The Summer She Turned Pretty

The Beginning

     Hey guys! I kinda just decided to write a story on the summer I turned pretty but tweaking it a little bit. I don't really know how I feel about it but I decided that I should just post it. I hope y'all like it.  

     My family's been going to Susannah's beach house in Cousins every summer since before I was born. All year long, I count the days until I'm in that house. The dad's come to visit but it's not their place. They don't belong to it. Not the way we do. The mothers and us kids. The summer house is made up of a lot of things. The beach. The swimming pool, early in the morning. Movie nights with the girls. But the kids. The kids most of all. It's the same every summer. I've always loved that about it. For me, everything good, everything magical happens between the months of June and August.   

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"So this one or this one?" I ask my friend Emmy, who I'm on Facetime with while packing. I was holding up a baby blue bikini with white polka dots and a hot pink one with triangles to cover my chest. 

"Hmm," she replied, "I'd say both." 

"Good, because I like them both way too much." I quickly fold both bikinis and plop them in my suitcase. Down the hall, I could hear Taylor and Belly laughing. Taylor and Belly have been friends for as long as I can remember, but Taylor and I have a special bond too. We share all our secrets with each other. But she was Belly's friend first so I try to give them their space. Belly's never really been into boys except for one, but Taylor has, so I'm who she goes to for boy drama, clothes, body care advice, etc. 

I continued to pack while talking to Emmy. Emmy and I met in the first grade when she sat in the wrong seat on the first day. We kind of just hit it off. She was going to Hawaii for two weeks and then coming to join me in Cousins for a week later in the summer. 

"Belly, May, we're leaving in the next ten minutes!" My mom yelled from downstairs. 

"Well, I think I'm about done, just gotta make sure I didn't forget anything," I tell Emmy while I do a quick search around my room. I always leave something behind, always. 

"I have one question before you go." She said while snuggling into her bed. I head back over to the phone and my suitcase, with a sundress I almost left behind, in hand. That sure was a close one. 

"Yeah, what's up?" I asked while folding up the dress. 

"What do you think about how much Belly's changed since last summer? Could it change anything?" I hadn't really thought about it. Would Belly be more included now? She was always the youngest, but she looks like she could be my age now, not that there was much of a difference.  I stuff the sundress into my suitcase and zip it up, with a struggle. 

"I have no idea." I sighed. "Well, I better go! I'll talk to you later, love ya!" I blow her a kiss, and she returns it. 

"Love you too, bye!!" she replied, and I hung up. 

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I love this drive, I love this moment. It's like coming home after you've been gone a long, long time. Steven, my twin brother was driving, and my mom was in the passenger seat. Belly and I were in the back jamming out to Can't Do Better by Kim Petras. We were screaming at the top of our lungs, the windows were open. I love this smell. The smell only Cousins can give me. 

"OH OH OH, YOU CAN'T DO BETTER!" Belly and I yell in unison, "OH YOU CAN"T DO BETTER!"

My mom, being my mom, ruined the moment by saying, "Can I turn this down a little please?"

"Yes, please." Steven agreed.  I roll my eyes at both of them and slump back into my book, Beach Read. My goal, was to finish this book before the summer ended so I could buy another one at the bookstore.