THEY ENDED UP going to a pizza restaurant in the town centre for lunch. Nai nai was the same as before, the same bustling energy, the same sense of youthfulness that contradicted the body of a woman in her seventies. It was not the body that mattered, nai nai liked to laugh sometimes, it was the mind.

"Ah, Livia, you are going to university after this summer! How do you feel about that?" nai nai asked, glancing at her.

Livia looked up and smiled. "I'm very excited. And I can always visit you since I'll be living here."

"I don't need that," nai nai scolded. "You have fun in university, no need to worry about me. Pamela, are you going to come here in a few years too? Or do you want to stay in Hong Kong?"

"Depends," Pamela admitted. "I haven't fully made up my mind yet. I'll see when the time comes."

"You ought to start making your decisions now," nai nai said. "It is not good to rush your decision."

"Don't worry, ma," their father said, pushing up his glasses. "After this summer we'll start looking at potential choices with Pamela. She has two years left before she needs to go to university. She still has time."

"I have general ideas," Pamela said, "but haven't like, fully decided on anything yet. That's all."

Nai nai nodded. "That is okay, I suppose. It's very hot this year in Briarville, you know. All of England, actually. Absolutely boiling. I think it's hotter than Hong Kong at some points. Makes me wonder why I am staying here at all."

"All the more reason to hit the beach," their mother said.

"That is an activity for the youngsters," nai nai said, waving her hand dismissively, "not for you or I, certainly. And more for the white people who wish so desperately for tans. Livia, Pamela, do not forget sunscreen."

"We wouldn't dare," Livia laughed. "What would we do without our trusty sunscreen?"

"Good," nai nai said, "good. It would not do for you both to become so sunburnt. Ah, yes, our neighbours have already arrived yesterday, have you seen them yet?"

"No," their mother said, shaking their heads. "I called Marion earlier, I think they went out for lunch as well. We'll drop by their house later, maybe." Marion Calvert-Egerton, the mother of the twins. A renowned fashion designer and founder of the brand Marion Hamilton, after her maiden name. Someone Livia looked up to dearly, though it didn't make her feel any more convinced to go visit the Calvert-Egertons. Because going to that house would mean having to see Amphion and Zeth.

Livia did not want to see Amphion or Zeth. Not yet. She should at least get some more time to prepare herself for the inevitable, shouldn't she?

But of course, that was nothing she could share. She hadn't said a single word to anyone about what happened, and she had no intention to at all. She knew, Amphion knew, Zeth did too. No one else did, unless they'd told, because Livia certainly hadn't.

No one seemed to notice how conflicted she was, sitting there. The adults kept on talking—actually, Livia counted as an adult now too, didn't she?—and Pamela took out her phone and started scrolling through.

"Should I stop by Anya's after lunch?" Pamela asked, one brow raised. "Like, I can walk to her house from here. And then either walk back to the house or take the bus. Probably walk."

Their father glanced at her. "I don't see why not. Livia, do you want to go with her?"

Livia shrugged. "I'll stop by the Bazdars' to say hi. I want to head to the market, see what new stores have opened up."

"Oh, yes!" nai nai exclaimed. "A new dress store opened up there, they have some very nice pieces. You should check them out, I think you'll like them a lot."

Livia nodded. "I'll do that."

They finished lunch soon after that. With Auntie Xu's help, their parents led nai nai to the car, where they'd drive back to the mansion. Livia and Pamela began their journey to the Bazdars' townhouse, less than five minutes away from the restaurant. Compared to their mansions it was far smaller, but the Bazdars were by no means any less prosperous. In fact, Livia had a feeling that they were most likely the richest out of all the families here. The Bazdars were immigrants from Pakistan who'd arrived here two or three generations ago, and had managed to start a dynasty of their own. Some of the most expensive hotels in England were under their name, not to mention dozens of brands and smaller companies.

The Bazdars' townhouse was a quaint little thing. Two storeys, with a fairly small garden. It was not built in the same style as the other houses in the area, mainly because the Bazdars had had the whole house built to their taste rather than having bought one already built. There was a decidedly traditional flair to the house, whether it was the carpet or the curtains or the walls itself.

Pamela walked up, ringing the bell. A moment later, a familiar face appeared as the door was pulled open. Anya Bazdar's expression snapped from annoyance to absolute joy within the span of a second, and the girl practically leapt into the air. "Pam!" She glanced past the girl, and caught a sight of Livia standing on the garden path. "Livia! You're here!"

Livia watched with a small smile as the two girls started hugging the air out of each other. These two had always been bound by the hips whenever they were here. At various points of her life she'd found it irritating, funny and enviable. Right now, it was a mixture of the latter two.

Anya was brown-skinned, hazel eyed, with dark hair that had been curled and now bounced on her shoulders. She wore white shorts with a yellow t-shirt. Next to Pamela she looked quite small, but she would be considered average height by most.

"When did you guys arrive?" Anya asked, ushering them in.

Pamela grinned. "Just earlier today. We only just finished lunch, and I couldn't resist dropping by to say hi."

Livia raised one hand. "I'm not going to come in, say hi to Mr and Mrs Bazdar for me. And little Inaya and Tadeen, of course."

"Of course, of course," Anya beamed. "You guys should come over for dinner sometime."

"Maybe, maybe, that's more for the parents to decide," Livia laughed. "See you two around. Pam, don't go home too late, you know how annoyed ma gets."

"I won't," Pamela assured, before the two girls went inside the house and Livia turned away and through the gate of the house.

The town market was a vital part of the town's economy. It was one of the few places with that many commercial shops. The marketplace was a mixture of chain stores and authentic local ones owned by the true inhabitants of Briarville—after all, the rich families and tourists who came down every summer were only temporary.

The words 'BRIARVILLE TOWN MARKET' had been hand painted on the large archway that welcomed one into the embrace of the bazaar, and Livia smiled as she stared up at it. There were many memories held under that archway. Of childhood hide and seeks, of adolescence gossiping. Everything else might change—how their houses looked, how they themselves grew and their relationships altered with them—but that archway would always be there, and Livia knew that.

She went inside.

Many of the stalls had changed positions in the past year, but it was still the same few owners and the same few shops. The first few stalls were mostly fresh produce, a contrast to the chain supermarkets right behind them. Livia had little interest in those, but she greeted the few owners she knew before she continued down.

It was near the back of the market where she found what she was after. This was where the jewellery and trinkets were sold. All matters of little items that would be difficult to find elsewhere, all gathered together in Briarville's little town marketplace. Livia went to one that she knew was trustworthy, glancing through their jewellery. Some of it was antique, and the prices showed, but the others were more recently produced or directly mass-manufactured. Livia didn't discriminate. As long as it looked good, it didn't matter to her at all.

She picked a few pairs of nice looking earrings and paid for it, not bothering to spend too much time. It was the dress shop that nai nai had mentioned that interested her the most, but that was most likely outside the marketplace, where the proper stores were. It was only around five minutes away, though.

Livia stopped by one of the food stalls and bought a chocolate chip cookie, munching away as she attempted to locate this newly opened dress store. She hadn't bothered bringing too many summer clothes over, since she wouldn't get a chance to wear them after the summer was over, and because the ones at Briarville were far more suitable.

She was still in the lilac sleeveless dress, and she'd done her hair up in plaits. It was a look that befitted the above thirty degree weather fairly well, but it still didn't stop the beads of sweat from rolling down her face. Dear god it was boiling hot. Nai nai was right—it had to be hotter than Hong Kong. Climate change was to blame for this, certainly.

The weather was absolutely abysmal, and for all the wrong reasons. This was England. It was meant to be rainy, rainy and rainy. Not have the sun blasting down its beams with a relentless fury, threatening to scorch the earth's surface and all that inhabited it.

Livia soon located the store, or at least what she believed was the store, since it was certainly new and sold dresses. Humming under her breath, she went inside, and was pleasantly surprised to learn that there was an air conditioner. That was all the more reason to stay here. One of the salespersons came up to her, a wide smile on his face.

"Welcome to Ella's Dresses."

The name could not be simpler, yet there was a sense of closeness to it. She nodded. "I'll just have a look around, thank you."

"If you require any help," the salesperson said politely, "I'll be right there. Just give me a call."

Livia moved to the nearest rack, her eyes scanning through the dresses and clothes. Of course the store didn't only sell dresses, but it made up a majority of their wares. Not that she minded, of course—under this kind of weather, dresses sounded absolutely fantastic.

She immediately understood why nai nai had told her to come here. Many of the dresses were exactly to her style. They were excellently matched to the heat, though not too revealing, and the colour palette fitted Livia's features perfectly.

It was almost as if the shop and its designs were made for her.

Livia ended up spending almost a whole hour in the shop, and ended up walking away with six new dresses and more than three hundred pounds left in her credit card. But at the same time, she thought she was rather unlikely to be purchasing any more pieces of clothings in the next few weeks, so it wasn't all too bad.

It was still a significant loss from her wallet, but nothing she couldn't recover from in a short amount of time.

She checked the time. It was nearly four. It was summer, so the sun wouldn't come down until eight or nine o'clock in the evening, but Livia found no reason to keep staying in the town centre. She might as well return home and take a nice shower, perhaps write a bit and then have dinner.

Yes, it sounded like a good plan.

She took the longer way back. Past the beach, where she could enjoy the view and the ocean's breeze against her skin. The Briarville beach was less of a sand beach and more like a pebble beach, as was usual around this area. This was no shining Florida or the fantastical Maldives, but instead a much more hardened version. It still had its own sense of beauty that its residents enjoyed, and it was something Livia always enjoyed. It looked much more resilient, stronger, tougher.

There were lots of people on the beach at this hour of the day, especially in the chunk before the town centre. As she walked, the people became more sparse, and by the time she'd gotten to the street of mansions, there was almost no one on the beach. That was simple to explain—this chunk of area was private, for residents of the mansions only. This was also where she'd spent most of her time, unless she and her friends had felt like fighting over the rest of the beach with what felt like thousands of other tourists and visitors.

The sea was calm today, and Livia watched, transfixed, as the waves moved up and down, up and down. She stopped to pick up a pebble or two that had somehow gotten onto the path she was walking on, tossing them as far as possible towards the open sea. The sky was still blue, though it had gotten slightly darker than when she'd left the house this afternoon. Most of the mansions still remained dark—many of the residents would be slowly arriving within the week, families just like hers, though she wasn't as close with them, mostly because they didn't have children around her age. The Clapham family, for example, two houses away from theirs (with the Calvert-Egerton's in the middle). Nai nai was quite close to them, mainly because the elderly Clapham couple resided there practically all year round as well, and the younger generations often visited at various times throughout the summer. However, the Clapham's youngest family members were already in their early thirties and had not yet married. Thus, Livia had never quite cared about them, though she occasionally visited the elderly couple with nai nai.

Old Mr Clapham was already in his late nineties and could barely remember who she was half the time, and she couldn't make out basically all the things he said, but Mrs Clapham was fairly interesting to talk to. She'd worked for the M15 during the Cold War (Mr Clapham had worked for the M16), and still had some interesting stories to tell, though most of them were heavily censored. Livia didn't think it had anything to do with the fact that she wasn't precisely a British national, but more to do with that Mrs Clapham didn't want to accidentally start a national incident.

Fairly understandable. Livia didn't blame her. She'd do much the same thing herself.

It was an interesting assortment of people who gathered on Gabert Street. Livia's family were one of the largest manufacturers of pottery in China (which was why her grandma had been sent out to study in England when that would have been such a difficult thing back in those days); the Calvert-Egertons were practically aristocratic, and Mrs Calvert-Egerton was a world famous fashion designer; the Claphams were once officers in intelligence bureaus; and there was also that one strange family at the very, very end of the street who they occasionally caught doing yoga on the beach at ungodly hours of the morning. Three year old child included.

It impressed Livia greatly.

It seemed like a long trek home before she finally arrived before the main gate of their particular mansion. When she was younger, Livia liked to joke that their mansion here was the exact opposite of their estate in China. That was built in an authentically traditional Chinese fashion, the si he yuan, and had been there since the mid-Qing Dynasty. Of course it had received plenty of updates in the past few years, but the core of it remained the same. Livia supposed it felt the Neo-classical Chinese style more now, with its renovations.

It could be very, very annoying when it rained. That was for certain. But the sheer vibes it gave whoever was residing in it made it all worth it. That, and the shock that struck all her schoolmates every time she brought someone over...

It was nice. Very nice indeed. Worth the trouble, most definitely.

Nai nai was watching television downstairs, having connected some Chinese streaming service onto the television and was now watching with joy. Livia's father glanced up at the screen occasionally, brows tightened, unable to understand what was making his mother so happy. Livia watched for a few minutes after saying hello before heading upstairs for a shower. She dropped her new clothes off with Auntie Xu, asking the woman to help her wash and prepare them for wear.

With this weather, it would probably be dry by tomorrow. Though, it was a bit humid.

Pamela wasn't back yet, because of course she wasn't. She'd most definitely come back for dinner, because this was their first dinner back, but that was the only reason. Once Pamela and Anya were together, they were very difficult to separate.

They had their own little group of friends, younger kids who couldn't quite hang out with their elder siblings. That particular group ranged from the mere age of thirteen to sixteen. It was always quite interesting to watch them together. It seemed so mismatched, yet at the same time they made it work.

Livia didn't quite understand it, but there was some sort of chemistry that tied them all together.

Livia took a shower and changed into her home clothes before collapsing on her bed, hair still slightly wet at the tips as she hadn't bothered completely blow drying it. She twirled a strand around her finger as she scrolled through her phone.

Lila had messaged her ten minutes ago, while she'd have been in the shower. A simple message.

getting back tomorrow, you're already there right?

Livia smiled. Lila Anderson. The two girls weren't the best of friends by any means, but they certainly did get along. Lila was a girl who seemed so sweet and innocent on the surface, but anyone who knew her would describe her as someone bitter and guarded, always careful about what she was going to say or do. Unlike Brie, her step-sister, whose parents' divorce had been relatively peaceful, Lila's had been a hot flaming mess.

Lila's mother was a decently famous actress. Not top A-lister by any means, but not far away from that either. Her first husband, and Lila's father, had been a music producer, and abusive. Lila had been three when her mother couldn't handle it anymore and demanded a divorce, causing a scandal in the world of entertainment that the family still hadn't fully recovered from today.

Lila's father was still working and famous, because of course he was.

But that experience had left Lila very thorny. When she'd first arrived at Briarville, they'd been twelve, and Lila had refused to hang out with them until Brie practically dragged her out. None of them had understood until they were a bit older, when they thought enough to look up Lila's mother on the internet and that was one of the first things they saw on her Wikipedia page.

Livia always appreciated that resilience in Lila. That sense of self-preservation, of an ability to protect herself.

Her step-sister, Brie Carmen, was quite the opposite. Brie was sunshine and all the nice things in life. Brie's father was a famous football player, Bruce Carmen, and she herself was greatly interested in the sport. She was captain at her own school, and the walls of her house were filled to the brim with trophy after trophy. Brie was who you went to when you were sad. Brie was who you went to when you were disappointed and needed someone to comfort you. She always seemed to know what to say, what to do. It was a gift, and one that they all loved her for.

Livia typed back her message.

Yeah, I'm already there. I'll see you & Brie tomorrow then?

Lila almost instantly replied. are the twins already there????

Livia's eyes fluttered shut. Oh, they hadn't gone to visit them yet. Most likely Livia would be getting dragged out whether she liked it or not after dinner, when Pamela was back. It wasn't something she had a choice in.

She bit her lips, contemplating her response. They are, according to my grandma. Think we're going to stop by theirs later. Pamela's with Anya rn.

Lila sent back a rolling eyes emoji and typed, ofc she is lmao.

Livia liked that message and scrolled out of the chat, pushing herself upwards so that she was sitting up straight. She ought to do something, she thought as she glanced out the window. She had a private balcony, one that overlooked the front of the house and thus the sea. Her feet landed on the wooden floor—the floorings of the rooms had not been changed to marble, only the public areas—and she took a few steps towards the window.

Livia's room was not actually as big as one might think. There was a queen size bed in the middle, backed against the wall, two white birch bedside tables beside it. She'd gone for a white and minimalistic style with this particular room, in contrast to the more lived-in and brightly coloured room back in Hong Kong.

Her desk was in front of a window with beige-coloured curtains, overlooking the side of the house. Right besides that was the door out to the balcony. Her vanity was next to her wardrobe, which was built into the wall, and there was the bathroom door not too far away from that. The bathroom was between her and Pamela's rooms, her sister had one too.

The walls were mostly bare except for a few old posters, which Livia ripped off and tossed away into the trash, because it was yellowing and she didn't like half the movies and celebrities on it anymore anyways. She'd been young and an idiot, that was the only real way to put it.

She was going around cleaning up when Pamela came knocking at her door. Somehow, she'd missed her sister showing up, which she could clearly see from her window. Pamela hadn't changed yet, and she glanced up from her phone as she said, "Ma says dinner's ready, wash your hands and get downstairs. I'll be there in a second. Oh, and we're going to the Calvert-Egertons' after dinner. To say hi. I ran into Zeth outside just now. He's had a glow-up, honestly."

Livia really didn't need to know that. Though Zeth wasn't the one she really cared about, or was scared of. Yes, he knew what happened. Yes, she didn't want to talk to him either, because he was involved with what happened, but Amphion was the one at the centre of it. He was the one she wanted to avoid at all costs.

Obviously, her attempt was failing. Not much she could do about that, rather unfortunately.

Livia nodded and sauntered to her bed, grabbing her own phone before heading down. She'd run back up to get a jacket later, since it would be getting cooler in the evenings. It wasn't that far away, and she doubted they were actually leaving immediately after they finished eating.

She walked downstairs, taking the turn into the dining room, where Auntie Xu was helping serve food. Her mother had gone to the kitchen to help cook today, but Auntie Xu still made a majority of the food, and she was a bloody good cook. Livia offered a smile, not sitting yet as nai nai hadn't arrived. She was probably still in the living room staring at the television, so Livia instead went into the kitchen to see if she could give them a hand.

"Oh good," her mother exclaimed as Livia walked in. "Get the rice ready in the bowls, Heisan." Hei San. That was her Chinese name. 熙宸. Livia had always quite liked it. Hei was also the given name of one of her favourite characters in Chinese classical literature, Wong Xifeng from Dream of the Red Chamber. Xi was the spelling of that character in pinyin.

"Less rice for nai nai?" Livia enquired as she began to flip around the rice in the rice cooker.

"Less nice for nai nai," her mother confirmed. "More for your little sister too. She needs to eat more."

"She eats plenty. None of us are the body type to easily gain weight, that's all. You don't need to worry about her. Trust me, she eats more than any of us on some days."

Her mother frowned. "Well, it doesn't hurt to keep feeding her to see if she'll eventually get a few pounds on her."

And Livia didn't want to argue with that, so she placed an extra bite on Pamela's bowl before beginning to take them all out. Usually Auntie Xu ate with them, but since tonight was their first night back, Auntie Xu had insisted she eat by herself in the kitchen. Apparently there was some kind of live table tennis match she wanted to watch, and she didn't think watching it while at dinner with everyone else was the way to go.

Livia didn't say anything about that, because clearly the conversation was already done and dusted with. And it was the first night back, so she didn't think any of the adults actually wanted Auntie Xu to be there anyways, since they might be discussing some slightly more personal stuff.

Who knows? They might. Livia wasn't sure.

When everyone sat down to begin eating fifteen minutes had already passed since Pamela had called her downstairs. The two children mostly just ate, allowing the adults to talk as they pleased. They had nothing much to add to the conversation anyways. Why should they bother?

Most of the things they said were the same things they'd already said at lunch, so Livia and Pamela finished rather quickly and went into the living room to wait, since their parents had already confirmed that the four of them (nai nai wasn't going because it might be too cold for her outside) would be stopping by the Calvert-Egertons' to say hello and exchange gifts. She wasn't even aware that her parents had brought gifts for them, except that they must have, because that was what they did every year.

How could she forget?

And she was always the one handing over the gifts meant for Amphion and Zeth too.

This was getting worse by the second.

Livia laid on the sofa and braced herself. Pamela didn't seem to notice her discomfort, but that was probably because she was too carried away humming as her eyes remained glued to her phone, unable to leave for just a second. Pamela had a slight phone problem, but the thing was that she knew when to quit when she had to, so no one ever really said or did anything about it, though she knew that her parents had wanted to many times.

Livia could do this.

Probably.

She was going to be here the whole summer and the twins lived right next door. She'd have to face them eventually.

Better late than never, she supposed.

Might as well get it over with now, while all her courage hadn't yet escaped her.