[Present Day]
THE FOUR teenagers sat around the table, Conrad had placed his phone in the centre, which they all gathered around. Olivia and Belly sat opposite the boys, the Conklin girl had secretly placed a hand on Via's thigh, which made Via's mind race with thoughts.
Conrad spoke, "Dad, hey."
"Hey, Dad." Jeremiah joined in.
"Jere?" Adam questioned, "You're in Cousins, too?"
"So's Ollie." Jeremiah replied, "We got here last night."
"Alright, look, I got a heads-up from the bank telling me you're trying to access your trust." Adam explained, "That's not gonna happen."
"What?" Via questioned, "You've already made up your mind?"
"Yeah." Adam said, "I mean, that money was for your future. I'm not gonna let you blow it on a beach house."
"It's not just a house, Dad." Jeremiah scoffed.
Adam sighed, "Guys, I had my lawyers look into any possible loopholes right after the funeral, but there's none. Okay? The house is legally Julia's."
"Wait, you've known since the funeral that we're loosing the house?" Via questioned in distress, "And you didn't think to tell your kids?"
"Via, I'm not your evil father trying to ruin your life." Adam defended, "And believe it or not, I'm just as upset as you are about it."
"That is such bullshit." Conrad scoffed, "You never cared about this house, Dad. You never cared about it because you never cared about mom."
"You know that's not true." Adam replied, "Come on, Jere, you get it, don't you?"
Jere sighed, "I don't- I don't get why we can't just use our trust to buy it, and then we can sell it later if we need the money."
"No." Adam replied sternly, "Julia's gonna go ahead with the open house tomorrow. I really appreciate the attempt here, but this is the end of the conversation. You just need to make sure Julia has everything she needs, alright?"
"Talking to you is fucking pointless!" Via blurted out frustratedly, before hanging up the phone.
The four sat in silence for a moment, each of them letting out sighs of defeat, until the door clicked open, as Belly's hand quickly let go of Via's thigh.
"Surprise!"
Evie, Taylor, and Steven stood in front of the table, all of them carrying boxes of cakes. Their faces dropped when they saw the fours reactions, as Steven muttered, "Shit. I knew we should've told them we were coming."
Conrad sighed, "No, it's not that... it's-"
"We're loosing the house." Jeremiah blurted out in defeat, "They put it up for sale."
Evie raised her eyebrows in shock, before rushing over to Via to hug her, "I'm so sorry."
Via smiled slightly, "I'm glad you're here."
YOU ARE READING
CRUEL SUMMER
FanfictionIn which, Olivia Fisher has to survive the summer whilst having a crush on her best friend. Or... In which, Belly Conklin realises that the love of her life was right in front of her all along.
