Where Life Takes Us

Chapter Thirteen

Chapter Thirteen

A V E R Y

As much as I could hardly explain, it was disappointing that the three months of my summer vacation had already flown by. August came much earlier than I expected, and I never would've thought that I would find my brother and I carpooling in Wade's family's car. My friends and I soon found ourselves tagging along with Wade's friends on a road-trip to Lakeville.

The one thing I wasn't aware of until the day we were headed to the beach was that there weren't enough seats in either Tyson's car with the boys or in Willow's car since her mom was driving the girls. Therefore, on a short notice, Wade offered to let us tag along with him and his younger sisters early in the morning.

On our way to Lakeville, my brother and Wade's younger sisters naturally happened to fall asleep since we left in the morning earlier than expected for more time at the beach.

I was trying to stay awake in the passenger seat with music blaring through my earbuds, but I soon fell into unconsciousness beside Wade, who was driving. I couldn't help myself, but I found myself startled when I found myself face-to-face with Wade, who chuckled when he woke me up to tell me we were at our destination.

I glanced upwards from where I was seated in the beach hut to see everyone on the shore, even though we had merely arrived moments ago. Noah and Audrey were occupied with some swings, while Tyson and Austin were already swimming out in the freezing water, even if it was only nine o'clock in the morning.

Ellie was taking pictures of the scenery, while Rebecca and Natalie were taking pictures of themselves on their phones. Finally, at a nearby beach tent, Parker and Willow were checking out the prices of a paddle board.

To keep myself occupied in the meantime, I slid my backpack off my shoulders. Unzipping my backpack that was in my lap, I reached inside to retrieve my notebook when I abruptly heard the most startling noise.

As I rummaged through my backpack to retrieve a pencil, I heard a high-pitched shriek that was coming from Wade's car. Sitting bolt upright in my seat, my head snapped up to immediately face the grey car itself where the noise came from.

I didn't have a clue on what was going on, but it was then when I realized that Wade was still inside of the car with Charlie who he was waking up from her nap. I couldn't tear my eyes away from the car, but when I heard sobbing erupt, I had a feeling that something terrible was happening.

Soon enough, the bawling began to cease and I let out a sigh of relief. I couldn't help but wonder what happened in those brief moments. Since the car was only a couple of feet away from our beach hut, I watched from afar as Wade shifted his body towards the car door and hopped out the car. Behind him was the petite blond-haired little girl that I came to know was his younger sister, Charlie.

Wade put his arms around Charlie, using his upper strength to carry his younger sister and eventually placing her on the ground. Wade crouched down to Charlie's level; from a distance, it seemed as if he was quietly telling her something.

He gave her a small smile before standing up to point at Noah and Audrey at the swing set. With that, Charlie skipped over to the both of them, smiling. However, as Charlie passed the beach hut, I couldn't help but notice her tear-stained face.

"Is everything alright?" I concernedly asked, glancing over at Wade as he made his way over to me.

"Oh, no. Nothing's wrong," Wade reassured, a small smile on his face. "Charlie just had.. She had a nightmare from her nap."

"Oh, okay," I smiled, glancing over at the swing set to find Noah getting off his swing for Audrey after she gave up her swing for Charlie. All three of them were in a fit of laughter as Noah pushed Charlie on her swing. "Charlie seems like she's having fun with them."