Ink (Book 1 of the Ink Series)

August Present day

Dolly Parton's "Jolene" blasted throughout the car. I closed my eyes, resting my head in my palm as my dad sang along to the lyrics. It was a little difficult to take him seriously when he sang along to a song about a woman taking another woman's man. He was a man for Pete sakes.

"Almost there guys," Dad said, digging into the bag of chips nestled between the two of us in the front seat.

I sighed. I wasn't at all looking forward to the move, or the new house. Even if Dad said it was right next to the beach. I just wanted my old home and my previous life.

"Dad, can we buy surfboards as soon as we get there?" Elliot, my younger brother, asked.

He was fourteen and only cared about himself most days. I was the oldest in our family at seventeen, and I was counting down the days until I made it out of my house and into whatever college would accept me. I hoped it would be a decent school. I wasn't the most studious of kids my age, but I really did worry about my education.

Dad ran his hands through his mop of brown hair. "Anything you want, sport."

Elliot was pleased and I knew that was enough to keep him quiet the rest of the ride to Cherry, California, where our beach house awaited us all. I rested my legs on the dashboard of Dad's beat-up van, staring out the window as we passed the green sign on the freeway. Fifteen miles left it warned me in passing.

I felt Dad pat my leg as I pretended to sleep, he knew I wasn't happy and he would try everything to make me that way. That is, of course, until later on in the night when he started drinking, then he wouldn't have a care in the world. And then it was a fend-for-yourself arrangement.

He cranked the music back up, howling along to the lyrics of Fleetwood Mac's "Dreams." I couldn't help but open my eyes at this one. This one had become a favorite of mine. My mom had a habit of singing it when she cleaned our house back home.

I started singing along to the music, shouting it out as loud as I possibly could to beat Dad's voice. He chuckled, shutting up and letting me do a solo. I swayed back and forth, my hands drumming a beat along to the music, Elliot and Easton in the back seat taking a break from acting like typical teens to enjoy the antics of Dad and I.

Dad turned the music off, growing serious. "You're going to enjoy this school."

I nodded, my smile fading away rather quickly. "What's it called again?"

He dug around in his shirt pocket, pulling out a slip of paper, and handed it to me. "Ashwilder School of Performing Arts," I read aloud, brushing my hair behind my ear.

I guess when I thought about myself, I was a bit different. I was blessed with a great singing voice, the ability to dance, and long, slender fingers that loved grazing piano keys. So if anything sounded a bit hopeful, it was Ashwilder, a place I could pour my passions into while studying the normal classes. I did hope that one of my many talents was enough to turn a college on to me. But I wasn't sure if I was exceptional, or just ordinary. There were lots of kids with great abilities. That was why they made a whole school for them.

We were coming to Cherry from Jonesville, Georgia. My life, my friends, they all were there while I was whisked away to California. Dad had promised it would be good for us all after the torment we had been through because of him and my mother.

It was no secret that our mom decided she had enough of Dad. She got tired of all his drinking and late night gambling with friends from work. And soon enough she just packed up her things and took off.

About a week later we found out she was dating someone. Pete. He was the TaeKwon-Do instructor in our neighborhood. My youngest brother, Griffin, who actually was still living with my mother, well, he was Griffin's teacher. That was when Mom must have fallen for him, during all the sessions.

I wasn't that hurt that she left. I had always been partial to my father in some ways. He was the nicer one. He liked to listen to us kids and he wasn't too worried about the typical things most parents worried about with their children.

So Mom took Griffin and moved away with Pete. She said Griffin needed her, and she gave us the choice. I didn't like the idea of any other man in my life but my dad so I decided to stay with him. I felt he needed me more. As for my other two brothers, they were boys—twins—and Elliot and Easton both agreed that the only place they would be happy staying was by our dad's side.

A month later was when Nona, my eccentric grandmother, told my dad about her old beach house in California. Nona had moved to Cherry years before. She once ran a ballet studio and finally decided to retire. And with retiring came Cherry and Claude, her French boyfriend. Claude was twenty years younger than Nona, and it was a bit disturbing.

Anyway, Nona talked Dad into taking off to Cherry to be closer to her. She offered up her old beach house and even secured Dad a job working for Claude's company. I wasn't sure exactly what it was Dad would be doing, but he swore the pay was great so I didn't ask many questions. He did offer up it was along the lines of advertising, which Dad had previously done in Georgia.

So there we were, minutes away from our new home. One I knew nothing about, really. And one I was sure would take some getting used to.