Summer Homecoming
by Sweet Apocalypse
Summary: Dawn returns home for summer to discover all is not the same
Author's Notes: It's been forever since I've written anything (I've even forgotten how to upload a story) so I hope it's up to my normal standards. This is just a once shot. Enjoy!
Summer in Stoneybrook is different to what I'm used to. It's not just the beach or small town life. No, summer is always different in different places. That makes sense. But summer in Stoneybrook should be the same. My last two summers here, just as I had anticipated, were filled with baby-sitting, friends and sleepovers. It was this dependency, to be honest, that I missed most about Stoneybrook. But this summer was nothing like that.
For instance, I'm only here for seven weeks, but it's been two and a half and already it's feeling like an eternity. Was Stoneybrook always so boring? Perhaps the routine of Stoneybrook had lost its appeal. Maybe I was growing up.
I consider this as I sit at the kitchen table, eating an apple and flicking aimlessly through some resumes that my mother definitely should not have left at home, not least of all scattered around like this. My stepsister Mary Anne appears through the archway leading to the dining room, looking flustered. She looks different to what I remember. Though she wears her cream headband, the one that matches her blouse perfectly, her hair is longer and her shorts rest mid-thigh. Perhaps not too different but I don't see her very often so it grabs me.
"What are you doing this morning?" I ask her, watching her pull the orange juice from the fridge.
"Just baby-sitting the Newtons," she answers, grabbing a glass and placing it opposite me.
"Sounds fun," I say for lack of anything else.
Mary Anne shrugs. "Should be okay. What are you doing?"
"Claudia said to call her this morning. We'll probably just chill, maybe see a movie," I don't want to admit I don't have plans of any sort, let alone any real friends in Stoneybrook anymore. But Claudia and Mary Anne don't talk much anymore, so I figure I should be okay.
Mary Anne isn't listening in any case. She's finished with her drink and is now pulling objects from her purse. She ruffles through it quickly, before turning it over and shaking the contents over the table. A small packet of tissues hits the edge of my elbow.
"I can't find my day planner," she sighs, "Have you seen it?"
"No," I reply. Then I think, "Wait, I saw it next to the bathroom sink last night."
"Really?" Mary Anne turns to retrieve it but her cell phone rings. She picks it up and makes a face at me.
"Hello Logan," she says tightly into the phone, "Yes – yes I know but… no you listen…" She uncharacteristically smacks her hand on the counter and turns from me. I've never seen her act this way before. It's a bit startling.
"I'll go and get it for you," I offer moving past her. Mary Anne nods and waves me on. I drop my apple core in the trash and head upstairs.
In the bathroom, I easily find the planner. Mary Anne must really have a lot on her mind to just flit past it. I rub my finger over the floral print spine and flip it open. It isn't like I'm reading her personal diary after all. My eyes quickly scan over it, easily deciphering the neat print. I turn to the current week, studying each day square. Wow, Mary Anne is busy. I never remembered her being so popular, being so liked and, well, having a life. Mary Anne's summer is packed with activities, filled with promises and obligations. It's interesting. I think about it for a moment, then close the diary and bring it down the stairs to where Mary Anne is standing, distracted. She's tapping the base of the phone against her chin.
"Everything alright?" I ask. It's a bit of a dumb question but she doesn't seem to be offering me anything.
"Yeah, just some things with Logan," she responds. I wait for her to elaborate but she doesn't. Instead she avoids my eyes and places her empty glass in the sink and runs some water on it. She waits a beat then walks back to the table, picking up her planner. "Oh thanks, Dawn! I don't know what I'd to do without it."
"Always the secretary," I joke weakly.
"What?" Mary Anne says, distracted once more putting her purse together, "Oh yeah. Still the same old Mary Anne." She stops fussing and looks at me. "Is everything okay with you, Dawn?"
"Oh yeah," I shrug, "Just… just missing ho-California a bit."
Mary Anne continues looking at me thoughtfully. "After this, I'm meeting Emily for a late lunch and I promised Katie I'd stop by tonight but… maybe we could take a walk together today or have coffee."
I don't like coffee but she's making the effort. "We'll see. I don't know what I'm doing today."
"Okay Dawn," Mary Anne smiles. She gathers her things. "I'll send you a text this afternoon. Bye!"
"See you," I watch her leave, closing the back door. The lock slides in place and her footsteps soon fade.
I stand like that for a few minutes, staring. I think of my summer so far, watching television and waiting for Sunny to finish summer school just so I could call and catch up on the life I was missing. I think about my friends at home – not just Sunny, but Ducky and Maggie and Amelia. And then I think about my family - my Dad and my Gracie, Jeff and Carol. I think about what I would be doing right now if I were home in California. If things didn't change in Connecticut, then there were would definitely be plenty more Californian summers. I don't think I could return for another seven weeks of this. Maybe we had all changed and it was time to accept it. That Stoneybrook was no longer my home.
Or maybe I should accept that Stoneybrook would always be my home. That was a strange thought. Instead of accepting that everything had changed for good and leaving at that, maybe I could learn to adapt. After all, change didn't mean that everything had to be so different.
My hand rests on the phone. When I moved back to California, things were different to how I had left them. But I had adapted and life had continued. Now, I enjoyed my life there. Maybe, maybe change is dependent on how you react to it. So why couldn't I do the same here? As long as my mother and sister lived here, Stoneybrook would be my home.
No matter what else changed.
I pick up the phone and dial Claudia's number.