All too well ² // the fisher brothers

001

Eleanor 🎀

I'm engrossed in my book, drifting into a peaceful slumber until I feel something lifting off my face. Water spills onto my skin, jolting me awake, and I blink to see Jeremiah standing over me, his mischievous grin spreading across his face. "You're back," I say, returning his smile. Conrad and Jeremiah had headed to the beach with Belly, but I opted to stay behind to finish my book.

"I'm back, and you've got words written on your face," he teases, his eyes dancing with amusement.

"Oh yeah? What do they say?" I challenge, unable to suppress my own grin. He leans in, his gaze fixed on my face, but instead of reading the imaginary words, he surprises me with a kiss. It's salty, infused with the ocean breeze, and his lips are cool against mine.

"We get it, you guys are into each other," Belly interjects, a playful smirk tugging at her lips.

Ignoring her teasing, Susannah chimes in, holding a jug of sweet tea in her hand. "Don't listen to her, you guys are cute."

Jeremiah leans in for another kiss, this time more lingering and filled with passion. Our lips meet, and the world around us fades away, leaving only the sensation of his warm embrace and the taste of the ocean on our lips.

BEEP - BEEP - BEEP. The sound of my alarm goes off, jolting me awake.

I wasn't in Cousins. Jeremiah and I weren't together, and Susannah was dead.

I reach over to my bedside table and turn it off. The time reads 2:57 PM, which means Isla and Aaron will be arriving soon. They've been my lifeline since Susannah's passing, always checking in on me after school, ensuring I take my meds and eat properly. Without their support, I don't know how I would've coped.

After her funeral, I withdrew from the world. I quit school, gave up my roles in extracurricular activities, and severed ties with most people, including Conrad and Jeremiah, despite my attempts to reach out. Isla and Aaron are the only ones who've managed to keep me tethered to reality, but even their efforts feel insufficient.

Susannah meant everything to me—she was my best friend, my mother figure, my guiding light. Now, without her, I feel lost and adrift. Most days, I find solace in sleep, escaping into dreams to avoid the painful reality of her absence. It's waking up to the emptiness that's truly unbearable.

My panic attacks wouldn't let up, so I finally got my medication for them. Since then, they've been occurring less frequently than before.

My phone rings, and I check the caller ID to find an unknown number. "Hello, who's this?" I answer, my voice sounding hoarse from disuse.

"Hey, I'm your guidance counselor," the woman on the other end says.

"Oh," I reply, not entirely surprised.

"So, I was reviewing your end-of-term transcripts, and I couldn't help but notice that your grades have taken a serious dive, and you didn't take your AP Lang and AP Chem tests," she says.

"Oh, that's because I had to attend a funeral," I explain.

"You can retake them next year. But is there something going on at home? Why aren't you coming to school, and why are your grades suffering?" she probes.

"Umm... there was someone who passed," I admit, my voice trembling at the mere mention of Susannah. Talking about her always feels like reopening a wound.

"Oh, I'm so sorry to hear that," she offers sympathetically. "But you even got your drama captaincy revoked?"

"Yeah," I confirm with a heavy heart.

"Okay, well, have you thought about where you're going to apply next year?" she asks.

"Um... it was going to be Harvard," I reply.

"If you try really hard next year, then it could still be an opportunity, but there's always Finch," she suggests.

"Yeah," I murmur, feeling overwhelmed by the weight of expectations and the uncertainty of the future.

Hey lovelies hope you enjoyed the first chapter

Word count: 673 words