The Summer When Everything Changed

Chapter 3

Belly looked through her suitcase when she found a pink dress. It had strappy sleeves and was long. She had shaken her head as she threw it over her head and put on some black sandals. She knew that things were going to end badly, but she didn't even care.

"Mom, I'm going out!" Belly yelled as she went out of the door.

She didn't care what her mother had to say. She just wanted to get away from everything and everyone. She wanted to feel like a teenager for a single night. Laurel and Susannah was sitting outside, smoking, when Laurel heard the door closing. Smoking was something that she only did when she was with Susannah. It made her feel young and reckless. Exactly what her daughter wanted to feel.

"Belly going out?" Susannah asked.

"I don't know what's been going on in her head this year. When we left Cousins last summer, she was still fine, but now. I don't even recognize my own daughter anymore, Beck. She's like a destructible bomb. And no one has bothered to take her apart," Laurel said as she got her phone out.

"Who are you calling?" Susannah asked.

Conrad was drinking a beer while he looked over the beach. He was sitting high up in the lifeguard tower on the beach. He knew what was going to happen. Conrad heard his phone buzzing and in his head he told himself 'here we go'.

"Laurel?" Conrad said.

"Belly is going down to the beach," Laurel said as Conrad chuckled when he saw the young girl.

"I know. I can see her from where I am sitting. What is going on with her this year?" Conrad asked.

"I don't know, just keep an eye on her, please," Laurel said.

"Will do," Conrad said ending the call.

Conrad had jumped off the pier while he had pulled Jeremiah and Steven away from the girls. Both wanted to fight with him until he showed them that the young girl was there.

"What the hell is she doing here?" Steven asked.

"Your mother called me and stated that she doesn't even know what's going on with Belly," Conrad said.

"Because in a way, none of us do," Steven said seeing as his sister grabbed a beer and started downing it.

"Not a..." Steven said, wanting to take his sister on, as Conrad pulled him back.

"Leave her. Maybe this is what she needs – to get drunk once and then she never thinks about it again. I'll keep an eye on her. You go back to Shayla and you do whatever, Jere. I'll keep an eye on her," Conrad said.

"Is our girl rebelling?" Susannah asked as Laurel just nodded.

"She is, but she isn't choosing the right time to do it. Belly could get really hurt and I'm not always there to ensure she doesn't get hurt badly. You won't be for long either," Laurel said as Susannah looked at her.

With the cancer from three years back returning, Laurel and Susannah knew that every moment they had together could be their last. Susannah wanted to see 'their girl' in a white dress before she would pass, and so, Laurel didn't get in the way too badly. She knew that it was harmless.

"Is she rebelling badly?" Susannah asked.

"You can't treat and discipline a girl the same as boys. That is the one bad thing about having a daughter," Laurel said as she heard her phone ringing.

"Excuse me for a moment," Laurel said as she went inside the house.

"Cleveland, I thought we would only see you tomorrow," Laurel said.