Summer Love

Chapter 2

Ok, so let's get this straight - baggage collection at the airport was a nightmare. Especially with my mother around. People everywhere, always bustling to get their bags first. And on the top of the list of Most-Pushy-People was my mum. Always had to be first to do everything and anything, always had to be the best. It was annoying, and highly embarrassing.

I avoided awkward stares by turning my back on my mum and quietly humming to myself, pretending that I was not related to her. This had been going on for about 5 minutes, when my mum tapped me on my shoulder and shoved my suitcase into my hand.

Reluctantly, I slowly trudged behind my family with my suitcase trailing behind me, not paying the slightest bit of attention to my surroundings. I looked up for a millisecond to find my mum already at the car hire, stating her name impatiently to the employee. I shot him a look of sympathy as soon as I got within eyesight of him. He just replied by shaking his head and giving me a small grin. I giggled silently, hoping my mother wouldn't notice. She didn't, but Tom did. "What you laughing at?" he asked, confused. "Oh, um, nothing," I replied a little too quickly. He raised his eyebrows at me, then shook his head, rolling his eyes. "Come on, hurry up," said my mum impatiently, shooing us in the direction of our car. I rolled my eyes. This was going to be fun.

                  *******

Because my family didn't necessarily like hotels, we were staying at my grandparents house in Western Sydney. We had not been here since I was 4, and I can barely remember any of it.

Mum marched down the front path, and rapped on the door. Soon enough, my grandfather threw open the door. "Renee!" he said to my mum, opening his arms wide to give her a short, quick hug (for that's all she would allow). "Joshua!" he said to my dad this time, embracing him in a much more father-son way. "It's so good to see you! It's been so long. And my goodness... Haven't you kids grown!" There it goes. That awkward statement you get every time you see your grandparents. It honestly drove me insane.

Tom and I were quick to embrace our grandfather, as we loved him dearly, and had missed him since the last time we saw him up in Queensland. "Come on in! Your grandmother has a lovely lunch cooking for you all!" my grandpa said, stepping back so we could all walk through the door to the inside of the house.

Walking straight to the kitchen, I soon embraced my grandma in a loving hug. "Kirsten! How are you dear?" Grandma asked me. "Wonderful, now that I'm here," I replied cheekily, and she laughed at my comment. "Tom!" she said, seeing my brother behind me, and wrapping him in a warm embrace. "Good to see you too, Grandma," he said, his words slightly muffled. "Well, lunch is nearly ready, how about you two help me to take all these dishes to the table?" Grandma asked us. Tom and I both took a couple of dishes each, and carried them over to the table. "Thank you my dears," said Grandma, kissing us both on the cheek. "Now why don't you run upstairs and put your bags away, and by the time you come back, lunch will be just about ready," she said, and we followed her instructions and went upstairs to our rooms.

                  *******

I was lying on my bed, staring up at the ceiling of my room, when I heard a knock on the door. "Who is it?" I called. "Me," I hear Tom's voice answer. "Come in," I say, and he does, coming over to sit on my bed.

"What's the matter?" I ask him. "Nothing, I just wanted to talk to you," he replies. "About what?" I ask him, propping myself up on my elbows due to my curiosity. "Well, you see, this afternoon, when I went for a walk, I met this guy. He's my age, and I found out that he lives across the road from here. His name's Jack, by the way," Tom recited to me. "Aaaannnnd, what does this have to do with me?" I asked him, flopping back down on my bed. "Well, he has a brother, two actually, but the one I'm talking about is your age. I'd like you to meet him," Tom says, a little quickly. "What's his name?" I ask, flopping my arm over my eyes. "Luke," Tom replies. I flop my arm back onto my bed. "Yeah, I'll give it a go," I say, opening my eyes.

I see Tom grin at me. "Great! How 'bout tomorrow?" he asks me, excitement clear in his voice. "Whatever," I say. "Excellent," says Tom standing up from my bed, and leaning over to give me a hug. "Be ready by 11am. We're going over to their place," he informs me, and walks out of my room. "Sure thing," I mumble to myself, as I roll over and go to sleep.