Seasons Changing

Day One

Cousins beach was my second home. My mom brings my brother and I down every summer to see our dad. They had never married, and that never bothered me. They tried to co-parent. That didn't work, and eventually my dad moved back to the beach he grew up with. Usually my mom would drive us down and stay until the fourth, this year she trusts us to go by ourselves and she'd visit for the Fourth's weekend.

"Are you almost ready Ry?" my mother asks me as she knocks on my door. "Yeah, I just have the feeling I'm forgetting something". That's when my older brother, Lucas barged in. "That's because you forget something every year" he laughs. "Shut up" I say throwing a pillow at him. "Well whatever you forgot, if it's not found in ten minutes, I'm 'forgetting' you" he says making air quotes then heads downstairs.

"Are you excited hun" my mom asks as she helps me grab my things. "Yeah, it's just not going to be the same without you there". "Well, you'll not only have your dad, but the Conklins and Fishers are going to be right next door. I'll doubt you'd even miss me".

Just as we reached the door, Lucas starts honking his horn. "Come on Ryan, we need to get on the road!" "I'm sorry you're behind schedule to see your boyfriends!" I shout.

"Anyways, I would miss you. It's gonna feel like a hole that won't even be filled. Until the Fourth, then it's gonna be empty again." "It's okay, Cousins just has never been my cup of tea. I love you. You too Lucas", she yells towards his direction, "now go before I change my mind or your brother drives off". I hugged her and finished packing the car. This was going to be my first summer without my mom.

••••

"Did you text Dad?" Lucas asks me about an hour into the drive. "Yeah, he said he's gonna be out all day shopping so he might be tired when we get there".

Cousins was more than when she got to see her dad. It was when she got to see him. Conrad Fisher and Ryan have had some sort of short lived fling the last three summers. She was never sure if it was fun, or something more to him. So, she never asked.

Her father's beach home happened to be right next door to his families. Every summer Ryan and her brother would hang out with the Fishers and Conklins.

Ryan was close to the Conklin girl. She was the youngest out of the kids, but the only other girl. So by default, they were extremely close. When they were little, the Conklin girl would ask Ryan to pretend like they were sisters. Being neighbors wasn't close enough for her.

Ryan also knew that the Conklin girl always had a little crush on her brother, Lucas. She would tease the young girl about it from time to time.

••••

We entered the driveway for our dads house. The second the car stopped I ran inside to find him. As he had said, he was sleep, resting on the couch. I took a second to take in the house. As beachy as it looked on the outside, the inside was so modern. A lot of grey tones.

My room was my favorite place in his house. It was light green. It had posters from all of the musicians I have ever liked growing up on a wall by the window as a collage. It had it's own bathroom which I loved because sharing with Lucas was not ideal. Behind my bed was an accent wall. With different shades of light greens and blues. That room makes me feel nostalgic. It's not summer until I've seen my room.

"Dad!?" Lucas shouts waking him up. "Great job Luca, you woke Dad up." "It's okay Ry. Look-look at you. You and Lucas look so grown. Making me feel so old". "That's has nothing to do with us" Lucas jokes. "What are you saying Luke?" "This might be the year I beat you 1v1". "If that happens then I'll marry 2014 Dylan O'Brien" "You've both got jokes. How about you two head next door to the Fishers and I'll bring you things in". "No, we can grab our own things, Dad". "But if you insist..." Lucas starts, "Ow!" he yells at me due to me hitting his arm. "We'll grab our own things" he says.