𝕘𝕠𝕕 𝕤𝕒𝕧𝕖 𝕥𝕙𝕖 𝕡𝕣𝕠𝕞 𝕢

[jemmaparker]

maddiewalkcr‌:

“If anyone could get a law like that passed, it’s you,” Maddie grinned, and she meant it. Jemma had that kind of infectious personality that made everyone she talked to feel like they’d been friends forever, and Maddie figured that kind of energy would make her a perfect politician. Maddie, on the other hand, wouldn’t be going anywhere near that profession. “I wholeheartedly support you trying to make that change, I do. But I might have an easier solution for us. We move here year-round. Boom, problem solved,” Maddie joked. Though, if she’d thought that’d be possible even for a second, she’d do it in a heartbeat. “I mean, I don’t know! I lead a boring life. Sean Barnes asked me to homecoming, but I said no. So that was almost something interesting, but then it wasn’t. And then my friend Stacy dragged me to this college Halloween party where she took what seemed like eighty tequila shots and got completely hammered, and that could’ve been an interesting story if I hadn’t then become the designated sober friend that needed to get us home safely. So there were some almost interesting things, but, that’s it. Story of my life,” Maddie sighed dramatically. “Ooh, summer bucket list. That sounds perfect. Well, I definitely need to go on a date. And… learn to surf, maybe. And, yeah. I think that’s all I got. What else should I put on there? What would you put on there?” Maddie inquired. “A car for your birthday is the opposite of nothing interesting. That’s ridiculously interesting. What kind of car was it?” 

“Minor problem with that, not sure our parents would be up for it, they’re such buzz kills.” She sighed, a little too dramatically, but it was all in jest, so she reasoned there was no problem with it. Not that she hadn’t daydreamed about moving to the town permanently. She loved the small town community feeling that hit her as soon as she stepped foot in town, it was something she hated leaving every year. “Why would say no to going to homecoming? It’s not the best dance of the year, but it’s up there.” Though she imagined Maddie’s answer would fall firmly into the ‘it’s just our different personalities’ category. Jemma would take any excuse to dress up and dance the night away, but Maddie had never seemed like that kind of girl. At the party story, she couldn’t help but chuckled before offering Maddie a sympathetic smile – sober friend was never a role someone wanted to be given. The sober friend couldn’t enjoy a party, because they had to make sure everyone else was safe, it was the most vital role a person could play at a party, but far from the most fun role. “I’d offer to drag you to a party and be the sober friend for you, but I’m not sure I can even picture what you’d look like drunk.” She mused, before nodding and perking up as Maddie seemed to go along with the bucket list idea. “I don’t know if I’ve mentioned this before, but I am an oddly amazing matchmaker, and could totally set up a date for you.” If her own love life was a mess, she might as well fix someone else’s. “Honestly? I’m not sure what I want from summer this year.” She shrugged, knowing it wasn’t normal for her not to have everything planned out. “A Toyota Camry, it was the one I liked the most that seemed… parent approved, you know?”

[jemmaparker]

lincolnmontgomery‌:

“’M not sure yet,” Lincoln admitted. “My mom’s probably going to want to do a family dinner since it’s our first night here and… well, y’know how she is.” Was that a weird thing to say? Lincoln wondered. Did I just make this even more awkward? Normally, awkward wasn’t a word that anyone would pair with Lincoln, not even close. He could talk to anyone, any time, anywhere, and more likely than not, he’d make them laugh, or at the very least put a smile on their face. But this was new territory for Lincoln, and as much as he wanted to be, he wasn’t comfortable. He knew he had to pretend, though, because with Jemma’s giggling and her bubbly conversation, she seemed to be doing more than okay. “But I dunno. I might come out after, I’ll just see,” the boy shrugged. It wasn’t like Lincoln to forego a night with his friends, and he knew that a flat out no would raise a few red flags with the blonde. “The only one I’ve seen so far is Maddie. Daniel’s helping her and her mom get all their crap lugged into the house. And it seems like she brought, like, six more bags of crap than usual, so it’ll be awhile before either of ‘em are ready to catch up. And I talked to Brad a little, since we both have to stop by the Park District later tonight to pick up all our lifeguarding crap for the summer. If you haven’t seen him at all yet, you could come with us,” Lincoln offered almost out of habit, then immediately regretted it. “Y’know, if you wanted to catch up. With him, I mean.” Yeah, that definitely made things awkward.

Scratching behind Bailey’s ear, partly to keep the dog entertained and partly to stop herself from over thinking everything, she raised her eyes to try and meet his as he spoke – curiosity getting the best of her. “You’re not sure? I thought nothing would keep you away from the first party of the season.” She joked, belatedly realising for all she knew, he could have changed over the course of the past year. It wasn’t as if they’d spoken much, and while she may have accidentally checked his social media before she came, she knew that never told the full story. “Those family dinners are pretty cute though, I can see you wanting to miss a party for one of the.” She eventually tacked on, and the words were true. Family dinners were a rarity in her family, and she’d always found it cute when other families had them more frequently. “All their crap?” She parroted, eyes glistening with amusement. “We can’t all pack light, some of us need at least three possible outfits per day. Don’t you remember the time I made us late for Lisa’s birthday party last year, cause I changed my dress like.. Twelve times.” It wasn’t until the words were out that she realised bringing up shared memories had to be crossing the line, but there was no way to turn back time and shut up, so she brushed past it. With her mind overanalysing her own words, his knocked her completely off guard. Whatever hope she’d felt at the words, evaporated as quickly as it had come. “Why wouldn’t I want to catch-up with you too? We’re still friends… Right?” She’d tried to ask as casually as possible, but ‘casual’ was the last thing that could be prescribed to the situation.

[jemmaparker]

lincolnmontgomery‌:

Growing up, half of Lincoln’s heart had always lived in Cousins. He loved Boston, and when he was gone during the summers, he missed his friends. He really did. But there was something special about Cousins. What kid wouldn’t enjoy a three month long vacation every summer? But this year, the whole town just felt… off. He felt it from the moment he set foot in the driveway of his family’s beach house, and he knew why. Things had come to an abrupt end with Jemma last summer, and it hurt Lincoln more than he’d ever admit. He felt like he’d had the wind knocked out of him, and that feeling stuck with him for weeks. And even after the initial shock of everything faded away, his feelings were still hurt. Of course, as the year passed, he was able to put it behind him and make his year a memorable one. But now that he was back in Cousins, he could feel all his sadness and anger and confusing bubbling to the surface again, and he didn’t like it. So while Daniel was helping the Walkers get their things unpacked, and his mom was headed to the store to pick up some things for dinner, Lincoln excused himself and snuck away to the beach. The beach had always had a way of making him feel better. And he was only there for a few minutes before a golden retriever bolted to his side, which definitely started to tip his mood in the right direction. Until, of course, he realized who’s dog it was. It was Bailey, Jemma’s dog, and his heart sunk. A few seconds later, she appeared, and Lincoln gave her a half smile. “Nah, of course he didn’t,” Lincoln shrugged, doing his best to act as if this wasn’t the exact situation he planned to spend the summer avoiding. “He’s never bothered me.”

Returning the smile, Jemma contented herself with the knowledge that he at least didn’t hate her. Not that she was holding any illusions that they could easily slip back to being friends, but maybe they had a shot at being civil and not making things awkward for their mutual friends. “Must just be me he loves bothering.” She finally mused, a forced giggle following the words as she bent down to secure Bailey’s leash once more, tightening her grip on the strap on the off chance he decided to run off and bother someone else. “Are you going to any of the parties tonight? I heard that there’s a few going on, and that everyone is trying to out-do each other. You’d think it’d just be easier to plan one together, right?” Scrunching up her nose as she finished, she belatedly realised she’d put a little too much enthusiasm into her words. Jemma had never had a problem talking to anyone, she’d always been the type of person to walk right up to a stranger and introduce herself without ever doubting herself – but this felt different. This was a situation she didn’t know how to navigate. How were you supposed to act around the person you’d accidentally started to like too much? The person you’d tried to make you hate you, because leaving someone who hated you, was infinitely easier than leaving someone you still had feelings for. Or that had been her hypothesis, it turned out that trying to make him hate her did nothing to negate whatever left over feelings she had, and now she was completely lost on what she was supposed to do. But she’d still pretend everything was fine, because faking it until she made it, was Jemma’s approach to everything in life. “Have you seen any of the others yet? I’ve been dying to talk to them all year, but they all seem to have summer fever where they want to lie in their beds as long as possible, so selfish of them.” She finished with a mock eye roll belatedly remembering she was more than likely the most selfish person in his mind.

[jemmaparker]

maddiewalkcr‌:

Cousins was Maddie’s happy place; it always had been. Even though more of her childhood summers than she’d like to admit were spent begging to be included by the boys, and dying for Daniel to notice her… her summers had always been perfect in her eyes. Or at least, close to perfect. Real perfection happened for Maddie the summer that she and Jemma became inseparable. It was exactly what she needed. Someone who understood her more than the boys did, and someone who made her feel wanted every second of every day. A true best friend. Sure, she had close girl friends back home in New York, but it wasn’t the same. Maddie spent her entire school years counting down the seconds until Cousins, and none of her school friends were a part of that world. It was a mystery to them. But Jemma understood Maddie, and Maddie understood Jemma, and their friendship made the beach even more special to the young brunette. So when Jemma had texted her and asked her to meet her at the diner, she didn’t hesitate. She grabbed a few bills out of her wallet, jammed them into one of the pockets of her jeans shorts, and headed out the door. It didn’t take her long to get there; it didn’t take anyone long to get anywhere in Cousins, but her speed walking certainly helped. She flung open the door of the diner and bounced over to their table, moving so quickly that her long, brown locks tangled behind her with each step. “I missed you so much!” Maddie exclaimed, throwing her arms around the other girl. “Mm, it has been forever. Nine months is way too long. But I dunno, it doesn’t feel like anything really interesting happened. Nothing fun, anyways,” Maddie answered, her parents’ divorce slipping into her mind once again. “What about you, hm?”

“I missed you too!” There were numerous things she loved about spending her summer by the beach, but leaving everyone at the end was always bittersweet. Of course thanks to social media it was easy to keep in contact with everyone, but it was never going to be the same as actually being able to see them in person. To talk about the things you’d never dare say online. “Isn’t it? We should really become politicians and make a law that says you only need to attend school for half a year. Then we’d get half a year at home and half a year here, perfect scenario if you ask me.” It was ridiculous, and they both knew it, but making everything a joke was Jemma’s forte, even if it was something you should probably take seriously. “You’ve done nothing worth mentioning for nine months?” She parroted, slipping back into the booth, looking at Maddie with curiosity written all over her face. “We need to change that. Oh! I know you should make a summer to-do list!” It was something Jemma made every year, a way to judge whether her summer had been successful or not. She’d pick everything she wanted to do, and do her best to check everything off. It was a starting point when she wasn’t sure how to spend her time. “If you had to pick three things that you wanted from this summer, what would they be?” Circling back to Maddie’s question, she gave a half shrug in response, taking a few seconds to gather her thoughts before actually replying. “Sadly nothing interesting either. My parents have decided that now I’m sixteen I should ‘start school more seriously’.” Finishing with the worst impressions of her father that she could, she reasoned there was no harm in it. Her parents didn’t spent much time in Cousins, and that meant Maddie didn’t know them well. “I did get a car for my birthday! That was pretty cool. Apparently leaving pictures of the car you want around the house pays off.”

[jemmaparker]

Thanks to being a naturally outgoing person, Jemma had always found it easy to make friends wherever she went, Cousins was no different. There were a group of people she’d spent most of her summer with for as long as she could remember, but for the past few years the person she’d been most excited to see was Maddie. On the surface, they didn’t seem like they should get on as well as they did, but Jemma was positive the difference in their personalities was why they got along, they provided each other with a balance. Once she’d unpacked everything, she sent Maddie a text asking the brunette to meet her at the diner her aunt ran. Picking a booth that overlooked the beach, her eyes shot towards the door as the bell jingled letting everyone know someone had come in. “Maddie!” She squealed, getting up to give the other a hug. “It feels like forever since I last seen you, so you have to tell me everything from the last year. Or at least the highlights so we’re not sitting here all summer.” @maddiewalkcr

[jemmaparker]

“Bailey!” She called out after the golden retriever who had decided bounding down the beach was more fun than walking by her side. Running after the dog as quickly as she could, cursing herself for wearing sandals that were made to look good opposed to being practical, she let out an irritated sigh when she noticed the dog was now pestering someone else, trying to get the person to pet them. “I am so sorry. He’s friendly I promise, not the best listener, but all he’ll do is lick you to de…” Pausing mid-sentence when she finally noticed who Bailey had stopped at, someone she knew a little too well, she couldn’t help but feel more than a little annoyed at the dog. Primarily because she’d been hoping to avoid Lincoln for the entire summer, not bump into him on her first day there. “He didn’t bother you did he?” Keeping her tone as even as possible, she decided to pretend that they hadn’t left the previous summer on awkward terms, hoping he’d go along with it. @lincolnmontgomery

[givemelovelikeneverbeforx]