𝐼 𝒲𝐼𝐿𝐿 𝑅𝐸𝒮𝒞𝒰𝐸 𝒴𝒪𝒰- conrad fisher

Chapter 2

I woke up the next morning to a camera shutter. I slowly opened my eyes to see mom standing over me with her phone. "What are you doing mom?" I asked, rubbing my eyes. I was having a massive hangover but I couldn't tell her that. "I just love seeing my babies love each other. I looked down to see Elijah laying on my chest with my arm wrapped around him. I smiled to myself. He looked so peaceful when he slept. It was much better than seeing him walk around all depressed. I ran my fingers through his hair scrolling through Instagram on my phone. I clicked on Cam's story and it had a few photos of him on his little boat thingy he had to do today. All the memories from night flooded in and I felt sick. What the hell was I thinking, trying to kiss him after watching him hit it off with a girl at a party. I really wished I hadn't gone. I could smell something in the kitchen and slid from under Eli to go see what it was.

Mom was in the kitchen making breakfast. "Drink this." she said, handing me a green juice. I took a sip and gagged. "What the hell is this!?" I asked, "Hangover smoothie, you reek." Damn she knew. Should I ask if she's mad? Nah then she'll probably get mad. I plugged my nose and chugged the rest of it. I fanned myself as I forced myself to swallow the grossness in my mouth. "Good morning." I heard from behind me. I turned around to see Elijah standing in the doorway. "Morning Eli." I said. He came up behind me and peaked over my shoulder into the now empty glass. "That looks gross." he muttered under his breath. I shot him a look. "Does it really?" I asked sarcastically. He smirked and in a very quiet tone he said "I knew I smelled it higher." and plugged his nose. I couldn't help but smile. He's in a good mood today. He's cracking jokes on me. I ruffled his hair and hugged him. "Why don't we do something after breakfast, how does the beach sound?" He gave me a small nod and smile.

We sat down and ate our breakfast with our mom when the doorbell rang. "I've got it." Mom said as she rushed to open it. It was a few minutes before mom came back with a small flower arrangement and a blonde woman behind her. "Kids, this is our next door neighbor Susannah, we were super close in college!" I waved and said hello while Eli gave her a smile, he wasn't a big talker. "Wow, your children are beautiful!" she said. This woman was the sweetest. "Thank you." Eli and I said in sync. "How old are you?" She asked, directing her attention to me. "I'm sixteen." I got up and started washing my plate. "You're really beautiful." she said looking deep at me. I smiled as I dried my hands. "Have you ever thought of being a deb?" she asked, holding both my hands. I looked at my mom in confusion.

She laughed slightly. "She doesn't know what a deb is." Susannah's jaw dropped. "Do you think it'd be alright if I helped her become one? she's absolutely beautiful, besides Laurel's daughter might need a friend in all this." she said while spinning me around. My mom giggled. "It's up to her." Susannah smiled. 'What do you say? We can go shopping." I nodded, "Sounds fun." she clapped "Yay!" she said quietly with a beaming smile. "Should we go after I talk with your mom some more?" I was excited. "Yeah of course!" I said. Just then Elijah walked by. He was moping again. "Actually, could we go tomorrow? I kind of promised my brother we'd hang out today." She looked at Eli and smiled at me. I looked at the stairs where Eli once was. He must have locked himself in his room for the day. I ran up the stairs and into his room. He was in his room painting. I crept up slowly and peaked over his shoulder. He was very talented. It was a picture of our mom.

"That's amazing shrimp." he kept drawing and quietly responded. "Thanks." I wrapped my arms around him. "You know I wasn't going to leave you hanging like that right? Come on get dressed." I patted his shoulder before going into the bathroom to shower. I showered quickly then went into my room. I went through my bathing suit drawer and pulled out a pink bikini that was covered in red hearts. I quickly slipped it on and put on my pink platform flip flops. I grabbed my cover up and went to set up a go bag. I grabbed towels, sunscreen, an umbrella, snacks, water, beach chairs, and a beach ball. I went downstairs to see Susannah and my mom drinking tea while Eli sat at the island laying on his arm in his swimming trunks. "Come on shrimp sunscreen time." I said. He got up and put his arms out. I sprayed his arms, stomach, chest, back, and legs. I sprayed some on hands and rubbed it on his face gently while he rubbed the rest into his skin.