It had been a seven hour drive. Seven hours of watching woodlands turn into towns and cities turn into the distant view of the sea. The moment the engine was off, my door was open and I was out in the July heat.

We were here. The blistering afternoon sun kissed my face and the breeze, which smelt faintly, distinctively of sea salt, fanned my smiling face. Hello, sunshine.

"Mercy!" Aunt Hansa exlaimed from the now wide-open red front door of her and Uncle Ryan's house. "Mercy O'Keefe! Well, haven't you shot up since last year." I was already walking towards her up the steep tarmac drive and she was meeting me by walking down the wide wooden steps in front of number 92, Batten Street. "You're practically taller than me!"

We hugged as we met halfway. It was true, I'd had a growth spurt and now stood at five foot eight. "That's not saying much." I grinned down at her, my dimples popping on either side of my mouth, as she looked at me with feined-disapproval. Then she looked past me to greet my parents, and as I gravitated up the stairs, I heard her greeting them with just as much enthusiasm as she'd greeted me with. "Tony! Riya! Hello!"

This small white house held many memories of my childhood spent on the coast, when my cousin Blake and I would get up early and go out, spend all day on the beach, or walking around the cobbled streets of this seaside town. If I recalled correctly, everytime I went to the dentist after the annual trip to see our family, I had a multitude of cavities that needed filling. That was all thanks to the copious amounts of ice cream,  candy floss and - who could forget? - Betty Turner's homemade, "handmade with love" fudge, bought from her own shop. The Betty Turner herself ran it and would always give us extra, just because she liked us. And the house was just as I remembered. White walls, mahogany furniture, and bright from the light shining through the many large windows. 

I jumped out of my skin when someone yelled "boo!" right into my ear. Spinning on my heel I found it was Blake, grinning wickedly.

"God, you scared the hell out of me!" I cried, but smiling, because I was unable to resist joining him with the smile he had on. "Blake, hey!" I said, happy to see my cousin. The last time I'd seen him had been October of last year.

To my disappointment, I saw that, like me, Blake had gone through a growth spurt. I'd been planning on rubbing in his face how I was as tall as him now, but alas, I was still looking up at Blake who appeared to be about six foot tall. But apart from that, not much had changed. He still had the same dark brown eyes, short black hair, and dusting of freckles over his nose and cheeks. And he still had that characteristic cheeky smirk of his, which he displayed now. "Mercy, long time no see." We hugged, and it was sweet, until Blake rapidly twisted me into a headlock and started saying, "how do ya like that?! Huh? Huh?" 

When I was (eventually) released from the (strong and unforgiving) grip of Blake, we helped unpack the car, dropping my parents' bags into their guest room and mine into Blake's room. This little house only had one guest room, unfortunately, so every year I was in the foldable bed that was pushed into Blake's already small bedroom. It was lucky him and I were close and got on well, otherwise the arrangement could be very difficult. 

Hansa had prepared kosumalli especially for us coming, as a late afternoon snack so we weren't too hungry by dinner. We sat around the table and ate, chatting happily and all happy to be reunited again. Uncle Ryan was at work, but he would come back home later, at around five o'clock. We finished eating and helped clear up, and as soon as the last plate was back in the cupboard, Blake and I were rushing down the drive and onto the steep hill that headed down towards the harbour and the beach. 

I started running in my brown leather sandals as soon as I could see the glistening sand up ahead. There was the sea, the familiar call of the seagulls overhead, and on the horizon, ships and boats. The sky was cerulean blue, cloudless. When I reached the beach, I immediately ripped my sandals off and, for the first time this year, felt the sand under my feet, moulding to the curves of my toes and the arches of my feet. 

I sighed. Hello, beach. 

I sat down, feeling the softness of the sand under my hands as I leant back on them, head up to the sky, blue looking down at me with just as much contentment. As I let myself flop onto my back, my hair meeting the sand (I would have sand in my hair for days. But, I wouldn't mind becoming part of the beach, always having some sand on me. And besides, I would probably have sand in my hair for the majority of the summer because of the amount of time we'd spend here) and spreading my arms above my head, Blake came and sat down next to me. 

"Missed the beach?" Blake asked next to me, and when I looked up at him, I saw he was grinning down at me, eyes hidden behind black Ray-Bans. 

"Nah," I said. "What gives you a crazy idea like that?"

I rolled over onto my front, pressing the side of my face into the sand. I could smell the beach. This was glorious. "Woah Mercy, I understand you've missed the beach but if you get any closer to it you'll end up eating it."

I was about to shoot him a glare but by the time I'd looked at him, he was looking over my head. "Hey, guys!" He shouted to someone, raising his arm and then standing up.

When I looked, I saw it was Blake's friends - there was Harry and Mickie. There was also a third guy with them who, surprisingly, I didn't recognise. But I was too busy rushing up and towards the boys to pay much attention to this newcomer. I ran, overtaking Blake, and threw myself at the nearest, who was Harry. 

"Hey Merc," smiled Harry as I threw my arms around his thin frame, pushing my face into his collarbone.

"Harry!" I said, grinning up at him. I'd missed these boys almost as much as I'd missed Blake, and Aunt Hansa and Uncle Ryan. Next I hugged Mickie, who hated hugs. I laughed up at him as all he did was stand awkardly in my grasp, his thin lips in a noticeable grimace as he said in a pained voice, "please stop." 

"Rhys, this is my cousin Mercy," said Blake to the third guy I'd never met before. Blake had been friends with Mickie since they were eleven, and with Harry since he moved here aged fourteen. Of course, that meant I'd been friends with them that long too, having been coming here every summer ever since I could remember. I'd always just ended up being one of the boys, hanging out with Blake as if he were my best friend, and in turn hanging out with his friends as if they were my friends too, and that had been nothing extrordinary.

It felt like that was going to change looking at this new guy, Rhys. He was looking at me with this confident, lopsided smile, as if he knew me already, and I felt myself starting to wither because of how good-looking he was. His dark brown hair with a soft curl was messy and brushing the tips of his ears, his face was sunkissed and golden, and his eyes - oh, his eyes. His eyes were a light brown colour, but they looked almost amber, bright, and they were creasing at the sides from his smile which had suddenly broadened. "Hi," he said.

I blinked at him. Oh, god. Breathe. "Hey," I managed to say to him, smiling, and having to narrow my eyes because of the sun glare. "You're a new face."

He cocked his head to the side, as if he were regarding me with curiosity, analysing me, searching me. "So are you." Rhys made me nervous. What was going through his mind?

For whatever reason, Blake and Harry started wrestling beside us. Blake was just a playful kind of person. That was fine, until they rolled into my legs and took me down. I collapsed onto them and that wasn't going to stop them if it weren't for me physically getting between them. "Hey, hey!" I exclaimed, holding up my hands to stop the pair going over the top of me to fight each other. "Hold it right there, buds." Before I could do anything about it, Mickie had taken a handful of sand and thrown it at Blake, and over me. "Thanks, Mick." I said at the same time as Blake uttered 'you son of a--' before grabbing his own sandful and throwing it at Mickie, over me. 

To my relief, the pair stopped when Blake's phone suddenly rang. "Hello?" He spoke down the receiver. In the meantime I got my own handful of sand and threw it in the direction of Mickie from my position on the ground. "Oh yeah... yes we're-- okay, okay Mum. Okay... Bye."

Mickie was rubbing sand into the top of my head when Blake said, "Mercy, we're going home. Something about going out for dinner."

I stood up with another handful of sand, but decided to drop it, knowing Mickie would not lose this fight. "Bye, guys!" 

Blake challenged me to a race up the hill, which I took part in once I'd grabbed my sandals, but I felt very self conscious, feeling a certain pair of eyes on my back as we went.