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Chapter 1
6 Years ago…
Summer of 1995
Willow
I’ve been counting down the days until summer break. This year felt like the longest year yet, but it’s finally over and I’m going to be a senior this fall. “I smell the water.” I sighed as I leaned my head out the window of our 1988 station wagon. I swear, we looked like the Griswolds driving down the highway. My dad was wearing this Hawaiian shirt with these awful bright pink leaves on it. Mom had this pink t-shirt dress that was popular in the eighties on, and my brother and I were doing the best we could to ignore their singing.
“Can you turn it down a little?” Jack, my brother, groaned. “You’re embarrassing.”
“That’s our job, honey.” Mom smiled as she began belting “Here I Go Again on My Own” at the top of her lungs. I learned a long time ago to just ignore them; bringing attention to it just makes it worse.
“This is a rite of passage. When you have kids, you can embarrass them too.” Dad laughed as he made the final turn onto Ocean Blvd. Our house was just a few blocks away.
“I’m never having kids.” Jack crossed his arms over his chest.
“We’re here,” Dad called as he pulled into the drive. “Looks like someone mowed for us.” We have this tiny patch of grass in this otherwise sand covered yard and Dad is constantly worried about it being mowed.
“That was nice.” Mom opened her door and climbed out. We each stood and stretched, and I tried to get a peek at whether the Bradshaws were in town or not. Russell and I have had this brother/ sister type of relationship since we were like six. We love to hate each other, but we help one another when one of us is in trouble. “Let’s get everything carried up, and then you kids can take off.” Mom knew that we wanted to be on the beach, or pretty much anywhere but with them. There was an arcade a few blocks away attached to a small convenience store. Russ and I used to spend hours down there, or until we ran out of quarters.
Dad began unstrapping ‘the snail’ from the top of the car. He bought the thing when we were little; Mom insisted on packing all our baby stuff. Since then, we use it whenever we travel. “Here.” He began handing suitcases down, and one at a time, we carried them upstairs.
Inside, the house smelled of pine. Mom had the plug-in scent things to keep it from smelling after being closed up. We always took the first week of summer for ourselves, and then rented it out the rest of the time. I went around shoving curtains open before tossing my bag on the bed I usually slept in. Mom pushed a few buttons on the wall panel, and the air conditioner whirred to life. “There. Now it will cool off a bit.”
The green shag carpet needed to be replaced, and the dark wood paneling had seen better days, but this place was always fun to visit. It was part of my childhood that wasn’t filled with schedules, and electronics. We didn’t have video games here or a computer. We used our time to play on the beach or we set up board games and cards. It never bothered me because that’s just the way it was.
“I’m going swimming!” Jack yelled as he burst inside, dragging his bag behind him. “You should come.” He motioned to me before rushing into his room.
“Maybe I will.” I smiled to myself. I hadn’t had a chance to wear the new purple bikini I’d purchased last week yet. “Do you need any help?” I turned to Mom. I was always the kid who offered help. I was the responsible one.
“I’m good, honey. Go, have fun.” She shooed me away. I shrugged, and then went to change.
ooooooooo
“The water’s great.” Jack ran up and skidded to a stop in front of me. “You should come in.” He tossed his boogie board onto the sand, causing a small amount to pelt me.
“Maybe later.” I lifted my sunglasses to stare at him. He was nine, and not interested in girls yet. He didn’t get it.
“Suit yourself.” He took off running toward the shallow water, jumping the waves in the process.
I leaned back, attempting to look cool while sweating my ass off in the sun. There weren’t a ton of people on the beach, but there was a small group of boys a little ways down tossing a football. I couldn’t help but stare, my sixteen-year-old hormones kicking into gear. My matching purple sunglasses helped hide the fact that I was staring, or so I thought, but I think one of them noticed me. A dark-haired boy turned to wave, and then laughed when he turned back to his friends. Typical guy. Boys could be so stupid at times. I turned away, and put my attention on my brother. He was old enough to be independent, but young enough to do something dumb and need my help.
We stayed out until the sun started to set, and the tide came in. The portion of beach our house was on didn’t have a lot of beach left. A storm had come through years ago, and despite efforts to build the beach back, when the tide was in, the water came all the way up to the rocks in places. Dad got our house pretty cheap because of this, and we’ve learned to deal with it.
“What do think we’re having for dinner?” Jack tucked his boogie board under his arm as I folded our towels.
“Let’s just hope that Mom cooked.” I sighed. My dad tried, but his meals were always suspect. They never looked or tasted like they were supposed to.
“Leaving already?” I jumped when I heard his voice. It was the dark-haired boy. His friends were watching him from where they’d been playing.
“Uh, yeah. Dinner time.” I lifted my towel bag onto my shoulder.
“You live around here?” His head tipped to the side, his wet hair hanging over one eye.
“We live there. Who are you?” Jack blurted out. I’d almost forgotten he was there.
“I haven’t seen you here before.” He flicked his head, causing the wet hair to move.
