Days of Summer

Chapter 2 - The Hamptons

The sun shines brightly and makes the water sparkle like diamonds. The wind caresses their faces and makes their hair fly behind them as Guinevere drives along the road by the ocean. Julia sings-along with the music from the stereo and her happiness are hard to miss. Gwen can't help but to smile too. She could not ask for a better weather, and to be truthful, she has missed the summerhouse too.

Before they know it, they enter the community Montauk where their house is located. Gwen turnoff the main road and begin to drive along the small streets towards the beach, and when she enters the driveway Julia can barely wait for the car to stop before she rushes towards the house. Gwen walks behind her overloaded with bags.

"A little help please?"

"Yeah." Julia comes rushing towards the car with her blond hair dancing around her shoulders and the blue eyes shining with happiness. "I'm sorry!" She squeals and takes a couple of the bags.

The sisters spend the next hour unloading the car and making themselves comfortable in the house when the doorbell suddenly chimes.

"I take it." Julia squeals and Guinevere hears how her sister runs to the front door whereupon a loud chorus of voices and giggles fill the house. Gwen unpacks the last pieces of clothes she is holding in her hands before she takes a deep breath and walks towards the stairs.

How bad could it be?

At the bottom of the staircase are the three girls tangled in a tight group hug. Julia, quite longer than the other two, looks formal in her clothes compared to Emma and Jane who are wearing shorts, bikinis and tank tops.

"Hi, girls."

They turn around with wide smiles on their faces and can barely stop giggle long enough to say "hi".

Gwen looks at her sister and can't help but to feel happy for her, Julia really wanted to come here. Soon the three girls start to head out through the door.

When the front door is almost closed Gwen calls out.

"Julia, where are you going?" Gwen can hear her sister's sigh all the way to where she stand, but she went here to look after her sister, so that is what she is going to do.

"The beach, okay? I come back and help you unpack everything later."

"Okay, have fun!"

When the door is closed and she is left alone she turns on the radio and starts walking around the house, slowly unpacking their belongings and the groceries they brought on the way.

Two hours later, there is still no sight of Julia and Gwen has finished the unpacking. Now she is standing in front of the bedroom's floor-length mirror redoing her strawberry blond ponytail. She looks rather ordinary, pretty, but ordinary compared to her sister. They are similar to each other but Julia's  blond locks, sparkling blue eyes and charisma makes her look like someone from a fashion editorial. Gwen turns her back to the mirror and pick up the book Anna Karenina that lies on the bed before she walks out to sit on the terrace facing the ocean. The blue ocean looks really tempting and refreshing, but she doesn't want to go there, not now. Maybe later. Further down the beach along the coastline are some youths, probably Julia and her friends, joking around with high voices. But no one is coming her way, leaving Gwen alone with her book.

Quick and light footsteps make Gwen look up. A tall brunet with wavy hair and golden sunburn comes along the beach and walks waving towards the terrace. Gwen smiles and stands up to greet her friend.

"Victoria!"

Victoria, one of her best friends, makes her way up to Gwen and hugs her.

"I am so happy to see you Gwen."

A few minutes later are they settled down on the terrace with a cool glass of coca cola each, talking about everything that has happened since they last talked on the phone.

"I'm so happy to see you here again Gwen. I missed you so much."

"I'm glad to see you to Vici."

"You know the summers here haven't been the same without you."

Due to the distance between their homes they almost only meet here, and it's been two years since.

"I know." Gwen mumbles, not quite knowing what to say.

They continue to talk about everything and nothing while the sun slowly starts to set. They have so much to talk about, and Gwen can't deny that she is glad to meet Victoria again. After awhile Gwen's mobile starts to ring and she picks it up. It's her mother, so she walks inside and talk to her for a couple of minutes before she returns to Victoria, whom now is staring out at the ocean.

"Don't promise that you're gonna write,
Don't promise that you'll call..." The song makes Gwen stop in her tracks before she quickly reaches for the radio and changes the station.

"I thought you liked their music?"

"I do." She says quietly.

Victoria looks questioning at her, but she doesn't say anything. It is true she love One Direction's music. Just not that song. Just not here.

"It is going to be a football match on Saturday down by the beach." Victoria's voice makes her return to the present. "Almost everyone is going. Do you think you would like to come?" Victoria pulls at her hair trying to straighten it while she looks at Gwen.

When Gwen stays quiet looking at her hands, Victoria starts to talk again.

"I am sure Julia want's to go."

Gwen takes a deep breath. She knows Julia will want to go the minute she hears about it, and that's fine by her, but personally she doesn't feel like going.

"I'm not going Vici." She sounds as confident and calm as she can, and Victoria stays quiet for a while before she speaks up again.

"He is not here, you know." Victoria says carefully.

"What do you mean?"Gwen can't help herself, the words leave her lips before she can stop them and she looks up at Victoria.

"He is not here." She says it again. "No one has seen him since the summer started."

"Are you sure?"

Victoria nods. "Yeah, I'm sure."

Gwen lets out a long breath; she must have held her breath without knowing it.

Is it really true, can it be true?

Relief flows through her and she close her eyes for a moment before smiling carefully at Victoria.

"So, do you want to come to the game?" She asks with a small smile. "Please?"

"I...I will think about it." Gwen finally says as she sees Julia coming along the beach towards them. "But, I can't promise you anything Victoria."

Victoria hugs her again before she leaves the house.

"This is going to be a great summer." Victoria calls as she leaves the house.

"It already is." Julia smiles widely as she accompanies Gwen inside. "There is going to be a football tournament, a bonfire..."

"I know." Gwen mumbles while Julia continues to talk all the way to the kitchen.

***

Authors note

I hope you liked this chapter. What do you think has happened, and most importantly what do you think will happen? Keep reading and you will see :) Please comment and tell me what you think and if you liked it please vote . Hope you have great day!