Distraction

Chapter 1

I hate endings.

I've always hated endings, ever since I was a little kid. It was just a reminder that all good things in my life would eventually end and that happiness was temporary. I know it sounds depressing, but that is how my brain works.

My life has been chaotic recently, especially since I graduated high school. However, I finally turned 18, which means I have the freedom to do whatever I want, well, mostly whatever I want. I'm just happy that I'm no longer in high school. I can finally live my life the way I want to. I don't have to worry about what my family thinks or listen to others on how I should live my life.

My family was never really supportive of my choices in high school. I wanted to be a writer, but they viewed that as a "waste of a career." However, my mom was supportive; she always pushed me to find my true happiness. It has been hard for her since my dad passed away two years ago. It was the lowest point of both our lives. But shit happens, and we move on.

Now, I'm a high school graduate and will attend NYU in the fall. And I couldn't be happier, well, at least I hoped I would be. But I still feel like something is missing in my life.

My friends and I will spend our last summer together at Alia's beach house in southern California. I'm kind of excited because I love hanging out with my friends. They are the few people that care about me.

Just as I'm about to grab my luggage, Kali walks into my room. "Can you hurry up, Jade? We need to start packing the car."

"I'm already done," I say while rolling my eyes. I hate packing. I never have the energy to get up and put the clothes in the bag.

"Okay good, because I need you to stop me from strangling Alia." She says.

I laughed, "What did she do now."

"She and her dumb boyfriend are arguing over who gets the aux in the car for the road trip," Kali says while grabbing my luggage and dragging it out the door.

Kali and Alia have been my friends since elementary school. We have always been this unbreakable trio.

As I walked outside to the car, I saw Alia and her boyfriend Luca hugging; as much as they fight, they always make up super quick.

"Fine, babe, you can play your playlist on the way to the beach," Alia says while giving him a peck on the cheek.

"I think I'm going to throw up," I say while mimicking barf noises.

"You just hate on us cuz you're lonely, Jade," Luca says while pulling Alia into his arms.

"If my future relationship is anything like yours, I hope I stay single forever," I respond, gaining laughter from both Alia and Kali.

Luca rolls his eyes as he packs all our suitcases into the trunk.

Just as I was about to make another comment, my mom came out the front door.

"Honey, please be careful." She says while smiling at me.

"I know, mom. I promise not to make too many bad decisions." I reply, which causes her to roll her eyes at me.

"Alia, please make sure she doesn't do anything stupid." My mom says while turning to look at Alia and Luca.

"Hey! what about me," Kali shouts back.

"You're the one that is going to get me into trouble," I say back, laughing.

We all laugh and exchange our final goodbyes with my mom. And finally hit the road. We have a long 4 hours ahead of us, but I'm glad I'm not driving. We only allowed Alia to bring her boyfriend because none of us wanted to drive.

As I stare out the window, I felt this weird feeling. I felt something big would happen on this trip, but I didn't know what. It felt like the beginning of those indie films where the main character is about to meet someone who would change their life. But I was probably getting ahead of myself. I was always daydreaming about some stupid romance scene. I need to stop reading those romance novels. So, I closed my eyes and let my mind fall at ease. Sooner or later, everything just turned black.

...4 hours later...

"JADE, WAKE UP. WE ARE HERE!!" Kali shouts while shoving me back and forth. I jolt up in a panic, "What the fuck, kali? You scared me." I say with annoyance on my face.

"Sorry, but hurry up. I wanna see the house." She says eagerly while opening the door to the car. Alia and Luca had already grabbed their luggage and walked to the house.

As I got out of the car, I saw the vast two-story beach house right in front of me. It was a white house with light blue windows and a large porch. It was Alia's grandparent beach house, so I expected it to look lavish. But this was crazy.

"Holy shit Alia, why did you never bring us here before," I ask.

"Because you never asked me to," She says back sarcastically.

"Nah, she just wanted to keep this place all to herself." Luca states.

"On God, bro." Kali yells from inside the house.

I grabbed my suitcase and walked over to the door, as I entered the house I looked at all the rooms. I decided to take the room on the left, mainly because it was the only one with a window, and I wanted to be able to smoke cigarettes in my room. I set my luggage down on my bed. "That definitely isn't going to be unpacked anytime soon." I thought to myself.

Just as I was about to lie down on my bed, Kali rushed into my room. "Put your bathing suit on; we are going to the beach." She says, running back out of my room.

This is going to be a good summer.