Our Beloved Summer | A TSITP Story

Chapter 1

My family's been going to Susannah's beach house in Cousins every summer since I was a baby. All year long, I count the days until I'm in that house. Fall and Winter had its pros like Friday Night Lights, Hot Cocoa and fun sweaters, but summer... nothing could ever compare.

Cousins was a safe haven, a place of solitude. I got to spend time with the people I loved and some much needed time by myself. I could take a break from the real world and it was heavenly bliss. Of course, the last few summers weren't exactly perfect per se, but I just couldn't ever regret anything that happened from June to August. Those months were always where I wanted to be.

Belly had turned 'pretty' just before summer this year. She no longer had glasses and braces, which she claimed 'held her back' in the romance department. I never technically had a glow up. Of course, I went through puberty and got boobs and grew a couple inches, but upon entering high school, where looks became an even bigger obsession, I started cheer. That sort of gave me an upper hand because cheerleaders were supposedly already attractive by default. I had been considered one of the prettier girls in town but I was never at the top of the podium because of my attitude.

At school, people thought I was weird because I stayed in my own little world and drew and listened to music 24/7. I never let cheerleading become my entire personality so that really set some people off.

I always just have this look on my face, I recognize that it's there but it has been for a long time. Things got hard and I took on the burden without even trying to, and it showed. The last few years were the worst of all, but I promised myself not to hold on as tight to the past.

This summer would change things. I didn't have an asshole boyfriend consuming my every thought, my parents divorce was no longer a concern — in fact it was the best thing to happen to the family, and I wasn't going to focus on the things I have lost.

I have never felt so close to the real me.

—

"Uh, can you guys turn it down a little, please?" Mom said from the back seat.

"Yes, please. I think I lost all hearing in my right ear." I held my ear that Belly had been screaming into for the last hour of the car ride. I turned down the blaring volume just enough to still hear what song was playing.

"Thank you. I want you to be better about helping out this summer. Like, don't just leave your dishes in the sink. Load them into the dishwasher. And not just your own dish, either, Steven." Steven went to protest, but Mom cut him off. "I want you to be good houseguests."

"Mom, Susannah has people who clean, doesn't she?" Steven asked, earning a light slap to the back of his head.

"Ow! All right. All right. Sorry."

My Mom is weird about money. The fact that Susannah has a lot and we don't. She had a 'leave no trace' policy when it came to the beach house.

"Just be considerate and act like I raised you right. Steven, that means don't stay out too late."

"Mom, I'm too old for a curfew!"

"Wait, what about me? I don't have a curfew either, right?" Belly chimed in and we all giggled at her innocence.

"What do you need a curfew for? You don't go anywhere," I said, looking in the rearview mirror to see her annoyed face.

"Belly, we'll talk about it when something comes up."

Belly let out a frustrated huff, but sprung up in between the front seats, holding on to Steven's arm. "Don't forget, you promised you'd take me driving."