"Mom? What are you doing here?"
"What if I was naked?" Peter said, startled.
"I gave birth to you and bathed you until you were ten. I think I'm qualified to come In here".she said bluntlyd
"No way, you could've at least knocked!"
"I did, but you two were too busy with that book over there."
Mia, sprawled on the bed next to Peter, played dumb. "What book?"
"The one you failed to hide," their mom said, pointing to the journal lying in plain sight by Mia's side.
Mia glanced over and saw the journal practically laughing at her clumsiness. In her panic when their mom barged in, she'd grabbed the wrong thing—her brother's magazine, not the journal.
Whispering, Peter hissed, "How do you hide the wrong book?"
"I panicked, okay?" Mia whispered back.
"Panicked? It was in your hand—how do you mess that up?" Peter shot back
"It's your fault for leaving your adult magazines all over the bed!"
"Leave Natalie Asher's bosoms out of this."
Their mother cleared her throat loudly, eyeing them with a mix of curiosity and irritation. "Care to explain what that is, or should I find out myself?"
Caught red-handed, Peter tried a desperate lie. "It's Mia's book. She brought it with her…"
Mia elbowed his shoulder hard, signaling him to drop the lie.
"Is that so?" Their mom stepped closer. "Because I distinctly remember helping pack Mia's luggage."
Peter let out an awkward laugh. "I… didn't know that. Honest."
"Mia?" their mom prompted.
Sighing, Mia confessed, "We found the book in the attic, inside a locked drawer."
"You what?" their mother said, her voice rising.
"I know, I know, I shouldn't have—"
"And yet you did," their mom said, her face tight with anxiety.
"Mom," Peter jumped in, "Mia didn't do anything. It was all me. She wanted to tell you, but I stopped her."
Peter gave her a pleading look, hoping she'd buy it.
"Peter, Mia, you both know this cabin was rented by a kind old man who let us stay here cheap because he was short on money. But he had one condition. Do you remember what it was?"
"Don't touch anything you find here," Peter and Mia said in unison.
"Your father made that rule crystal clear. He'll be furious if he finds out. Return the book, okay?"
"Mom…" Mia started, but was cut off.
"That's enough. I don't want to hear it again," their mom said, clearly annoyed.
Peter put a hand on Mia's arm, silently urging her to let it go.
Their mother sighed. "Look, if it were up to me, I wouldn't care, but please, do this for your dad, okay?"
"Yes, Mom, we get it," Peter said.
"Mia?" their mom pressed.
"I understand, Ma. We'll put the book back where we found it."
"Good. Thank you. When you're done, breakfast is ready. We're heading to the beach later, okay?"
She turned and left as quickly as she'd come in.
"Okay, that's settled. Let's go put the book back," Peter said, standing up to leave, then noticing Mia still sitting on the bed.
"Come on, Mia, you heard Mom. We need to return it."
Mia didn't respond, just clutched the book tighter to her chest.
"Mia?" Peter said, exasperated. "Why are you doing this? What's so special about that book anyway?"
She stayed silent, turning her head away.
Peter rubbed his temples in frustration. "Ugh, fine. You can hide the book from Dad, but I'm telling you, if you get caught, I'm not bailing you out. You're on your own, got it?"
"Thank you, thank you so much!" Mia said, jumping up to hug him.
"I'm gonna regret this, I just know it."
"I promise you won't," she said.
(Later that day, Peter and Mia climbed out of the backseat of their dad's Jeep, their parents already outside. Their mom wore a simple red bikini that hugged her figure, looking effortlessly stunning. Their dad sported a casual top and red shorts. Peter dressed similarly, but with a sleeveless top and blue shorts. Mia, though young, carried a mature air in certain ways, enough to turn heads within a mile. Her rose-patterned bikini was more revealing, and she stood close to Peter.)
"Kids, breathe in that rich ocean air, feel the sand under your feet, the beautiful horizon—"
"Dad's doing it again," Peter muttered.
"It's kinda creepy, you know," Mia whispered back.
As if she'd overheard, their mom quickly pulled their dad to lie down. "You kids have fun and don't go too far," she called.
They ran to a quieter part of the beach, out of their parents' sight, and sat down.
"Did you bring the book?" Mia asked.
"Why would I have it?"
"Because your back looks like it's got an extra spine," she said flatly.
" I tell u brother hiding isn't really ur fort "
"Damn it." Peter pulled the book out and set it between them.
"I gotta admit, I wanna see who gets the girl," he said.
"Seriously? There's something deeper here, you know."
"How do you know that?" he asked.
"I just do," she replied.
"Okay, let's see. Entry 8: " silly Sammy".