Drowning in the Waves

Ch.1: Moving In

Chapter One

Penny's POV:

I was jolted awake as the old man in the seat next to mine shook my shoulder. Opening my eyes as a tear ran down my face. I should be happy, I am in the place I've always dreamed of being in.

I sat up and stretched as the plane rolled over to the building. After 5 minutes the flight attendant came over the loudspeaker.

"We have successfully landed. Welcome Hollywood, California. I hoped you enjoyed your flight and thanks for flying with American Airlines," The polite women spoke.

Everyone got up at once, fighting against each other to claim their bags above the seats. I stood up and sighed. It had only been three weeks since my parents had been in the accident. I never had the closest relationship with them, but I stilled loved them.

Waiting patiently until most of the people had exited the plane, I reached for my bag. Finding the handle, I drug it down, catching it before it hit me. Slinging it over my shoulder, I walked out of the little isle and into the cool air conditioned bridge, leading to the terminal. Looking around, I followed the signs to baggage claims.

Waiting for another 15 minutes I finally found my sky blue suitcase. I walked up to drag it off of the conveyor belt. Wheeling the suitcase and carrying my backpack, I walked to the door and took a deep breath.

Everything is going to be okay. I thought to myself, Aunt Claire and Uncle Ben are going to take care of me.

I walked into the heat bringing my hand up to my face. This was perfect. The sun was shining more brightly than I ever thought possible. There were palm trees everywhere and everyone was in shorts. I looked around and smiled. This is where I belonged, I thought to myself.

I was almost 18 years old, only 3 more weeks to go. It was the beginning of June and my old school let out a week earlier than expected with a fire that destroyed more than half of the classrooms. The school board decided that it wasn't worth bring the kids anywhere else for the last week, so the seniors and all of my friends graduated at the middle school instead.

Remembering that I only graduated yesterday, I was astonished how much my life had changed within the last 3 weeks. My parents died in a car crash one Friday night after a drunk driver ran into them head on. Both were killed instantly from impact. I was at my boyfriend's house when I got the news and I crumpled. A week later, my boyfriend through all of high school, Johnny, broke up with me.

I looked around making a face. Remembering Johnny made my throat dry, I swore we were going to get married and live a long happy life together. I lost everything in a matter of one week. I was told I would have to move to Hollywood, California, to live with my Aunt, Uncle, and two cousins a week before school let out.

"Penny!?" I heard Aunt Claire to the right of the parking lot and dragged all of my things over to her. As I approached, my Aunt ran over and hugged me, "I'm so happy you made it here safely!" She said throwing my stuff in the trunk and slamming it shut.

My Aunt looked the same as always. Her dark brown hair cut at her shoulders, with little makeup around her warm brown eyes. She was around 5'6" and skinny. She wore jean shorts with a hot pink tank top.

"Hi Aunt Claire," I said climbing into the passengers seat.

"The ride home only takes around 20 minutes," She explained as she got into the drivers seat, "So tell me how you've been holding up," Aunt Claire pulled away from the driveway to let other cars pull in.

"I'm dealing," I said, my voice sounding weird to me. I looked out the window as palm tree after palm tree flew by. I enjoyed all of the expensive cars as I saw 5 Porches, a Bentley, and a Ferrari on the ride home.

"I can only imagine," She mumbled shaking her head, "I will miss my sister with all of my heart," she said, not looking at me. I nodded in agreement.

The rest of the ride home was in silence. I was lost in my thoughts and before I knew it we were sitting in her driveway. I've never been to her house before, gasping as I saw how big it actually was. They always came to visit us, in our little barn house in Mississippi, for the holidays.

"There's plenty of room for you," She said excitedly as she hopped out of her SUV, "You'll be staying in one of the guest rooms. It has a bathroom attached so you won't have to share with the boys,"

"Thank you so much for having me," I said walking up to the huge house. She opened the door and I followed her in, looking around the foyer. There was a grand staircase as soon as you walked in. Following her to the kitchen I found my Uncle Ben casually leaning against counter.

"Penny! I'm so happy you made it!" He said embracing me in a warming hug. Much like my Aunt, he had dark hair that was still thick, with only some strands of white scattered within it.

"Where are the boys?" Aunt Claire asked, but without needing an answer we heard the front door open.

Trevor was the first to walk in. A lot like his parents he had dark hair that had grown out and was flipped to the side in a skater boy fashion. Trevor was only 3 years older than me and towered over my small frame, standing at around 6'2" compared to my 5'3" height. He was wearing a light blue and white bathing suit with a white tank top on. His eyes brightened as soon as he saw me.

Gavin was soon to follow in. Gavin was only a year younger than me, but much like his brother towered over me just the same. Gavin was wearing a dark blue bathing suit with a white tank top to match Trevors. Gavin's dark hair, unlike Trevors, was cut short making him look older. Both came over and hugged me.

"Good to see you guys!" I said as I hugged them back wetting the whole front of my white shirt.

"Go and help Penny get settled," Their mom said pushing them out to get my bags. Coming back in I tried to help them but they insisted they carry them to my new room. As they made their way up the steps I observed the hall, looking at all of the pictures from when the boys were kids was cute.

When they opened the door on the right next to two other guest bedrooms I walked in and gasped. This was mine? I looked around. It was huge! The room was painted baby pink and had white furniture. The bed had a canopy and leaned up against the wall on the left side. There was a door leading into the bathroom which was just as magnificent. Looking at another door I stepped in and couldn't believe my eyes. I spun around and laughed. I had a walk in closet!

Not even noticing the boys left, I dragged my bags into the closet and started to unpack. I organized all of my clothes and put up some pictures of my mom, dad and I. I laid out all of my perfume and jewelry. After about two hours of putting my room together, I decided it was time to go downstairs. It was 4:30 so it was getting close to dinner.

Finding my way downstairs, I followed the sound of laughter from my family. Walking into the living room I looked at all of the smiling faces around me, smiling just as big. The last person I looked at didn't belong to the family. He was tall, and had big muscles, with blond, short hair. He was perfectly tanned that made his sky blue eyes pop. He was relaxing in between the boys, laughing along with my aunt, uncle and cousins.

When I looked at him, I met his eyes. We didn't break eye contact until Gavin went to introduce him.

"Penny, this is Colton," Gavin said, gesturing to blue eyes, who smiling showing perfect teeth. Can this guy be any more perfect? I thought to myself. Realizing he probably already had a girlfriend, I frowned at my thought.

"Alright, I'm going to go get started on dinner," sighed Aunt Claire, as she pushed herself off of the couch and made her way to the kitchen.

"Can I help with anything?" I ask her as she passes me.

Smiling she looked back, "I would love for you to help," We made our way into the open kitchen. Aunt Claire took out pans and defrosted chicken with tons of spices, "Colton is staying for dinner, Penny," She said looking up at me wiggling her eyebrows. I laughed.

"Okay...?" I ask genuinely curious. Why should it matter to me who stays for dinner, it's her house.

"I saw you eyeing him up in there. The boys may not have noticed, but I did," She didn't look at me but I could tell she was smiling.