Summer Love

1

I kicked back on the couch and watched as my parents scrambled to pack the last minute things that they should have done weeks ago like I did. "Lyric, do you know where my charger is?" I glanced up at my older brother, Josh, and pointed to the corner behind the sectional. "Thanks, lil sis." I nodded letting him know that I heard him and switched the television off. Seeing that my parents are slowing down, I walk off to grab my littlest brother sleeping in his crib. He has to be the most precious thing that I have ever laid eyes on. "Are you ready for this, Beckett?" I asked when he fluttered his eyes open and cooed after I took him into my arms. "Honey, can you go corral Gabriel?" I smiled, "Sure thing, Mom." I was in a rather cheerful mood today and I wasn't going to let anything ruin it or this vacation for me. Swaddling Beck in his blue blanket, I made my way to the front porch and searched to see which house my twin could have ran off to this time. "Gabriel!" I finally spotted him climbing a tree with Mrs. Flores' boys. "Come on, it's time to go!" You could see his smile grow from a mile away as he jumped to the ground and ran past me. I laughed and closed the door after stepping back inside. Living on the corner of Loyola Boulevard and Westchester 91st Street, we didn't have many problems with getting around. Otis College of Art and Design was in our backyard, LAX is two blocks away, and the Pacific Ocean coastline is thirty minutes if you walk the distance. "Alright kiddos, Aunt Heather is here!" Dad held the door open for us all, made sure to lock it up, and hide the spare key under the twig-woven spiral tree before climbing into the second row of seats with Mom. Yes, it was a tight squeeze even with the third row seating, but we are a family of six. Aunt Heather driving would make seven, leaving no seats unoccupied. I sat up in the front with her and baby Beckett was in my arms because there was no more room. "So I hear that you are going to be keeping yourself busy, am I right?" Auntie broke me of my thoughts, "Yes. I will be canoeing and snorkeling with the turtles in Turtle Bay, hiking up to photograph the active volcanoes for the paper, and hopefully entering a surfing contest in Oahu." She smiled in a teasing manner, "Don't you need to know how to surf first?" I gasped in offense, "I can surf! I'm plumb better than you at it!" She laughed, "Calm down, Lyric. I was merely joking, everyone around here knows that you can surf." I smiled proudly out the window and thought to myself, 'Am I really that good?' I mean, I have won a couple of competitions but I didn't think I was that good. "Will you be scoping out the boys while you're at it?" I gave her the 'is that really a relevant question' look and everyone laughed other than Josh. Apparently, they had all been listening in to our conversation. "You will definitely not be hooking up with anyone." I rolled my eyes at my overly-protective older brother. "Let her have some fun, bruh." Gabriel started a losing battle, "She can hold her own, remember when she beat you in that wrestling match last summer in the flower garden?" My eyes went huge. Mom and Dad weren't suppose to now about that. "What happened in the flower garden last summer?" Mom's voice went cold and the air grew thick with tension. He began to speak up again, but with the look I gave him plus Josh covering his mouth with his hand, Gabriel didn't say anymore.
"Everyone have their tickets?" He glanced between us receiving nods all around. "Flight 312 is now boarding, Flight 312 is now boarding. Thank you." 'Perfect timing to make it through security,' I thought as I passed the flight attendant and made my way to my seat by the window. Mom and Dad sat to the left side of us, Mom on the inside and Dad in the aisle seat. Josh was given the privilege of the aisle seat, but chose to take the middle seat instead. "I'm making sure you two don't bicker the whole way there." I nodded and laid my head on his shoulder, "I think it's funny how you believe you need to justify your actions." He put his arm around my shoulders and lifted the arm rest so that I could be more comfortable. Call us crazy, but we actually get along. All of us do quite frankly, it's nice to only fight once in a blue moon. "Are you ready for this?" Good question. Am I ready for this? I have a phobia of heights and if I had to choose a way to die, it definitely would not be on a plane. I uncertainly nodded my head and clung on to him for dear life as we took off and hit turbulence. For lack of a better description, I was scared out of my mind. Josh had flown multiple times throughout his high school career to play travel ball and do some college visits. I am sure glad that he has been so active or I would not have survived the time between leaving the ground and soaring peacefully above the clouds, because his serenity is my haven. "You can let go now," He chuckled and I eased up my grip on his arm. "You didn't kill little Beck did you?" I shook my head no, "He's perfectly resting." I've always been told that I have a special connection-almost like an instant bond, to any tiny baby or small child I come in contact with. Some say it's a blessing and other says it's a curse, but I don't care. I love children and cannot wait to have some of my own. That won't happen for a while so I just resort to babysitting often and volunteering at the local daycare center. I hope to finish my schooling before settling down and having a family of my own. Though I am only 16 meaning plenty of things are close enough to touch, but still too far to grasp. "It's so beautiful up here." The sky was a profound blue and the clouds were such an unadulterated white and gossamery, it thunderstruck me that something could be so stupefying. I never imagined the air above me and what all it held to be as breathtaking as my view now; the ocean below us made my stomach do somersaults in both awe and fear. Through the rippling lucent waves, you could see all of the amazements beneath. From the multi-colored reefs to the thousands variants of sea creatures: from Pacific white-sided dolphins and California bat rays then from Percula clown fish and the smallest of Guadalupe cardinalfish. "Hey, cracka." I stared over at Gabriel to see him holding a bottle. "Thanks, homie G." We both laughed and I removed my gaze from my identical twin to our month old baby brother. I love how Mom allows me to hold him and watch over him when we go out. It makes being a big sister all worth while. "Kids, look over here for a moment please?" I internally groan knowing that she is wanting a picture of us all, but I turn to her anyways and plaster the biggest, truest smile on my face. Yawning, I rested my head on Josh's shoulder once again and he offered to take Beck out of my hands so that I could get some rest. "That would be most endearing," I smiled and carefully passed him over, fluttering my eyes closed and falling captive to slumber.
A slight tap was laid upon my shoulder causing me to open my eyes and rub my face to rid of sleep. Beckett was crying and no one could serenade him back to quietude quite like I. Gazing out the window, I could see small bungalows and some of the more extravagant beach houses I have ever witnessed. "Ten minutes till landing," Josh smiled over at me and I could see the glint of teasing in his eyes. "Hey, I should do better descending than I did ascending." He laughed after I testified, "Sure you will." Laughing with him, I switched my phone on and checked to see what time it was. 3 o'clock in the afternoon meaning that the night is still young yet. I cringed a little when my stomach dropped, but other than that I did fine with the landing. I flew. I made it; we made it. I can't believe we are finally here. All of my finest summer dreams now within reach. "You ready?" Dad smiled at me and I smiled confidently, "Let's do this." Looking through all of the cars, I got to help pick out the two we rented. One was a Suzuki iV-4 and the other a 1967 Jeep Jeepster Commando Convertible (my dream car). "Alright. Josh you know the way, don't you?" My eldest brother nodded his head and we loaded up in the jeep while Mom, Dad, and Beckett got to ride in the van. Going to my cousin's beach house would be one experience all in it's own. Cousin Jo Burke lives with her fiancé, Lukas Sandoval, in their three story dream home. Lukas is Puerto Rican, moved to Hawaii when he was eight years of age with his great grandfather. He is a kind-hearted guy and perfect for Jo, though her mother believes otherwise and that's why Aunt Heather didn't join us. "Lyric, Gabriel, Josh! Come in, come in!" She brought us all in for a group hug before offering us some lunch. "Aunt Mabel, Uncle Harvey! It's been so long!" Mom helped Jo with the cooking after handing Beckett over to me while Dad and Josh carried our things up to our designated rooms. "Let's get you in your crib, what do you say?" Beck cooed and I carried him up to my room where the crib was. Yes, I was going to be staying in the nursery-to-be. Rocking him to sleep, I placed him in the small bed and changed into my white ruffle bikini along with a pink crop top and short shorts overtop. "I'll be back later!" I grabbed a sandwich on my way out the door and put on my aviators thinking that it was too beautiful outside to pass up the opportunity to walk along the beach. 'The water is so clear, I can't wait to go surfing tomorrow,' I thought to myself as I was knocked to the ground by a boy around my age. "Oh, sorry--" He stopped short when he realized it was me. Standing up, I dusted the sand from my legs and flipped my now soaked hair back out of my face before walking off toward the pier. That kid, Teague Matthews, just moved here from Inglewood about a year ago. I never got along with him or his brother, Nik. Every time we were placed in the same group or classes even, we would never fail to poke at one another. I gazed over the dozens of people tanning, playing, and swimming trying to find anyone that looked to be my age. Plenty of boys playing football stopped momentarily as I passed, but I didn't give them the time of day. I'm on a mission to find a girl to make friends with and hang out, not for a boyfriend with a beach body. I'll save that for later. Looking from the cloudless sky, to the beautiful ocean, to the shell-covered sand at my feet, I smiled knowing that I will be surrounded by all of this for the next two weeks. Feeling a tug on my hand, I looked down to see a small girl. "What's wrong sweetheart?" I crouched down to her level and she pouted with her lower lip out, "I can't find my Bubby." I picked her up and placed her on my hip, "What's Bubby look like?" I searched the beach from end to end to see if I could spot anyone who looked like they were missing a child. "He's 16 with brown hair, am I gonna see him again?" I nodded, "You'll see him again, I promise. I'm going to help you find him." She smiled at me and put her arms around me, "Thank you, thank you, thank you!" I let out a laugh and decided I needed a better description. "What is Bubby's name?" She stared up at me, "Devon." So walking down the coastline, we yelled for her irresponsible brother. Who loses a little sister on the beach, especially as cute as her? "Is anyone else here with you and Devon?" She shook her head, "Mommy and Daddy are gone--there he is!" I whipped my head around to see a boy coming back to the shore with a board in his hand. Setting her down gently on her feet, I followed her as she ran up to him and hugged his leg. "Bubby, don't ever do that again!" He looked up at me and smiled before standing up his board and taking her in his arms, "Bubby's sorry sissy. Where did T go?" She shrugged and hugged him. "You seem to have quite a talent at losing people," I didn't mean to sound so rude, but it just kinda come out. "Excuse me, I don't think I caught your name?" Seeing Teague and Nik stroll up, I rolled my eyes. It all makes sense now. "There you are Amherst." She looked back at them before reaching for me and I gladly took her in my arms. "Can you stay and play with us?" I smiled, "I wish I could, but I have to go help my cousin get ready for her wedding. How about we play tomorrow?" She nodded her head quickly and I laughed before handing her back to her brother. Walking away, I glared at the two brothers and made my journey back to the beach house. "Oh man, was that her?" I heard Devon ask before I walked out of earshot. I smiled, 'Yeah, I'm me.'