Golden Secrets of Summer ✰ Rafe Cameron,

In the Books

Home, 8:28 A.M.

"Have you made any friends yet, sugar?" Grandma asked, sipping on her tea.

"Yeah. I have." I smiled. "I have one."

"One's better than none." Grandpa laughed.

Admittedly, he got a smile out of me.

"Oh, leave her alone." Grandma scolded him. "What's the kid's name?"

"His name is Rafe." I told her. "I met him at the beach, remember?"

"Ward Cameron's boy?" Grandpa asked.

"Yeah," I nodded. "I met him at the beach again a few days back."

"He's a good kid." he agreed.

"That's sweet." Grandma smiled. "What do you two do all day?"

"We explore the island." I told her.

"You have fun, pumpkin." Grandpa said. "I've gotta go."

"Me too." Grandma said.

Both of them rose up from the table, and I did too.

"Be back not too late after sunset." Grandpa smiled.

"Alright." I smiled. "See you guys later."

Grandma and Grandpa left for work and after doing the dishes, I took off too.

Treasure Treehouse, 9:32 A.M.

I patiently waited on the tree for Rafe to show up. It had been thirty minutes past our meeting time, and I wondered if he had ridden his bike into the ocean or had gotten kidnapped. I heard someone walking up the hill, and I knew he'd arrived.

"Sorry," he started. "Didn't mean to make you wait."

"It's cool." I reassured. "I thought you got kidnapped or something."

"It wasn't that." he said, his voice sounding glum. "My dad's mad at me."

He made his way up the tree and sat on the branch above mine.

"Why is he mad at you?" I asked.

"Because of my stupid sister," he sighed.

"What'd she do?"

"I-uh, I-it's nothing," he said.

My eyes noticed a bruise on his arm and in my gut, I had a feeling that I knew why he didn't want to talk. He noticed my eyes wandering.

"I hit the door on my way out," he said quickly.

I decided not to bother him about it anymore.

"What do you want to do today?" I asked, laying down on the thick branches of the tree.

"I dunno." he shrugged. "We could search for the treasure."

"We could go to the library and see if there're any records about the ship."

"Library during the summer?"

"Knowledge is infinite." I smiled, sarcasm peaking through my words.

We both began climbing down from the tree. We walked our bikes down the hill, and I followed Rafe to the library. Within twenty minutes, we had arrived at the Outer Banks library. It was white on the outside, with charming accents of light blue and yellow sprinkled across. It looked like it was made for the beach weather, with its bright colors and coastal accents. Rafe pulled the door open and let me in first. The inside was painted with a warm white and had light brown, linen-colored wooden shelves, tables, and floors. The lights were a soft white, since there were huge windows everywhere, letting the sun in. The library was mostly empty, other than us two and a few employees.