Summer Child-Cam Cameron

Two: Ribbons

I left him be to fix up my future car and walked into the house. Rory was on the couch watching cartoons. Of course she is.

"Hey Ror."

She turns her gear towards me and smiles. "Good surf sess?" She asks. "Not really." I bring my lips in a tight line and sit down on couch. My damp shorts are finally dry and so is my swim top. My hair was the only thing that was wet and cold. "Umm. I saw Jeremiah out there." I tell her. She nods and waits for me to continue. "He told me there was a bonfire tonight. He was asking if we're going." Rory jumped up at the word bonfire and nods excessively.

"If we're going? Hell yes we're going!"

Rory grabs my hand and drags me upstairs. I don't argue with her because I know i'll never won. Aurora is always up for an argument no matter what it's for. You ate her leftovers, argument. Won't let her stay out passed her curfew, argument with the reason of "i'm growing up. I'm almost eighteen." Rory is the best person to call of you were ever in trouble. I love her for it.

"Okay, you need to shower. I'll see what you've packed and we'll get ready together."

I just nod and grabbed some clothes to shower. She squeals and head off to her room. Once I went into the bathroom, I notice the light sunburn on my nose and cheeks. I loved it. My hair was oily and wavy because of the ocean water. I felt like myself here.

I played some music before jumping into the shower and letting my body relax underneath the streaming water. I pressed my liked songs and King Of My Heart by Taylor Swift played. I took a quick shower not wanting to keep Rory waiting. She would bug me until i got out of the shower. 

When i exited the bathroom, Rory had different outfits laid out on my bed, makeup covering my vanity dresser, and my once clean room was turned into a makeover session. It's just a girl room, you know. "Okay, I have five outfits laid out so choose one." Rory tells while I comb out my wet hair.

My eyes lingered on each outfit for a few seconds until I saw the third outfit. Dark denim shorts with a white baby doll shirt with a small pink top in the middle. "I knew you'd pick it." Rory smiles. I laugh and took a seat at my vanity. Towards the end of freshman year is when I started to get into makeup. I loved it so much. The blushes and lipglosses were my favorite.

I left my hair to air dry and began my base of my makeup. Rory sat on my floor in front of my body length mirror doing her make up. I was done within fifteen minutes and I changed into my outfit. I was definitely showing more skin than I normally would. But that's the point of this summer. Doing things I wouldn't normally do.

"Aww Gwen, look what I found."

Rory was holding two pink ribbons in her hands. Ribbons that were once in my hair the day I admitted my feelings to Cameron. "Remember you were obsessed with ribbons." Rory awes at the memory. Gwen nods feeling a tad bit awkward. "Wanna wear them tonight?" I gave her a weird look and shook my head. "They'll make me look thirteen again. No thanks." I laugh.

I did a half up half down and stared at it. I did miss wearing the ribbons. They just held memories that I've been trying to forget. But I can always make new ones. I walked over to my vanity dresser and opened the last drawer. I had a small ribbon collection that had many colors.

I picked up the baby pink ribbon and cut a long piece. I took my small ponytail and tied a small bow. It pulled my outfit together. It always pulled my outfits together. Rory smiled as she looked at me. "Don't let bad memories take away things you love. Make new ones." She kisses my cheeks. Having a sibling close in age is good because you have a built in best friend, therapist, and a second parent.

Dad knocked on the door and told us our food was downstairs. He orders some burgers and shakes. Dad isn't the cook around so we normal order out. A lot. This man could burn water if you could. "No picks and no onions for Gwen. Everything on it for Rory, and plain just for me." Dad hands out.

"Rory said there's a bonfire tonight."

I nod and bite into my burger. "Well I know you're growing up now so I wanted to lay some ground rules," I nod waiting for him to continue. "Curfew is 11:00, no drink, smoking, or going home with anyone that you don't know, Listen to Rory and stay together, make sure phone is charged and location is on. Other than that you guys are free to go." He lists off. My parents are someone strict. I can go out but they have to track me like one of the sharks in the water. They have to know everything and any detail I can provide. But i'm lucky to even be able to step out of the house.

☀︎︎ ☀︎︎ ☀︎︎ ☀︎︎

The sun had set and the pale moon had took its place. Rory got into one of dad's cars and we drove down to the public beach where everyone has bonfires. I've never been old enough to stay out late so this is my first time. Rory's been to plenty. "I've missed the warm nights here." I had as I rested my head on hands by the window.

"Me too."

The drive was around fifteen minutes and it seemed like we got there on time. I saw Jeremiah, Conrad, and Steve get out of Jeremiah's red Jeep. "Hey, Jere!" I call out to the boy making all three of them turn their heads. Jeremiah smiles and waves back. "The Russels girls are finally blessing Cousins with their presences." He jokes.

Rory got out of the car and gave him a hug. "Long time no see." Rory smiles at the tall boy. "Growth spurt really came in clutch you're like a damn tree." Jeremiah laughs and so does the other two boys. "Conrad, Steven, great to see you guys." I smiled. "Dude you weren't kidding. Gwenie is no longer brace face. But it's nice to see that the ribbon never left." Steven hugs me while lifting one end of the ribbon.

Conrad looked out of it but he still had a small smile and hugged us both. "Where's Belly?" I asked making the boys look at each other and we began to walk over to the beach. "Steven made a big deal about her coming. She stayed back." Jeremiah explained. I frowned a bit and nodded.

There was a good amount of people here. The fire pit was lit up and people laughing and dancing. "White claws, Trulys, and Coronas. Your pick." A guy says while opening the ice chest that's filled with nothing but alcohol. "I've never drank before." I admit to this stranger. He then dung out a skinny black that was a truly. "It's literally sparkling water with a small dash of alcohol. A couple of these and you should be fine." He explains. I thanked him and went back with Rory.

"Your first bonfire. Your first drink. My little G is growing up."

Rory smothers my face and groan spilling a drink a little. Conrad grabbed a drink and went to go sit with a girl in a Yankees hat. They kissed and I turned away to look at anyone else. "I don't think I recognize anyone anymore." Rory says. "Well come on you guys can stay with me and Steven." Jeremiah offers linking arms as he introduces us to many people. Some recognized Rory right away but me, it then away.

I ended up zoning out of their conversation about which guy can hold up a handstand for longer than a minute. My heart stopped for a second when I saw him.

I didn't think i'll run into him this fast. The first day. The first night. His curls danced in the wind as he sat on the sand also zoning out on his friends conversation. I didn't know what to do. I just stared at him for a long enough time for him to feel it. His brown eyes over to mine and all of sudden i'm a thirteen year old girl again standing in front of a boy that I confessed my love too.

Shit.