Surfing Midland (Complete/ First draught).

Chapter 4

When we arrived at the ranch house two and a half hours later I was ready to keel over, I never did travel well. But being in a mini van with little kids made the trip even worse, as soon as it had come to a stop Valerie was climbing out and stomping off towards the house. I got out too as the little boy had dropped a load on the way out and it had stunk the back out.

"Come on Henry; let's get you changed and clean." I made a mental note to remember the little stinkers name; there was no way in all hells I was changing diapers. The thought of even going near the bomb in that kid's pants made me want to vomit.

It was a good thing when my dad came around the side of the van and put a hand on my shoulder, "come on, let's get you settled in. You've had a long day and are probably a bit tired and grossed out." Though Declan laughed at his joke I nodded, I was grossed out by Henry that it wasn't even funny. What did everyone expect? That I would instantly love and swoon over a kid that crapped himself? Probably, but not me! No way, no how.

As the other children piled out of the van, my dad and I walked around to the back and pulled my two and a half suitcases out. It was now that I was out on the ranch that I had taken more care in packing my things, at the time I had been in a particularly bad mood and hadn't packed anything 'practical' to wear. Even the shoes I had on at that moment were probably considered ridiculous for country wear, then again I didn't know what 'country wear' was and would continue to wear my heels until someone clarified.

Though I guess it didn't matter if the term was explained or not, I only brought clothes that I would wear every day in California.

"We might need to see about getting you those boots," my dad said as he motioned down to the heels I wore. Frowning, I looked at my shoes back up to my dad as if I hadn't a clue what he was talking about. It took him a few moments but he seemed to grow uncomfortable the more I stared at him and it was hard to keep the smirk off my face as I stuttered an apology before walking ahead of me with the two biggest suitcases.

A few workers were standing off, and away from the main house, they looked as if they were trying to ignore the 'new arrival.' I completely ignored them as we headed inside and up the stairs that sat in the small lobby area.

The house itself could be described as being rustic; I guess it was a lot less showy than moms house and a lot smaller too. If I had to share a room I was probably going to scream and protest, even though I hated being alone in California that didn't mean I wanted to be living on top of someone here. Especially not Valerie.

When we walked into the room that would be mine, I felt my heart sink when I spotted Valerie sitting on a bed opposite what was obviously my bed. God, the day couldn't get any worse than it was right now stuck with the moodiest person in the entire family and probably my biggest competition for, well I wasn't sure what for.

"Well I'll let you get settled in, Valerie shows her where she can put her stuff and where everything is...bathroom, toilet and the like." Valerie nodded, I could tell she'd rather tell me to drop dead.

"Yes daddy," Valerie replied, I had to keep from laughing and instead let out a snort. Both Valerie and my dad looked at me like I was crazy, how was I supposed to react? A seventeen-year-old calling a grown man daddy? That had odd written all over it, or desperate; I wasn't sure which one it was yet.

"Thanks for bringing my bags up Declan." Even though I thought of Declan as my dad, I'd never actually called him anything until now. I wasn't accustomed to calling anyone 'father' and sure as hell wasn't going to call him daddy, that would be the end of my dignity right there. But the use of his name seemed to catch Declan off guard, he paused for a moment before nodding and walking out the doorway, closing the door behind him.

"So this is my room, you can have that half for now. This is my half and I'd rather you didn't touch anything in my half of the room," it was evident what Valerie was doing. I ignored her half and half speech and walked around the room freely, it was small, and there was nowhere near enough room in 'my half' of the room to store all my things.

"Hey, stay on your side of the room!" Valerie exclaimed as I moved to the far side of the room, away from the door. She apparently didn't think out the half/ half situation as she had no access to the doorway.

"Hey genius, you've split the room the wrong way. How are you going to use the door if it's in my half of the room?" I asked, folding my arms across my chest as the question obviously caught Valerie by surprise. The clear confusion written across her face was priceless, I waited for her response and felt smug about finding a flaw in her not so well thought out plan.

"Well we'll leave a free corridor to the door," Valerie answered, again it wasn't that well thought out, and I wasn't going to let her off the hook that easily.

"No can do Val, see that'll mean my half of the room is smaller, and I need all the space I can get." For a few moments, Valerie looked like she was going to argue with me but instead yelled out for her 'mommy' and 'daddy' which annoyed me. It looked like I not only had to deal with a moody room mate but also a tattle tale.

When Trisha came walking through the door looking alarmed I figured she was going to take Valerie's side, the same went for Declan as he came rushing through the door as well.

"What's the matter?" Trisha asked, looking from me to Valerie and back again. Obviously, she didn't expect the both of us to clash so suddenly, then again I guess she thought Valerie was sweet and innocent too.

"Leah is unreasonable!" I rolled my eyes this time, yep Valerie was a tattle tale. Plain and simple and if we were going to get along she would need to grow up more than she currently had. Declan and Trisha were apparently caught off guard and looked to me for answers; I motioned towards Valerie.

"She split the room down the middle, I got the half with the doorway in it, and she got the other half. When I pointed out the flaw in her plan, she decided to call on you both for another opinion." Valerie seemed genuinely surprised and shocked that I had told, to be fair she had been the one willing to take it further... I was just doing her a favour.

"Valerie Gallers! We did not raise you to be like that, the room is for the both of you, and there is no halving! I'm sure Leah is adult enough to respect your space, and I expect you to respect her space and belongings. Do I make myself clear?" Valerie begrudgingly agreed, Trisha and Declan turned to me and offered a smile.

"Valerie has never had to share anything before so you may experience a few teething problems with the room sharing." I didn't understand why Trisha was being kind to me and more importantly, treating me like an adult when she apparently was treating Valerie like a child.

"I'm sure things will smooth out sooner rather than later." At that reassurance, both parents left the room which left Valerie and me alone again. I could tell without even looking at her that she was glaring daggers at me.

"Hey, you're the immature one yelling out to mommy and daddy. If you can't handle the consequences, then shut up next time." It was probably a little harsh, but the obviously babied seventeen years old needed to grow up fast and realise a mom and dad weren't always going to be around to defend her.

"Quit being a b*tch and acting like you're better than me." I scoffed at that, being called a bitch wasn't something new. The competitive surfers said a lot worse things than that, and thankfully I had built up a robust enough layer that b*tch wasn't harsh.

"Oh owie, that hurt. Can you get some cold water for my none existent burn?" That wasn't the best comeback I'd ever come up with, it probably didn't take a hell of a lot to stump Valerie, and I was finding that out quickly as a nasty looking smirk fell across her face.

"Wow, the stupid blond knows big words." Again, that wasn't hurtful, and I turned to begin unpacking my first suitcase.

"If you think that's a big word you're obviously the stupid one, not me." That shut Valerie up and I at least could go about unpacking in icy silence as Valerie stewed on her side of the room. This sister thing was obviously not getting off to a good enough start, well not as good a start as my mom, dad and Trisha had probably thought.