Part Four: The Egbert-Crockers

Chapter One: Beach Day

John couldn't help but laugh at himself as he fell off the surfboard for the 1000th time. Jade giggled at him, too, from atop her own board.
"I think I'm going to call it quits, Jade. I just can't do this!" John said. "But thanks for trying to teach me." Jade grinned back at him.
"Thanks for trying, John!" she said cheerfully. John grabbed the spare surfboard and made his way back to where his other friends Dave and Rose were sitting. Rose was under the shade of the umbrella, finishing reading another book, and Dave was laying on the towel next to her, looking like he'd been watching Jade and John from behind his cool-guy shades. John fished the blue-rimmed glasses out of his bag, put them on, and sat down next to Dave.
"Good job out there, Egbert," Dave muttered as John sat down. "Really. Great work."
"Pfft, at least I tried. You too cool to get your ass dunked in the ocean or something?" John retorted, grinning.
"Figure there's enough cool out there. Jade's cool."
"Yeah, I got it."
"How'd you say you two were related again?"
"We're not. Our parents grew up together. I guess we used to spend a lot of time together when we were kids, but then her parents… well, I'm not sure what happened to them, actually, but she had to move to that crazy island. We used to talk over Pesterchum a lot growing up, but she hardly ever got to visit. Her grandparents finally decided she needed to go to real school this year or something."
"Yeah, I know that. She's been here all summer," Dave said.
"Not that you mind, right?"
"What do you mean by that?"
John chuckled. "Nothing. You just—"
At that moment, John's attention was grabbed by a stray beach ball rolling up to the three of them. It was followed after a moment by a short boy with bright red eyes and white flecks of hair appearing at his roots. John didn't react initially, but Dave stood from his towel and picked the ball up, approaching the boy.
"This yours?" Dave asked.
"Yeah, fuckface, hand it over." The strange boy reached to grab the ball out of Dave's hands but he simply whisked it away, holding it over his head. John couldn't help but snicker at the height difference. Dave was a full head taller, and then some, than this boy.
"Whoa, you got a temper there."
"Look, just stop being a douche and give me the beach ball back."
"Maybe you should stop calling me names, then, shortstack."
"David," Rose's voice came, "stop teasing the boy." Dave grumbled something before tossing the boy his ball back.
"Thanks, David," the boy said, an amount of taunting in his voice.
"It's Dave," Dave grumbled back at him.
"Yeah, whatever," the tiny boy muttered before turning and going back the way he came from. John found the whole altercation amusing, though it was clear Dave was more than a bit disgruntled, especially at Rose's chiding. He sat back down.
"David isn't even my name," he said, glaring at Rose. "How'd you like it if I called you Rosalind?"
"I think there's a certain amount of elegance to it, to be honest." Rose glanced up from her book. "I do hope Roxy isn't getting the others into too much trouble."
"Speak of the devil and they shall arrive, Rosey." John looked up to find Rose's older sister return to the group, along with Dave's brother, Dirk, and his own cousins, Jane and Jake. "We weren't doin' anythin' troublesome, but it's sweet of you to worry, sis."
"Really, you didn't bring any illicit substances to the beach today?"
"Nope!" Roxy exclaimed. Rose huffed a bit but returned to her book. John stood up, approaching the four older kids who'd just arrived.
"Did you guys bring the food?" John asked, grinning.
Jane nodded, grinning back at him, her smile slightly less toothy than John's, but the family's signature buck teeth still visible. John was a bit envious that Jane hadn't had braces nearly as long as he'd been stuck with his, but it wasn't enough to become a point of contention between the two. John was comforted by the fact that Jade and Jake still had braces, too. He turned towards the water where Jade was still out surfing and waved her in for lunch. Dirk had managed to snag one of the grills and was working on cooking off some hot dogs. The kids all had a relaxing beach day, staying until past sunset. They found themselves around a small campfire, the younger kids (and Jake) roasting marshmallows for s'mores, John smiling through the sticky goop stuck in his braces. There was a peaceful silence as they all chewed, watching the sunset over the ocean. Roxy sighed.
"Ah, wish we could just stay here forever," she said, wistfully. "It's so pretty."
"Yeah, too bad we gotta go to school tomorrow and get an 'education' and 'contribute to society'," Dave muttered.
"Have fun in high school, you kiddos," Roxy said, waggling an eyebrow at the rest of the group.
"I still can't believe you graduated early, Roxy!" Jane exclaimed.
"Janey, Janey, Janey… I may not seem it but I got mad haxxor skills."
"I didn't mean to insinuate that you weren't the intelligent type."
"Oh yah. I knowwww," Roxy exaggerated her words. "Anyways, college is gonna be sooo cool. Gonna get my party ON!" Roxy exclaimed, throwing her fist in the air as she giggled. Jane laughed alongside her friend, but was also acutely aware of her hand continually brushing against Jake's in the sand. Jake either hadn't noticed, or wasn't planning on moving away. Jane felt her face flush, and prayed she wasn't being too obvious. Dirk was looking at Jake, too, and Jane decided not to focus on it. She leaned against Roxy, who seemed very attuned and aware of everything that was happening, despite the clear lack of verbal communication. Jane knew she had to say something to Jake before the end of the year. She'd been dwelling on her feelings towards him for what felt like ages. He'd come from England the summer before they went into high school, just as Jade had just moved from her island home, and Jane felt a little unsure about her crush at first, seeing as he did look strikingly similar to her own cousin, but once they'd spent more time together, she realized John and Jake were nothing alike, at least not in the way over personality. And, through all those years, Jane had never gained the courage to say anything to him. She shook herself out of her own head. She was getting too deep into thought about it, as usual.
"Yeah, I'm really excited for you, Rox," she said, smiling. "And it'll be fun having everyone at Skaia High this year." John and Jade smiled back at her, while Rose looked contemplative, but Jane suspected it was more towards Roxy's comment about partying than anything, and Dave remained stoic.
"I've never been to a real school before!" Jade exclaimed, bright green eyes wide behind her rounded glasses. "Has it been fun, Jake?"
"Well, there's quite a bit of hullabaloo at first, but once you get acquainted with everything, it's the bee's knees! I was a bit jingle-brained at first, nearly made a hash out of things my first week, but I'm sure you'll be fine," Jake rattled off. John found Jake's vocabulary quite… eclectic, but he seemed to understand most of what Jake said. Jade laughed.
"Okay, I'll try to pay attention, then," she said. John smiled. He could see why Dave had assumed they were related. Other than the fact that Jade and Jake had considerably darker skin than Jane or John, they all could have been family, and John certainly wished he'd gotten to spend more time with Jade growing up. They practically were siblings. But he did get to grow up with Jane. It was remarkable how much John and his older cousin looked alike, but he supposed it made sense considering their fathers were twins. John was looking forward to being in high school with all his friends around, and he knew it was going to be an exciting year.