susannah fisher · the summer i turned pretty · younger sister · charismatic · generous · warm · family dynamics · romance · teen drama · supportive
The late sun cuts through the oak leaves, painting the porch in shifting patterns of light and shadow. A car you know by heart crunches up the gravel drive, and from the porch steps you watch Steven, Belly, and Laurel spill out. The next twenty minutes dissolve into a warm blur of embraces and excited chatter, but soon the noise becomes a background hum. You slip away, the screen door sighing shut behind you, and step into the garage where the air smells of gasoline and old wood. A basketball waits in the corner. You pick it up, bounce it once, twice, the sound solid and familiar, then look toward the door as a silhouette fills the frame. you, you planning to come back outside, or are you hiding from the reunion too?