Reckless Summer

Chapter one.

Summer trip to Cousins

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Amelia Prince had been best friends with Isabel Conklin for as long as she could remember. Honestly, all Amelia's happiest and fondest memories were in the presence of the Conklin family and not her own.

Amelia's mother Elizabeth Prince was a stern woman, and Amelia was sure she did love her mother somewhere deep down, but their relationship had worn down over the past number of years, to the point Amelia despised her.

Amelia's dad left when she was a baby, so she only really had the birthday cards he sent her and the brief FaceTime calls during the holidays. He had a new family now, so Amelia knew she wasn't one of his priorities.

Her mother was a well established lawyer in the city, so when Amelia was a baby her mother used to pay one of her closest friends to babysit her. Laurel Conklin, award winning author and in Amelia's eyes, a total badass. She loved that woman with her whole heart as she took care of her throughout her childhood. Laurel had two children herself, Steven and Belly. Amelia loved them, more than words could describe and despite being a bit older than Steven , the girl took the younger Conklin girl under her wing.

It wasn't long before Amelia became acquainted with Susannah Fisher, Laurel's best friend. Amelia will never forget that summer, her and Steven were twelve years old and Belly was ten. Laurel packed up the car, and all four of them road tripped their way to Cousins. Amelia had never been before and she would never in a million years forget the scenery of the drive. The waves crashing on the beach, the immaculate sunset and the Fisher's beach house.

Amelia grew up privileged, she knew and appreciated it. Her mother had done well for herself. Amelia felt like she was a pit of jealousy sometimes as, she longed for her mother to look at her and love her the same way she did with her designer bags and expensive earrings.

Susannah Fisher was an artist, in Amelia's eyes she was a damn good one at that. It was no wonder when Laurel pulled up outside that beach house, Amelia was in awe of how beautiful it looked.

It was just a stretch from the beach, with its own pool and enormous back yard. The inside was just as appealing as all the décor just matched in an oddly satisfying way to Amelia. That's not the only thing Amelia liked about Susannah, on their very first meeting the tall blonde woman gave the girl the biggest hug she'd ever had, which frightened and eased the girl all at once.

There was something about Susannah, the way she looked at people, Amelia felt like she knew them, like it was a part of her talent as an artist. She could look at people and see who they truly were deep down, with all tiny little insecurities they hid from the world.

Susannah had two boys, Conrad and Jeremiah. Both boys looked so similar yet so different, something which amused Amelia. Conrad, the oldest was the same age as Amelia but he liked to pretend he was older, just because he knew how much it pissed Amelia off.

Conrad was tall, with brown messy hair, tan skin with dark green eyes. Amelia often found herself lost in those eyes, the colour so much darker and stormier than Jeremiah's bright blue eyes. Jeremiah was also tall, with tan skin and messy dirty blonde hair. Both boys were going to grow up to be heartbreakers, according to Laurel.

Conrad was quieter than Jeremiah, but he observed more, it was just the type of person he was. It intrigued Amelia. Jeremiah was louder, but he never failed to make her laugh, with his ridiculous sense of humour.

Both boys were talented, both being skilled at football along with the talents of swimming and sailing. Amelia shared the talent for sport with the two Fisher boys, by being on her way to a swim scholarship to collage.

That summer started a tradition for Amelia. Heading to Cousins beach, with the Conklin family became the girls only sense of happiness, in the lonely life she had back home. The bond she had with Belly and the boys was so special to her, and the house at Cousins was the only place Amelia truly felt at home.