Summer Lovin'

1-Back to Cousins

The best time of the year has officially began. By that I mean I am going to Cousins Beach. Me and my family come here every year and stay in our family's beach house...until last year. My dad died last year, so we ended up not coming last summer. Let's just say that was the worst summer I have ever had. My mom decided that it would be best to stay home. That was the first summer I can remember where we weren't in Cousins. It was so weird. 

Although, I am excited for this summer. I just graduated high school so, I feel like this year is going to be different than the past, and the fact that my dad isn't here. But, we aren't going to talk about that. 

"Are we almost there yet?" My younger brother Kamden whines. "About ten more minutes," my mom replies. Kamden is sixteen, the most annoying age there is for a boy, and he is the youngest. Therefore, he gets babied for everything he does. If only my parents...mom, knew what he actually does. 

I have an older sister, Kathrine, she is meeting us here in a couple weeks. She have been down at college and I haven't seen her since Christmas. My mom has always praised her. She is the smartest, prettiest, coolest person to ever exist. That was sarcasm.

Then theres me, stuck right in the middle. It's the worst. There are always stories and TV shows about the middle child stereotype...its so real. I'm always getting compared to my siblings. "Be more like Kathrine," and "Be a good example to your brother." It was always my mom who put those standards on me. That's why my dad was my person, I was his favorite. 

As we pull into the driveway I'm the first one out of the car. I take a deep breath in and smell the salt air and summer breeze. I am finally home. This is the place where I can be truly be myself. 

"Kirsten come get your stuff!" My mom hollers from the trunk. "Coming" I walk over and grab my suitcase and bags. I rush inside and take a look around, it never changes. It's the same as it was when we were last here. I see a portrait of my family and then I remember something did change. These good memories suddenly turned into sad ones, my dad is everywhere in this house. A feeling of sadness wafts through me, this is going to be harder than I thought. 

I shake that thought off and run upstairs to my room. I opened the door and smiled. I see my childhood drawings hung on the wall, my little pink piggy bank that still has coins in it and my stuffed snowman sitting atop my bed. It is so good to be back here. 

I see Kamden walk past my door then back up to my doorway. "You still have the stupid snowman?" "Of course," I say ready to defend my snowman. He smiles, "This summer is going to be legendary" he continued walking down the hall. He was right about that. 

I was almost finished unpacking when the savory smell of shrimp and steak began wafting into my room. I walk downstairs to the kitchen. "Smells good" I say starting to become very hungry. "It's almost ready" my mom chimed. I took a seat at the bar. "You know I could have used your help with the patio," she said, "Oh, sorry I didn't know," "I had to set up all of the patio furniture by myself," my mom complained. I sighed, I thought being at Cousins would help mine and my moms relationship, but I guess not. 

Ever since my dad died mine and my moms relationship went downhill really fast. We didn't have the best one before he died and this only made things worse. She became really absence, it was like she stopped being a mom. She started making comments to me that I knew weren't true but they still hurt. I just figured it was from grief but they haven't stopped. We would fight a lot, we still do. I always felt bad for my mom because she just lost her husband and I know she was trying her best but, I also just lost my dad. So, what about me? It was so hard for me because I was super close with my dad. I think my mom was always jealous of our relationship. When my dad died it was a topic my family never spoke about. It was as if it had never happened. I always preferred not to talk about it because it would always make me cry but I admit I wish I had someone to talk about it with. 

That night when everyone went to bed I snuck downstairs and out our patio door. I was used to this maneuver, I snuck out many times throughout the summer. The beach is basically our backyard. Me and my dad would walk to the dock, sit and talk for hours. I walked down the path that led to the dock and sat down on the bench. It's not the same without my dad. I began to cry, all the memories of my dad began resurfacing. I hate crying, it makes me feel like I'm weak. I always feel better after crying though. All I heard were the waves crashing against the shore, it was comforting in a sense. This was mine and my dads place. I guess just my place now. 

A/N: Hey guys! I hope you like this so far. This was basically an introduction and a backstory to Kirsten! 

Don't worry Jeremiah will be in the next part.