for as long camila could remember she'd been going to cousins every summer. it was her safe haven; away from all of the obnoxious high schoolers that she'd known for the majority of her life, and all of the family drama that had happened during the divorce.
'hey, bells we're going in, like, ten minutes, so get your ass moving,' camila said opening the door and seeing her sister practically attacking the girl's best friend with a fit of laughter.
'um, okay, i better get going,' belly said, getting off the bed, as cami closed the door again.
she could hear the girls getting quiet, '... you want a hot make-out with conrad fisher, you dirty little slut!' taylor laughed. everyone knew that belly had been in love with the older fisher boy for most of her life, but no one ever mentioned it, not really.
she walked down the hallway towards her own room, putting on the rest of her jewelry; she was already wearing her usual earrings, so she put on her three rings, two for the left hand and one for the right one, two necklaces a short and a little longer one, and a ton of bracelets that she had spent years collecting; some she'd bought on an occasional school fieldtrip to a theme park or a wildlife center, some had been susannah's, some she had taken from belly, but most of them were from cousins.
she looked at herself in the mirror; she didn't look like her dad at all, but she definitely looked like her abuela. there was a slight resemblance to her mom and siblings, but definitely not as much as her dad's mother.
she didn't mind how she looked; her hair was the perfect length, the kind that you only have once in a while, with a nice beach wavy look to it. she had dark roots and a bunch of natural highlights here and there from having her hair in braids while playing soccer in the sun.
snapping her out of her thoughts, 'we're going,' belly said poking her head through the door.
'i call shotgun!' camila yelled, rushing down the stairs, after giving her braids and a few final tucks and grabbing her sunglasses and cap.
'not fair!' belly exclaimed, almost tripping over her suitcase while running down the stairs. in the end, cami got the front seat.
'im sitting in the front when we go home,' belly said.
'uh-huh,' cami hummed, putting her earbuds in. she loved the drive to cousins, it was relaxing, and the scents of street food, sunscreen, and the ocean made her feel at peace; like nothing could go wrong.
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'camila!'
'what!' she yelled back pulling out her earbuds.
her mom sighed, 'if you can't hear us when we're trying to talk to you, then maybe you should turn off your music.'
'it's not my fault belly belts to every song like it's the last time she'll ever listen to it,' cami mumbled, the peaceful feeling being completely gone. 'sorry, bell.'
'anyway, like i was saying; i want you to be better at helping out this summer,' she started, 'like, don't just leave your dishes in the sink. load them into the dishwasher. and not just your own dish, either, steven.'
'what? but i-'
'i want you to be good house guests,' she continued.
'mom, susannah has people who clean, doesn't she?' steven asked, although it was more of a statement than a question.
'steven!' camila exclaimed, while her mom softly whacked the back of his head, still getting the point across though.
'ow!' he said. cami looked at him with a raised eyebrow, knowing that their mother wanted to hear something else, 'all right. all right. sorry,' he finally said, earning a nod from the older twin, and a thank you from their mom.
'just be considerate and act like i raised you right. steven, that means not staying out too late,' their mom said, finalizing the conversation.
'mom, i'm too old for a curfew,' he half whined.
'wait, what about me? i don't have a curfew either, right?' belly asked.
cami knew better than to be a part of the conversation, because if she didn't ask, then there would be no rule to follow.
steven laughed, 'what do you need a curfew for? you don't go anywhere,' he said.
'don't be a jackass steven,' laurel said.
'what?' he exclaimed.
'belly, cami, we'll talk about it when something comes up,' their mom said.
camila leaned her head on the headrest and cursed in her head; there went all of the late-night drives with jere and walks on the beach. she'd still go, but it just made it a tad bit less fun. she'd go from being able to half-heartedly piss of her mom, to having to break the rules.
'oh, and don't forget, you promised you'd take me driving,' belly said turning to steven.
'belly, i told you i'd take you,' their mom said, with a slightly sad tone laced in.
'yeah, but you're too judgy,' belly said, which made both steven and cami laugh.
'excuse me?' their mom said.
'it's true, mom,' cami chimed in. she had already learned how to drive, belly never had time, because of volleyball during the winter, whereas soccer was more of an outdoor sport, and the season during the fall usually stopped in november.
'what's that supposed to mean?' laurel laughed.
they never made too many stops on the way to cousins, but they always stopped at russells; a small gas station on the outskirts of the town.
'grab me a sparkling water and some chips, will ya?' camila asked before belly shut the passenger door, 'oh, and some gum!'
while belly and their mom went in to buy some necessities and steven filled the tank, camila stayed in the car, taking a last look in the mirror before anyone could see.
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as soon as steven had put the car in park, camila reached over and honked, signaling to the fishers that they had arrived and that they needed help with the luggage.
'what's up?' jeremiah said as he was the first person to walk through the door.
'hi. oh, my god...' laurel exclaimed as jeremiah jogged over to hug the shorter woman.
'long time no see,' he said, letting go of her.
susannah was the next one to greet them, embracing their mom in a hug, while jeremiah and steven hugged.
belly was the next one to get out of the car. it was almost like a routine; first laurel, then steven, then belly, and lastly cami.
she always let everyone greet each other first, so everyone could say hello without rushing from one person to another.
it just, made sense.
as steven hurried over to jeremiah, conrad trudged into the driveway, only smiling when he saw belly; she really had changed, cause conrad fisher really looked at her this time.
camila stepped out of the car, smiling, 'cami!' jere yelled, hurrying over to her.
'hey!' she said. they'd been best friends forever; it had always been cami and jere - jeremiah and camila. he spun her around and embraced her again.
'camila!' susannah exclaimed, running over to the fifteen year old. cami smiled standing next to jeremiah, ' you've really grown, how tall are you now?' she asked.
'five-six,' cami smiled.
'oh, and look at that face, it's not just round anymore!' she smiled.
'thanks, susannah, you don't look too bad yourself,' cami smiled. she looked healthier compared to last summer when she was still recovering from the numerous rounds of chemo.
'thanks, sweetie,' susannah mouthed, her gaze then shifted to belly, ' belly!' she exclaimed, embracing the youngest, 'we'll catch up later,' she said leaving to go inside with laurel.
'she's right, you have grown,' jeremiah said turning to camila.
'so have you,' she said, 'been working out too i'm guessing?' she laughed.
'hey, hey, guys, guys,' steven said walking over to the group, 'i mean, i-i don't know about you, but i...' he trailed off looking at his wrist, pretending to check what time it was, 'well, i-i think it's time for a...'
'belly flop!' steven and jeremiah yelled, making cami laugh and causing belly to running, only to be grabbed by her brother.
unfortunately, she made it out of her brother's grip, and made a sprint for the backyard, which in her case, probably didn't help her. conrad ended up grabbing ahold of her torso, so jeremiah and camila grabbed an arm each, while conrad and steven each grabbed a leg. they then carried the youngest to the backyard, over to the pool chanting 'bellyflop'.
'on three guys,' camila said, 'one, two, three!' as soon as she'd let go of her sister, she was being pushed into the water by jeremiah. she let out a quiet shriek, as she hit the water.
'how's the water?' jeremiah laughed as the two surfaced.
'guys, i hurt my ankle,' belly lied.
'all right,' conrad said, walking over to the pool and grabbing her hand, only to be pulled down into the water.
the two stayed underwater for a few seconds while cami got out, 'let go,' she heard belly say once they resurfaced. conrad swam to the other side of the pool to get out, while camila helped belly out on the side closest to the house.
'what was that about?" she asked.
'dont worry about it,' belly said trying to wipe the remaining water off her face, with a weird change of demeanor, that cami couldn't exactly place.
'hi,' belly said as she and camila walked into the kitchen, soaking wet.
'you guys are dripping water all over the place,' their mom said as she walk out of the kitchen to get some towels, only stopping when she heard susannah turn to her to say something.
'what?' cami said as she reached for a small blueberry muffin, the ones susannah and her used to bake.
'you guys have always been lovely, but, oh my, look at you guys,' susannah started.
'i think i look pretty much the same,' belly said.
'me too,' cami said.
' you guys do not look the same at all. you're growing up,' she continued, 'you're in bloom.'
their mom walked back in with two towels, she started to dry belly's hair and gave cami the other one to wrap around her body, since she'd already squeezed most of the water out of her braids.
'laur, she is you all over again,' susannah said looking at belly, making cami feel a little left out, 'oh, camila, you look just like your grandma, except for your smile, you have the same one as your mom,' she added.
'thanks,' cami smiled, taking another bite of her muffin.
'people always say i look like my dad,' belly said.
'no, when your mom and i first met, she looked just like you,' susannah disagreed.
'except i had no boobs at all,' their mom piped in.
'gross,' cami said, making their mom laugh.
'you should call your father and tell him we got in safely,' laurel said to the older twin.
'will do,' camila said, 'just not right now.'
'why can't steven just do it?' belly wondered.
'because i'm asking your sister to do it,' she said, 'he misses you guys when you're gone.'
'yeah, but he'll see us at the end of the summer,' cami said.
'no, he'll be here for the fourth,' laurel said.
'wait, he's coming here?' belly asked.
'of course. he always comes for the fourth,' she countered.
'he didn't come last summer,' belly said quietly.
'because we'd just gotten divorced,' laurel explained, 'we're good now.'
'where's mr. fisher?' cami asked, looking around, while picking at her muffin.
'oh, he's in london,' susannah started, '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,' she smiled.
'just the way we like it,' cami grinned.
'exactly,' susannah smiled.
'i think i'm gonna go for a walk on the beach,' cami said getting up.
'go change first, you're gonna get sick,' laurel said.
'right,' camila smiled, and grabbed her bag from the hallway.