“So how was your flight?” My dad asked. We were driving along the highway at the moment heading back to my dad’s. the three of us were squeezed into the front seat of my dad’s pickup truck being the only seating in the whole car.
The weather was already nicer. My jacket and scarf was a taken off from the intense temperature difference. It was sunny and warm, and I was enjoying it.
“Okay, pretty good actually,” I said. “Cass had all her musicy stuff out, so she probably didn’t even realize we were flying.”
I could already tell she was rolling her eyes at me. “That’s good. Hey, you guys are going to get to meet Carmen’s kids.”
“Kids?”
“She has a daughter that I think is around your age and another one.” I noticed the small grin on his face, but I didn’t quite understand. He saw my confused look releasing a small laugh. “And our son.”
“You guys had a kid?” I asked surprised. I didn’t want him to think that it was a disapproving form of curiosity. I never had the slightest clue that he and Carmen had kid. I was aware that she had one from her previous marriage, but this was a surprise.
“Danny. He’s around four and a half. Carmen figured out she was pregnant just before the wedding, so you couldn’t really tell.” If this little boy is four and my half-brother, why the hell am I just figuring out about him now? I was at the wedding, and not a single word was uttered. It’s been four years. Four. And I’m just figuring out about this now.
“What?” I voice wasn’t too loud, but it did grow a little. “The hell, dad?”
“Oh, shush,” he said still smiling, “I wasn’t completely positive that you were unaware of Danny. I thought that you’re mother told you.”
“Never mentioned it. You couldn’t call and tell me or at the wedding?” I asked in disbelief. I guess better late than never, but hey, surprise!
“Sorry, nugget. We didn’t tell anyone at the wedding. I called your mom about, uh, a few weeks after it, and I guess she forgot to mention it.”
I hummed in reply. I wondered why my mom never told me; that will definitely be something to bring up when I get up.
Next to me, Cass was wide eyed with everything outside. No skyscrapers, or mobs of people, or insane traffic. It was already more serene, but I had to admit, I missed all the rustle and bustle a little.
Dad’s house was not as I expected. It was a little beach shack with a low key feel. If you drove right by it, you may not have even noticed it. It was nice, though. Light colors, bright feel, beachy appearance. Right behind the backyard pool, you were steps from the beach. It was a cute little summer home.
My dad helped Cass and I get our stuff inside, and it was just as cute inside as it was out. Right in the living room once you walk in with the open layout. There was a colonial, suburban feel with the gray granite and white cabinetry in the kitchen and rosy pattern on the two couches. The coffee table matched the cabinets, and the TV hung above the in-wall fireplace. Many windows and a French glass door were against the light beige walls sitting on the either dark wood, in the living room, or light linoleum, in the kitchen.
Continuing into the kitchen, the stairs were up against the side wall beside the dining table. My dad led us upstairs. Dark wood led us to a room on the right which opened up to a bedroom. We would each get a twin bed, split dresser and closet, with even a vanity. For the most part, it was plain with yellow, tan, and bamboo as the theme.
“Cute. Thanks for letting me stay, Mr. Hepburn,” Cass said to him. She dropped her bags by the bed to the right giving me the left one.
“Course, and you’re more than welcomed to call me Miles. I’ll let you two get situated.”
I peeked out the window, and since we were in the front, I could see the driveway and street lined with some trees and another home. I followed Cass in the unpacking process. She called dips on the upper part of the dresser, so I got the upper shelf of the closet. I wasn’t winning anything, though, since most of my clothes were shorts, bathing suits, tank tops, and tees. Even coming to the shore, I wouldn’t dare leave the house without a few sweatshirts and my combat boots. Say what you want, I couldn’t leave them.
“I like it, a lot,” Cass said setting up her guitar up.
“Same,” I responded. “I wonder where everyone is.”
“I wouldn’t blame them if they were soaking up the rays,” she laughed. Where we were from, you could get a tan four possible ways a.) drive to the nearest beach in Jersey, b.) head to the roof of the building and risk sitting with birds and on bird poop, c.) spray, and d.) machine. Explains why I was nearly a vampire and burn like bread.
“Well, beach can expect our arrival tomorrow,” I said with positivity. Definitely looking forward to that, but I assumed my dad wanted to do something tonight due to not seeing him in months. I have yet to see Carmen again as well as her daughter and my just-informed-about-this half-brother.
It didn’t take too long for us to finish, and we both called our mom’s to let them know that we got here okay. I could tell the weight was lifted off my mom’s shoulders knowing that I was fine. It was a quick call, but I was glad that she was relieved.
“Stella! How’ve you been, sweetie?” were the words that I first heard when we got back downstairs. Carmen ran right over giving me a hug which for a moment was a little awkward. She then gave Cassadee a hug with such enthusiasm. “I’m Carmen.”
“Cassadee,” she responded.
“Ohhhh, pretty. So how have you two been? Happy to be here?” she asked. She was a happy, go lucky girl as well as pretty, so I could tell why my dad may have liked her. She resembled my mom with the long, dark hair and full lips. Her eyes were a deep brown differed from my light azure ones.
“Different from the city, that’s for sure,” I started.
“Ready to hit the beach, though,” Cassadee continued.
“Well, you got that right at your fingertips,” Carmen replied. “Oh! There someone or someones I want you to meet! Jules! Come here! You’re dad went up to change Danny out of his swimsuit. So cute watching him swim around the pool with his little floaties.”
I didn’t notice Carmen in her swimsuit and maxidress. “Juliet!” she called again.
“I’m coming!” Juliet called coming down the steps and into the kitchen with us. It was like Carmen but a teenager with come little edits. Her nose was much narrower than her mom’s along with her mom having a more heart shaped head, but they had the same lips and eyes.
“Juliet, this is Stella and her friend Cassadee,” the petite mother informed.
“Hi,” Juliet replied to us with an awkward and forced tone.
“Hi,” Cass and I said back in unison with a small wave. She couldn’t have seemed anymore less interested in us as if her mother was pulling her out of something much more important.
“Mom, I’m gonna head out,” she quickly changed the topic shaking her head away from us.
“With?”
“Andy, Aria, Alex, Jack, and Austin,” she listed out to her mom. This would be the perfect time for us to take those few steps back away from the stiff conversation.
Carmen was silent for a second, “why don’t you take Stella and Cassadee with you?”
Naturally, I flickered my sight to Juliet who was giving her mom the mom-you-aren’t-serious-don’t-make-me look. Don’t worry, offense non taken. She turned, and I eyed some of the tattoos on her arm. Andy? And on the other side some sort of heart with a sword. I wasn’t going to deny my admiration for her ink.
“Fine, ready?” Juliet turned to us. I could use without the attitude. I looked to Cass who I could tell was thinking the same exact thing as me.
“I guess,” Cass answered.
“If you even want us to come,” I muttered to myself hoping that she didn’t hear. Cass snickered obviously hearing me, but no one else seemed to.
“I’ll let your father know that you’ll be back later,” Carmen winked at us before turning to her daughter. “Be back at a reasonable time. 11, 12 at the latest. Deal?”
“Kay, love ya.” Juliet didn’t wait up for us heading straight to the door. I took a deep exhale following her out the door. Jeans, loose tank, combat boots, and a beanie was my style choice. Obviously a lot different from the locals and any smart summer person, but I was pulled out the door so suddenly I could barely comprehend what was happening.
“Okay, if you don’t want to hang out with me, you can go do whatever. You don’t have to follow me around,” Juliet turned to us. We were barely half way down the street when this came up. If the sighs a looks didn’t convince me that she didn’t want us around, than this topped the cake. I didn’t get what her problem was, but I didn’t want to start anything.
She made it sound like we knew our way around like she did like we lived here as long as she did when we just got here within hours ago.
“I get if you don’t want us around, but we don’t know our way around.” I tried to keep my voice light and far from picking any sort of argument. When I said it, I could notice the slight look of apology in her eyes.
“Listen, I just don’t think you would want to hang out with me, that’s all. But I guess I can give you guys some people to actually talk to other than each other.” Ouch. This was something I would have to get used to. Yippee.
“Awesome,” Cass mumbled. Juliet turned back around while we followed down the road. It took us about four blocks right before actually getting to town. We were surrounded by trees and sand, but once you get into it, it’s like a little small town with a street of shops. In the distance, you could see a boardwalk. I was assuming nine, ten, or even eleven blocks up. Our house was out of it an away from it all. It was just by luck that we got our own mini beach behind the house. The space would be just ours unlike the one by the boardwalk.
“Just act…cool, I guess. Just don’t do anything stupid,” Juliet didn’t turn to give us this dazzling advice. She just pointed her finger in the air in front of us as a demand. Arrogance was something that she had, and I was trying my hardest not to let it get to me. I barely knew her for a full forty five minutes, yet she bossed us around like her six year old siblings.
“Unfortunately, I’ve done that my whole life,” I leaned over whispering to Cass who just laughed.
“That makes two of us.” Whatever. With the high doubt that her friends would be any different, maybe they were. If they were anything like the impression that Juliet was giving us, this was going to be a long night.
Juliet shook open a caged fence taking us into a baseball field. I could see a group of people sitting around second base. They got up when seeing us, or Juliet, enter making their way to the pitchers mound.
“Hey, babe,” one guy said heading straight in for a kiss. Tall and tattooed was a way to describe him, but there were two that would fit the description. This one though, had longer black hair with both a lip and a nose piercing. The other had shorter hair and just a nose. Appearance wise, you would think that I would fit right in with them, but to be honest, I never felt more out of place than I did right now.
She kissed back a deep before pulling away and remembering me and Cass’s existence.
“Oh, guys these are my step sisters. Step sisters, these are the guys.” With that careless introduction, they gave us a quick nod of the head and a “hey”. Another awkward smile and small wave from team ‘step sisters’. It was as if she forgot the fact that we weren’t sisters and we still had no clue who anyone was.
“Sweet. but hey, I’m Andy,” the long haired tall and tattooed said. At least we had a name to go with his face. He raised an eyebrow at us both with eyes brighter than mine smirking like his pierced lip.
He extended his hand smugly, but I wasn’t willing to give him the satisfactory. “Okeey,” he said to himself pulling his hand away. What a wonderful bunch!
“What are your names?” the boy with lighter brown hair asked. He was shorter than the others, but still decently tall. Brown eyes switched from me to Cass and then back at me. Digging flannel shirt and eyebrows. He lacked tattoos except for one on his forearm and hand which definitely intrigued me.
The tall guy he was standing next to was alike him with the lack of ink. From what I could see, he was the only one who didn’t have any. I figured I would refer to him as flower until I learned his name. His skunk hairstyle instantly reminded me of the little skunk from. Bambi who would be the lighter haired boy.
“Stella.” I answered to Bambi who just nodded.
“Like the beer?” Long haired tall and tattooed boy asked. Well, Andy.
“No, like the girl,” I replied. I didn’t like it here at all. I didn’t like them.
“How about you, darling?” the other tall and tattooed asked looking at Cass. His eyes were covered by a pair of Aviators, but I could tell he was good looking. They all were. They were all just stuck up about it. It was like they knew they had an attractive edge and appearance to them, and they weren’t going waste a single second not to flaunt it.
“It’s Cassadee. Not “darling”,” she said back just as irritated as I was. I looked at Juliet who could care less about our presence. The way she had her attention her phone was just a hint that led me to guess that.
“If you don’t want to be here you can leave,” piped up the blonde girl that I didn’t even notice was there. There was always one of those girls. I just didn’t expect her to hang around with a crowd like this. She stuck between Bambi and short haired tall and tattooed with her hands slightly akimbo. If she was any thinner, I would fear of her fading into thin air.
“Whoa, Ar, no need to be rude to our guests,” Flower replied to her. She rolled her eyes at him looking at us with the expectation of a reply.
“Don’t look at me, you heard him,” I replied to her. Back at home, I was familiar with who I would talk to, and who I would rather stay away from. Every place had their cliques, and back in NY, they were pretty blunt about it. Like a no as intense Mean Girls. It was a place where you fit in somewhere or you didn’t. That’s how I met Cass. We were those two puzzle pieces that didn’t complete any of the puzzles at Braiden Laine High School. So we shared a discrete table with another guy named Shawn Meyers who would only pipe up every once and a while.
“Damn, this bitch,” Juliet said at something on her phone.
“Who? There’s a lot of bitches” Andy asked. He draped his partially inked arm around her. Few more sessions and he’d have a full sleeve on his arm. So far, it was just plain black ink with only some spots of red unlike short haired who had a handful of colors currently down his left arm. That was all from what I could see with his t-shirt on.
“That blonde Katie chick who hangs around with Alex’s ex,” Juliet replied with a groan in her voice.
“I still don’t get why you went out her,” Ar jeered in disbelief and disapproval. At that point, I was assuming Alex was Bambi the way he shook his head and rubbed his face.
“Shut it, at least I didn’t date that stoner,” Alex shot back at her receiving a few laughs from his peers. Ar responded with a distasteful look shifting her weight away from him and toward short haired tall and tattooed. The way they all snapped at each other gave me an odd feeling. It was as if the way they bonded was over their hatred for others. At least that’s what I picked up from all of this. That, and their style which wasn’t a bad thing.
“Well, this is fun,” Cass leaned over and whispered to me.
“Thrilling,” I said back. I didn’t mind being left out of their conversation about the disapproved ex, or the apparent ex druggie, or bitches, or any of that. Not because I didn’t know who they were talking about but because I didn’t know who they were talking about like personally. But from I learned and know about this bundle little joy of a group, they were mostly likely just saying that due to their hatred for them.
“Whatever. Let’s go do something,” Flower obviously didn’t care about what they were going on about making him in the lead for who I liked the most at this point, not that I did like him or any of them for that manner.
Runner up would probably be short hair tall and tattooed. He made a haughty darling comment to Cass, but that was the only remark he made compared to the others. Bambi and Juliet followed next ending with Andy. Regardless of Juliet being my step-sister, I just couldn’t be bias. She didn’t want to be bothered with us, and I knew that in her mind I was just barely an acquaintance that she was getting ready to avoid for the rest of the summer. I hated that. Yeah, she wasn’t my blood sister, but she was still in a way my sister, and I didn’t want this between us. Not that I had much control over it. Her opinion seemed pretty set in stone.
“What do you two want to do?” Andy flickered his attention to us. Great.
“Probably want to get as far away from us as possible,” Alex said not looking up from his phone.
“Speak for yourself,” I said. I don’t know why I said it, but it just came out. I was just fed up with them.
“Don’t act like I’m not right,” he said back this time peeking up at me.
“I don’t know if they have much of a choice being they don’t know their way around,” Juliet said to him, again making us sound like two six year-olds that have to tag along. Cass was on her phone trying to get her attention acted on anything but them. I didn’t blame her.
“They’re two pretty girls. They can figure their way around,” Andy told her. Of course, she chuckled at his comment. I don’t know what part she was laughing at, but I expected it at this point.
“Awh, c’mon they join us,” short haired tall and tattooed said. “You may not want to, but I would rather stop being a dick to them and actually talk to someone else other than you guys.” I wasn’t sure if he was joking or not. There was a sarcastic sound in his voice, but I didn’t know if it was literal or not.
“Are you joking?” Ar asked him with her famous look of disfavor. I was getting the feeling that she didn’t like very many things.
“Who gives if he is or not. They have to, so can we get going?” Juliet intercepted with an impatient ring in her voice. This was going to be a walk with me and Cass drifting behind them on our phones talking about how joyful of a time we were having.
Juliet, Andy, and short haired tall and tattooed walked ahead of Ar, Alex, and Flower. Just as I suspected, we were drifted back, but not as far as I thought. We were just at their coattails listening to Ar laugh about something she said. I could tell from the way she continued touching Flower’s and Alex’s shoulder, or arm, or playfully hit them. It was weird to watch.
“What time is it?” I asked Cassadee attempting to crack my knuckles as we walked to give me something to do.
“Noon thirty,” she groaned with the joke. Dammit. It was like Carmen knew that Juliet would out all day giving her the curfew that she did. What could they do with all this time other than sit in the middle of a baseball field talking about people? I wouldn’t know only being here for a few hours, but I was about to learn real soon.

Notes

So hopefully it's starting to pick up a little bit more now aha. I'm sorry if it's a little long but I had to try and fit everything is, so hope it's okay and comment, subscribe, and vote!(:

-Gii xxxo