The Summer Of Us (Discontinued)

Chapter One

"Do I have to?" I questioned, already knowing the answer. Looking for any excuse to stay here; at home.

My mother sighed. "Elise, you know I can't turn down these things. We need all the money we can get at this point, and I can't turn down opportunities like these."

"I know." I replied. "But you'll be all the way up in Alaska and I'll miss you." I folded my arms across my chest. I haven't parted with my mother, ever. She's been by my side since the beginning, so a trip like this was overwhelming for myself.

My mother looked at me with a reassuring smile. "I'll miss you too. I promise you'll be in safe hands though. Susan is one of my closest friends, and I wouldn't be doing this if I didn't trust that."

There is was. Ms. Vincent. She's been best friend's with my mother since high school and they've stayed close ever since.

And with those words, the doorbell rang. My mother ran to open the door and in came a middle-aged lady who was of course Ms. Vincent. She hugged my mother with the biggest smile before approaching me.

"Ms. Vincent!" I smiled.

"Oh, please. You make me sound old. " She joked. "Call me Susan."

"It's nice to meet you--" I said, about to hold out my hand until she wrapped me into the tightest hug.

She unwrapped her arms from me, placing them on my shoulders instead. "God, you're beautiful!"

"Thank you." I replied.

"You'll have so much fun at our beach house. Warm weather, beautiful sunsets; and all in all it's just a lot of fun." Susan explained.

My mother rejoined the conversation. "The plane takes off here in an hour and the airport is quite far, so I must get going now."

"That's fine, I'll take great care of your daughter. We'll have so much fun together! Wont we, Elise?" Susan continues, full of excitement.

I glance at my mother before looking back at her. "Yeah, of course."

"Great! Grab your bags and let's go." She says, grabbing one of my bags set at the front door and heading out.

I hug my mother once more. "You better call me every night." She says, a tear dripping down her face once we part. She wipes it away from her face quickly probably hoping I wouldn't see it.

"Don't worry, I will." I responded.

"Well you must get going, as well as I, so goodbye for now." She says with a smile. I grab my other bag before heading outside and into Susan's car. It was a beautiful car, don't get me wrong. Spacious, lots of seats as well.

I placed my bags in the back where Susan had placed my other. I buckled up my seat belt before taking a deep breath and relaxing. The cool A.C. blew through my hair in this blazing heat. She turned on some music to break whatever silence there is between us.

"So, do you like to do anything special?" She questioned, glancing at me in the rear view mirror.

"Oh, well I like to surf sometimes..." I say, fixing my loose, white t-shirt and denim shorts that I paired up with a pair of white converse.

"That's wonderful! There's plenty of surfing around where we live. I think we might even have an extra surf board in the shed. Now you do know that you will be attending the school where we live, right?"

Great, more drama to deal with. "I do now."

"Ocean View High school. One of the best, certified , high school's in town. That's where your mother and I went to school together." She explains some more.

I placed a strand of my long, blonde hair behind my ear, looking down at my hands as I fiddled with my thumbs. "Sounds great." I lied. I mean, I knew that I couldn't exactly go a year without school, it was just going to take some getting use to.

After almost an hour-long drive, she pulled into the driveway of a fairly large house in front of the beach. The sound of the waves clashing together and the sight of the sun setting was amusing to me.

"Here we are." She said, parking the car before getting out. I opened my door stepping out into the warm weather. I closed the door behind me before following Susan towards the back trunk where she helped me get my bags.

"I've got it." I reassured her before grabbing all three.

"Are you sure?" She questioned before shutting the trunk.

"Yeah, I'm sure." I said before following her up the steps into her beautiful home. I mean, everything was picture perfect. Starting with the beautifully arranged kitchen, to the living room; everything. "Wow, it's beautiful.."

"That it is." She sighed grabbing a mug out of the cabinet and pouring some coffee into it. She looked to me. "Want some?"

I shook my head. "No thanks."

"Alright then, I guess you can head upstairs and unpack your things before dinner." She suggests. "Your room is upstairs to the right."

I nodded before heading up the stairs. There were two long hallways on either side of me with rooms on every wall.

Shit. I don't think she mention a hallway...

I decided to take a right and open the first door on the right wall. I headed in looking around. It didn't look empty at all. There were articles of clothing everywhere. Everything was for men, it even reeked of guy in here.

I looked around until I found a picture in a frame on a dresser. I picked it up. It was Susan and a little boy. The photo was taken a while ago.

Susan never mentioned any guys in the picture...

I continued looking around until...

Boom, crash.

I tripped over a soccer ball, landing face first onto the wooden floor. And yes, for your information it did hurt.

I heard a door swing open and out came a tall figure. Shirtless, towel wrapped around his waist as if he just got out of the shower, abs, toned body, model-like appearance...

Oh no...