"Trust me."
"I already do."
Shiloh "Lo" Peterson hates her life in Astoria, Oregon. Maybe she spent too much time rewatching American Horror Story, or eating Snickers bars in the gas station her brother worked at. The only thing keeping her afloa...
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"Thanks Karina and Cole." Sage smiles and shoulders her bag, waving to my parents. They smile back and she closes the door behind her. I slump down onto the couch, taking out my phone. My dad sits in the chair opposite from me, putting one leg over the other.
"You ready for Toronto this summer, Lola?" He asks, making me roll my eyes at my family nickname.
"Yeah," I sigh, putting my phone away and closing my eyes. "I just wish Sage could stay for more than a week."
"Can't do much about that, kiddo." He chuckles and I groan. "Uncle Andy is excited to see you guys." At the mention of uncle Andy, my eyes widen.
"I almost forgot to ask," I remember his instagram post. "How come you never told me he was directing the IT movie?!" My dad slaps his knee.
"Darnit, that was supposed to be a surprise!"
"I don't appreciate it." I throw my hand onto my forehead dramatically.
"You'll be able to visit the set and everything! It'll be great, and you can bring Sage along before she leaves. I know she wants to direct when she's older."
"She'll love it." I say, and finally drag myself up from the couch. I leave the room before I'm forced into another boring conversation and race up the steps to take a shower.
~~~~~TIME SKIP~~~~~
I triple-check my luggage to make sure I packed everything I need for LA. Practically my entire room is stuffed into two luggages, and I put away the small amount of items left in my room so that it was neat for Airbnb.
I lug my stuff downstairs, hitting every step with both bags and making a loud banging noise echo through the house.
"Shut up fuckface!" Derek yells from his room.
"Derek Thomas Peterson!" My mom shouts.
"Language, mister." My dad follows. I snicker and finish thumping down the stairs. I walk out, dragging my things to the car and loading them in the already open trunk. I dust off my hands and skip back into the house.
"Are we ready yet? We still need to pick up Sage." I groan, watching my mom arrange the house for the guests and glancing down at my calculator watch.
"Almost ready." My dad says, walking around and making sure everything is fine.
"I'm assuming we're still waiting for dickwad." I mutter under my breath.
"What was that, young lady?" My mom whips around with an eyebrow raised.
"Nothing, mother." I roll my eyes and walk back outside to the car. I slam the car door shut next to me, and prop my legs up on the front seat. My phone buzzes and I pull it out, seeing several texts.
tithoe: im ready yo
tithoe: where tf are you
tithoe: make it this year please
piloh-shit: waiting for dick waffle derek
piloh-shit: i overpacked again
tithoe: not surprised
The front doors of the car open and my parents finally load into the car. My brother follows suit and sits in the very back.
piloh-shit: fucc you
piloh-shit: on our way!!111122!!!2
tithoe: wow that's r00d
tithoe: and finally lmaaoo
The car engine hums as my dad turns the key, and we're on our way to pick up Sage. I put in my headphones and watch the all-too-familiar houses pass our car. I look back at the Goonies house, rolling my eyes once again at the dumb gawking tourists. We pull up to Sage's house and she hugs her mom goodbye and runs up to the car.
"Hi sweetie, nice to see you again. Everyone ready for the airport?" My mom greets my friend and smiles back at us. Sage, being polite, nods and beams back, while my brother and I just groan.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
"Stop it, butthole." I shove Derek back and he stops tapping my shoulder to laugh at my annoyance.
"I'm not touching you!" He waves his hands inches away from my face.
"Stop fighting." Sage groans, taking a headphone out. "I can't hear Taissa Farmiga over your dumb bickering."
"Everyone get your stuff," My mom interrupts. "The rental car is ready to go." A Honda SUV pulls up the the curb and the employee hands the keys to my dad as the rest of us start loading up the car. We drive along the streets of Toronto to our summer house and I fall asleep until we arrive.
The sun shines brightly on our small lakeside cottage and reflects off of the lake. I inhale deeply and stretch as I admire the nature surrounded area. I never realize how much I miss Canada until we come back to visit.
"C'mon, I'll show you our room Sage." I wave Sage over and we head inside. The familiar wooden smell fills my nostrils and I sigh in satisfaction. We walk down the small hallway to one of the bedrooms, and I open the door to reveal two neatly-made twin beds. Sage and I drop our stuff by the dresser and plop onto our beds in unison.
"This is really nice. I wish I could stay for the whole summer too." Sage says, sprawling out on the cool sheets.
"Me too." I say, and we lay in silence until Derek bursts in.
"We're leaving again!" He says, pretending to be enthusiastic.
"So soon?" Sage asks, sitting up.
"Mom needs to grocery shop, but she'll drop us off at uncle Andy's." Derek says, swinging the door back and forth. I groan, getting up and putting my shoes back on.
-
The drive to uncle Andy's is shorter than I remember, and his cozy home comes into sight. We say goodbye to my parents as they drive away and we walk up the driveway to the door. Derek does his special knock on the door and Sage adjusts her shirt. We wait a few minutes and as Derek is about to knock again, the door swings open.
"Lola! Derek!" He brings us into a hug. When we let go, he notices Sage. "And you must be Sage." He smiles at her, and instead of taking her handshake, he hugs her. She grins at his welcoming personality.
"Long time, no see, Uncle Andy." I chuckle as we all walk into his living room. He gets several glasses and a water pitcher to bring to the living room for us.
"I know, right!" He laughs and pours himself a glass. "How's Oregon?"
"Disgusting." I joke, but we all know I hate it.
"So nothing has changed, huh? No boyfriends? No girlfriends?" He raises an eyebrow. Sage snickers and Derek and I groan.
"Of course not. Do you see her face?" Derek pokes me. We all laugh and uncle Andy shakes his head at us. Sage gets her own glass of water as I ask uncle Andy about the It movie.
"Why didn't you tell me you're directing my favorite movie remake?" I question him, pointing my finger and squinting my eyes.
"I wanted it to be a surprise!" He laughs. "Speaking of surprises, I have one for you tomorrow."
