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As I stepped off of my plane, I was met with the sweet scent of fresh California air. After living in New York for six months, it felt so good to smell the ocean instead of car exhaust and wet cement.

I made my way through the wide hallways and down many, many flights of stairs until I finally reached the exit. Just as I was making to sit down on a bench near the doors, I saw three figures standing near the parking lot and squealed, running toward them and dragging my suitcase with me. "Quinny!" my little sister, Josephine, shouted, jumping up and down excitedly. I scooped her up in my arms, booping her nose. "Quinny's back!" she exclaimed, clapping her hands together.

I laughed. She had grown so much since I was gone, I couldn't believe it. She looked like a mini-me. "Yeah I am, Jo! Are you happy?" I was the only one in the house who called her Jo. Everyone else called her Josie or Josephine, but those always felt too... formal, I guess. Not very fitting for a sassy diva-to-be.

Jo nodded, giggling. "Yes! I'm very happy!" I smiled, setting her back down on the ground and turning to my mom.

"Quinn," my mom smiled and opened her arms. I gripped her tightly. I hadn't seen my mom in so long and it felt amazing to have her with me again.

"Oh, so you're just gonna forget about me? Okay, fine. I see how it is." When I heard that, I immediately turned around and tackled my older brother, Jack. "Welcome home, Q," Jack laughed, ruffling my hair. "I missed ya."

"I missed you more!" What can I say? I'm a little competitive. Jack just laughed and I looked over at my mom. "Well, let's get home!" I exclaimed. I was as eager as ever to get back to the house.

We piled into the car and made the drive home with little trouble. I basically spent the entire half-hour talking about my trip. I could have gone on longer, of course, but we had reached our destination and honestly, I was just excited to start unpacking. When I walked into our house, I immediately smiled at the smell of fresh strawberries and lemongrass; the spray that my mom liked to use to make the place smell nice. "I'm gonna go unpack!" I shouted to mom, who was bringing Jo inside.

"Okay, sweetie. Why don't you take Josie with you? I'm sure she'd like that." My mom handed Jo over to me, kissing me on the cheek before heading into the kitchen.

"We're gonna go unpack all of my stuff, mkay?" I ruffled Jo's hair and made my way upstairs, dragging my suitcase behind me. When I opened the door, I sighed, smiling as I breathed in the familiar air. I set Jo down on my bed and then laid next to her, staring up at the ceiling. Well, rather, the top of the canopy that I put over my bed a few years ago. After taking a couple of minutes to savor the moment, I sat up and grabbed my suitcase, pulling it up onto my bed and opening up the top zipper. It was practically bursting with clothes, notebooks, candy, and plenty of souvenirs from my trip.

"Quinny, what is that?" Jo asked, pointing to a small cloche hat on the top of the pile.

"Oh, that's for you!" I had a feeling she already knew that, but she gasped anyway. I chuckled, plopping the hat onto her tiny head. It didn't fit her at all, but she squeaked when she saw herself in the mirror and proceeded to try various poses with her new toy. I just laughed and continued the long, laborious task of unpacking.

It had felt like ages when I finally emptied my suitcase. Jo had long since gone downstairs so I had been by myself for a little while. I flopped onto my bed, closing my eyes. It felt so nice to be home, with my bed and all my old clothes. And my family, of course. My mind started to wander and I could feel myself slipping away into sleep. It had been a pretty long day.

"Quinny!" I heard a voice and footsteps coming up the stairs and at first, I thought it was Jo, but her voice didn't sound like that. There's only one other person that calls me Quinny. My door bursted open and I squealed when I saw Liv run into my room, followed by Lana and Allie. "Oh my gosh!" Liv exclaimed, squeezing me so tightly that I thought my lungs might collapse. "We missed you so much!"

I laughed, pressing a kiss to her cheek. "I missed you too, Liv."

Before I could say anything else, Liv was pushed aside and I was tackled onto my bed. "That," Lana snarled from on top of me, "is for ditching us for half a year." I laughed as she got off of me, grinning and pulling me into a big bear hug. "And that's for coming back with gifts."

I raised my eyebrows, trying to make it seem like I had no clue what she was talking about. How did she know that I brought presents? "Who said I brought gifts?"

Lana shrugged. "Me. And if I don't leave this house with one more thing than I had when I came in, I will break your knees," she looked at me, dead serious.

Good to know that nothing's changed, I thought with a small chuckle. "Well, you're in luck!" I made to grab the three bags sitting on my dresser, but someone cleared their throat and I looked up to see Allie frowning at me.

"And where's my hug?" she asked with her hands on her hips. I laughed and opened my arms. Allie and I had been best friends for as long as I could remember. She was the yin to my yang, the smart to my stupid, the normal to my crazy. It felt so good to see her, and everyone, again after so long away from home.

"I missed you so much," I smiled, letting go and making my way over to my dresser. "And as I was saying, I have gifts!" Liv squealed again, clapping her hands excitedly. I chuckled, passing out the presents and grinning as I watched my girls open them. I got Lana a bag of Dean & Dulca coffee since that's basically all she lives on. I gave Liv a pink Stitch stuffed animal since Lilo and Stitch was one of her favorite movies, and for Allie, I got a pack of Sabon Sea Salt Scrubs. I honestly had no clue what they were but I remember her saying something about them a while ago, so I just hoped that she liked them.

"Oh my gosh, thank you so much!" Liv exclaimed, giving me another hug. "She's perfect!"

"Yeah, you did a good job," Lana added, grinning at the bag of coffee in a way that made me slightly worried for her.

"You have no clue what these are, do you," Allie gave me a pointed look. I just shrugged sheepishly and she laughed. "Well, they're perfect. Thanks, Q." I just bowed dramatically, receiving applause from Liv and eye rolls from Lana and Allie.

I heard the door open again and looked over to see my mom standing there with a basket of laundry. "I'm sorry, sweeties, but you're gonna have to get going. We're having guests over tonight."

Liv stuck out her bottom lip, receiving a pat on the head from Lana. "I'm offended that we weren't invited to this little get-together, Jenn," Lana gave my mom a pointed glance.

"Well, I expect you three will be over here all day for the next two months of summer vacation and probably after school every day once school starts, so I'm not too worried about it," my mom chuckled. I nodded; she had a point.

"Two more minutes, Jenn?" Allie asked, putting on her best smile.

My mom rolled her eyes, but she was smiling. "Two more minutes, Allie."

Liv smiled, clapping excitedly. "Yay! Thank you!" My mom just shut the door, shaking her head at us with a small smile on her face.

"Okay, final goodbyes before my mom whips you until you leave," I grinned, giving each of them a quick hug. "Also, you're all coming over tomorrow morning for a beach day. No isn't an option." I grinned.

"Alright ladies," my mom opened the door again. Liv gave me a quick kiss on the cheek before I got two tight hugs from Allie and Lana. I heard them all head downstairs and I smiled. I had missed them so much.

chapter 1 is officially done! tysm for reading!

~ bella