Between Belly and Conrad and Jeremiah and Cleo (Original Character) as siblings.
The sun was setting on Cousins Beach, a canvas of oranges and pinks painting the horizon beyond the seaside house that held every summer memory of Isabel "Belly" Conklin's life. But this summer wasn't like the ones before. This time, as she stepped onto the porch, there was an air of change, the kind that made her skin tingle with both excitement and unease.
Conrad and Jeremiah Fisher, the brothers who had been constants every summer, were there, as they always were. But they stood with a stranger—a girl about their age, sharp features like theirs, but with softer curves and a hesitance in her eyes that mirrored Belly's own the first time she'd set foot in this place long ago.
"Belly, this is Cleo," Conrad said, his voice cutting through the hum of the ocean waves. There was something reserved in his tone, a stark contrast to Jeremiah's wide grin and eager bounce.
"Our half-sister," Jeremiah added, as if it were the most natural thing to say, as natural as the summers they'd spent together since they were kids. But this, this was something entirely different.
Belly extended her hand, watching as Cleo reached out to meet it. The handshake was formal, an odd beginning to what Belly knew would soon morph into something far more familial. "Welcome to Cousins," Belly said, trying to provide the warmth that Conrad's stiff introduction lacked.
That night, the dinner table felt smaller somehow, with every seat filled and new eyes glancing about, digesting years of tradition in one look. The air was heavy with unasked questions and unspoken thoughts as they passed plates and shared in a meal that should've felt like coming home, but instead, felt like stepping onto undiscovered shores.
After dinner, Conrad took his usual solitary walk down the beach. Belly knew him well enough to understand the distance in his stride. Jeremiah, always the polar opposite, suggested a bonfire, the crackling warmth an attempt to stitch the frayed edges of their newly expanded circle.
As flames danced against the night and laughter melded with the song of cicadas, Belly looked at Cleo, taking in the guarded tilt of her shoulders as she accepted the marshmallow stick from Jeremiah. This summer, it would be about more than just the sunburns and heartaches of adolescence; it would be a journey of fitting the new pieces into their familiar puzzle.
And as the stars blinked awake above them, casting silvery light on the foamy edges of waves, Belly realized that she too was part of this changing tide. This summer would be about understanding, acceptance, and the kind of growth that doesn't just happen when you're not looking—it happens because you're right there, in the middle of it all, ready to turn the page.