We explored the house further. Jeremiah ran upstairs and I was tempted to follow him but I was in too much shock. I took slow steps all around, taking it all in. Jeremiah rushed back down, "Everything is gone," he informed us.
This is when Aunt Julia decides to make her appearance. "What the fuck Julia?" Conrad says angrily. Poison is laced in his tone.
"I'm sorry. This must be such a shock. I spoke to your father this afternoon, and he and I decided that it would be best to not drag this out any longer than necessary." I reached up to wipe the tears off my face. This place had always had more of a homey feel than where I actually lived. The boys, the beach, the sun. That was all here. But now it wasn't.
"I don't give a shit what the two of you decided on. You had no right to touch ANYTHING in this house. Those were her things!" Steven rushes up to try and calm Conrad down.
"Everything is in storage. I made sure that everyone was very careful with every single thing," Julia explains, "I'm just doing what I have to do to sell this house."
"Bullshit, you could've said something! You could've warned us! All you wanna do is fight our mom-"
"Ok enough!" Julia raises her voice at Connie, "You are not the only one who is hurting here. And I'm not the one you should be angry with. Your mother could've warned you that this was gonna happen! She just wanted to make me the bad guy, as usual." Bullshit, Susannah would never make anyone the bad guy. If she was to blame she would take the blame.
"I'm so sorry that she was too busy dying to make your life a little easier. Y'know it sucks that our grandfather loved her more than you, but I'm not surprised." Okay that was a low blow even for Conrad.
Connie walks away, Jere tries to stop him but he breaks into a jog. I meet eyes with Julia and give her my best death stare. We were having such a good day and she decided to hit us with this shit. Everyone walks out except for Skye. I go out to look for Jeremiah. Everyone gathers outside, Conrad has his phone to his ear.
"Of course dad did nothing to stop her!" Conrad said.
"Connie, what could he do?" Jeremiah asks.
"Jere, he doesn't care about us!" Skye steps outside after Conrad's phone goes to voicemail, "Did you know about this?! I'm serious, did you know about this?" Conrad says rushing up to them.
"I didn't know anything! I swear I would have told you," Skye tells him.
"Would you have, really? Because we haven't seen each other in ten years. Would a day at the boardwalk be enough to make you betray your mom?"
"Listen, I know we don't know each other well, but I wouldn't have side-swiped you like this."
"Connie, come on! What are we gonna do?" Steven asks.
"I don't know!" This is the first time I've ever seen Conrad so helpless. He was always the leader, he always knew what to do and how to get us out of tough situations.
"Well we can't just leave! The house isn't sold yet, we still have a chance," Jeremiah speaks up. It's nice to see him not live under Conrad's shadow.
"Slim one, I mean, full disclosure, mom's realtor is expecting multiple cash offers," Skye decides to bring the mood down further.
Thankfully my twin decides to put them in their place, "Thank you, Skye, for the bleak as fuck assessment. Also, where are we going to sleep tonight?"
"I think there are some sleeping bags in the garage," Belly informs us.
"I'm not sleeping in this house," Conrad whispers, but I agree with him. It'll be unbearable to sleep in that house with the ghost of Susannah's memories.
"Hey, we don't have to, alright?" Jeremiah steps in to comfort his brother.
"Ok well, hotels are usually booked up this time of year," Belly says.
"I feel like I should go-" Cam says, I feel so bad that he had to see all that. He's too sweet to get wrapped up in all our family drama. "I would totally invite you guys to come stay with me, but it's a pretty small place," This is why I love Cam Cameron. He'll always be my favorite.
"Maybe we should go too?" Taylor suggests.
"Don't go yet! I know a place we can crash for the night," Jeremiah speaks up. I'm wondering where this mystery place of his is.
Turns out it's the country club. The last time we were here- Shit went down. It was me and Jeremiah's first date too. We walk up the steps and Jere pulls out his key card, "Pfft, you kept that?" Steven asks.
"Perks of not cleaning out your wallet," Jeremiah says, as his key card repeatedly gets declined.
"What if there is someone in there?" I ask, scared of getting caught. I'm not usually like this, I like to take risks, but after today my anti-pussiness is all drained.
"It's been closed for hours, and there are never any night-guards. We're good," Jere reassures me with a wink. Jeremiah's card is still declining, "Shit."
"Not a great plan," Skye says jokingly. What the hell is wrong with them? "It's from Avengers. RDJ?" I got the joke, but still not the time.
"I understood that reference," Cam Cameron says, trying to lighten the mood by impersonating Captain America.
"Could you guys like- Not? For just two seconds," I can practically see Jeremiah's sanity slipping away. I wish I could just hug him and take his pain away.
Jeremiah's card declines a few more times before I jump in, "There's gotta be another way in, right?"
"We could try the pool gate?"
"Or we could just use my mom's key code," Cam says, once again, stunning me with his brilliance.
"Are you sure?" Belly asks him.
"Yeah it's fine she's the manager at the restaurant here."
"Wouldn't she get in trouble though, if someone checks the logs?" Skye butts in.
"No no she works at the randomest hours so that alone shouldn't raise any red flags, so long as we don't make a mess, like at all," Cam says while turning to the boys. God I love him.
"They won't even know we're here. Thank you for not being on that whale boat, Cam Cameron," Jeremiah says happily. I love to see my boy happy.
Jere turns the lights on and behold rich people privilege! This place looks like it belongs in a palace.
"Let's look for food?" Skye suggests.
Cam takes them to the kitchen and Taylor decides to tag along for her specific snacks, because of course she does.
"Nuh uh Taylor, you are coming with me. We'll find some curtains to turn into blankets or some shit," I can see through my twin's desperate attempts.
"I'm on snack patrol right now," Taylor tells him.
"Okay? So? I need your loud ass voice to scare away all the murders," Not the way to win a girl's heart my dearest brother.
"I'm fine with murderers," Taytay scoffs.
"Ok, fine, as long as you're fine sleeping on some dusty polyester sheets," Steven shrugs, but he's got the smuggest smile as we all watch Taylor turn right back around.
"I think I know a place we can sleep, wanna come?" Jere says looking at Connie, Belly and I.
"I'm gonna go with Skye," Belly says.
"Yeah me too," Conrad says, but I see through his calm demeanor. He's giving Belly that look again.
"I'll come!" I jump in, because I don't want Jere to be lonely. That's the only reason I'm going, just to keep him company. Yup...
"Alright let's go!" Jere says, giving me a smile I can't decipher.
"How was your senior year?" I say trying to break the silence.
"Um, it wasn't what I always thought it would be. Y'know I mostly stayed home with mom instead of partying like I thought I would." My heart tugs.
"Yeah, makes sense. I'm glad Susannah had you though, you're as sweet as can be!" I say trying to lighten the mood. Why did I say that? Why did I say that? WHY DID I SAY THAT?!
"Yeah, I am," Jeremiah hip bumps me. And suddenly I've got a stupid smile on my face and I'm laughing too. I'm like a pre-teen in love, and I love/hate it.
Jere leads me to the showroom/cinema. It's fancy as fuck, and it's the perfect place to sleep. Jeremiah sees that they left the projection door open and goes to see how it works so maybe we can play a movie.
"Almost got it!" Jere says excitedly before the screen comes on.
"Yay!" I clap, "Ready for some shadow puppets?" I start with the bird. "Caw caw!"
"You're so extra," Jere laughs, but I know he's enjoying it. Then I do the snail, very cute. I don't know why everyone thinks snails are so gross, they're like little slimy cutie patooties.
"That one is cute, lemme see if I can do like uhh- Wolf!"
"That one is good, let me go with the classic bunny then, huh?" Jere's wolf inches closer to my bunny. I know what he's gonna do. "Don't you dare eat my bunny!" I say moments before disaster.
Jere's hand tackles my hand, "And the wolf eats the bunny rabbit!" I gasp.
"That is so mean! He had a wife and kids," I pout, trying to make Jeremiah feel bad.
It clearly doesn't work because we're both still laughing, "We'll mine does too, he needs to feed his family."
Our laughter dies down as we notice our close proximity. His smile fades into a small grin as he looks down at me. I look down at his lips for a split second, he seems to notice and starts to lean in. I'm leaning in too before I come to my senses. I pull away quickly, turning my head away from him and not meeting his eyes, "I'm so sorry! Your mom just passed away and here I am making a move on you. That's so wrong of me-" I begin to walk out, Jeremiah pulls me back, "I mean what was I thinking? I'm so sorry, I should just go," I speed walk out of there trying to calm my racing heart. I can hear Jeremiah calling after me, but he doesn't follow.
Jeremiah's pov:
We were so close to kissing. We were this close to becoming whole again. It's understandable that she's worried about my feelings and how recently my mom died. But I know what I want. I want her. No, I need her. I was going to chase after her but she was just so frazzled. I shouldn't have stopped what we had going on last summer, it's not even what my mom wanted. She wanted me and Cassie to be happy together. I just couldn't get it out of my stupid head that Cass would be a distraction from taking care of my mom. Cassie wouldn't have been a distraction, if anything she would've been a major help. I knew that if I asked her to, she would've driven all the way down to Boston to help me.
Cassidy's pov:
I rush down the hallway, I'm not even sure where I'm going. I don't even realize I'm crying until I bump into Belly and Conrad, "Hey, hey, hey, what's going on?" Belly asks with my face in her hands.
"I'm so stupid. He's still hurting, I'm just so stupid," I feel like a piece of shit sobbing to my sister like this. I'm supposed to be the one she can break down to, not the other way around.
"Come on, tell me what's going on," Belly says, leading me away from Connie so we can talk.
"I don't wanna talk about it, I just want to forget," I say, wiping my tears. I take a couple deep breaths to stop crying.
"Cassie, tell me what's going on."
"You don't have to worry about me Belly," I give her a weak smile, "I'm all good."
Belly gives me a worried look but drops the subject, "Did you guys find a place to sleep?"
"Yeah, the cinema is good. Very comfortable."
"Alright, perfect!" We get up and meet Conrad. I quickly check a mirror in the hallway to make sure no mascara is running. "Let's explore!" Belly announces to us.
Connie chuckles and puts his arm around her shoulder, "Whatever you want, Bells."
We eventually find Cam and Skye in the kitchen. We inform them that Jere found a spot to sleep and we set off to find Steven and Taylor.
When we approach the ballroom we hear music coming from it. I'm tempted to tell everyone to stop and let Steven and Taylor be, but the stronger side of me wants to walk in on them and see what's going on.
BIG mistake because we walk in on them almost kissing. Should've let Stevo have his moment. Taylor pushes away from him as soon as she sees us.
"Hope we didn't interrupt anything," I say, giving Steven a wink.
"No you didn't interrupt anything!" Taylor seemingly worried. I assume it's because she's still with Milo, I never saw that relationship going anywhere though. Steven and Taylor on the other hand...
"We were just talking about the deb ball, and I figured I would just show Taylor some moves. I mean they drilled those so deep into our heads, pretty hard to forget." Uh huh, sure Steven, sure.
Belly and Conrad make eye contact, "Yeah," They say simultaneously.
"Were you guys looking for something specific?" Taylor asks.
"We are specifically looking for you. We found a place to sleep," I tell her.
We make our way back to the cinema, making small talk along the way. Belly and I keep trying to catch Taylor's eye, but she is clearly avoiding it. When we reach the theater Jeremiah is there alone, watching a movie. My heart pangs with guilt. I left him here all alone, but if I stayed, I would have kissed him. What if that's what he wants? No, he doesn't want that. I take the seat farthest from Jere as I can. If I'm close to him again I might do something crazy like holding his hand. Taylor is trying to make a bong out of an apple, she's struggling a lot and it's very noisy and very messy. I can tell Cam is getting anxious looking at her. Steven is also making a mess while eating that is stressing Cam out. As much as I love Cam Cameron it is so funny to watch him squirm.
"Um, you know you can't smoke in here, right?" Cam says directing his question at Taylor.
"Don't worry I'm not going to smoke in here."
Jeremiah laughs, "Why don't we take this outside before Cam Cameron has a stroke."
We head outside and find a golf cart. The boys have a field day riding on it, even though it goes like 5mph. God they are so stupid.
"This is so annoying, weed is not supposed to be this difficult," Taylor complains, still stabbing the apple with a straw.
"Can I give it a shot?" Skye asks. Taylor hands them the apple and they start going at it.
Taylor laughs while looking at the boys, me and Belly give her a look. "What was that look?"
"Nothing, just you and Steven, seems like there's kinda a vibe," Belly says for the both of us.
"There's no vibe. I save all my vibing for Milo," That's what she says, but she knows it's not true. "Steven really hurt me last year. It's not the kind of hurt that just goes away easily. Or like, ever."
"Yeah, I know."
"I know you do."
"I think I loved Conrad longer and truer than anyone in my whole life," Belly says it as a joke, but I know she's hurting. "And I'll probably never love anyone like that again."
To lighten the mood Taylor turns to me, "I saw you and Jeremiah on the boardwalk~ There is something there."
"We almost kissed tonight," I blurt out.
"Is that why you were crying??" Belly asks.
"I just- He's still grieving Susannah. We're still grieving Susannah. What if we aren't ready to start something so serious?"
"I see the way he looks at you," Taylor says, playfully shoving me.
I sigh, "I don't know guys."
"Give it a shot! You only live once," Belly tells me as we come to a stop. Apparently the boys ran the golf cart out of juice.
"Why don't we crash here for the night?" Jere suggests.
"Perfect timing because I have discovered the secret of the apple bong," Skye finally got the apple bong going.
Us girls and theys laid a blanket down on the ground just the four of us. Taylor talked Belly into sending a text to their volleyball coach, finally.
Steven walks over to us, "What's happening over here? Are we playing truth or dare or what?"
"What are we? Some children?" I say, getting up. I know I'll be talked into playing either way so what the hell?
We all get into a circle. "Steven, I dare you to eat the apple bong," Belly challenges him.
Steven scoffs, "I'm not scared I've done worse." Steven takes a big 'ol bite of the apple and immediately spits it out.
Conrad, Cam, and Jeremiah arrive with food. "You playing?" I ask Connie, it is so not his scene.
"Pfft, nah. Who do you think I am, Cass?"
"Aw c'mon man. Where do you see yourself in ten years?" Cam decides truth for Conrad.
"Here, honestly. Coming back to Cousins. 4th of July barbecues, looking for clams, surfing with Jere."
"Making pomegranate margaritas," Belly scoffs.
"Word. I don't know I just feel like, whatever kind of shit you got going on, you just come back here and forget about it."
"Come on man! No one is playing truth or dare right," Steven sighs, "It's either you go big or you go home!" Stevo always knows how to lighten the mood. He's our little clown.
"I agree this needs to get way more Euphoria," Taylor laughs.
"Okay then," Skye says, then they turn to me, "Cassie, I dare you to...kiss Jeremiah!"
I feel my entire face heat up. Thank god it's dark or I would be so busted right now.
"Aren't we too old for that kind of shit?" Jeremiah says, and I'm a little disappointed. I wish he had kissed me. I guess it's my fault because I didn't kiss him earlier in the cinema. Maybe he thinks I'm not interested anymore.
"Yeah, Cam truth or dare?" Taylor changes the subject.
"Truth please."
"What is your biggest regret?" Taylor and Cam both laugh at how stoically she asked the question.
"I'd probably say uhh, not spending enough time with my sister before she died," Just like that the mood drops. My poor Cam Cameron.
"Oh, I'm sorry I didn't-" Taylor begins.
"No, it's okay," Cam says before elaborating, "It was ten years ago, she was sixteen. I was just a kid. I really looked up to her. I still look up to her," My poor pookie wookie bear. Cam Cameron would have my entire heart if it didn't already belong to Jeremiah.
"Does it get any easier?" Jere asks, we all know why he's asking. We are all wondering the same thing.
Cam nods his head, "Yeah. It's always there, but um, the pain starts to feel more like a scar than it does a scab. Like sometimes, something totally random will set you off. Like a song she used to play for you or a little yellow tree air freshener she had in her car, the pain just feels brand new again. But then everything goes back to normal. Eventually."
Taylor yawns, right then and there. I'm sure it was an accident but it's still funny as fuck.
"I'm sorry, Taylor, when did we lose you there?" Cam Cameron is back to his shining self.
"No, you didn't lose me. I'm just tired."
"Yeah, it's getting kind of late," Jeremiah says, "We'll get some blankets." Then he, Conrad and Steven get up and make one last trip to the main building.
Everyone is settled except for me and Jere. I'm on my little blanket watching him from afar. He seems to be grabbing or putting something away in the golf cart. I walk over to him, hearing Taylor and Steven chuckling together.
"Hey," Jeremiah says awkwardly.
"Hey," I gather up my courage, "I'm sorry I ran away from you earlier.
"It's okay, I get it. I'm sorry I didn't kiss you during truth or dare."
"Pfft, no I get it-"
"It's just, if I kiss you, I don't know if I could ever stop," Jere cuts me off. My heart stops beating for a second before it comes roaring back to life.
"Oh- Well- Uh yeah you too. I mean me too! Or- I don't know," A load of gibberish comes stumbling out of my mouth.
Jeremiah looks down and chuckles, then gestures to the blankets, "Shall we?"
I giggle when he takes my hand and leads me there. We lay down and get settled. I'm staring into his eyes, getting lost in them, and I don't think I'll ever find my way out.
Jeremiah breaks the spell, "Good night, Cassie."
"Good night, Jere."
"What's going on out here?" I awake to an unfamiliar voice.
"Mom! Hi! I'm so sorry, they needed a place to stay because they lost their house-" Cam gets cut off by his mother.
"Cam!"
"I'll clean everything up, I swear."
"No, we'll all clean," Belly promises.
"Good, and don't forget to return the cart," Something about this woman scares me.
"Yeah," Cam agrees, and she leaves.
After we clean everything up, we're on our way home. As soon as we get out of the car, we see Julia and her realtor outside.
"Well look who it is!" Jeremiah says, way too calmly.
Julia sends her realtor off and turns to us, "Oh I wish you boys went home when I told you to."
"You aren't getting us to abandon our house, Julia," Conrad says with a smile.
"Oh, it's not your house, Conrad. It won't be mine for long either. "
"Julia please- We have an idea, okay?" Jeremiah cuts in.
"Buyers made an offer on the house, and I've officially accepted it. I have to go to Boston to finalize the details, but it's done. The house is sold." My ears begin ringing and if people are saying anything I can't hear them. I want to scream and cry and throw up all at once. This isn't fair. This isn't fair. This isn't fair!