Chapter one

                                    

                                          
I say,  "I can't believe you're really here."
     He sounds almost shy when he says, " me neither." And then he hesitates. " are you still coming with me?" 
I can't believe he even has to ask. I would go anywhere. " yes," I tell him. It feels like nothing else exists outside of that word this moment. There's just us. Everything that happened this past summer and every summer before it has lead up to this. To now.
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We've been driving for about 7000 years. at least that's how it felt. My brother Steven drove slower than our granna. I sat next to him in the passenger seat with my feet up on the dashboard. Meanwhile, my mother has passed out in the backseat. Even when she slept, she looked alert like at any second she could wake up and direct traffic. 
     " Go faster," I urged Steven, poking him in the shoulder. " let's pass the kid on the bike."
     Steven shrugged me off. "Never touch the driver," he said. " and take your dirty feet off my dashboard."
     I wiggled my toes back and forth. They looked pretty clean to me. "It's not your dashboard. It's gonna be my car pretty soon, you know."
"If you ever get your license," he scoffed. " People like you shouldn't even be allowed to drive."
     " hey look," I said, pointing out the window. " That guy in a wheelchair just lapped us!"
Steven ignored me, so sorry to fiddle with the radio. One of my favorite things about going to the beach with radio stations. I was as familiar with them as I was with the ones back home, and listening to Q94 made me just really know inside that I was there, at the beach. 
     I found my favorite station. The one that played everything from pop to oldies to hip-hop Tom Petty was singing "free Fallin'." I sang right along with him. "She's a good girl, crazy 'bout Elvis. Loves horses and her boyfriend too." 
     Steven reached over to switch stations, and I slapped his hand away. "Belly, your voice makes me want to run this car into the ocean." he pretended to serve right.
I sing even louder, which woke up my mom, and she started to sing two we both had terrible voices and Steven's head in his disgusted Steven way. He hated being outnumbered. It was what bothered him most about our parents being divorced, being the lone guy,  without our dad take side. 
We drove through town slowly and even though I just teased Steven about it, I didn't really mind. I loved this drive, this moment. Seeing  the town again, Jimmy's crab shack, the putt putt, all the surf shops. It was like coming home after you've been gone a long, long time. It held a million promises of summer and of what just might be.
     As we got closer and closer to the house, I could feel that familiar flutter in my chest, we were almost there. 
I rolled down the window and took it all in.The air tasted just the same, smelled just the same. The wind making my hair feel sticky, the salty breeze, all of it felt just right. Like it had been waiting for me to get there.
Steven elbowed me, " are you thinking about Conrad?" He asked mockingly. 
For once the answer was no . "No," I snapped. 
My mother stuck her head between our  two seats. "Belly, do you still like Conrad? From the looks of things last summer, I thought there might be something between you and Jeremiah." 
"WHAT? You and Jeremiah?" Steven looked sickened. 
" What happened with you and Jeremiah?"
"Nothing," J told them both. I could feel the flush rising up for my chest, I wish I had a tan already to cover it up. "Mom, just because two people are good friends, it doesn't mean there's anything going on. Please never bring that up again."