The sandy shores were hot as various citizens were wondering around on the beach, pier, and boardwalk. There were a group of teens that were hanging around one of the most popular doughnut shops in town, but no one really paid much attention to them. Everyone knew who they were and what they consisted of – Steven Universe, eighteen, son of Rose Quartz and Greg Universe. His weapon was a shield that was accompanied by his mother's infamous blade, but his best friend wielded it on the battle field in most of their altercations. Connie Maheswaran, also eighteen but recently so, daughter of Priyanka and Doug Maheswaran. The last one of the group, was someone that was slightly younger by a year and a half to the other two. Michelle Dwyer, daughter of Johnathan Dwyer and Spinel.
While Connie is full blown human, Michelle and Steven both hold gems on their bodies making them half human, half gem. Steven's gem is located on his belly button, while Michelle's is located on her back, slightly above her shoulder blades. Michelle was happily eating a chocolate doughnut as her two older friends were conversing about training that would be taking place later today. "Hey Michelle," Steven suddenly said causing the younger girl to look up at him. "Isn't your cousin coming to stay for a few weeks this summer?" He asked. The girl tilted her head before a look of terror crossed her face.
"I forgot! I was supposed to pick her up in Empire City!" She said, quickly pulling her phone out. Upon seeing her screen, she let out a sigh of relief as she saw that her cousin's plane would not be landing for another half hour. "I need to go to the airport; do you think Jenny will give me a ride?" She asked. Steven looked over at Connie who chuckled, "What?"
"We can give you a lift, Steven's dad bought him a car like his – it's pretty roomy, and we promise not to drag race this time." Connie said jokingly. Michelle shuddered at the memory of when Stevonnie raced Kevin down a mountain, Michelle was watching from the crowd anxiously as her two friends lost to Kevin. "C'mon, it won't be that bad." Connie said as she gently grabbed onto Michelle's arm as Steven led the way to the car. It was an older model, from a time of frosted tips, mood rings and slap bracelets. Michelle smiled at the nostalgia it posed as she climbed into the back seat. She was surprised at how spacious it was in the back and decided that there would be enough space for her cousin and her cousin's suitcase.
The ride to the airport was filled with various road trip games, ranging from karaoke, spot the license plate, and even "Would You Rather?". Michelle watched from the back as Steven and Connie flirted back and forth occasionally, Steven holding Connie's hand whenever he wouldn't have to mess with the gear shift. Michelle smiled in contentment as her friends were finally happy with one another, her gaze shifted to the various skyscrapers that were grouped together in Empire City. "The airport is the next right." Steven made a noise of acknowledgement and turned down the road. The airport was in view, and Michelle could pick her cousin out from the mass of faces trying to hail a cab. She looked timid, and afraid.
Her pale skin made her look sickly, which Michelle was hoping would change over the next couple of weeks. Michelle rolled down her window and flagged down her cousin, who immediately recognized the black haired, green-eyed girl. Her cousin hurriedly picked up her suitcase and ran to the pick-up lane. She shoved her rolling suitcase in the trunk before sliding in the car on the other side, shaking off some rain that was starting to pour down. Her brown eyes looked up to her younger cousin, who flung herself at her cousin – hugging her tightly. "I missed you so much, Bella!" Her cousin shyly smiled up at her. Bella Swan, daughter of Charlie Swan and Renee Swan. Bella is an introverted, clumsy girl who adapts to situations pretty easily. When Michelle pulled away, she immediately introduced Bella to Connie and Steven. "These are my two best friends in the whole galaxy!" Michelle chirped happily.
Bella and her family learned about Michelle's mother and father's relationship pretty fast before Michelle was actually born. Bella knew that Michelle was half gem, half human, and was slightly jealous of the younger girl. In Bella's eyes, Michelle got to live a life full of excitement and adventure – something that Bella had wanted for a long time. Bella looked up at the two friends through her eyes, noticing how their hands were firmly clasped together. "I'll introduce you to my other friends as well, I think you'll love them!" Michelle said happily. It was Michelle's job, this summer, to distract Bella from the wedding that Renee and her new husband were having. Michelle knew that Bella wasn't particularly close with Phillip nor Charlie, but she did prefer Phillip over Charlie – which Michelle couldn't understand as her and her father both love Charlie and still consider him a part of the family.
Michelle's aunt, on the other hand, was rather eccentric and could not be held down in one place too long which led to the divorce of Charlie Swan and Renee Dwyer-Swan. Now, she was getting remarried to a guy that Michelle didn't bother to learn the name of until recently. She peered at Bella through the corner of her eye and saw her looking out the window gloomily. She knew that she wanted her mother to be happy, but she also knew that Bella was often possessive over her mother. Michelle sighed, "Look, our friend Sour Cream is having a rave tonight – do you want to go?" Michelle asked hopefully.
Bella jumped slightly, looking over at her cousin. "Uh…a rave? You want me to go?" She looked up to the two in the front seats who seemed to be anxious about her answer. "Are you sure about that, Michelle?"
"It would be so cool for you to come, Bella!" Connie said, turning around in her seat. Connie pushed back some of her hair behind her ear, Connie had recently cut her hair to just below her shoulders, like when they were all kids. "Everyone in Beach City would love to meet you!" Connie said once more, almost happily. Bella seemed shocked that the three teenagers seemed invested into her so quickly, Bella was used to her classmates ignoring her in Phoenix but she seemed happy that Michelle was welcoming her into her adventurous world wholeheartedly, along with her best friends. "Look, we'll introduce you to everyone before hand if you want to – Michelle told us that you were kind of awkward around people you haven't met yet."
"Connie, I said not to tell her! I wanted to ease her into the city!" Michelle fussed. Bella cracked a smile, happy that she had a cousin like Michelle that was looking out for the slightly older girl. "Sorry, Bella. I didn't mean it as an insult or anything – I just know that you hate large crowds and people you don't know, but I didn't want to leave you alone tonight so I wanted you to come to the rave because meeting new people is important and–"
Bella waved her hand dismissively at her cousin, who was rambling now. "Don't worry about it, Michelle. I'm surprised that you remembered that about me – I haven't seen you in so long that I thought that this would be awkward." Bella said, motioning around her as if referring to her vacation in Beach City that was yet to unfold. "I was scared that I would have to play catch up and reintroduce myself to you, but I knew that when you hugged me it wouldn't be awkward at all." Bella said.
"How could I ever forget you?" Michelle asked suddenly, "You're the best cousin I've ever had, you were the one that taught me how to swim and that showed me sea glass." Michelle said happily. Michelle reminisced on when the two were younger and would get into adventures before Michelle went to live with the Crystal Gems and Steven. "I'm just happy that you're here with me, and that your memories seem to remember me too!" Michelle said happily.
Connie and Steven watched in happiness, they were close to Michelle and knew how much she was looking forward to this trip. They knew that she was stressing out over her cousin coming, because she was running around grabbing Bella's favorite things to eat, board games, movies, and other various things that she knew Bella would enjoy. Bella and Michelle would stay in the temple in Michelle's room that was built across from the bathroom. Michelle's room was as big as Steven's but had more girly touches here and there that lacked in Steven's. "Look, is that Sour Cream?" Michelle asked, snapping everyone out of their inner thoughts.
Bella scrunched up her nose, wondering what name or nickname Sour Cream was, before her eyes landed on the pale teen. He had white blonde hair and knew that was where the name came from. His hair stuck up, either from a cowlick or hair gel Bella couldn't tell. Michelle waved him down on her side and Steven happily pulled over – allowing everyone to pile out of the car as they were only five minutes away from the Temple. "Sour Cream!" Steven said with as much excitement as Michelle. The teen looked up, a smile gracing his features as his eyes landed on three of his friends. "Are you almost ready for the rave tonight?" Steven asked.
"Yeah, I guess you could say that." Sour Cream said with a slight shrug as his eyes landed on an unfamiliar face. "Who is your friend?" He asked with interest, but due to his monotone voice it sounded like he was anything but. Bella could see his expression and knew that he did seem curious about the newcomer to the trio. "A tourist?"
"Nope!" Michelle said happily. "She's my cousin, Bella Swan. She is going to be staying with me for a few weeks, you don't mind her coming to the rave, do you?" She asked hopefully, looking up at him through her lashed. Sour Cream felt his face heat up and he coughed in to his hand.
"Yeah, of course she can come – the more the merrier." The edgy teen said before digging into his bag and producing a flyer to the brunette teen. "There will be free glowsticks, also you can take as many videos as you want – I'll be DJing, so it will be a rave that you won't forget about." Sour Cream said as his face returned to it's normal pale color. Bella accepted the flyer and looked over it in her hands. She noticed that it was a purple flyer with bright, neon green writing. It gave a time and location, as well as who was DJing – which in fact is Sour Cream – Bella carefully folded the flyer and stuck it into her jacket pocket.
"Thank you." Bella said, "And thanks for inviting me." She said carefully.
"Oh don't worry about it! Usually it's an open invitation to whoever wants to come." Sour Cream said and gave her a reassuring smile. "And besides, any friend to these three are a friend to me." Bella looked at the four that were looking back at her – grins as big as their face. "Jenny, Lars, Sadie, and Bucky will be there tonight too. They would love to meet Bella," He said nodding at the other teen, "she's pretty chill so they'll love her."
Bella felt her face heat up from the fact that she was, once again, being more accepted within Michelle's friends. Michelle seemed to be beaming before saying goodbye to Sour Cream and the group piled back up into the car. The teens continued on to the Temple, where Michelle would get Bella ready for the upcoming rave and fun weeks full of adventure, battles, and new friends.
The weeks had gone by, Bella had a subtle tan that was from a terrible sunburn within her first week at Beach City. Bella genuinely enjoyed herself at Beach City and could say that she was genuinely friends with everyone that Michelle has introduced her to. She also met the gems – being rather close with Pearl and was even taught a few moves in ballet that she had dropped and perfected her posture and grace with the help of the motherly gem. Today, however, was the day Bella would be going back to Phoenix to finish packing up to go to school at Forks for her Junior year of high school.
At times like these she was jealous of her cousin, Michelle, once again. Michelle was being homeschooled online and had finished her Sophomore year earlier during the summer, and now she was starting her Junior year and it was only August third. Bella sighed as she watched her cousin carefully pack Bella's souvenirs into her luggage. "What's wrong, Hell Bells?" Michelle asked playfully as she peered into her cousin's face. Bella blew a raspberry at the nickname, one that Bucky had given to her when she punched Kevin in the face for hitting on her. Bella looked off to the side, before deciding to say what was on her mind.
"I'm not looking forward to starting at a new high school to tell the truth." Bella said, and her gaze went even further to the side. She couldn't look Michelle in the face, because she knew that she would say yes if she even suggested it. "I had such a great time in Beach City that I don't want to leave. But I know I have to because the closest high school isn't that close, and I've missed the enrollment date for new transfers. So what I'm saying is…"
"Do you want me to go to Forks with you?" Michelle asked quietly. Michelle had considered it – a real high school, and while she did love all of her friends in Beach City, she sort of wanted to attend a high school where no one knew her. So this would be a good opportunity – and she knew that the gems would let her since there was no current threat from Homeworld. "I would love to, Bella! I'll talk to the gems about it, I'm sure they'll let me." Michelle chirped happily. Bella looked up at her cousin, surprised that she suggested it first – but a sense of calm came over her as her cousin left the room. Bella was at ease because now she had someone to rely on when she went to the new high school.
Happily, she called her mother and then later her father to let them know about her cousin's plans. Both were happy that they would be accompanying Bella, and Charlie said that he would but two twin sized beds in Bella's room and put her other bed into storage until Michelle left. Bella hung up and looked around Michelle's room – it was lived in, and cozy. Bella loved Michelle's presence, it held a sense of calm but also mischief. Bella couldn't wait to embark on new adventures with her cousin, knowing that even Michelle could stir up some trouble in the quiet town of Forks.