tidal wave

~ chapter 7 ~

"Always one to cheer me up," Jeremiah said splashing Bre back.

Bre started doing laps of the pool in her soaked dungarees like she had forgotten that swimming in clothes was way harder than an actual swimming costume.

"Okay fastest one from this side to the next has to go and get towels," Bre said wiping the water out of her eyes.

"Okay, game on" Jeremiah challenged.

Bre knew Jere was gonna win purely because he was much more athletic than her.

They both made it to the other side and back together, Jere let Bre win to cheer her up just as much as she was trying to cheer him up.

"What are you to doing in there fully dressed?" Laurel asked coming from the back door.

"I pushed him in," Bre said laughing.

"It's summer we can have fun," Jere said splashing Bre.

"Okay but don't drink water all over the house like yesterday," Laurel said before walking back inside.

"How's your head?" Jere asked, his eyebrows narrowed. It was the first time she'd noticed his eyebrows always move when he asked a genuine question.

"Oh Um, okay. Doesn't hurt as much as you'd think it would" Bre said smiling, she didn't want to complain because then Conrad would get in trouble and she didn't want that.

Jeremiah pulled himself out of the pool and then offered his hand to Bre like it was second nature to help her.

"Thank you, didn't know you had it in you to be a gentleman," Bre said joking. She stuck her tongue out at Jeremiah to annoy him.

"Did you want to go for another dip because I don't mind pushing you in" Jeremiah responded annoyed.

Bre went upstairs to change out of her wet clothes and into something for comfortable. She noticed Conrad had made the bed for her before he left. Conrad always liked being tidy and clean so it didn't surprise her that he made her bed for her.

Bre decided on just a blue t-shirt and shorts, her normal cousin's outfit.

"Hey Bre," Susannah said coming into her room.

"Hi" Bre smiled seeing Susannah just seeing her made her happy but in a happy sad way.

"I wanted to give you this" Susannah handed her a letter, it looked way posher than anything she'd ever received including her High School Diploma.

It was an invite to the Deb ball.

"Wow, I didn't know I could do this," Bre said, She was excited.

"I thought you should be able to wear a white dress and forget about life and just be a teenager one last time," She said, It almost felt like the weight of the last few months had been lifted off her shoulders. 

"Thank you," Bre said engulfing Susannah in a hug. 

"Your Dad would've loved to see you in a white dress" Susannah whispered. 

Bre was happy for a moment. She wanted to do this. She wanted to be one of those girls even if it was just for a summer. 

"When does this start then? Like the whole Deb season?" Bre was intrigued now she wanted to be prepared and get ready for it. 

"Well tomorrow, but we bought you some things today when we went with Belly. The other issue is you might not be able to keep that job" Susannah awkwardly said. 

"That's fine, it was sort of ..." 

"Boring?" Susannah jumped in. 

"Yeah sort of, I never realised no matter how much you love reading having to sell them was sort of boring" Bre laughed, she would take all these happy memories in a heartbeat. 

"Me and Laurel did think you'd get bored but you are older enough to learn stuff for yourself now," Susannah said looking around Bre's room. 

"You know, I got into Stanford" Bre said, she hadn't told anyone. Not even Conrad. 

"Really?!" Susannah jumped in excitement. 

"I haven't told anyone yet though, I'm not sure Laurel will let me go" Bre mumbled. 

"I'll talk to her, does that mean I get an invitation to visit?" Susannah said moving her eyebrows up and down. 

"Of course, only if I can crash here whenever I want" 

"This house is yours as much as it's anyone else's" Susannah pulled Bre into another hug. 

"I'm gonna miss you" Bre whispered. 

"I'm gonna miss you too" Susannah whispered back. 

The two women pulled away and stared at each other for a moment. Taking in the precious times they had and yet to have. 

"I'm gonna read on the beach for a bit," Bre said wiping her tears and grabbing the first book before hurrying to the beach. 

She was going to miss Susannah more than anyone would know.