One Paris Summer (Excerpt)

Chapter One

"We are now making our final descent into Charles de Gaulle. Please make sure your seat belts are fastened, your seat is in an upright position, and tray tables are stowed away."

Paris, France.

My stomach twisted into knots. This city was one of the most desirable vacation spots in the world, but I didn't want to be here.

Sighing, I shook my sleeping brother. "Eric. Wake up."

He lifted his eye mask and took out an earplug, his eyes barely open slits. "Have we landed?"

"Not yet."

"Then leave me alone."

I had no idea how he could still be sleeping. I was so freaked out, I hadn't slept at all.

We were about to see our father for the first time in ten months.

But Eric could sleep through anything. Fireworks. Mom's yelling. Alarm clocks. Mom claimed it was because he was a seventeen-year-old guy. I decided it was because he was lazy. The fact that he had excellent grades was pure luck and charm.

I leaned over Eric and lifted the window shade, taking in the sight below the plane. Densely packed, grungy-looking buildings covered the landscape.

He groaned and blindly shoved my arm from the window. "I swear, Sophie . . ." But rather than finish the sentence, he turned away from me.

"You have to put your seat up, Eric. The flight attendant is coming down the aisle."

He turned back around and slid his mask to the top of his head. "What's she gonna do? Arrest me?"

He shot me a sardonic grin. My brother was such an idiot. But he was older than me by fifteen months and twice as popular at our private high school. Girls found his idiocy charming. I had no idea why.

"They might arrest you. You hear about people being taken off planes all the time."

He snorted. "Good thing they're taking me off the plane in the city I want to be in."

"You don't want to be here anymore than I do."

His eyebrows lifted. "Good point. Maybe if I put up enough of a fight, they'll send me back to the good ol' USA and you can spend eight weeks in Paris with Dad on your own."

Panic rose in my chest. "You wouldn't."

His lips twisted in disgust. "I couldn't get so lucky. Dad would probably bribe some official to make me stay." But he still hadn't raised his seat.

The flight attendant was two rows ahead, gathering trash. "Eric."

"Relax, Sophie. It's no wonder you don't have a boyfriend.

You're too uptight."

"Some of us like to follow the rules." "No kidding, Soph. Live a little."

The flight attendant stopped next to our row and looked at Eric's reclined seat. "Sir, would you please return your seat to the upright position?"

"Of course," he said, flashing her his flashy smile. "Be happy to."

"Merci."

She moved past us, and a smug grin lit up his face. "See, Chicken Little. The sky didn't fall on your head."

"Shut up." My tone was harsher than intended. "I can't believe Mom trusted you enough to send us alone to Paris together."

"She couldn't exactly ship us in a box from Charleston, could she?"