august
040. stolen muffins
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EVERYTHING WAS DIFFERENT. August didn't have to get out of the car to notice. There was no excitement as she pulled into the driveway. There was no sickly feeling as August and Jayden raced to the front door to be the first ones in, instead, she stared blankly at the front door as Jayden was asleep pressed against the window.
As she looked at her front door, a sense of emptiness sank to the pit of her stomach. She felt absolutely nothing. Usually she would be so happy she could barely contain it, but now... nothing.
The summer house was supposed to be full of light and comfort, but it looked gloomy and lifeless. The summer house was the highlight of August's year, it was the only part that mattered, no matter how much she liked the chilly afternoons as she snuggled under a thick blanket, she would always prefer jumping into the pool to calm down as the summer heat almost knocked her out.
August knew it wouldn't be the same without Susannah. Summers belonged to Susannah Fisher, and as far as August was concerned they always would. Whenever the sun peeked through the sky, her mind would forever wander to the woman who never once let her down.
There had never once been a summer where the Madden family didn't stay next door the the Fishers and the Conklin's - not a year went by where August wasn't counting down the days to start packing a suitcase.
Deep down August hoped she could one day carry on Susannah's tradition. Where the three families were forever merged, living next door to each other, swinging in and out of each other's homes as if they owned both. Where if one of her kids got hurt or they did something they weren't supposed to, they could run next door and tell the others.
August turned to look at her brother before smacking the side of his head, hard, causing the boy to jump up with a very 'manly' scream. She immediately erupted with a laugh as he squirmed, trying to wake up.
He sat up, blinking like a maniac before he finally realised where they were. As if he and August were the same person, his demeanour changed. His face dropped into a slight pout as he stared at the front door like she had done moments before.
August stopped laughing and unbuckled her seatbelt, stepping out of the car. Jayden also got out of the vehicle, catching the keys she threw at him as she walked out of the driveway, heading next door.
"Where are you going?" Jayden asked stupidly as he followed after her, running to catch up.
August rolled her eyes and pointed to the large home that sat next to theirs, "Where do you think?"
It was early enough that August had a feeling the Fisher boys were surfing, therefore, she could ignore Conrad, but it was also early enough that she knew Steven would be awake - and hopefully Belly.
As they walked up the driveway, memories of all the times they got in and out of the cars just to run into the house soaking wet as Laurel yelled at them for making the floor wet, but Susannah didn't care, which also meant the kids didn't care.
The two looked at each other as they approached the front door, silently asking each other who was going to open the door, because they both knew no one in the house was going to.
Jayden put his balled up hand out, indicating that they play rock, paper, scissors. August gave him a blank look, "Are we six?"
The boy shrugged before placing his pointer finger on his nose, catching August off guard, "You are unbelievable." She groaned, pushing past him and opening the front door. Everything she had missed over the past ten months suddenly hit her in the face. It still smelled like Susannah. She liked it.
August walked into the house, a giddy smile washing over her features as she let her eyes wander over every detail in the hall.
Her once bright, beautiful smile was wiped clean off her face when she walked into the kitchen and was met with two people she sure as hell didn't recognise. Her jaw dropped as Jayden smacked into her, his expression matching hers when he saw the two.
"Who the fuck is that?" He mumbled in her ear, making her shrug.
"I have no idea?"
After a few seconds of silence - and borderline panic, Belly appeared beside them, but she didn't seem to notice they were there as she stared at the blonde woman by the sink in confusion.
"Do you think she knows?" August whispered up to Jayden, referring to the girl who was suddenly snapped from her trance as the - what August was imagining was imagining a parent and a child having a hushed conversation.
"Oh. Hey, Belly." The person said, their eyes flashing with confusion as they stared at the twins, "And... other people."
"Hey." Belly mumbled, clearly only awake, "Sorry. I just, um, smelled muffins."
"Do you think we should walk in?" Jayden asked his sister, pushing her forward slightly. August stepped on his foot, making his movements come to a halt.
"You want one?"
"Yeah, sure." Belly went to grab one, but the woman at the sink stopped her.
"Uh, those are for the open house."
August felt her stomach drop. Open house, she thought, what open house? She looked up at Jayden like he'd have the answer, but he was equally as confused.
"Morning."
The back door creaked open and a chirpy voice could be heard echoing through the room, "Mmmh," Jeremiah hummed, "Did somebody get muff..." His voice trailed off at the end as he caught sight of the two people in his home - not the twins, he wasn't far enough in the room to see them.
August felt a pit form in her stomach as her head got slightly dizzy, because she knew exactly who was behind him, and she knew she couldn't ignore him, not fully, not like the wanted.
She wasn't here for him. She was here because Steven called, and she would always do what he asked - once it was within reason.
"Hey, Jeremiah!"
"Hi..." The blonde boy blew out and the twins looked at each other, already feeling the tension thick in the air.
"Conrad."
"Sky." His voice was as thick as she remembered.
The twins looked at each other once more as the two boys did a scan of the room.
"You didn't tell me she was here, too." Conrad told his brother, frustration clear in his tone.
August grabbed Jayden by the arm, pulling him in front of her slightly so she still felt like she could hide if she wanted to.
"It's they. Not she." Sky corrected him, looking down at their hands in pure awkwardness, "God, I guess it's been like a decade since I saw you guys. Um, how are you doing since your mom?"
"It's been rough." Jeremiah answered smoothly.
"Rougher now that our aunt's stealing our house." Conrad answered.
August made a noise of shock as her eyes went wide. The open house, it all made sense.
"I'm not stealing anything, Conrad." The woman who the twins realised was Susannah's half sister, Julia, snapped, "Like it or not, I get to choose what happens to this house and I choose to put it on the market."
"That's fucked." Jayden said without thinking, making the older woman glare at him and making the other teenagers head whip around to finally acknowledge their presence.
Jeremiah's face lit up slightly as he looked at his friend while Conrad's eyes instantly found August's, who immediately looked away and back at the woman who seemed to be stealing the beach house.
"You boys should get on the road." She told them, "Beat the traffic back to Boston."
"There's no chance." Conrad answered without missing a beat, "We're staying for the open house."
Aunt Julia scoffed, "Oh, no. I can't have a bunch of teenagers chasing everybody away. Call your father because this isn't an aunt Julia problem."
"Except it is." Conrad told her, stepping forward, "Because you are the problem."
"I don't have time for this." The woman blew out before stepping out of the room.
"Conrad." Belly whispered, "She's still your family."
Jayden grabbed August's hand and pulled them towards the kitchen counter, sneakily grabbing a muffin on his way.
"Then why is she doing this to us?"
"This is hard for her too." Sky spoke up, making August roll her eyes. It obviously wasn't hard enough.
"Really?" Conrad quipped, "Seems like she's doing this all pretty fucking easily." He glared at his cousin before shaking his head and walking out of the room.
The other teens stood in the kitchen in silence before Sky decided to say something again, "He's grown into quite the asshole."
Jayden rolled his eyes, "You're selling his mothers house. I think he gets to be quite the asshole."
Jeremiah sent a look at the boy, basically telling him to shut up, "You have no idea."
"Who the fuck is this bitch?" August laughed, pointing to the mop of blond hair that walked over to her, wrapping his arms around her shoulders. August reacted by placing her arms around Jeremiah's waist, "How are you doing?" She asked, referring to both the house being sold and about the passing of his mother.
Jeremiah sighed, "I've been better. The past two days have been completely shit."
August ran a hand up and down his back before he pulled away, "You'll be okay, Jer."
He gave her a thankful smile before moving towards Jayden and giving him a 'bro hug'. Not even seconds later, he walked out of the kitchen and up the stairs. Belly was next, not before copying Jayden and grabbing two muffins on her way out.
August sighed when everyone left and took a small bit of Jayden's stolen muffin, "What did we just walk into?"
kianna speaks
chapter 40!!!