Home For The Summer

Chapter 2: Meet Up With An Old Friend...Or Two

Hannah didn't live too far from where my house was. The only difference was that she lived in a much more wealthier neighborhood. Her parents weren't particularly wealthy, they just had pretty decent jobs and could afford a nice house.

I was surprised I remembered which street it was but yet kept looking at every house on both sides of the street, trying to remember which one was hers. I never actually drove by myself to her house considering I was only thirteen the last time I had been there.

And who knows? Maybe she moved.

I started slowing down when I noticed a bright yellow house on my left. That one was definitely hers. I remembered the three-car garage and the white picket fence lining up the side of the house. I didn't remember it being that yellow, though.

I parked the car on the side of the road and walked up to the door, a little hesitant.

What if she didn't live there anymore? Either way, it was going to be super awkward.

I knocked on the door, a bit more confidently than planned, and heard a dog start barking.

Mochi, the Travinski's adorable, yet extremely loud Australian Shepard.

The next thing I heard was footsteps coming towards the door and someone yell, "Mochi, shut up!"

The door swung open and Mochi came charging at me. She had grown a lot.

"Hey there, girl!" I said, scratching behind Mochi's ears. "Did ya miss me?"

"Sydney Wilson," I heard someone say very slowly at the door. I looked up and did a small gulp.

"Sam?" Little Sammy Travinski was Hannah's younger brother, but he no longer looked little. He was definitely taller, his hair was lighter and a little shorter, and he looked like he had been working out.

He smiled. "Am I that obvious?"

I laughed a little. "I mean, you have definitely grown up since the last time I saw you."

"Is that a good thing?"

"It's a great thing," I responded with, but instantly regretted. I could feel my face burning up. He laughed and looked down. Man, he was cute.

"Hey, is your sister here by any chance?" I asked, changing the subject.

"Yeah, actually." He turned to face into the house and yelled Hannah's name. "Someone's here to see you!"

I bit my lip, suddenly nervous again. Footsteps came pounding down the stairs and Hannah's figure appeared a couple of seconds later. She looked at me, first a little shocked, and then a big smile filled her face.

"Syd!" She came running up to me and pulled me in for a big hug. "I thought I'd never see you again!" She muffled into my shoulder.

"It's been too long," I added.

"What are you doing here? I thought you moved to Ohio?" Hannah asked as soon as the hug ended. She looked way older, just like Sam. But unlike him, her hair was longer and she definitely did not look like a thirteen-year-old girl anymore.

"My dad and I decided to move back," I replied. She looked confused, but her next response did not match her facial expressions. "Well, I'm glad you're back. We have soooo much to catch up on, like five years' worth of shit." She laughed. I noticed Sam was still standing at the door, his body leaning against the doorframe. Hannah noticed me staring, so she turned around and said, "hey booger, you can leave now." His face turned a little pink as if he just realized he had been standing there. I watched him hurriedly walk back inside and Hannah turned back to me.

"So you moving back into your old house?" I nodded. "I saw your Instagram posts. You've been keeping busy," I said, a bit jealous. Her whole feed was basically her at random parties with people I had never seen before and at the beach pretty much every day.

She looked at me, a little embarrassed. "Yeah, I've grown up a lot if you couldn't tell. I mean, it's not like I'm doing anything bad as the pictures may make me come out to be."

I laughed. "I'm glad you've been having fun."

She put her hand on my shoulder. "Hey, it may have been fun, but with you here, it would've been ten times that. I really missed you, Syd."

I smiled at her. "I really missed you, too. And I'm sorry we kind of lost touch after I left. I meant to text you a thousand times, I just didn't know what to say, especially since I didn't even get to say a proper goodbye."

"It's not your fault, you had a lot going on, I could've easily texted you, life just got so busy and I didn't want to miss you too much."

I nodded. "Same here."

We stood in silence for a couple of seconds before Hannah spoke up again. "Let's drop this sad talk and start catching up! Now that you're back, we should go to the beach!"

I laughed, of course she wanted to go to the beach. "Hannah! I just got here, I still need to unpack and stuff, but I promise, tomorrow I'm all yours."

She put her hands on her hips. "Alright, I'm holding you to that then."

I pointed at her as I started to walk back toward my dad's car. She did the same as she walked toward her house. We both smiled at each other before she disappeared into her house and I could only think of one thing:

Welcome home.