Focused

Not The Party Type

I climbed into the passenger seat of my aunts 1960 Volkswagen Bus. It was a bright yellow and looked like it came straight from the hippies from the 60's. It had a lot of room on the inside and a few other seats in it. There was some trash in the back and one really old surfboard. My aunt started the old thing and it grumbled to life.

"It's your uncles." She laughed and patted the dash.

"It's cool." I folded my hands on my lap. We drove out of the airport parking lot.

"So how are you, Marley? I haven't seen you in such a long time." She took her Gucci sunglasses and put them over her eyes. 

"I'm okay." She turned to go on the highway. 

"Well, that's good. So I guess I should tell you a little about home." She sighed and got some lemon gum. She offered me a piece, but I declined.

"We are on our way to Rockford Bay, Florida. A small town of about 5,000. Kary attends at the high school, but it's summer right now for her. There's a lot of kids your age there. Stephen is attending college classes online. I was hoping he would get out of the house, but he chose online classes. He loves to surf. The waves are amazing down here. Everyone loves the beach and everyone has been out lately because of summer. We have a guest bedroom that we just kind of renovated for you. I really hope you like it, Marley." She was a lot different than I remembered. My mom always said when she married my uncle she turned so carefree and happy. My mom called my aunt and uncle hippies. I might have to agree. 

We drove for about an hour and finally I saw a wooden sign that in green letters read: Welcome to Rockford Bay! Est. 1922 

There were real palm trees on the side and lights below that would probably turn on at night. I looked and between a row of palm trees I saw the pure golden sand and blue green ocean. 

"We're here!" She patted my shoulder. We drove through the town. I saw some cafes, an ice cream place, lots of shops, and lots of homes and beach houses. the elementary school, the high school, a small library, and a huge public pool with a tall purple water slide. 

We stopped at a light brown beach house with wooden siding. there were 3 surf boards lying on the wooden walkway and porch. There were 2 bikes parked by an old golf cart. 

"Is this the only car you have?" I asked feeling bad for Kary and Stephen.

"No Stephen has his own car, but he keeps it at our friend's house because as you can see, we don't have a lot of room here. She chuckled and gestured to the garage and golf cart.

Kary walked out wearing a white sundress and a light blue bikini underneath. She had a white ankle bracelet on and she was wearing white flip flops. Her ocean soaked blonde hair hung in strands and she was really tan.

"Kary, show Marley her room." Kary nodded and walked into the house once again. Aunt Jade said she would get my suitcases for me. I followed Kary into the house. There were wooden floors all through the house. As soon as you entered the house, the kitchen was right there. There was an old stove and microwave and the cabinets were a cotton blue and yellow. We passed through the kitchen and walked upstairs. There were three bedrooms and one bathroom in the middle of the upstairs. Kary and I walked into the second bedroom on the left. One of the windows faced the neighbors and the other faced the sea. The walls were a bright yellow just like the Volkswagen Bus. There was a simple bed with a white comforter and a wooden bookcase and dresser. 

"This is your room. It's nothing special." Truth was though, that I loved it. This bedroom was perfect and simple.

"No I really like it." I smiled and acted like I was inspecting the white cotton curtain on the ocean view window. 

"That's great." She said she was going to go to work. She has a part time job at one of the shops and she would see me later. 

Aunt Jade came upstairs with my stuff and sat it down. I unpacked both suitcases. I filled the dresser with my wardrobe and put a few of my favorite books in the bookcase. I put one of my family pictures on my dresser and the rest in the very bottom drawer of it. After I finished unpacking, I walked down the hall and peeked into Stephen's room. He had clothes on the floor and books and college pamphlets on his dresser. I walked in and inspected a picture of him and Kary when Stephen was eight and Kary was six. She had climbed on his back. She was smiling even though she was missing one of her front teeth. Stephen was shirtless and his hair was spiked up a little in the front. I smiled to myself. I wish I had a sibling.

"What do you think you're doing?" I turned around and there was Stephen holding a blue towel and wearing red swim trunks. 

"Ugh sorry. I just wanted to look around the house." I placed the picture back on his messy dresser. 

"Oh, I didn't know it was you, Marley. You look different." Well Stephen, Last time I saw you I was seven years old so I have gone through dramatic changes in the past few years known as puberty. It's not like he didn't look different either though. He was tall and muscular. He had soft brown eyes and dark blonde hair.  

We talked for a few minutes about how I was adjusting so far and about the town. 

"Well It's good to have you here. We missed you." That's Stephen. He is one of the nicest hot guys that I have ever met.

I walked out of his room and into Kary's room. Her walls were still painted the brilliant yellow, but she had tons of posters covering the walls. She had a dark blue afghan on the end of her bed and her Macbook was sitting on her dresser along with a Seventeen magazine. Her bookcase was full of books. She had all of my favorites too. I left her room and walked down stairs to look at the rest of the house. Aunt Jade was making spaghetti and it smelled so good. I walked into the living room and saw a brown leather couch and a flat screen T.V . I walked out the back door and saw how close up I was to the beach. The back deck had a small table with an umbrella and a big grill sat close to the edge. I walked down a little path to the beach. My feet sunk in the soft warm sand and I smelled the salty air. I could hear the waves crashing against the shore. Many people were on the beach still even though it was late evening.

We ate dinner together all around a rectangular table. Stephen had gone out with his friends and Kary was still at work so it was just my aunt, uncle, and I. My uncle had dark brown hair almost black hair. He was tan and resembled my father a little. My father and my uncle used to be really close. Everyone was silent at the table. My aunt asked me a few questions about New York and she told me a lot about Rockford Bay. 

We all finished eating and I went upstairs for the rest of the night. I laid on my bed on my laptop for a little while and finally called Jay. He picked up on the first ring. We talked for an hour. I told him about my aunt and cousins and a little about Rockford Bay. He said I sounded happy and for that he was happy. We said goodbye and I smiled and pushed end on my glowing phone screen. 

"Aww. He sounds sweet." Kary came in and stood in front of me.

"Did you listen in the whole time?" She grinned.

"No only for a few minutes." I shut my laptop and stood up to face her. 

"You better not do this all the time." She rolled her eyes and shook her head.

"Do what?" I sounded way too defensive. 

"Sit on your ass every night!" She pointed to my bed.

"There's a lot of kids our age here. With that comes parties and bonfires. So, you better not stay in here every night." She put her hands on her hips.

"Okay, fine." I waved my hands. 

"I'm not the party type though." I laughed at her.

"Whatever you say." She wagged her finger at me and backed out of the room. Parties with beach bum high school kids? Nope. Not my thing. 

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A/N

On the side is the Volkswagen Bus that Marley's Aunt drives! This chapter was kind of hard to write because I wanted to fit in a lot of details about Rockford Bay and the house. Next chapter should be up in a few days! Read, Comment, and Vote! Thanks :)

-Katie