TRUE LOVE! steven conklin

CHAPTER ONE, summer house

"Aurelia, are you packed yet?" Susannah calls out. "We gotta leave soon. I'd like to beat some of the traffic."

"Yeah, almost done!" She called out.

She checked her suitcase that was colored in different shades of purple, and smiled at the sight of the colorful clothes folded neatly inside. The case had a zippered top that was closed and latched, and the small red wheels on the bottom rolled smoothly. Aurelia grabbed her favorite stuffed animal, a pink unicorn with a rainbow mane, and put it in her backpack. She remembered when she first got it and how she had never wanted to let it out of her sight when she was little. But now, she was sixteen, and she knew she was too old to be dragging around her childhood toy, but this stuffed animal was special to her. It was like a security blanket. She had gotten it in Cousins Beach one summer at the boardwalk.

Cousins Beach. Her home away from home. The place her family had gone every summer for as long as she could remember. The place where she'd had the time of her life, and the place where her best memories had happened. And this summer was no exception. The thought of seeing her friends again brought a huge smile to her face. She had been close with the Conklins, who went with them every summer, her whole life. She was close with Belly and even her parents, but not with her brother, Steven.

She only hung out with him because she was forced to, but he always had a way of finding her and bugging her. She could be playing with her friends and having a good time, and then Steven would appear, and he would ruin everything by bugging her. Her mother had asked her a few times why she didn't like him. Why she was so mean to him, but Aurelia couldn't explain it. She didn't really know why herself, except that he always seemed to be there when she didn't want him to be. He was always so rude to her, and he was such a jerk. So she was the same way back to him, she thought it was only fair.

Aurelia put the straps of her backpack on her shoulders and looked around her room. It was filled with pictures and posters and things she had collected over the years. There was a bookshelf full of books and other trinkets she had, a few trophies from cheerleading and some trophies from winning science fairs. One wall was painted light pink and another was white. The walls were covered in pictures of her family and friends, her cheerleading squad, and the beach. The floor was a light gray carpet, and the window had white curtains that matched her bedding. 

Her bedding was white and pale pink with flowers on it. It was at the center of the wall, two white nightstands on each side. Both had lamps on it, the one on the left had an alarm clock on it, the other one had a picture frame of her and her parents on it. She had a dresser across the room, and a closet on the wall by her door. Her TV was on the wall above the dresser, her desk was by the wall across from her door. She had a record player and a crate full of records next to her desk, and a beanbag chair.

Aurelia finally left her room, heading down stairs. "It's about time, slowpoke!" Jeremiah's playful voice rang through the room. She smiled and stuck her tongue out at him.

"You're the one that's slow. You take forever in the shower." Aurelia pointed out.

"Oh yeah? Well, at least I don't spend an hour doing my hair, El." He teased, ruffling her hair, and messing up her ponytail.

"J!" She whined, smoothing her hair back into place. She fixed her ponytail and then glared at her younger brother.

"Jere, stop messing with her." Conrad chuckled as he walked over to them.

"Fine." Jeremiah sighed dramatically, . But then he smirked and messed up her hair again, before running away.

She laughs and runs off after him. "Come back here, Jeremiah!" She chased him around the kitchen. Conrad chuckled, rolling his eyes at his younger siblings. Their mother was at the counter, shaking her head with a smile on her face. She knew her children well, and their antics never bothered her. She was used to it.