Not just sandy toes and salty kisses.

chapter 1

"Do you hear me Lily-Anne?" Said my mom.
I mean of course I heard her, she, my fourty-seven year old mom, Nicky, never stops talking it doesn't matter where the heck she is or what the weather is doing, she is always chatting away about it.
"Yes mom, I will try my best" I say. She nods with a slight smile. Im not sure if she believes that as much as I tried to hide every bit of sarcasm out if my voice, I know I sure dont. She has spent the last two hour car ride explaining to me that im still young but old enough to have fun and enjoy life. She wants me to get my head out of my sketch book for a second and act like a normal teenager minus all the drinking and drugs of course.Parents are so weird like that.

You know five years ago she was begging for the complete opposite. When I entered high school I was sat down by both parents at the same time and place. Yes it was a shock for me to, which is probably why I took it so seriously. They told me to put my head down, this was the time to focus if I wanted a good future blah blah. So that's what I did, for once I locked the real me away, focused in class got pretty good marks, got accepted to the best collage for fine arts in New York. Shouldn't they be proud. But now I got to get out of that shell that I have built up that should be easy, right?

"Are granny and gramps already there?" I ask
"Yes they got there this morning, gran said the weather is great as usual!" Mom said with way to much enthusiasm.
I feel like that should have made me feel better but I still am feeling completely unmotivated. This summer isnt going to be the same without Adam, no matter how hard my mom tries.

Adam is my older brother, best friend and sometimes I feel like hes my guardian angel. When our parents got divorced I was only three years old so I think Adam took it on himself personally to be my hero. Which hes done perfectly. Natalie was around more than but once she got married she we only see her on weekends and most holidays.Natalie is our older sister mom had her when she was eighteen. She has always been like our second mom. She always takes us to the movies, takes me shopping. She even has a room made up for us at her house. I often stay there when I babysit her little monster Patrick. She seems like shes gotten her life pretty well sorted out for a twenty four year old. Married the successful Peter, and now has a kid.

That is where she is very different from Adam and I, shes always had her shit in order, known all the things she wants. Natalie is what you call very well put together person. She dresses beautifully and she is so welcoming and accepting. Which is one of the reason I go shopping with her because she doesn't tell me that my jeans have to many rips or how my top is slightly see through or to wear less makeup. Nat says Adam and I are two peas in a pod. We are both tall and lean, but pretty built as I do yoga and Adam does track running. My full name is Lily-anne but I prefer Lil, or Lily, I have an oval face with emphasised cheekbones, big greeny/blue eyes with reasonably tanned skin and honey blonde waveyhair which I recently cut short. The one thing that I have truly regretted in months.

Adam on the other hand has always got this huge goofy smile plastered on his face which makes his grey eyes sparkle and his dimples show even more than normal. His dimples are his favourite feature, probably because they attract all the girls while he is also tanned skin with white blonde hair that is generally shaved into a comb over style. I think the reason we both get on so well is because we both speak fluent sarcasm and have way to many inside jokes which drives our mom crazy.

"Seriously mom are we there yet, I feel like we have been driving most of my life?" I say in a huff.