The Summer House

Chapter One- The Old House

The dirt kicked up behind the lonely girl. She traveled down the semi-familiar road. Her summer home from when she was a child. She hasn't been back here in years. Everything seems similar but also so different. She glances over to her phone for the directions. Her final stretch is just ahead of her. She turns down the last confusing road as she shuts the directions off. She knows which way home is from here. She drives slowly up the uneven hill while looking towards the families venturing out on their boats. She turns up the hill as she heads towards the house at the top of the river.

Her neighbors are all spending time outside as they glance at her direction. "Is that Aria", some neighbors murmur as she slows down to five miles. The road was always narrow heading back towards the house. Before she owned this wonderful piece of property, it was her grandparents. Her grandparents moved to Florida last summer and sold the house to her. They remember how she used to light up around the neighborhood.

Parking the small SUV, she climbs out and pulls her ball cap on. "God that sun is annoying", she mutters mostly to herself as she slides her sunglasses on. She walks towards the trunk with agony following her every move just behind her. The porch is old, and even from where she's standing in the driveway, she can see some of the planks splintering away. More money she'll have to throw down the drain to fix it. She lets out a long sigh as she pops her trunk. She begins to unload her bags as the neighbors watch from their backyards.

She tiptoes across the planks of wood while trying to move her luggage inside. This is going to take more than just a new coat of paint to fix up. The plumbing is leaking from upstairs, and the air is stiff from not having been used in over six months. She places her luggage at the steps before heading back out the door to grab the next load. It's going to take six trips just to move her stuff inside. The only upside to this place is the view she gets from the kitchen.

It's around six when a knock is heard on her door. She puts down the box of Chinese noodles she was nibbling away at while forcing herself to stand up. "Yeah, coming", she hollers out as she walks through the narrow hallway. Everything about this place just seems narrow to her. "Hey, I don't know if you remember me, I'm Leo's son, I'm Liam, uh, we're having sort of a party, a barbeque, my mom wanted me to pass along an invitation", the boy rambles nervously in front of me. He points back towards the house that has people all over the backyard. "I'll actually have to pass, I need to unpack more, tell your Mom I said thanks though, yeah", she answers as she shuts the door on him. "Yeah, no, yeah sure", he replies from behind a closed door.

The next morning came quickly for both Liam and Aria. Both having different reactions to the morning. Aria was already finishing up that unpacking she had sworn she was doing last night to avoid a big party with the neighbors. Liam on the other hand, he was making coffee trying to get rid of a hangover that struck this morning.

"Go talk to her, see if she's up, offer to take her into town for groceries", Letty lectures her son as she practically shoves him out the door towards the girl's house. "She seemed pretty adamant last night that she had a lot of unpacking to do", he defends himself. "I don't care Liam, you and that girl, you both used to be something together", Letty argues with her son. "I don't think she even remembered me, she literally tried her hardest to get me to go away quickly, what makes you think she'll accept an invitation to go grocery shopping with me", Liam rambles off to his mother.

Letty moves around the kitchen as she continues to make breakfast for her family of seven. "Offer to fix that porch of hers then, it's like one split away from breaking under her and swallowing her whole with it", Letty suggests. Liam follows behind her over to the stove as she mixes the scrambled eggs even more. "Alright, alright, fine", Liam agrees just wanting to be done with the arguments while he's hungover.

Liam makes his way towards the old run-down house while trying to fix his shirt. "Hey, Aria, uh, I was wondering, I'm a contractor now, that uh, that porch doesn't look safe, my mom would literally kill me if I didn't try to persuade you to let me fix it", he explains to her as she soaks in the sun. "If that's what it takes to get the neighbors off my backs, then yeah, sure, you can fix up the porch", Aria sasses back while checking the time on her watch. "The food store just opened up, so I'm going to go and buy groceries, just uh, don't break anything", Aria lectures Liam like he's four. "I wouldn't dream of it", he assures her as he tries to lean on the wall, only to stumble and look like a fool in front of her even more. Aria laughs lightly as she walks towards her car and climbs in quickly.

"Bethany", a lady's voice questions. I turn to see a random lady standing behind me in the grocery store. "No, I'm Aria, not Bethany", she answers the other lady. "Sorry, my mistakes, you just look like someone I used to know", the stranger apologizes before walking away. Aria knew who she mistaken her as. Bethany Romano, Aria's mother. Aria grabs the last item on her grocery list, sandwich bread. She swiftly moves to check out, hoping to avoid any more mistaken encounters during this shopping trip.

"So, when do I get some of my walkway back", Aria questions Liam as she places a sandwich in front of him. "Part of it will be back in by tonight, I promise", Liam swears while holding up an eagle scout hand symbol. "Don't stress too much, if this keeps the neighbors out of both our hairs, I am not going to rush you", Aria chuckles softly while carefully walking back inside.

Last night Liam asked Aria if she remembered him. She wanted to say she did, but so much has happened since they were ten. Who's to say he's still the same guy. It's been nearly two decades since they saw each other, and back then, all of the neighbors and parents swore that the two of them would be married. Things don't always turn out that way though, people leave, others get abandoned, all Aria knows is that she's not going to let anyone get too close anytime soon.

"Dad, hey, Grandma Letty wants you back for dinner at some point, plus you promised to help me on my project for the science fair", a young girl speaks with Liam. Aria watches from the doorway as she studies the similarities between the two. "I know, but take it with Grandma Letty, remind her that she's the one who suggested I put the new boards down", Liam talks to his daughter.

Clearly a lot does change in twenty years, starting with Liam as a dad for a teenager girl. "Who's that?", the girl asks as she notices me now. "Uh, Aria, this is my daughter Annabeth, Annabeth, this is Aria, an old friend of mine when we were growing up, her grandparents owned this place, now she does", Liam introduces both girls. "Lovely to meet you", they comment in sync. Liam chuckles lightly as he nails another board down. "Take a break, go eat dinner with your family, it'll give me a chance to set up the cable without the nuisance sounds of you hammering boards down", Aria teases the man as she backs up into her house. Liam gets up, knowing that there's no point in arguing with Aria.