|Not You|
Summer always meant a five hour drive and three months in Cousins. The six kids had grown up together facing love, laughter, heartbreak, pain, and joy together. But this summer was different, with new feelings emerging, and an ever loomin...
Oops! This image does not follow our content guidelines. To continue publishing, please remove it or upload a different image.
June woke up with the sun blaring in her room. A light sweat on her brow, as she shot up. It took a moment for her to notice that Conrad was no longer next to her, but that happened to be the least of her worries.
"JUNE! We gotta go, I am not going to be late because of you!" She heard Mateo shouting from downstairs.
Reaching over to her nightstand, she snatched her phone off the table. Bringing it to eye level only to see that she had ten minutes to get ready for the dance rehearsal. She quickly leaped out of bed, running to get ready. Throwing on a sun dress and quickly applying some light makeup.
She ran downstairs, nearly slamming into her brother at the bottom of the stairs.
"Where's mom?" She asked, running around him to grab her bag, then heading for the door.
"Don't know, probably still with Suz," He said, following her out of the house and toward the car.
"Is Susannah okay? Did she get hurt?" June asked, getting into the car, as Mateo quickly flipped the engine, put it into gear, and reversed away from the houses.
"Emotionally? Yes. Physically? I think she's fine," He started, as they drove further away from the houses. "I do have a question of my own though."
"What's that?"
"Why was Conrad leaving the house at the ass crack of dawn this morning?" He asked, taking his eyes off the road for a split second to give his sister an accusatory look.
"He slept over last night--"
"As in slept over or slept over?" Mateo asked, really putting some emphasis on his words.
"I think there was just a lot going on at his house, so he crashed at ours. You do it all the time at theirs," She countered, trying to shut down the conversation.
"So is he going to be your partner for the rehearsal today?" Mateo asked.
"Nope, my dearest brother. I have not asked anyone to escort me, so I will be dancing alone," She responded, running her hands through her hair to try to tame it.
"You really are gross."
"That is rude as hell. I am your only sister, Mateo. You should love and appreciate me--"
"I think someone definitely did love and appreciate you--OW!" He exclaimed, getting cut off as June punched him in the gut.
He ran out the door, June quick on his heels as they both jumped into the car.
"We aren't taking Bells?" She asked her brother, buckling her seatbelt and looking around for the younger girl.
"Nope, she's Steven's responsibility today," Mateo said, wiping the fake sweat off his forehead.
The ride to the clubhouse was quiet, June staring out the window as the trees and houses passed by in a flash.
"So what's the plan here June? You just going to dance with the air?" Mateo asked her, drumming his fingers on the steering wheel.
