Treasure Of Summer

When sun poked the sky at its finest, the most beautiful waves hit Manteo's shore and god knows how much she loved surfing, Janelle Marshall couldn't get herself out of her own room.

The girl was laid on her bed staring at the white walls around her, her feet are cold from the wind coming from her open teton blue windows, the sound of harsh waves hit her ears as the memories of a few months ago replay in her head for what seemed like the million time this week. That is what Janelle has been up too for the whole first week in Manteo ; thinking.

Manteo was her summer house, her heart's home. She liked its beach, the waves, when her hair turns lighter, her skin gets tanner, the water is warm, drinks are colder, nights get longer and life gets better. That's what Manteo has been for her the summers she went there. But this summer pronounced itself completely different, she couldn't escape grief, whatever she did, she felt the obligation to look for a reliable source to believe her father was really dead. As she liked to take it, she only had one goal this summer; find every clue possible to help him out, because she knew, even with all the reported news and newspapers announcing her father's death, she knew for sure that her father was still alive, and she made it her role this summer, to prove it.

A loud knock on her door made her jump and she sat correctly on her bed, before her door revealed her mom's head. The green eyes of hers stared at Janelle in discontent, which made the quick on her feet girl foreknow what her mom was coming for.

"Nellie, it has been a whole week that I did not tell Xavier that you came and he asked me four times with your aunt already this morning, poor thing wanted to pick you up from the airport' Said her mom as she picked up a dress from her daughter's tidy closet. The seventeen year old stood up from her bed and walked over to her mirror with her hands in her hair, pulling it back and sighed.

"Mom, I am really not in the mood for his crazy activities yet, he has got so much plans and I just, I am tired mom" She expressed, while looking at herself in the glass, trying to fix her brown hair on her shoulders. Teresa walked to her daughter, knowing exactly the reason to her daughter's sadness and tiredness, and hugged her neck from behind and placed a kiss on Nellie's cheek, now both of them facing the mirror, the salty breeze traveling under their noses.

"I know, but maybe what he has for you could change your mind a bit and make you forget about the past few months, hm?" Stated the mom as she walked away to the door "Plus sorry cariña but I already told him you were joining him at the beach in a few" She added quickly closing the door and walking away before her daughter could react. Nellie immediately ran to the door to open it and yelled a disappointed 'Mom!' which Teresa responded to giggling "what was I supposed to say the third time he called" before she made her way far from the room, laughing. Nellie blew her frustration away and went to pick up a bikini to wear with a pair of jean shorts. She couldn't ghost her cousin Xavi for too long in the small town anyway.

○○○

The flip flops at her feet directly warmed up to the contact of the burning sand, she felt her skin quickly adapt to the humid weather as well, her hair flew behind her, her wavy locks got messed up and flew over her face, she traced a line she left behind with the surfboard she pulled with her. She stopped as she approached the spot where her friends always sat at the beach, and fixed her uncomfortably placed tote correctly on her shoulder, before she heard a very familiar voice.

"Look who is back ladies and gentlemen! Manteo Summer's princess! "

Nellie's head fell back as she laughed, before she felt burning yet wet arms go around her neck, she let her board hit the sand as she enlaced her best friend, Clara Reed. She could recognize her friend's unique blonde hair in a full crowd, she took her sunglasses off as she hid her face in the crook of Clara's neck.

"Fuck you Janelle!" Said suddenly the Reed daughter as she pushed her friend away from her. "You took long enough" Nellie giggled at her friend's acting before seeing the source of the voice who called her 'Manteo summer's princess'. Running to the girl, Xavier took off his sunglasses and put them on his head before greeting his cousin.

"Thanks for the honor, Nellie, finally" He joked obviously, bowing to the shorter Nellie in front of him. The girl in question bowed back jokingly to her cousin.

"Gladly Xavier Marshall" She chuckled before he pushed her shoulder and took her in his arm by her waist, she screamed from surprise as he spun her around, as she grabbed on him tightly. When she is finally back on the ground, she hit him in the chest in a way to remind him that she hated that, but he just smiled it off with a funny shrug.

"OMG I thought you would never come back!" said a black haired girl as they all turned to her, she jumped on her old friend soon after.

"June!" screamed excitedly the Marshall girl, and hugged her friend back. After all of the hugs, they pulled her to sit with them as she noticed they weren't alone. Two girls were sat there as they arrived. "This is Ana and that's Maddie, and there is Miles coming" introduced Juniper to Nellie. The girls handed their fists to bump, which Nellie did.

"Guys this is the long waited Janelle, Nellie if you'd like" Presented Clara, which was really happy to find her friend back after two summers without her. The dark skinned boy called Miles ran to them, droplets falling from his hair and she turned to Clara, which had all of her attention on him. Nellie was sure she knew Clara's style of boys, and Miles was definitely a crush of her best friend in her opinion, she just had to sit down with her friend and wait for her to reveal her whole life story of the past two years, knowing the talkative character of Clara.

"Hi, I'm Nellie", she held out her hand for him and he smiled at her before shaking it.

"Heard things about you" He announced. Janelle cocked a brow at him as she tilted her head slightly in curiosity:

"Good things I hope" She sympathized as the crew went back on their towels.

"For sure, the boys said only good things" He said before going back to sit on his towel. Nellie's brain froze at his use of words. 'The boys'? The only boys she seemed to think of that she knew well enough to talk about her and that where from this large friend group were Xavier and...Gabe. Gabriel Reed, which for her will be surprising, Gabe wouldn't allow himself to tell him things at all about her when all they did before she left was hate each other.

As she tortured her brain, she set her towel between Clara's and Xavier's, ready for the catching up, but as soon as she sat she saw two people walking towards them, Maddie, the previous red head presented to her earlier, in the arms of the oldest Reed sibling. Her stomach suddenly curled as she realized she had to talk to him to avoid bringing awkwardness to the group, that was the last thing she wanted at that moment.

"Janelle" Gabe let out, in a questioning tone. She gave him a little smile with closed lips as she watched Maddie leave his hold to sit down next to Juniper and Miles, Gabe looked at the horizon before putting on his sunglasses, as if he tried to avoid Nellie's stare, because he couldn't deny it, her green eyes staring at him have always made him nervous, even now, the feeling of chills down his spine never left.

"Yup, that's me" She said, almost whispered.

"Glad to see you back, Clara was going crazy" He said, turning to go sit next to his friend as he pointed at his younger sister whose face immediately deformed in annoyance.

"Hey! Not true!" Yelled Clara, throwing a towel at him, which made sand fall over everyone as they precipitated to yell her name back; Gabe was quick to throw it back, causing the group to whine and scream at him too, until Miles stood up and turned to face the group.

"Since we are all sandy thanks to the siblings, last in the water has to pay pizzas for everyone!" He said before running to the waves, leaving everyone complaining but still getting their clothes off for the game. Nellie got up with Xavier and Clara by her sides as she took her shorts off and grabed her board in hand, not caring about its weight, she followed Clara and Xavier that ran before her since they were already in swimsuits.

This was the Manteo she always knew, and she realized she missed one week of this. Running at the beach, feeling the rays of sun tan her face and body, the top of her head burning, the fresh wind revivifying her, hearing her heart beat at every step she took, and the laugh of her friends as they ran with her, then the sudden contact with the ocean's freezing water, cooling down the heat on her bones and skin, and washing up the sand spread all over her body as she placed the surfboard and laid on top of it, pushing with her hands when Xavier suddenly called for her.

"You are going for one now?" He asked, referring to the waves as he saw the huge size of them, she smiled innocently at him.

"Yeah have you seen those breaking waves?" She said, lowering the thumbs up she gave him. She noticed everyone was now in the water as she got far from them, and Xavier following her. When he made it to her side, he held the board to slow her down.

"Nellie maybe this isn't a good idea" His face turned to worry, which didn't please his cousin at all.

"Come on don't be a wet blanket, I am fine, I know how to surf remember?"

"Yeah I do, it's just that, it's been a while for you, you know? Plus your mind is filled with, things, we both know what, you are not gonna focus" He warned her, but her determination only grew bigger as she ignored her words and left him behind, and got into a first wave. She had to do it, as a way to console herself from the storm of the past months she had lived.

She could've yelled from happiness when her head got covered in water of the beach. She had missed this very much she didn't know how she handled being away for that much time. Another small wave she got into before she finally saw the one. A little far behind her, Xavier with Clara, June and Gabe, are watching her from afar.

"She is doing it" the cousin announced to the people around him.

"She can't, she just got here" Said Clara, as worry painted on her face.

"Yeah well tell that to the stubborn cousin" Responded Xavier before seeing his cousin preparing to stand up. He rapidly notices something is wrong; the wave is way bigger than he expected for her first one back into the sport.

"Dude that wave is way above 5 foot, you sure she's got this?" Questioned Gabe, even he started to get nervous, she was his friend once too. He couldn't show it in front of his sister and friend Xavier, but his heart started racing when he saw she didn't hesitate. He prayed she would be fine and tried to trust her but the thought of not being able to stop her, without showing off how much he cared about her still, unsetteled him.

"At least she is sure, look" Commented Juniper to help the worried Xavier out, as the Marshall girl fully stood on the board, ready to catch the upcoming wave.

They all watch as Nellie craved up the wave, as the feeling of power and confidence and freeness overwhelmed her so unexpectedly, droplets of water hit her face, and air pushing her hair away from her shoulder, her green eyes reflected the water's brightness, the increase of her heartbeats and blood pressure and adrenaline took over her again, and she finally felt alive. For the first time in a long time, she was alive.

She made her way to them on the board until she reached their level and stooped, jumped off the board to finally seat on it.

"Scared me already and it's the first day Nells, I forgot how stubborn and adventurous you were" He said, exaggerating a little as he put his hand on his heart, before petting his cousin head, Nellie quickly pushing his hand off of her.

"You did it!!" Said excitedly the girls as they gave her a quick hug.

"Well that's a good thing because I have for us a whole bunch of things as adventurous and everything we like, to do. But first I will gladly get the pizza first, huh Maddie?" Said Xavier before yelling the girl's name and turning to look at her as she stood with Ana and Miles, discussing whatever.

"You want it now? You guys just ate" She said rolling her eyes at Xavier and the rest of us.

"I personally burned all of that ice cream we ate" Gabe told her, which made her sighed at him before motioning for the rest to follow her. As they arrive to the shore, Nellie doesn't take long to tell them she can't go with them.

"What? But you just came" Said a disappointed Clara, Xavi nodded in agreement.

"Sorry but I still need to finish settling in" She lied. She settled in a week ago. She only needed time to take in everything, the sudden change from wanting to do nothing but eat and sleep to wanting to try everything Xavi prepared for them and finish the list in one night, her emotional state started playing tricks with her head. The blond cousin read her like a book and nodded with a know-it-all smile, she thanked him with her eyes and waved them a good bye before gathering her things and leaving on her bike, with the surf board behind her.

○○○

"Mom! Mom?!" Yelled an out of puff Janelle into the Marshall home. As she passed across a picture of her father, her mother and her, she rapidly pulled it down on the table it was on, and put the keys to the door on a little pot next to the picture.

She knew that as many pictures she tore and pulled down as she could, she will never get over it, over her dad gone missing, because he was not dead, and she was sure of it.

With no answers from her mom, she walked to the kitchen and grabbed a couple chocolate chip cookies from a jar and ran upstairs, walking towards her room, but as she was getting close to it, she stopped, and looked at the door of her father's office, and stared at the handle for a while, thinking if she should just go for it. And with an abrupt step, she was in; piles of documents and papers and opened agendas were there as if he just quitted the office minutes ago. Nellie took fragile steps, anxious that her knees might let her down. She tip toed to his desk, and sat on his chair and took a deep breath. It has been months, and she missed him more, while people told her the feeling would go away, she realized how much of a lie it was. Pain never goes away, it never shrinks, life gets bigger, and the feeling gets its place into your heart, and gets comfortable, but it will always be there.

When she felt tears threatening to slip from her eyes, after a few minutes looking through his agendas, she stood up, with a sudden movement that made a document fall to her feet. And it didn't look like the others. It looked older; it was a dirty beige document, as if it tried itself to camouflage itself in the colors of the office. Nellie opened the coffee colored document, and accidently dropped a bunch of what looked like letters, old letters.

She picked them up and noticed they were all dedicated to her father. With a number of 19 letters, she choose one to open to find out about the writer, but instead of finding a name she might recognize, she found a single word that made her veins clog and freeze, her heart drop to her stomach, and chills escalate her body, despite the hot weather. She passed her thumb on the engraved word, and opened another one, and another, and quickly another, and another one again. The same exact author, they were all signed : Your stalker.

And at that moment, her smallest doubts turned into realities, her uncertainties turned into certain, and her dreamy summer she expected, turned into a serious adventure, a bittersweet nightmare.