Jasper rifled through his suitcase, looking for something decent to wear to the bonfire. If worse came to worst, he'd be the least casually dressed at the party. And if he was lucky, the neighbors would let him borrow something for the night. But considering he had time to kill before they all headed out in Jeremiah's Jeep, it wouldn't hurt to ask.

Walking up the steps to the house, Jasper leaned in to ring the doorbell but before he could, the door swung open again, revealing Jeremiah behind it.

"Divine intervention," Jasper commented, leaning back and laughing a little. "I was actually wondering, if it wasn't too much to ask, if you had something I could borrow for the night?"

"You look good with what you're wearing right now." Jeremiah nodded his head to Jasper's attire, which consisted of a heather gray t-shirt with a patterned button-up over it, and navy blue cargo shorts, topped off with a pair of his perfectly beat-up white Converse he's had since his freshman year of high school. 

"Oh. Good to know, then." Jasper teetered back and forth from his heels to the balls of his feet, awkward silence settling in.

"You wanna come in this time? I mean, you are empty-handed, but I can let it slide."

Jasper nodded. "Lead the way." Walking in, he felt the need to take his shoes off. So he did, and set them by the door. The inside was warm, a decent contrast to the Dakota Johnson lime green that was covering the walls of the house he was staying in. It was cozy and lived-in, even if there was a place for everything.

"Hey, mom. This is Jasper. He moved in with his mom next door for the summer and he's gonna hang with us for the night," Jeremiah introduced Jasper to the warm blonde at the kitchen island handling a pan full of brownie batter, and he could see that she was a complete reflection of the house they lived in.

Jasper stuck out a hand, which was comically met with an oven mitt. "It's nice to meet you Mrs. . ." he trailed off, waiting for her to fill in the blanks.

"Fisher, but please, call me Susannah," Susannah responded, "and this is my best friend, Laurel Park."

"Oh, no way! The Laurel Park, what an honor. My mom was non-stop raving about Party's Over. You know, she's a writer, too. Maybe you've heard of her? Constance Wilde?"

"You're Constance Wilde's son?" Laurel exclaimed, "I should've known. You're a spitting image."

"Well, I'm not graying just yet," Jasper chuckled. "But if I do, will I look as good?"

"Believe me, you'll be a stone-cold fox," Laurel laughed.

"Hey, my mom's got a book signing coming up, maybe I can steal you a signed copy?"

Laurel nodded, smiling. "Thank you, Jasper. I'd be delighted." Then she went back to tending to the popcorn. As Jasper and Jeremiah headed for the backyard, someone else came down the stairs. He was almost as tall as Jeremiah, with a full face surrounded by freckles and a tuft of dark, jet black hair.

"Yo, Steven. This is Jasper. He's gonna be our neighbor for the summer," Jeremiah introduced.

"'Sup?" Steven nodded his head at him in acknowledgement. "You coming with us to the bonfire?"

"Heh, sounds like the plan for the night."

"All right, right on. Lemme go grab Conrad and then we can head out." With that, Steven walked through the sliding doors, yelling at Conrad to haul ass.

"So this bonfire sounds like a big deal. It's not a big deal, is it?" Jasper turned to Jeremiah with a quizzical look on his face.

Jeremiah shrugged. "I mean, it's the bonfire for the first night and a lot of people are gonna be there but I wouldn't think it'd be considered a big deal. Do you want it to be a big deal?"

"It's my first night ever in Cousins. I don't wanna be bummed out by a lame-ass bonfire."

"Well, I can guarantee that it won't be lame or ass. Consider me your Cousins tour guide."

"Okay, fine. But you don't happen to charge by the hour, do you?"

The Cousins Beach bonfire was decent, to say the least.

"Oh my God, this looks like the aca-initiation night scene from Pitch Perfect," Jasper commented as he hopped out of the Jeep and shut the door.

"Is that a good thing?" Jeremiah asked, turning his head as he sidled up next to him.

"Considering that Pitch Perfect is pretty much a cult classic, I'd say so."

"Really? Like Kill Bill or Fight Club-level cult classic?"

"I was thinking more along the lines of Heathers."

Jeremiah clapped Jasper on the back. "We need to get a beer in you."

"I'll settle for a seltzer water."

Hanging out by yourself at a party was one thing, hanging out by yourself at a party where you didn't really know anyone was something else. Jasper sipped at his La Croix as he looked around the beach, looking at the ones playing drinking games to others making out on the sand. Maybe he should've stayed home. He sipped at his La Croix some more and took a breath. Soon enough, Jeremiah caught up to him, dazzling smile leveled up to full wattage. It was almost blinding.

"How are you liking it so far, man?" Jeremiah asked, taking a sip from his cup.

"You know, it's fine. I wasn't expecting much."

"You're not gonna go mingle? Say hi to any cute girl or guy tonight? I think I saw someone checking you out earlier."

Jasper shrugged, contemplating. "I honestly just hope I can walk a straight line by the time we get back to the house. Which shouldn't be too hard because I don't drink that much, anyway. Or I at least drink responsibly, more or less."

"Oh, so you're a trained drinker, is what I'm hearing?" Jeremiah's eyebrows rose in anticipation, lips smiling around the edge of his cup.

"If you're implying that I can handle my liquor, then yes."

"I'm gonna hold you to that, Wilde." Jeremiah swung an arm around Jasper's shoulders and the two of them clinked their cups/cans in celebration. Fast friends. That was how Jasper would describe it. "So, how are you liking Cousins so far? Since it's your first time and all."

Jasper nodded, taking another sip of his La Croix. "It's nice. Honestly a good change of scenery from Boston. Man, so many fucking trees! Unbelievable, honestly. I also have no idea what I'm gonna be doing for the rest of the summer. Well, besides working at the country club. Other than that, my schedule is cleared."

"No shit?" Jeremiah perked at the statement, "Steven and I are working at the country club! Maybe you could come over for breakfast at our place and we can all go together."

"Didn't take you as one for carpooling, even if we did just meet."

"I'm all about saving the environment, baby." Jeremiah leaned in then, eyeing the slightly taller young man.

"If you're expecting me to put out tonight, you have got me so wrong right now," Jasper retorted, playfully pushing Jeremiah's face away with his fingers. "At least take a guy to dinner first."

"See, I knew you were the type to play hard to get."

"If playing hard to get means not having my standards in the dirt, then yeah, I'm playing hard to get."

Jeremiah laid a hand over his heart, feigning hurt. "I'm wounded, JJ."

"I assure you, you'll be fine, pretty boy." Jasper bumped his hip into Jeremiah's as the two stood to the side, watching the other partygoers. "Isn't there some girl or guy you're dying to talk to?"

"I'm your self-appointed Cousins tour guide. And as your tour guide, it's my job to make sure that you get the lowdown of the what's what and who's who of Cousins Beach."

Jasper rolled his eyes. He was in for a treat, he knew it. "Well then, do your job or I'm firing you."

"Right on!" Jeremiah tugged at him, getting him to move his feet so they could both go say hi to some people. But before they could get far, Jasper caught sight of Belly walking onto the beach, looking mildly awkward as she looked around for any familiar faces. Jasper was going to wave to her to get her attention, but it seemed that the dude from the gas station got to her first.

"Steven!" Belly called, and Steven and a girl that was next to him stopped walking once they heard his name. They both walked over to Belly, and the conversation went on, but it was hard to hear from where Jasper was standing. He and Jeremiah went around and made small talk with the other guests, saying hi and whatnot. Then, Jeremiah spotted Belly and they both went up to her and Steven.

"Belly, you came! Great, now we can all hang out together!" Jeremiah exclaimed, stoked at the opportunity.

"Nah, man," Steven shook his head. "I'm taking her home."

"Jere and I can keep her company," Jasper suggested.

"I appreciate the offer, dude, but you just got here and I don't really know you all that well."

"Fair enough." Jasper raised his hands up in mock defense and backed away.

"Dude, why don't you just hang out with Shayla or something?" Jeremiah asked in hopes of Steven blowing off some steam. Steven looked at Jeremiah for a bit, contemplating his offer, and then he blew out a sigh and conceded, being led away by Shayla.

"I, for one, am glad you're here, Bells." Jeremiah smiled. Belly gave him a rough one back, her smile not quite reaching up to her ears. Jeremiah was then called away, and that just left Jasper and Belly.

Before Jasper could speak, Belly rolled her eyes. "I'm sorry, you can go and hang with Jeremiah if you want. You don't have to babysit me."

Jasper looked around sarcastically before turning back to Belly. "Who said anything about babysitting? And it can't really be babysitting if we're practically the same age, right?"

Belly shrugged. "I guess not. I'm- I'm gonna go sit down."

Jasper nodded and watched her go before walking back over to Jeremiah and the girls. And Jasper knew sooner or later a fight was going to break out. He just didn't think it'd be Conrad and the gas station dude going at it.

The drive back to their respective houses felt a lot longer than it did on the way there, probably because of the cop car trailing behind them. Thankfully, Jasper didn't drink the first night, but it still felt weird.

Walking up the steps, Jasper opened the front door of the house to find his mom reading a book on the couch. She looked up and asked, "How was the party?" as Jasper was closing the door behind him and setting the keys down.

"It was okay. Nothing special, really." Jasper shrugged as he toed off his sneakers before sitting down on the couch. "Jeremiah, our neighbor, offered to give me a ride to the country club tomorrow."

"Does he work there, too?" Constance asked, closing her book and sitting up, intrigued.

"No, I just think he likes chauffeuring me around."

"Finally letting someone else drive you around for a change."

"Ha ha. How's your book? Have you started on it yet?"

Constance scoffed, rolling her eyes. "We just got here. Let a girl settle in, why don't you?"

"Okay, fair enough, I guess. But is it okay if I go over tomorrow morning?"

"You're not gonna leave here a feral child, all right? I can promise you that much." Constance lightly hit Jasper on the shoulder with her paperback. "Now go on, git. You got an early day ahead of you."

✶ AUTHOR'S NOTE  ╱ 092023

whoop whoop second chapter !!

feel free to leave your thoughts <33