electric touch, (tsitp).

01 what time is it? summertime

She turned her head towards where the male voice came from, and through her dark sunglasses, she could observe two silhouettes that, despite looking quite different from the last time she saw them, were too familiar to not recognize them.

"Belly? Jeremiah?" she asked, but didn't move from her place.

The two teenagers she had last seen two years ago were only a few feet away from her. Jeremiah was wearing a red bathing suit; his golden hair was as curly as always, and his bright blue eyes were hard to miss. And next to him was Belly in her usual black swimsuit. She looked quite different; she was all grown up now. Both of them carried a towel as if they were heading to swim in the ocean.

"Oh my God, Kiki, I can't believe it's you," Jeremiah said before walking up to where she was and picking her up in a warm hug.

When he put her on the ground, she was able to look at him more closely. She noticed that the boy was already a head and a half higher than her; the last time she saw him, they were barely the same height. In fact, when they were kids, she used to tease him about how she was taller than him. Clearly, those days of making fun of him about it were over. She had also noticed that he now had a six-pack, but she wasn't going to make comments about it to not boost the boy's ego.

"Kiki, I'm so happy to see you!" Belly said, rushing to hug her friend, which she reciprocated with great pleasure.

In Chiara's eyes, Belly had always been one of the prettiest girls out there, despite the glasses and braces on her teeth (she could see that her teeth were also free now). Even when on the outside Belly looked a little more grown up, she could see in her eyes that she was the same Belly, or, as she called her, her best summer friend. At least Belly wasn't taller than her; they were the same height.

"I thought you weren't coming this summer either," Jeremiah commented, looking at Chiara.

A week before, Jeremiah texted Kiki, asking if she was going to Cousins that summer, and she told him a simple "no". She didn't lie. Her mom made it clear that they weren't going to Cousins this summer or the next ones. But one call from Susannah was enough to convince Kate to change her mind. Two days later, they joined the Fishers and the Conklins on their vacations.

"Last minute change of plans," Chiara simply said.

"Well, that's cool," Jeremiah replied, while Kiki just nodded with an awkward smile. "How long have you been here?"

"About half an hour ago," she answered. "Actually, I haven't unpacked; I was about to go back to the house, so..."

"Maybe we can walk you," Belly proposed. "I mean, to say hello to your mom, Alex, and Katie, right?" Chiara didn't answer instantly, which made Belly take the word. "That is, if you want".

"Yeah, sure, let's go." Chiara agreed, turned around, and started to walk back to the house with Belly and Jeremiah behind her. There was a completely awkward silence between the three of them until Jeremiah decided to break it.

"So, Kiki, is Alex's dad with you this time?"

"Mm, no. Mike couldn't come. You know, there's a lot of work in the hospital and all that," the girl explained. "What about Mr. Fisher?"

"He'll be here for the 4th of July," he commented enthusiastically.

"Great," Chiara said with a bit of relief. It wasn't like she disliked Mr. Fisher at all. Yes, he wasn't her favorite dad, as she always felt intimidated by him, but the reason was that she didn't like having any dads around in the summer. They would come for a few days, even a few weeks, and it could be fun. But there was nothing like just the mothers and their children. "What about your dad, Belly? On which days will John come?"