as he looked me over. I cracked a small smile as he look just like I remembered him. He almost looked stunned to see me.

All the memories came flooding back to me. I remember how sometimes Conrad would chase me around their home in Massachusetts. He would always keep me distracted whenever I was bored. Lastly, his sweet demeanor and kind blue eyes were the last memory I had of him. The boy in front of me seemed almost like an alien. He seemed unwelcoming and his eyes had darkened to be unrecognizable.

"Caroline?" He questioned me. I couldn't tell if her was joking or not. I furrowed my eyebrows. "It's me Conrad" I said calmly. He gave me a small smile and it quickly faded away.

"Caroline! Oh my!" Susannah shouter walking over quickly to greet me. She wasted no time at all to engulf me in a hug. I quickly hugged her back almost as tightly.

"Oh my you look even more gorgeous than I remember! I bet you have been out breaking hearts in California!" She said playfully taking my presence in. I shook my head at her comment and laughed it off.

"This is Caroline? No way she's Caroline!" Jeremiah said giving me a quick hug. I smiled at the boy.

The boys took in my bags and Susannah was quick to reintroduce me to a couple of familiar faces in the house.

The Conklins were not complete aliens to me but they were not familiar either. I had briefly brushed paths with their family and they were all kind. Laurel was very sweet to me and asked me all about my mother. Belly was not super welcoming to me but I assumed maybe she was just uncomfortable. I understood having me there interrupting their summer could be a little uncomfortable. Steven was kind and a total goofball. He almost matched Jeremiahs energy in a way.
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I spent some time unpacking in the guest bedroom I would be staying in. There was pink toile wallpaper covering the walls and a fluffy white quilt on the white bed. The window facing the bed was wide and looked over the pool.

I changed into a comfortable sundress and made sure to wear my bikini underneath. I braided my hair and finally decided to make my way downstairs.

Although the boys were quite noisy, the stairs were even noisier. Each step I took was accompanied with a loud creek. I grimaced at the haunting noise.

"Little Miss Caroline... to what do we owe the pleasure of you spending the summer with us?" Jeremiah asked amused. I shook my head smiling as all the kids eyes were on me. The adults were nowhere to be seen.

"What? You already want to get rid of me so soon?" I teased avoiding his question. He laughed as he shook his head no. "Of course not. I could never get sick of your face." He said with a wink.

This earned an eye roll from Conrad and a mean glare from Belly. Steven laughed at the reply. I smiled sweetly and sat next to Conrad on the loveseat. He observed my face before quickly looking away. It was almost as if he didn't want to look at me.

Gosh I'm hungry I thought. My stomach rumbled earning Conrad's attention. He gave me a small sincere smile. Unlike every other boy, Conrad was impossible for me to read.

"Don't worry, come with me" he said to me. He quickly got up and motioned for me to follow him. I quickly rose and followed him to the kitchen. Belly watched me like a hawk.

He motioned for me to sit at the counter and he began digging through the fridge pulling out different things. He placed the supplies information of me but too far from my reach. I watched unsure of what he was making.

"I remember how you like it." He said playfully with a wink. He was finally beginning to soften up to me. I smiled shyly at the boy.

"How have you been?" I asked trying to talk to him. He made an expression I didn't quite understand. "Just hanging on ya know?" He replied. I simply nodded.

"So what brought you to cousins this year? I know you tried to dodge Jers question." He said finishing up making the sandwich.

I sighed staring at the simple turkey sandwich that looked so delicious at the moment.

"I'm not talking until you hand it over" I say motioning at the sandwich. He slides it over and I take a large bite. I hummed at the taste of white bread. I was truly that hungry.

"My dad left my us. It sucked and I did things I'm not proud of..." I said pausing to take another bite. I couldn't believe I was suing this to Conrad right now. He didn't seem judgmental at all. It was almost as he understood me.

"So it was either spend the summer with Susannah and get it together or boarding school in the fall." I said faking a smile. He nodded his head indicating I didn't have to say any thing more.