𝐂𝐇𝐀𝐏𝐓𝐄𝐑 𝐎𝐍𝐄 !
↳ 𝖈𝖔𝖚𝖘𝖎𝖓𝖘 . . .
"𝐃𝐑𝐄𝐖 𝐈𝐒 𝐁𝐔𝐌𝐌𝐄𝐃 𝐘𝐎𝐔'𝐑𝐄 missing the beach matchup with the boys team next weekend", Taylor informed Grace, who was currently preoccupied with packing the last couple of clothes into her already full suit case.
The black haired girl sat on top of her suit case, making eye contact with her sisters best friend, "Make sure to tell Sophie to square up for that block."
"Drew Martinez is texting me about you, and your talking about volleyball?", Taylor questioned the girl, a frown making it's way onto her face while Belly entered the room.
Taylor chuckled amused as she saw Grace's look, "Like, are your serious right now?"
Grace gave her a long intense stare, "Honestly, Drew doesn't care if I'm there or not. He's just using that as an excuse to text you, Taylor."
"He's totally into you", Belly agreed with her sister while they both watched Taylor.
Suddenly Sarah, Grace's best friend since childhood stuck her head into the room. Her dark curls were hanging into her face while she made eye contact with her friend, "Grace, your mom said that you're leaving in ten."
"Thanks, Sarah", the girl gave her best friend a smile.
"Everybody has to take the game against the guys seriously!", Belly whined loudly while she finished up packing her suit case. "I mean, team pride is on the line, Taylor!"
"Please, you know me better than that", Taylor stated as she laid on Belly's bed. "I would never let a boy beat me at anything."
Belly let out a laugh while Sarah and Grace left the room. The two brought Grace's suit case downstairs and made their way over to the car.
After the two were finishing they looked at each other. Grace smiled at her friend, "Thank you"
The girl then streched out her arms for her, "I'm gonna miss you."
"I'm gonna miss you, too", the dark skinned girl replied while she went in for the hug. "I'm visiting, okay?"
"Yeah, please!" The two let go of each other while Taylor and Belly joined them. "Love you!"
"Love you, too!"
The two gave each other one last smile before Grace climbed into the car, followed quickly by Belly.
Sitting down next to Steven, Grace waved at Sarah and Taylor, who both waved back at them.
Steven finally drove off and just like that their travel to Cousins began.
Belly was in the backseat, sitting besides their mother. There was long silence before the young girl suddenly started singing loudly to the song that currently played in the radio.
Grace had to cover her ears and Steven frowned while he continued driving.
"Could you turn it down a little, please?", their mother then questioned them from the backseat and Steven nodded immediately and turned the radio down. "Yes, please."
There was short silence before their mother spoke up again, "I want you to be better about helping out this summer. Like, don't just leave your dishes in the sink. Load them into the dishwasher. And not just your own dish, either, Steven. I want you to be good houseguests."
"Mom, Susannah has people who clean, doesn't she?", Steven then questioned their mother, which owned him a slap on the back of his head.
"All right. All right. All right. Sorry."
"Just be considerate and act like I raised you right. Steven, that means don't stay out too late", their mother warned them as she gazed out of the window.
"Mom! I'm too old for a curefew!", Steven immediately exclaimed. "Me too!", Grace agreed with him and Belly frowned. "Wait, what about me? I don't have a curefew either, right?"
Steven immediately scoffed before he started laughing at his sister, "What do you need a curefew for? You don't go anywhere."
"Steven!", Grace warned him through greeted teeth. "Don't be a jackass, Steven!", their mother suddenly exclaimed and the boy chuckled. "What?"
"Belly, we'll talk about it when something comes up", their mother assured her youngest daughter.
"Oh, and don't forget that both of you promised to take me driving", Belly reminded her two older siblings.
"Belly, I told you I take you", Laurel said and Belly gave her a sceptical look. "Yeah, but you're too judgy."
Steven and Grace immediately let out a loud laugh and their mother raised her eyebrows, "Excuse me!?"
"Yes, I'm sorry."
They family continued to drive two more hours, until they had to make their last stop, before their arrival in Cousin.
Grace remained in the car while Steven filled up the fuel and Belly and their mom went inside the gas station, to get some snacks.
They didn't took long and after half an hour the family was already entering Cousins.
Grace rolled down the car window and a smile spread across her face. The girl let her gaze wander over the many cute houses and the beautiful beach of Cousins.
The Fisher's were living close by, the beach directly infront of their door. Grace had zoomed out for a bit, but she snapped out of it when Steven turned out the engine.
Just five seconds later the door flew open and Jeremiah was the first one to step out. He had a large smile plastered on his face while he streched his arms out, "What's up?!"
Laurel jumped out of the car, greeting the brunette boy.
"Hello!"
The boy hugged their mother quickly, "Long time no see!"
Belly's brother now joined them, greetings his old friend with a smile. Grace slowly climbed after Belly out of the car, watching how Laurel and Susannah greeted each other lovingly.
"Wow. Look who came back all grown up!", Jeremiah suddenly exclaimed while he approached Grace and Belly.
He stretched out his arms and Grace immediately jumped into them, laughing.
"Hey!"
He began spinning her around and Grace squealed, "Put me down!"
He let go of her and went on to greet Belly properly, at least until Steven called out for him.
Giving them one last smile he joined Steven, leaving the two girls behind.
In that exact moment, Conrad rounded the corner of the house. Grace's eyes immediately landed on him and oh boy, he had grown into a beautiful human being.
The dark haired girl contiued to stare at Conrad until he was standing right infront of her.
A small smile spread across the boy's face. "Hey."
Grace smiled widely while she felt her heart pounding against her chest. "Hey."
The two stared at each other in silence before Conrad nodded at her face, "I liked you better with glasses."
The girl smiled shyly before she met his gaze again, "Well, too bad. Because they're never coming back."
The two chuckled before he ruffled her hair. Grace chuckled as she dove under his arm.
"Oh! Hey, hey hey! Guys! Guys! I mean, I— I don't know about you, but I— well I think it's time for a —", Steven suddenly stated while he gazed onto his empty wirst, pretending he was looking at a clock.
Jeremiah joined in, while he looked at the two girls, "— for a belly flop! Don't think you're getting away, Grace!"
The two girl exchanged a panicked look before they immediately tried to escape the boys.
"No!"
"Oh, she's quick!"
Conrad grabbed Grace and Belly was caught by Jeremiah and Steven. The three brought them to the pool as quick as they could, and stopped by the edge.
"Right here, Right here! All right, ready?"
"One, two, three!"
The two girls let out screams before they hit the water surface. The boys laughed loudly as the two broke through the surface again.
"Guy's I hurt my ankle! Come on!", Belly immediately whined, making Conrad take a step forward, to help them both out of the water.
In that moment the two girls nodded at each other and started smirking before they and pulled Conrad into the pool.
The boy had a surprised look on his face as he fell in. Breaking through the surface, he inhaled for air.
His lips broke into a small smile. "Grace!" He shook his head and the two girls immediately tried to escape from him.
Belly was the quicker then Grace and climbed out of the pool. Meanwhile Conrad caught up with Grace and pushed her underwater.
The black haired girl immediately held her breath. Facing him underwater her eyes met his and she felt her heart beat fasten again.
Her hands immediately wrapped around his arms, that still pushed her underwater and the girl could swear that there was a moment building up between the two of them.
Only now, she realized how close they've become underwater.
Their body's were nearly touching before they both suddenly flinched away from each other, coming up for air.
The teenagers immediately looked away, avoiding each other's gaze before they climbed out of the pool.
After that Conrad started to completely ignore the dark haired girl. He didn't met her gaze and quickly disappeared into the house. The other's were already inside and Grace quickly joned them after Conrad had went upstairs.
As she entered the kitchen the girl awkwardly sat down on the chair next to her sister, watching the moms cook.
"Oh Grace, Belly, you're dripping water all over the place!", her mother suddenly exclaimed loudly while Susannah smiled and waved her off.
Susannah's gaze then wandered off to Grace and Belly again.
"My oh my. You two have always been lovely, but oh, look at you two!", the blond woman exclaimed excited.
"I think I look pretty much the same", Belly stated smiling and Susannah shook her head. "You do not look the same at all. You're growing up. You're both in bloom."
Belly's mom grabbed a towel and tried to dry her daughters hair. "People always say I look like dad", Belly stated while shrugging with her shoulders.
The blond woman shook her head, "No, when I met your mom, she looked exactly like you."
Laurel let out an amused laugh, "Except I had no boobs."
"Gross Mom." Belly rolled with her eyes while Grace started snorting amused.
Laurel then went on to dry Grace hair, "You should call your father and tell him we got in safely."
Belly immediately frowned, "Uh, why don't you tell Steven to do it?"
Her mother gave her a look before she went over to the sink, "Because I'm telling you. He misses you guys when you're gone."
"Yeah, but he'll see us by the end of the summer", Garce shrugged as she wrapped her towel around her body.
"No, he'll be there for the Fourth", Laurel stated as she packed the cornflakes away.
"Wait, he's coming here!?" Their mother seemed confused by their behavior, "Of course, he always comes for the Fourth."
The young girl looked at her mother, "He didn't come last summer."
Laurel exhaled deeply, "Because we'd just gotten divorced. We're good now."
Belly frowned as her gaze wandered around, "Where's Mr. Fisher?"
Susannah turned away from them, "Oh, he's in London. They got him going back and forth. He'll join us later in the summer. For now, it's just the women and the children, just the way we like it."
They all let out a quiet chuckle before the girls grabbed their stuff and finally made their way upstairs into their several rooms.
Grace was just helping Belly unpack her suitcase when Jeremiah entered the room.
He flopped down onto Belly's bed, a large smile plastered on his face. "I can't believe you still have that bear."
His eyes landed on the white stuffed animal Belly had in her hands.
Belly frowned as she sat down on the bed as well, "Duh. I would never throw away Junior Mint."
The boy smirked, "Come on, let's swim before dinner, please."
Belly shook her head, "I— I can't. I have to go with my mom to Whale of a Tale."
"Aw, man. I've been wanting to go in the ocean all day, but I've been waiting for you two to get here!", Jer exclaimed, a pleading look in his eyes.
"I mean— come on Bells. It won't hurt", Grace gave her sister a pleading look as well.
Belly sighed as she finally nodded, "You know what? Yeah, let's go swimming."
Jeremiah smiled again, fluttering his eyelashes at them. "Yes! All right, I'll meet you outside, okay?" He approached the door while Grace chuckled.
Jeremiah was already out the door when Belly and Grace came downstairs. "Come on!"
The two immediately followed him outside, their towels in their hands as Grace closed the door.
"We're already here!"
When the three started walking down towards the beach Belly spoke up, "Hey. Did you know our dad's coming up for the Fourth?"
"Cool."
"Don't you think it's weird?", the girl questioned Jeremiah with a frown on her face.
The boy shrugged, "Not really. I love your dad." Grace furrowed her eyebrows as she stared straight ahead, "Yeah, but they've only been divorce for, like, a year and a half."
"Well, that's what's so coool about your mom, you know? She just doesn't give a shit", Jeremiah stated while he gave Grace a smile.
The girl let out an amused scoff, "Exactly. She doesn't give a shit because she's the one who wanted the divorce in the first place."
"I think you don't want to be married, you just shouldn't be married", the boy answered her confidently, making Grace nodd in agreement.
Belly now engaged into the conversation again, "Well, tell that to our grandma. She basically collapsed when mom told her."
Jeremiah chuckled softly before they remained walking down the path in silence.
"Did you know that our dad has a new girlfriend already?", the young brunette then questioned her friend curiously.
"Well, what about your mom? Is she dating anybody?", the boy asked her with raised eyebrows.
Belly laughed silently, "No. Oh, and he has a beard now!" Jeremiah joined in, "Your dad has a beard?"
"Yeah! Yeah, he thinks it makes him look cool or something like that", Grace told him, her eyes now meeting his. She had a small smile playing on her lips as he started talking again, "Well, does it?"
Belly let out a loud laugh, "Kind of."
The three continued to make their way down to the beach and when they could finally see the ocean, they stopped.
The black haired girl exhaled deeply, before she took a deep breath and inhaled the sea air, "Oh, I waited all summer for this."
Jere raised an eyebrow at them, smirking, "Want a race?"
Grace didn't thought for a second, she shook her head, "No, no, I can't, you—"
"Oh, come on!"
Belly turned towards him after she exchanged a look with the her sister, "Jere, your legs are way too long now. We can't do that."
And then out of nowhere, both of the girls threw their towels away and made a run for the ocean, smiling widely.
"Oh, your both cheaters!"
Grace started laughing while she could hear Jer's voice behind her, "I'm gonna get you!"
The two girls felt the water surround their feet as they ran into the cold waves.
Jeremiah followed right after them, pushing Belly into the cold water.
The three had a lot of fun and tackled each other into the ocean, laughing and joking the whole afternoon.
"𝐒𝐓𝐄𝐕𝐄𝐍, 𝐈 𝐒𝐖𝐄𝐀𝐑 𝐓𝐎 𝐆𝐎𝐃, if you look at that phone one more time, I'm putting it in the screen basket", Laurel finally warned her son annoyed.
The two families were having dinner and the boys just couldn't look up from their phone for one moment.
Susannah smiled at them friendly, "It's just, we want to see your beautiful faces. Can dinner be a screen free zone? You know, like old days."
Steven still stared onto his phone and Jeremiah shot him a look before he suddenly grabbed the phone.
"Steven!"
He quickly stood up and threw it like a basketball onto the next chair.
"Boom! Nailed it!", the brunette flexed his muscles as he looked at his friend.
Steven didn't seem amused at all, "Dude, are you kidding me?"
The brunette chuckled as he flopped back down into his chair, "Okay, okay, okay, okay, we get it. You've been working out!"
Grace escaped a loud chuckle as she eyed her brother, "Oh, you're just jealous because Jer has a much better body then you."
Steven seemed now all the more annoyed, "Uh, no actually, it's all about the lean look now. Otherwise you can't wear tailored suits."
They all chuckled at his words.
"Tailored suits."
Steven had a large smirk on his face before he turned to Conrad, "When are you leaving for training camp, man?"
Conrad seemed at a lost of words while he stared at Steven.
Jeremiah immediately came to his rescue, "Uh, he quit football."
There was silence laying over the group and everyone was trying not to look at Conrad, except for Steven.
"Wait? Really you quit?"
Conrad nodded his head as he hummed softly.
Steven looked over at Susannah for help, "Are you kidding me, man? I'd— I'd kill to play college ball."
The blond woman shook her head, "He can always change his mind."
Conrad immediately answered, "I'm not gonna change my mind. I was just gonna sit on the bench all season anyways."
Now Laurel spoke up, looking at her best friend's oldest son, "Well, if you're not playing football anymore, what are you gonna do all summer?"
"Oh, dude, you can work at the club. Yeah, with me and Jere." Jeremiah immediately agreed with him, smiling, "Yeah."
Conrad's face expression didn't change as he stared at Steven, "I'm not gonna work at the club."
Belly looked pretty surprised, "Wait, you guys are working this summer?"
Jeremiah answered her smiling, while he fist bumped with Steven. "Yeah, I'm lifeguard and Steven's working at the snack shop."
"Oh, Belly, Grace I almost forgot. I gave a surprise for you two." She handed them two envelopes and smiled.
"So this is why you had to stop by the country club." Susannah hummed in agreement as she sat down again.
Steven seemed very interested, "What,uh, wh—what is that?"
"I wrangled Belly and Grace invitations to be debutantes", the blond woman smiled from ear to ear, seeming pretty excited for them.
Grace frowned as she eyed the invitation sceptical, "Is that the thing we're the girls were white dresses and curtsy?"
"It's when a girl comes of age and is presented to society. I— I know it sounds silly but I swear it's fun. Girls come from all over New England to Cousins just to be a part of it. You'll make so much new friends."
Laurel stood up, shaking her head at her old friend while she walked into the kitchen, "I cannot believe you are still holding on to this archaic dream."
Susannah ignored her friend, "No, it used to be about finding a husband, but now it's about networking. They teach you leadership skills, like how to market yourself, and it benefits charity. It's, um, like a bat mitzvah."
Laurel came back with a wine bottle, laughing amused, "It is not like a bat mitzvah. There is nothing religious about a debutante ball."
Suddenly Conrad spoke up, "The whole deb scene is bullshit. It's for sheep."
"Yeah."
"No, it's not", his mother immediately disagreed with him. "It's when a girl has a coming out, it's a formal recognition she's reached maturity."
The girl just listened to them but she frowned annoyed as Steven suddenly snorted loudly. "Oh sorry. I'm sorry. Mature?"
"Yes."
"Belly and Grace ?"
Susannah hummed in response, looking at the two girls.
He pointed at Belly, "A— a couple months ago you had a cat funeral. You made us all wear black."
"Shut up, Steven! I saw you crying in your room!", Belly exclaimed angry and Grace thought that Steven really deserved that.
"Steven, don't be an asshole."
Her mother shot her a glare, "Language!"
Jeremiah's immediately face fell, "Wait, Mochi died? Dang, I'm sorry guys."
Grace gave him a thankful look before
Susannah caught their attention again, "Girls, don't you want to get all dressed up?"
"It's not just Belly's kind of thing. And it's most definitely not Grace's kind of thing", their Mother answered for them.
Grace gave her mother a look while the boys chuckled amused. "You know what, I think about it."
"She'll think about it", Susannah held her glass up happyly.
"I will too", Belly nodded her head at the blond woman.