Our Beloved Summer | A TSITP Story

Chapter 5

Last night was so tolling, I woke up in a cold sweat. It was still early in the morning but the sun had been up for a few hours.

Cam.

I immediately texted him.

Cam Cameron🐋

Don't know when you'll get this but

after last night I could've slept

through a hurricane

Raincheck on those whales?

It delivered but he was out on the water, I'd have to wait awhile to get a reply. Honestly, being on a boat didn't sound like such a great idea right now anyways. I couldn't imagine what it would be like to go with Cam after last night. My Mom would probably ground me for life.

Downstairs the kitchen was alive and well. Jere was at the stove, Steven crowding his space. Belly and Mom sat at the island. Jere was the first to see me.

"What happened to your whale watching date?" He said in a teasing voice.

"You have a date?" Steven asked next, looking back and forth between me and Jere.

"No, it wasn't a date." I said looking at Steven, then at Jere, "And I decided that sleep was better than rocking back and forth in the middle of the ocean."

I sat next to Belly. "You must not like Cam Cameron that much." She said, smirking around a spoon of cereal.

"His name is Cam Cameron?" Mom asked, looking over Belly's head at me.

"The both of you, shut up." I moved my finger back and forth at Belly and Jere. "I'll be outside."

I took my bowl of cereal and sketchbook outside to sit on the small grass patch by the pool. This morning the sun was shining just enough over the house, that that spot was the only light one.

As usual I had put on my headphones and doodled things that just came into my head. It wasn't long until my sunlight became shaded. I looked up to see Conrad standing over me.

"I know your vocabulary for me is strictly demeaning, but if you say one thing about my drawing, I'll kill you in your sleep." I said, half sarcastic.

"I wouldn't do that. I know how much your art matters to you." He shook his head and began to take his shirt off. I didn't plan on staring but it just happened. He looked like having his shirt off in front of me was the easiest thing to do.

"If you look any harder, your eyes will pop out of your head." He said, turning around to dive into the pool.

I grimaced and turned to my sketchbook. Every now and then I would look up to see him looking at me then going back under the water. It almost felt like a battle for territory, but I was out here first and I wasn't going to leave first.

But I did. Conrad ended up getting out of the pool and sitting in the other chair next to mine. The sun was starting to get too hot and I didn't have my bathing suit on to go in the pool. So I left first and Conrad trailed in right behind me. He knew he won.

—

Susannah had taken Belly and my Mom to go shopping for the deb season. I was a little surprised to hear that Belly had accepted the invitation but I was honestly excited she got to do something like this. She would always beg me to have tea parties with her because her stuffed animals didn't have enough manners sometimes. That was when she was still cute and tolerable.