CHAPTER ONE
My Brother Ruined My Summer Again
“Sometimes, it's the smallest decision that can change your life forever.” —Keri Russell
“First day of summer and you're still lying on your bed. Don't you have any plans to do, Harley?” Dad asked as he slowly opened the white blinds of my window, revealing the warm rays of sunlight coming from the morning sun. “Come on, sweetheart. You should be out of your cave once in a while. Enjoy the sun while you still can. Summer only happens once a year. Besides, after this month, you'll have to focus on college. You won't have the time to enjoy.”
“Please, Dad,” I muttered under my breath. “If your definition of enjoyment is having to go out to see the cruel world and socialize with people I don't even know, then I'd say that I am completely fine with lying down on my bed until the end of summer. And yes, I have no plans to do this season. I don't even have plans with my life. So if you please excuse me, but I still need to get some sleep.”
It's that time of the year again, and obviously, everyone is into this season. You would hear people talking about their summer plans for like the whole year, how they'd plan to go to beaches or travel to the countryside and have some fresh air. Everyone's been into preparing themselves to get that perfect beach body and probably some nice tan. And just when everyone's having the time of their lives, here you are, contemplating about your life and why the hell you have to deal with this season. I was never a fan of summer. I never tried to be that sociable party-goer type of girl who's fond of attending every goddamn party in the whole city, or even start my own in our house. Summer is probably the worst time of the year, wherein the world will force me to go out of my comfort zone and entertain people as if they were worth my time. And as the ‘I don't give a fuck about people’ type of person, I just don't know how the hell do I have to deal with everyone and pretend I love summer.
One of the reasons why I hate summer, it was the time of the year when my mother died. She was the one who taught me about the different side of life. She was an artist by heart, and painting had always been her life, not until that day. It was summer when she was supposed to have an exhibit in Paris. She had an immediate flight all the way there, and when we were about to follow her the next day, it was too late. Her heart weakened, they said she had a fatal heart attack. They tried to revive her, but they got no luck. It seemed like her heart already gave up. Since then, things changed between our family. We rarely talk, we stopped going out to have some bonding. Dad focused on his business, Dash got lazy to go to school and I was diagnosed with depression. It has been a decade, but everytime summer arrives, it brings back everything. It's that time of the year wherein shits happen, and I couldn't do anything.
“Look, Harley,” Dad said before letting out a heavy sigh. “I might be out the whole summer. I have a business trip in London, and I don't know how long I'd be there. As much as I wanted to be with you guys, I have to go. One of my colleagues in the industry have been proposing me a big deal and I just couldn't say no to him. I have been waiting for that offer for years. You're the only one that I can trust on looking out for Dash. He's been planning a summer vacation in our beach house in Florida with his friends, and I told him that I won't let him out unless you go with him. Look, I di—”
“You— what?” I stared at him. “Please tell me you didn't say that.”
If there would be anyone that I hate more than any other people in this world, it would be my brother. People think you're one hell of a lucky girl if you get to live with one of the hottest car racer in town, but if they knew what kind of a moron he is, I'll doubt they'd even think I was lucky. Not everyone knows he's my brother, all of them have been thinking I was just some slut who's trying to make him like me, if that's even a decent thought. As one of the invisible people in school, it was an advantage that people doesn't have an idea about my last name. No one would know that Dash and I use the same last name, and that I was the heiress to a multinational corporation. No one would treat you good just because your Dad is one of the biggest names in the corporate world, or no one will ask you what type of girl your brother wants to be with and other shits like that. But with that unbelievable moron planning to go to our beach house in Florida, with his so-called friends who surely have the same stupid brain as him, my whole world would turn upside down if I go with them. That would be the last thing that I'd want to do in my life. They'll know about me, and my life would never be the same quiet one again. And looking after my brother?
