as it was ~ conrad fisher

two.

𖡼𖤣𖥧𖡼𓋼𖤣𖥧𓋼𓍊

every summer when we get right outside of cousins we always go to the gas station to pick up some last minute things. steven always gets the gas while mom, belly and i go in.

belly and i go straight to the chips. she opens a bag of cheetos and starts shoving them in her mouth, handing some to me. we look to our right to see the cashier staring straight at us.

"hey." he says nodding his head.

boys at school never look at me. taylor's the one they look at. i guess you could say i'm just kind of there.

belly turns to the drinks and gets a coke for her and a sweet tea for me. we both walk to the cashier, who lowkey looks reallyyy creepy.

"are you two new this summer?" he asks us.

"uh, us? n-no." belly says looking around, laughing.

"really? hmm. i thought i knew every pretty girl in cousins." he says, belly and i laugh kinda nervously and look at each other, "coming to the bonfire tonight? first of the season."

"uh, maybe." i tell him, shaking my head. belly and i's mission this summer is to go to at least one party, and i don't know about her but i wanna get shit-faced at least once.

"come. i'll introduce you to some of my friends." he tells us, smirking.

"maybe we will. hmm." belly smiles, shaking her head as she hands him the card.

"after we get settled, do you want to go to whale of a tale with me so i can pre-sign stock before the signing tomorrow night?" mom says, walking up next to us.

"uh..." belly says looking down.

"remember how you two used to sit on my lap when i did signings there?" mom says playing with belly and i's hair, "you insisted on drawing little whales and turtles on every book i signed."

"no. i-i don't remember that." belly chuckles looking between the cashier and mom. to be honest, the guy isn't that cute...

he goes to hand belly the card as mom snatches it from him, "i'll take that. thank you." she says, turning to belly and i, "i'll make you a deal. i'll let you guys pick out tonight's dessert if you both come with me and keep me company." she finishes opening the door for us.

"i'll see y'all later." the guy says all deep and weird like.

"what's later?" mom asks us.

"nothing." belly and i say at the same time, walking out. i already know mom gave that guy the dirtiest look ever.

belly, mom and i get back into the car. i open the mirror and take my hair out of its high ponytail. i hear belly doing the same thing and we both laugh at each other. steven gets back into the drivers seat as i put on my favorite lip balm, it has this light pink tint to it and i bring it with me everywhere. i fix my hair a little more in the mirror as steven begins to drive.

𓆉

there it is. the 'entering cousins beach' sign i've longed to see since last summer. it smells exactly the same. tastes the same. like it's been waiting for me to get here. we drive by the ocean, i cant tell if i like it better from up here on the road or right by it. as we get closer and closer to the house belly and i stick our heads out our windows, letting the breeze pass through our hair and hit our faces like a million kisses at once.

finally. we're here. we're in the driveway of my favorite place ever. we sit there for a few seconds until i reach over and honk the horn.

moms the first one out of the car and i can hear jeremiah saying, "what's up?"