chapter one
you are happening to the world

FLORENCE SIGHED AS her friend Daisy dragged her down the hallway at school. The two were on their way to the music rooms to have one last song together before they graduated. Daisy Samuels had been friends with Florence since the two were paired up in music class sophomore year and now the two were going to be sharing a room at Princeton together.

Daisy let out a content sigh as they stepped into the music room. "All the good memories we've made in here."

Florence smiled. "I'll never forget this place."

"Good times, good times." Daisy sat down at the piano. "What should we play today? Taylor Swift... ooh, I'm in a debut kinda mood."

"I do love Debut." Florence added.

"Mary's song?" Daisy suggested.

Florence's world stopped.

Mary's song.

And suddenly she was whisked back to the last day of summer as she sang with Conrad on the beach, Belly and Sydney dancing together in front of them.

Conrad and Florence were walking back towards the Fisher house hand in hand when they finished, smiles on their faces.

"This is crazy." Florence stated.

"Us or them?" Conrad wondered, gesturing to a giggling Sydney and Belly walking in front of them.

"Both." Florence shrugged. "I'm scared for them."

"Why?"

"Belly kissed Jeremiah like two days ago." Florence told him.

"You think Syd's gonna flip?" Conrad turned to her with furrowed eyebrows.

"No." Florence shook her head. "I think Jeremiah's gonna flip."

"I'm sure it'll be fine." Conrad reassured her.

Oh how wrong he could be.

The two followed Belly and Sydney into the house, all four of them trying to be as quiet as possible as to not wake anyone up. Their plan failed however when they looked up to see Susannah and Emmeline sat on the sofa looking over at them. The two women shared a smile before turning back to them.

Susannah laughed. "I knew it. I knew it. You and Laurel owe me so much money."

"Yeah, yeah." Emmeline nodded waving her off.

"I'll be back." Florence announced, squeezing Conrad's hand before letting it go, the boy flexing his hand at the lost touch.

"Me too." Belly nodded.

"Get over here." Emmeline ordered Syd and Conrad as Belly and Florence walked towards the stairs.

"Sit down." Susannah added.

Florence made her way upstairs and into Steven's room, the boy sound asleep in his bed. The brunette rolled her eyes at the boy, huffing before flopping down across his body. Steven groaned in his sleep, turning over so Florence was led across his stomach instead of his back.

"Get off you big oaf." He complained.

"Nope, you lazy shit." Florence smiled.

Steven successfully pushed her off of him, sitting up and narrowing his eyes at her. "Why are you so happy before eleven o'clock in the morning?"

"Can't a girl be happy in this day and age?" Florence asked.

"Not you, and not this early and definitely not after last night." Steven answered. He looked over her face, narrowing his eyes even further and pursing his lips.

"Not an attractive look darling." Florence told him.

"You and Conrad finally admitted your feelings for each other!" Steven suddenly exclaimed with a gasp. "Ugh, I owe Shayla so much money."

"Why did everyone bet on us?" Florence looked at him in confusion.

"Brought us joy." Steven shrugged before a teasing smile settled on his face and he poked her side. "You and Conrad huh?"

"Shut up." Florence hit him in the arm.

"I literally will now never shut up about this, you two are meant to be." Steven told her. "We're like every good trio in history, two boys and a girl, where the girl is dating one of them."

"You're such a nerd." Florence laughed at her best friend.

"You're about to spend four years with this nerd." Steven reminded her.

"Don't remind me." Florence stated dramatically.

"You're gonna love it." Steven responded.

"I know." Florence nodded. "I cannot wait."

"Me neither." Steven smiled, moving to hug the girl. Florence hugged him back a smile on her face. The two pulled apart at the sound of shouting, Florence's eyebrows furrowed as she walked towards Steven's door.

"I'll be back." Florence told Steven, the boy nodding as she left his room. She immediately stopped at the sight of Belly fleeing Jeremiah's bedroom, clearly distressed. "Hey, Belly, Bels, what's wrong?"

"I told him and he hates me! He's so angry! He's gonna hate Syd! His mum is dying and he needs a friends! But he's gonna hate his only one!" Belly exclaimed, her breathing erratic. "I-I can't..."

"Bels slow down..." Florence tried to calm the girl down.

"I have to talk to Sydney." Belly stated, rushing down the stairs.

Florence stomach sank at the realisation that Belly was most likely going to put her and Syd's relationship on pause in order not to ruin Jeremiah's only true friendship while his mum was dying. The brunette walked down the stairs, a sad smile on her face. Conrad instantly smiled at the sight of her, his own dropping at her expression. He stood up, taking a hold of her hand and pulling her outside, the two sitting in the back garden.

"What's wrong?" Conrad asked her.

"Jeremiah freaked." Florence stated. "And now Belly is gonna dump Sydney."

"That sucks." Conrad let out a sigh.

"I know." Florence looked at him.

Conrad quickly shook his head. "Flo..."

"Look, maybe we should just, out of respect for Sydney, because she's my sister, my baby sister and I don't wanna make her feel uncomfortable or upset or anything bad. So maybe we don't break up or anything, just don't flaunt it... this... us." Florence suggested sadly. "Only for a little while."

"You're selfless, sometimes too much."

"It's one of the things you love about me." Florence shrugged.

"Something like that." Conrad responded. "I hate this."

"I know." Florence nodded. "But it's not permanent. I promise."

"Good." Conrad replied. "I do not think I can wait any longer for this."

"You're such a sap." Florence teased with a smile.

"Shut up." Conrad pushed her gently, before moving to try and find something in his pocket. "I got you something."

Florence took the box that Conrad handed her, opening it up to see a silver ring sat inside. It was a simple ring, a solid band with a small sun and moon engraved on it. Florence picked it up, looking at the ring closely, engraved on the inside were the words 'Ariel and Prince Eric. Always.'

"People told me that you were the sun and I was the moon." Conrad explained. "And of course the nicknames."

"I love it." Florence smiled, putting it on her ring finger.

"We're gonna be always." Conrad told her.

"Yes we are." Florence nodded, leaning forward and pressing a small kiss to his lips.

"Hey Florence, you okay?" Daisy's voice snapped her out of her memories.

"Yeah." Florence nodded quickly. "I just remembered my dad wanted to talk to me before graduation later so I have to go."

Without another word, Florence grabbed her stuff and rushed out of the room, leaving a very confused Daisy behind. Florence walked home to an empty house, a sad smile on her face as she thought about everything that had changed since summer.

✿✼:*ﾟ:༅｡.｡༅:*･ﾟﾟ･⭑

LATER AT GRADUATION, Florence wore a long red summer dress under her blue graduation gown. She sat in the front row, diploma in hand as she listened to Daisy's Valedictorian speech.

Florence was leaving high school. And in that time, she has written over five hundred songs, spent three summers at Cousins, had two boyfriends, been utterly heartbroken once, lost Susannah, got into Princeton, her parents got a divorce, her dad left, her brother left for college, she had thousands of memories, good and bad, and now she was leaving, sat at graduation with only her mum in the crowd watching her.

Her phone buzzed :

Conrad
Congrats on graduation
Good luck with your song :)

Florence smiled softly, putting her phone in her dress pockets (yes her dress had pockets!) and looking back up at the stage. Conrad still messaged her... sometimes. It was strange but it was something.

"And now we welcome our favourite Eastwood singer, Florence Castillo!" Daisy exclaimed happily. Florence let out a breath, standing up from her seat and making her way back on stage. She took the guitar Daisy was holding out for her.

"Thanks." She smiled, turning to the crowd. "Hello, everyone. As Daisy said, we all will remember these times for years to come. No matter good or bad times may these memories long live."

She began strumming the familiar melody of Long Live by Taylor Swift, singing confidently with everyone back her up. The girl smiled as everyone sang, looking up towards the sky during the bridge but ultimately she was in her element completely.

"One day, we will be remembered." She sang the final line, one final strum of the guitar and everyone cheered. Daisy stood next to Florence, taking a hold of her head. The two shared a smile before throwing their caps in the air, everyone following their movements.

Florence left the stage, walking over to where her mum was supposed to be only to be met with a familiar head of curly hair.

"Jeremiah!"

The boy turned, catching Florence in his arms and hugging her tightly. "Flo! You did so good!"

"I can't believe you're here!" Florence exclaimed.

"Of course I'm here!" Jeremiah shook his head. "It's your graduation."

"Yeah, but..."

"Syd and I are fine." Jeremiah reassured her. "I wasn't gonna miss your graduation."

"You know... you could still switch colleges and come to Princeton with Steven and I." Florence told the boy. "We could be the next Emmeline, Laurel and Susannah, y'know minus the..."

"Yeah." Jeremiah nodded. "But I'm okay at Filch. Think Princeton's got enough to deal with with you and Steven there."

"Oh shut it." Florence shoved him with a laugh. "Where's my mum?"

"Sydney called her, she had to leave." Jeremiah explained.

"Oh." Florence sighed. "I see."

"It's fine." Jeremiah swung his arm over her shoulder. "Let's go get celebratory ice cream."

"Okay." Florence nodded, her smile back on her face.

"You going to Steven's graduation next week?" Jeremiah wondered.

"Of course I am, I promised him." Florence shrugged.

"And Florence Castillo always keeps her word."

Yes she did.

Which is how, a weak later, she found herself sneaking into Steven's graduation just in time to catch the end of his valedictorian speech.

"They say that everything happens for a reason. Now, who 'they' are exactly is unclear. Maybe a theologian coined it. Or, I don't know, whoever configured the simulation we're clearly living in. Maybe it was Rihanna. No, no, Rihanna can do no wrong. It was definitely not her. But we've heard it time and time again you know, that everything had to happen exactly so, in order to teach us something about ourselves, in order for us to grow and meet our destiny. I think that's BS. I'm sorry, Mum, sorry."

Florence looked over to see Laurel, Belly, Taylor and Steven's dad all sat together. She smiled before turning back to Steven. "You know, breakups don't always lead to breakthroughs. Sometimes a girl dumps you after an awesome summer and it sucks. And you learn nothing from it but you eventually force yourself to move on anyways. But then the unthinkable happens and you realise it's pointless to think of life that way. Because everything just happen. You know, the good things, the bad things all in ways that you'd never expect. All in ways that are so completely out of your control that they could just drive you insane. There are times where it feels like the world is happening to you, but remember, that you are also happening to the world. So don't wait. Make what you want happen."

Florence smiled at his words, a sense of familiarity settling over her.

"Because tomorrow isn't promised so you better make fucking sure that you are living today." He finished, everyone cheering the boy. Florence cheered along with everyone else when he finished, a smile on her face as she made eye contact with the boy. Steven jumped down from the stage as everyone began to leave making a beeline for the girl.

"Florence!" He exclaimed, wrapping his arms around her waist, lifting her from the group and spinning her around. "I've missed you!"

"It hasn't been that long since you last saw me." Florence told him as he placed her back on the ground.

"Long enough." Steven groaned.

"I liked your speech." Florence smiled. "You, uh, you got the stuff too."

"And the note." Steven nodded.

"My mum cried when she read it." Florence stated.

"My mum refuses to acknowledge it." Steven sighed. "I still can't believe you're here."

"Well I made a promise." Florence shrugged. "Plus Jere came to mine so it's only fair I'm here..."

"Oh, yes, your graduation." Steven nodded. "The song was amazing, your singing never fails to amaze me."

"What?"

"Oh your mum recorded it and sent it to all of us since we couldn't be there." Steven explained with a smile.

"Really?" Florence's eyebrows furrowed.

"Of course." Steven spoke like her doubting it was crazy.

"I love you." Florence put an arm around his waist, pulling him closer.

"Yeah, yeah, I love you too." Steven smiled as the two walked out of the gym.

"Oh guess what?" Florence stopped as they stepped onto the grass. Steven raised his eyebrows at her as she smiled, placing her bag on the floor, opening it up and pulling a blue graduation gown out of it. She placed it on over her dress, standing up with her hands on her hips. "Ta-da! Now we are both graduating today!"

"Where did you get that?" Steven asked.

"I stole it." Florence shrugged.

Steven shook his head fondly. "Right. Let's take some photos."

Steven grabbed his phone, the two taking hundreds and hundreds of selfies in different poses. Ones of them smiling, pouting, laughing. They had enough to fill multiple picture books.

"Hey Bels, take of photo of me and Flo." Steven called, him and Florence walking over to where Belly and Taylor were stood.

"Sure—wait, Florence?" Belly froze, stopping at the sight of her friend —— her ex-girlfriend's sister.

"Belly!" Florence smiled, hugging the girl. "How are you?"

"I'm good." Belly nodded forcing a smile. "Now let's get this photo."

Steven and Florence posed nicely, smiles on their faces as Belly snapped a few photos. She handed the phone back to Steven as Taylor turned to Belly.

"Babe, this party is gonna be insane. Like, you are going to die when you see Milo play." Taylor smiled excitedly.

"Uh, no, yeah. I mean, you literally might, cause, whew, man, I could smell him from the podium." Steven spoke up.

"Really?" Taylor sent him a look.

"Yeah."

"Well, I'm sorry, excuse me my man doesn't have that Korean gene that makes you have no body odour." Taylor defended herself.

"Come on Belly, Mum and Dad are meeting us at the restaurant." Steven told his sister.

"Hey, I think I'm gonna head back home, roads are gonna start getting busy." Florence stated.

"No, no! You have to come to my grad party later. I know for a fact that you didn't go to your own." Steven stated. "You can stay at ours. You can even borrow my clothes if you want."

"Steven Conklin offering me his clothes, he must truly love me." Florence placed a hand over her heart dramatically.

"Say yes." Steven pouted.

"Fine." Florence gave in, rolling her eyes. "But I am leaving tomorrow."

"I know." Steven smiled.

"I'll meet you back at yours when you've finished lunch, okay?"

"Sounds like a plan."

Florence nodded, walking back to her car. She quickly shed the gown, jumping in the front seat, throwing her bag on the passenger seat. She let out a sigh, grabbing her phone and sending a quick text to her mum letting her know she was staying at the Conklin house for the night.

( 💌 ) isobel's notes
hello and officially welcome to
summer love part two
it is a rollercoaster of emotions
florence's family are the most
important thing in the world to her
so she doesn't wanna rub her
happy relationship in sydney's face btw
chaos begins next chapter 😘😘