Set right after Belly gets back from Spain.
"Mmm.. finally!" I spoke to myself as I began to see the ocean's horizon in the distance. In just a matter of ten minutes I would once again be at the beach house that I loved so much; the place that was more like home than any place else.
I hadn't been to the beach house in over a year, what with traveling abroad in Spain, but I knew that it was where I wanted to spend some time after I got back. Of course, I had spent the last week and a half with my mother and my brother Steven, but I was really looking forward to spending some time alone at the old beach house.
About three weeks before coming back to America, I had called Mr. Fisher to ask for his permission to stay at the house, since he did still own it (kind of). Conrad was the one that took care of it, but I made sure that they weren't planning on being there when I wanted to be there.
Now everything was planned, my car was packed, and I was just a mere six minutes until I would pull up into the driveway to find my perfect getaway for the next two weeks, perhaps longer, but who knows.
I pulled into the large driveway and stepped out onto the packed down dirt/sand mixture. Boy, this place looked beautiful. I was aware that being at Cousin's Beach without my mother, my brother Steven, or the Fisher boys was going to be a whole new experience, but I knew that Susannah was looking after me. She'd make sure that I was safe and that I would relax with my time off rather than be lonely.
Once I had gotten over the initial glow of seeing the house I turned towards my car and started unloading the trunk. I sure had packed a lot of food for just myself, just as I had packed enough clothes to fill the trunk space of mom and Steven, but I wanted to be prepared.
When I stepped into the house I noticed that the glass bowl in the center of the table was missing. I had found it at and antiquity shop in Cousin's right before Jere and I were supposed to get married, but now it was gone. Odd.
I gathered the rest of my belongings and stocked the fridge up before heading to up the stairs to my room. It took me a moment to open the door, but I finally mustered the courage to do so. The door swung open to reveal it just as I had left it. My bed was pushed closer to the wall from when the girls all slept over before the wedding day, the alarm clock was unplugged because there was a lack of outlets for curling irons, and if that wasn't enough to cause me pain, the nightie that Taylor and Anika had gotten me was hanging up in the closet.
It was like the day of the wedding all over again. I hadn't talked to Conrad or Jeremiah much in the past two years, compared to all the previous years, but seeing my room this way flooded it all back. That's when I remembered.
"The letters!" I threw my suitcase onto my bed and dug through it until I found the small stack of letters from Conrad; all wrapped by a ribbon I had bought at a Spanish street market. I hadn't replied to any of them, but I wanted to so badly.
What was there to write? I guess the simple answer was to literally reply to what he had already written, though I felt as if I needed more. I needed something that I could contribute, something that I could bring up.
I sat on the edge of my bed with a plethora of thoughts running through my mind when I saw the pool outside of the window. It was like it was calling for me. I happily undressed and pulled on my new bikini set so that I could swim laps as I thought of what to write.
There was a problem though.
"Oh great…" I shook my head in disbelief. I was the first one to be here this season so the pool was empty, drained, and dirty. If I wanted to swim I was going to have to clean out the pool, refill the chemicals, and fill it up with water.
I spent the afternoon doing just that. Since I had gotten back from Spain my attitude towards work had undeniably changed. It's not like I was a slacker before, but I had definitely matured in the past year.
Spending the evening alone at the beach house was quite nice. For dinner I made my own burger along with a salad and afterwards I snuggled on the couch with a cup of my new addition: eccentric teas. My friend Maria from Barcelona had gotten me hooked. She had so many different flavors, brands, and some from different countries! There was a tea for every mood you were in or even a mood you wanted to be in.
As soon as the old film I was watching went off I turned off the television and started to get ready for bed; turning out the lights, brushing my teeth and such. It was when I walked back into my room that I remembered the status of my bed and the condition of my room. Since it was late, I figured it wasn't worth the trouble to fix up till tomorrow, so I made a bold decision. I went to Conrad's room.
I don't know why I chose his. I could have easily gone to Jere's or Steven's room, or even my mother's old room, but I chose Conrad's. Perhaps because I was considering giving him a second chance, but perhaps because I knew that the bed would be made perfectly and the alarm clock would be on and accurate.
But maybe it was because I had always wanted to.
This is technically my first Summer Series fanfiction, but I do have another one on this site that I am working on. I started writing this one right after I got off the 'high' of the original stories and turned to fanfiction for more to read. Let me know if you like this so far and want to see more!