► as it was, harry styles
CHAPTER ONE:
what time is it? summertime
FOR SOME, THE SOUND THAT defined their childhood was the joyful shrieks of their siblings playing in the garden. For others, it was the chain rattle of their much-loved bike hobbling along hills and valleys. Some will recall birdsong as they walked to school, or the sound of laughter and footballs being kicked in the playground. For Chiara, it was the waves crashing on the shore of the beach near the summer house in Cousins.
Without a doubt, her favorite thing of the summer (besides her friends) was the beach. They had their stretch of beach all to themselves. There was nothing like the salty but sweet air of June, the feeling of the sand all over your body, and the sun warming your skin. She loved that no matter how pale she got the rest of the year, every summer she could return to that golden tone she loved.
She always thought there was something magical about that little town and about summer. The feeling that no matter how hard life could get, she could go back in there and forget about everything. It was like a little secret that she shared with her loved ones. In her mind, no one else had access to its magic; it was theirs only.
At least it was like that some summers ago.
Chiara dug her feet a little more into the white and thin sand of the beach behind her house. The first thing she did when she stepped foot in the summer house was to go to the beach. Her eyes were entertained by the pair of children playing a few meters from her. She thought they must be the children of some unknown new neighbor. They were two boys and a girl, probably around 7 or 8 years old. Their mother accompanied them, and they seemed so happy that Chiara felt jealous.
She was jealous of their innocence and carefree attitude. She felt jealous that they were not yet grown up.
"Kiki?" she heard a male voice calling her name that she didn't recognize at first.
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?"
"Um, yeah... He's not coming any day." Chiara looked at her with a frown. John never missed a vacation, much less a 4th of July celebration. "My parents divorced last year."
"Oh" was the only thing that came out of her mouth. She felt instant guilt for not knowing something so important about one of her best friends, and regretted asking about it. Belly had always been a sentimental girl; it surely hadn't been an easy thing for her to live with. "I'm sorry, I had no idea," was the only thing she could say with sincerity, trying not to make the atmosphere worse.
"Don't worry, it's fine. They're fine," Belly said, and Chiara decided not to ask any more questions the rest of the way; just answer what she was asked.
They walked for at least two more minutes before they reached the backyard of the house, which was divided in two. The famous Fishers and Sterling house, or rather, the Hart's since Chiara's mother Kate had adopted her husband's last name.
Originally, the house was a complete house on its own; it was huge and had been built by Chiara's grandfather when he had won the lottery. Eventually, the house had to be divided in two, and Susannah's father and his family began to live in it. It was the story the kids heard year after year at family dinners. How Grandpa William lost half his house gambling on a card game with Grandpa Robert. He lost the whole house, but because they were friends (and it was too expensive to maintain) he ended up only losing half of it.
Now, Kate and her family had to share half of their backyard, their pool, and Chiara's favorite spot in the whole house, the little dock overlooking the beach. Not that they minded doing so; in fact, they were grateful that William had been a gambler and that Susannah's father had been the one to win half of that house. Even from inside, where they were divided by a wall, they still fit perfectly. The house belonged equally to both families and to the Conklins as well.
As soon as they reached the garage in front of the house, they could see that Alexander was still unloading some suitcases from his car. As soon as they saw him, Belly was the first to call out to him, "Oh my God, is that you, Alex?" Alex looked up and dropped the bags he was carrying, opening his arms to find Belly in a hug. He lifted her up into the air and twirled her around in his arms, as excited as it was possible to be.
When he put her back on the ground, he turned to Jeremiah to hug him, patting each other on the back. Chiara ignored them and picked up the suitcases from the ground, which were hers, hoping she hadn't had anything fragile.
"Man, you look changed," Jeremiah told him, and it was true. Well, just on the outside. Alex used to be a kid with braces and glasses, just like Belly. And now, not anymore. Now he had long hair, his ears pierced, and his skin was clean, not more acne on his face anymore. On the inside, though, he was still the same sweet boy who loved his video games, reading, and Isabel Conklin. Because all he could talk about the last two days was how much he wanted to see her and if Belly would like his new look, and if Belly, Belly, Belly.
The big crush Alex has had on Belly since he met her was no secret. Maybe it was only for the girl involved. "Same old Alex," Alexander assured.
Chiara watched them from a distance for a few seconds, their big smiles on their faces, as they began to catch up and exclaim how excited they were that they were all together again this summer. Because yes, it had always been Conrad and Steven, Jeremiah and Kiki, and Alex and Belly. The best friends among the six were the ones who were most similar to each other as well. But also, there was a connection between the younger siblings; Jere, Alex, and Belly had a special bond in the same way that Conrad, Steven, and Chiara did. It was just natural—an unspoken but sometimes evident connection that existed.
"Mm, I have to unpack so... I guess I'll see you guys later," Kiki interrupted them, saying goodbye and entering her house for the first time in almost two years.
It was neat and smelled clean. Surely her mother had asked Susannah to hire someone to clean up for them before they arrived. Almost everything looked the same, yet it didn't feel the same. The old armchairs that already needed to be discarded were there, without springs but implacable. The wall was full of photos in the absence of a fireplace, since it had stayed on the Fisher side. The forbidden door that connected to the house next door. And the old piano that her father had bought for the house when Chiara was born.
Everything was as she remembered it. She had always preferred the decoration of the Fishers; it was more colorful, while hers was more serious and crude, as her mother liked.
She sighed and began to climb the stairs slowly because of the weight of her suitcases. Her room was the first door on the left. Both houses were like mirrors of each other; she understood that her room was parallel to Susannah's. As soon as she entered, she dropped her bags on the floor. The only thing that was in order was her bed; the rest was a disaster. She took a look at his window that overlooked the patio and the pool; there was no one. And then she got to work.
She put on some music and started cleaning up her messy room.
It must have taken at least two hours, but the room now had a head and a tail.
She had dusted off her old guitar, which she had forgotten in a corner of her room. Her dresser, decorated with photos that she took over the years, already had everything in its place, as did her closet. And she'd even cleaned up some paintings she had on her wall—paintings she'd made as a child with Susannah's canvas and watercolors. They had even painted some joints.
And of course, she had dusted off the most valuable thing she had in her room: the old phonograph that belonged to her grandfather and that she had had to beg her mother to let her keep in her room. On top of it, there were also the three vinyls that Conrad had given her as late birthday presents. There was a David Bowie one, Fleetwood Mac, and The Strokes. She liked the classics, yes, but she also knew that a huge reason he gave her those artists was because it was the kind of music his mother loved, and surely he had asked her advice on what to give the girl.
She wondered if she had been there last summer and if he had given her another one. It was most likely. Maybe he would give it to her when he saw her again.
Chiara was suddenly curious about her friends for the first time since the summer began. They weren't the type of friends who talked a lot on the phone because that would ruin the wow factor of the summer. Sometimes they texted. It was mostly either Steven or Jeremiah texting her, but it wasn't texting to catch up. They were just TikToks that they found funny and wanted to show Kiki. Belly sometimes asked how she was, but they didn't go into much detail. And of course, Chiara would text everyone on their birthdays, and vice versa. She remembered that she didn't received any texts from Conrad last April and got a lil mad again.
She hasn't seen them in almost 2 years; probably a lot of things would be different.
Suddenly, Chiara heard someone calling her name downstairs. She paused her music and went downstairs. As soon as she went to the living room, she immediately recognized the blonde hair of her mother's best summer friend, Susannah Fisher. She was on the sofa with her mom, probably talking about the plans they had for the summer. As soon as the blonde woman saw her, she got up from the sofa she was sitting on, and with open arms, she went to Kiki and wrapped her in a hug, saying, "There's my favorite girl."
Kiki hugged her back with a smile on her face. She was thinner than usual, and she was smaller too. Chiara felt bad for a moment thinking about that. Ever since Susannah had beaten cancer, everything had seemed normal, and she looked strong and whole, but the truth is that she was not the same Susannah she had ever known and never would be. And that made Kiki sad and angry. People like Susannah should never go through that kind of thing. But she would always be grateful that she had survived. She never wanted to see her go through that again; Kiki didn't know if she could bear it.
"Susannah, nice to see you." They broke apart, and Susannah looked attentively at her for a few seconds.
"Look at you; you look more beautiful, if that's possible." Susannah was always noble and gentle, and she had a way of saying things that made you believe that she knew the only truth in the world. Everyone said that Kiki was a lot like her, that she had that energy and vitality, but she could never see the similarity; Susannah was special, and Chiara didn't feel that way at all.
"Susannah, nice to see you."
"Hard to believe, I've been waiting for half an hour for you to come down to say hello; I thought you didn't want to see me," Susannah said, being dramatic. Some things don't change at all.
"Sorry, my music was too loud, okay?" Chiara apologized.
"Don't worry, I just wanted to give you this." Susannah handed him a white envelope that said: For Chiara Sterling. Kiki watched it for a few seconds, trying to process what it was written.
"A debutante ball?" Kiki asked in a neutral tone.
"What? They still do that?" her mother Kate said, joining them and taking the small envelope her daughter was holding to read it herself.
"I know, I know. It sounds boring and archaic. But I swear that now it's about female empowerment and not about getting a husband," Susannah explained, trying to convince the young woman, but she noticed on her face that it hadn't been a sufficient argument to convince her. "Belly already said yes."
Chiara raised her eyebrows. She didn't expect Belly to agree with that, but apparently she didn't know much about anyone there anymore.
"I always wanted to go to one, but my father said that they were only used to expose you and waste money," Kate said with a certain twinkle in her eyes. "Of course, that was before he won the lottery and started gambling." The three chuckled slightly.
Chiara read the invitation once more. Maybe saying yes would make her mother happy, and they could spend time together. Perhaps it would also serve to regain her friendship with Belly.
"Fine. Whatever," she agreed, and Susannah's smile grew even bigger.
"This is great. You won't regret it; I swear it will be fun," Susannah exclaimed as she hugged her enthusiastically. "Well, I have to go, but I'll see you later for dinner." Susannah left the room and headed for the exit to cross from one porch to another, saying her goodbyes.
Chiara looked at her mother with no idea what had just happened or what she had gotten herself into. Hoping it was actually fun and not a mess.
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it took me so long to finish this but it's here!!! omg, i know this might be boring but i swear it gets better, let me know your thoughts on chiara and the chapter!!!
also there are probably a lot of mistakes i'm sorry. tell me if you see one.
i hope it won't take me a month again to finish a chapter lol and hope you like it.
xoxo, dan :)))