 ( chapter one )
THE SPLASH OF SUMMER.

"Oliver! Breakfast is ready, hurry up before I leave your ass and you have to walk." Sydney, Syd, yelled to her little brother who was upstairs in the other room. They were already late, and Syd needed to bring him to West Valleys middle school for school before heading over to Samantha LaRussos house. The middle school had already started, but the high schoolers still had one more day of summer.

She heard movement from inside Oliver's room as she finished putting his lunch into a brown bag. Syd checked the time, 7:55 am. By this time her dad would already be in Pennsylvania, on some new business trip. He'd gotten back late last night and left early this morning, she'd heard him come and go.

When Oliver came out, he sat down at the table in front of his breakfast and ate it quick. Syd messed up his hair slightly as she moved past him. "Don't choke."

Syd moved toward a mirror in the living room, fixing her hair and makeup best she could. She tended to roll with a certain crowd, and if any tiny detail was off about her appearance she was sure she'd have to hear all about it.

"Did you see dad before he left?" Oliver questioned, through bites of food. Syd didn't turn around, only looking at him through the mirror. "Sorry, I didn't. He, uh, left another note on the fridge for you. Once you finish up it's all yours."

Oliver smiled, excitedly. There was no note from their father. Well, there was one, but Syd herself had written it when she first got up. Their dad hadn't left a note since Oliver was in 2nd grade, the rest of them had all been Syd.

Oliver finished up his food quick, putting the dish in the dishwasher before moving toward the note. "Oh, cool! Dads gonna see the Phillys play. I wish I could go."

"One day." Syd responded, though she knew even if that ever did happen, she'd be the one taking him rather than his father.

Syd grabbed her bag and turned around toward her brother. "Okay, double time. Let's go so we don't get another email home from your teacher." Oliver rolled his eyes. "She has it out for me, I swear." Syd chuckled. "It's okay, she had it out for me too. Now let's get out of here."

The two McKinley siblings rushed out the front door, moving swiftly towards Syds black Jeep. She plugged her phone into the AUX and pulled out of her driveway. Oliver groaned, looking at the music that began playing. "For once can we listen to something I like?"

"Learn to drive and then you can play whatever music you want." Syd responded, turning the music up a bit just to annoy her brother. "I'm 11 years old. Isn't it illegal for me to drive?"

Syd just shrugged, smirking to herself. "Don't get caught." Oliver rolled his eyes. "You're a horrible influence." Syds smirk seemed to fall away as a small smile replaced it, "Well, I must be doing something right cause look how responsible you are." Oliver just grimaced. "Gross go back to being rude to me this feels weird." 

Syd just scoffed, rolling her eyes though she caught the grin on her brothers' face and it caused one to appear on her own. She easily went over the speed limit, cutting the 10 minute drive to the middle school down to 6. She checked the time and saw 8:10 am, five minutes before Oliver needed to be inside for class.

She turned to him. "Okay, love you, goodbye, get out. And remember you're carpooling home!" Oliver grabbed his bag, swinging it over his shoulder as he shut the door. Syd smiled as her brother waved goodbye to her, instantly returning it before he turned around and ran inside the building.

With that, Syd began her not so long drive to Sam's house, agreeing to help the girl set up for her pool party before anyone else arrived. Sam had said her parents had no idea about the party, and Syd was happy to help set up.

So when she made it to the LaRussos, Syd knocked on the door just to be met by Anthony. "What are you doing here?" Syd gave the young boy a shocked look. "I can't believe you'd ask me that, Anthony. I thought we were friends." The young boy rolled his eyes, looking back down at his iPad. "Sam's in her room."

"Thanks, kid." Syd smiled, moving past him and heading toward Sams room. Syd knocked quickly, letting the other brunette girl know she was there before she opened the door. "Sup."

Sam looked up, smiling, "You do know people usually wait for the other person to answer the door after knocking, right?" Syd rolled her eyes with a grin. "Of course I know that, Sam. I just don't care."

Sam laughed, shaking her head. Both girls then heard a shout from Sams parents to say goodbye before the front door shut. Sam looked over to Syd. "Okay. We have an hour to set up the backyard and make everything perfect."

Syd furrowed her brows in confusion. "Why does the set up have to be perfect? It's a pool party... everyone is going to be in the pool." Sam sighed, shaking her head. "I told Yas I would host, so I'm going to make sure I do a perfect job. I need everyone to have an amazing time."

"I think you're stressing about this way too much. Yasmine is gonna find something to complain about even at the best party ever hosted, so working to please her is a waste of energy." Syd spoke. She'd known Yasmine basically her entire life and she'd never seen the girl truly happy unless they were at the mall.

Sam frowned. "Easy for you to say, they're already your friends no matter what happens. I'm new to the group so I need to prove myself. And besides, I want Kyler to like it, too." Syd just frowned back. "Okay, first, Kyler is an asshole. And secondly, Moon and Yas like you, Sam, you don't need to worry."

"I think he's sweet." Sam shrugged, going back to her planning. Syds frown only deepened. Kyler had been trying to get with her since they were in middle school and Syd had always told him no. It didn't matter who he was dating at the time, Kyler took every opportunity to try and guilt Syd into getting with him and she hated him. But, Yasmine and Moon liked him so she had to act like she had no issue with him if she wanted to keep her friends.

Syd shook her head, sighing, "Whatever. What do you need me to do, captain?" Sam smiled thankfully. "Can you just start taking food from the kitchen island outside? I told my parents I was having a girls day with Yas, you, and Moon today so my mom helped me make food."

"Aye, aye." Syd saluted, leaving her friends room to begin the process of going back and forth from the kitchen outside. While she did that, Sam set up the music and pool floats, and before they knew it, people began showing up.

Syd took her shirt and pants off, revealing the bikini she knew wouldn't actually be getting wet. The girls never actually swam, only ever sat talking and tanning while watching the boys around them cause a scene.

"Sydney!" Syd turned around and smiled as Moon ran to her, engulfing the girl in a hug. "We missed you last night." Moon continued. Syd smiled. "I missed you too. But you know, gotta take care of the brother."

"Isn't he like 12 already? Can't he handle himself?" Yasmine wondered, walking over to the two girls. Syd smiled lightly. "I promised him I'd stay. Next time, though."

Yasmine rolled her eyes. "Yeah, yeah, whatever. You missed the most insane thing." That peaked Syds interest. "Oh?" Moon nodded quickly. "It was so scary. Yas was texting and hit this dudes car with Sam and I in the car, and he totally freaked out on us. He was banging on the windows and screaming."

"I bet he was drunk." Yasmine included. "That's horrible. Did you help him with any damages?" Syd questioned and Yasmine scoffed. "Ew, gross. I wasn't going to get whatever disease he had. We sped off and left him there." Syds eyes widened. "You hit and ran?"

Moon sighed. "Only because he was freaking us out. We totally would have gotten out if he hadn't gone all crazy on us." Syd nodded, she guessed she could understand. She didn't agree with what went down, but it wasn't like her saying anything would change what they did.

Suddenly Syd felt a pair of arms wrap around her and lift her up. "Hey, babe!" Kyler smirked as he squeezed the girl close. "Kyler! Put me down." Syd shrieked, squirming around while Yas and Moon just laughed at the boys antics. "As you wish." He replied, setting her down and wrapping an arm around her shoulders. Syd frowned, ducking from behind him and walking over to link her arms with Moons.

"Ugh. Where is Sam? The lack of music is really killing the vibe." Yasmine complained, looking around as she crossed her arms over her chest. Syd frowned, looking forward to see Sam running around a bit before finally making it to the music and playing something.

As Sam walked over to the girls, Kyler and his friends immediately turned her way. "Hey, Sam. Do you happen to have any swimsuits we could borrow? We forgot ours." Kyler wondered, smiling at the girl. Sam smiled back and it made Syd want to hurl as the girl nodded quickly, "My dad has some in his drawers. You're free to use them."

"Thanks." Kyler smiled, himself and his friends walking off.

As the party continued, Syd found herself seated between Yasmine and Moon with Sam on Moons other side. The party had actually been going really well for a few hours at this point, and with beer in her hand Sydney could not complain.

Sam smiled at Yasmine. "Okay, you were totally right. This is so much fun." Yasmine smiled, looking around. "Told you. Always better to be the one throwing the party." She looked past Sam, smirking. "And Kyler's been eye-banging you all day."

Sam looked towards Kyler to see him already looking back with a smile on his face. She chuckled lightly before looking away.

Moon suddenly stood, "Hey, Rory, do your flip again. I wanna get it for my channel." She began recording Rory, who jumped on the trampoline before flipping. "Whoo!"

Everyone cheered and Syd smiled, clapping a bit for the boys trick. "Yes, Rory!" Moon cheered as she continued to record around.

And then, suddenly Mr. LaRusso was running in and Syd immediately knew the party was over. "Hey! Hey! Hey! What the hell is going on here?"

"Oh, shit." Moon gasped, ending her recording. Sam stood as Mr. LaRusso turned the music off. "All right, everybody get out of here right now."

Sam ran over to her dad. "So sorry, Dad. I had no idea you'd be home so early." Mr. LaRusso looked at his daughter, annoyed. "It doesn't make a difference what time I get home, Sam. You think we want strangers in the backyard making a mess?"

"They're not strangers. They're my friends." Sam shot back. Syd looked at Yasmine. "Do we bounce?" Yasmine just shot her a side glance. "In a sec. I want to see the rest of this."

"Yeah, some friends." Mr. LaRusso replied, before he noticed the swim trunks. "Is he wearing my bathing suit? Wait. Are all of you guys wearing my bathing suits? All right, listen, party's over. Let's go. Take the suits off and leave." Rory began taking his suit off but Mr. LaRusso stopped him. "No, not out here, genius. In the pool house."

Mrs. LaRusso then asked Mr. LaRusso something quietly, pulling him into their home. Syd caught a look at Sam and frowned, seeing the mortified look on her face.

"Okay, let's go now." Yasmine decided, pulling Syd up with her. Both girls put their shorts back on, Syd keeping her shirt in her tote as she put it over her shoulder. Yasmine grabbed Moon before the three moved past Sam, Syd pausing for a moment. "I had a great time. Talk to you later, okay?"

"Yeah, thanks." Sam replied, trying to smile before Syd was pulled off by Moon to head outside. Once she reached her car, she said goodbye to Moon and Yasmine before getting into her car and heading home.

A few hours later, Syd found herself on a call with the girls while lying on her bed. "I need one of you bitches to pick me up for school tomorrow." Yasmine decided, looking between the three on her screen. Sam laughed. "How is your car still not ready?"

"It hit another car, that usually takes more than a day." Sydney noted, picking at her nails. "My dad's getting me a new one. He felt bad about that "deer" that jacked up the Range Rover." Yasmine smirked, obviously pleased with how the situation was working for her.

Moon looked at the screen confused. "You hit a deer?" Sam shook her head. "No, Moon, she rear-ended that guy's car." Moon chuckled. "Oh yeah, right."

"I'm still kind of freaked out about it. I feel guilty about just driving away." Sam admitted. "From that meth-head zombie? It's like I told Syd, we weren't going to catch his disease. And anyways, if I hadn't gunned it, we'd be chained up in his basement right now." Yasmine defended.

Syd chuckled, she couldn't believe Yasmine had actually convinced herself the man whose car got hit was the one in the wrong. "Sam, you got a sec?" Syd heard Mr. LaRusso question before the two spoke for a moment and Sam looked back at the screen. "I can pick you up in the morning. Yes."

"Oh, good." Yasmine responded before Sam cut out of the call. "I'm glad she could, because I have to drive Oliver." Syd admitted and Moon nodded. "Yeah, and I need to keep my routine consistent."

"Whatever. See you two losers tomorrow." Yasmine smiled and the girls ended the call. Syd sighed, she could already tell this was going to be a long year.

AUTHORS NOTE!
finally updating this 🤭🤭🤭 I have some chapters ready to go so I am very excited and hopefully you are too!!