In Orange County

Chapter six

After hanging about in my bedroom for an hour I decide to go downstairs for a glass of water. I step into the kitchen and turn the tap on. Leaning back against the counter and taking a sip of m water I look out the window. Sophie is walking along the edge of the beach looking down at the sand. Every once in a while she reaches up and wipes her face. Is she crying?

Finishing my water, I open the back door and walk into the bright setting sun. I make my way towards the stairs leading down to the water. Sophie is walking with her back towards me. She probably hasn't noticed me yet. When I get closer to her I decide to quietly say her name so she doesn't get frightened.

"sophie?" she abruptly stops walking.

"Sophie are u alright?"I ask. She turns her head so I can see only her left eye. It's red and puffy and her cheek is wet.

"go away!"she sobs and wipes her face with her sleeve. "I don't want to talk to you! I don't want to talk to anyone!"

"please let me help I want to help you."I plead.

"No! I don't need help! I'm not a little girl anymore! Leave me alone!" she yells.

I shake my head and look at the sand. "what kind of sibling am I if I don't try to help my sister?"I ask her. Hopefully this will change her mind and get her to open up to me.

She whips around with a look of sadness and anger in her eyes an starts walking towards me. "No! Your not my brother! You never have been and you never will be! Now just do me one favor and LEAVE ME ALONE!" she screams the last three words and I have no choice but to walk back to the house.

I want to help her but how can I if i don't even know what's wrong? She is my sister after all, even if I've only known her a few days.

I spend the rest of the night on my laptop watching illegal movies. At about eleven o'clock I turn off my computer and crawl into the enormous bed.

I'm sitting in a large willow tree with three other people, three girls. One I recognize as Sophie... But younger, like in the photo on the wall, and the two other girls from the photo are here with me too. All three of them are laughing. I'm not. I don't know why they're laughing. Why are they so happy? I don't feel happy at all. Why am I not happy like them? They jump down from the willow tree and start running away from me. They're still laughing. All of a sudden the bright spring sun disappears and is replaced with a tall black ceiling. I'm standing in a dark room now. A small shaft of light coming from an unknown source. There's a girl huddled in the corner, her hair is matted and she has dark circles under her eyes. She looks as if she has been crying for days. It's Sophie. Now it's the dark haired girl. Now it's the other girl. They're faces keep changing and molding together and changing. All the while the eyes of the three girls are crying and wet. She starts screaming but no sound comes out. Slowly the scene before me goes dark and I open my eyes to find myself in the guest bedroom in mums house. The sun is shining through my window and I can hear the birds chirping. Already the strange dream is fading and by breakfast all I can remember is sitting in a tree.

"so what do u do for work?"George asks me over breakfast.

"oh I have a part time job at a garage and I also take physics in college."I say after swallowing a mouthful of pancakes.

"u have your future all set then."says George.

"yeah I guess so."

"what time is that party today Sophie?" asks mum.

"nine o'clock why?"replies sophie.

"just wondering. Oh and also we were wondering what car you would take to the party." she adds.

"I was thinking the mustang."

"alright but make sure it's on a full tank of gas."says george.

"whatever."Sophie brushes him off.

We go shopping in a mall near my mums house and I buy my dad a really cool bottle opener and a hat that says Cali on it. After shopping mum and I sit outside on the porch and have an afternoon snack. It's always so sunny and beautiful. At around five I go upstairs and have a shower. The sun is making me sweaty. After I shower I sit in the guest room in my shorts. I didn't bother to put on a shirt yet it's just too hot. I go downstairs around six and grab a snack mum and George aren't bothering to make dinner tonight because Sophie and I are going to the party and there will be food there.

After a couple of hours of puttering about I throw on a shirt, spray on some cologne and put a bit of gel in my hair.

"come on let's go!"Sophie yells from the front door.

"yeah I'm coming!" I say as I grab my wallet, making sure I have my drivers license even though I'm not driving it could end up that way since we are going to a party.

"alright let's go."I say as I hop into the convertible mustang. Sophie rolls her eyes but doesn't say anything.

It's not long before we arrive at another huge house. Does everyone in orange county have big houses? There are people standing outside with red cups and some of the girls aren't even wearing shirts. Just bras. I like this party already. A few people are making out and a large group of people are sharing a joint. Wow. This looks like fun. I know I shouldn't plan on drinking tonight but that might change. We get out of the car and Sophie is greeted by a shirtless girl and a couple of smoking guys.

"Sophie, what's up girl." says the girl. "who's this sexy beast u brought with you?" she adds and I feel a little bit more confident.

"I'm Logan." I say openly checking her out. "and you are?"

"me? I'm Brittany."she says twirling her hair.

"do you mind showing me around?" I ask.

"do I mind? I was just about to ask to show you around. But first lets get you a drink."

"yeah sure." YEAH I got a hot girl!

"here," she says handing me a red cup full of beer once were inside. I can barely hear her over the loud music and all the whoops from the people inside. I finish the beer in two minutes and ask for annother. That goes in no time either.

"why don't we get you something stronger?" Brittany asks me.

"hell yes." I say. She takes me into the kitchen where there are piles of red cups and empty bottles. She pours six shots of vodka and slides three in my direction.

"bottoms up."she says and drinks she whole thing in one. I do the same thing and squeeze my eyes shut as it slips down my throat. It is burning but it feels so good. I feel heat in my face as I take the other two and after a few minutes the room looks a little tilted but that doesn't stop me. I have two more before Brittany takes me to the living room.

When I step into the living room I see a hot redhead standing on the coffee table with a bottle of vodka in her right hand and her shirt in her left. She is dancing to the extremely loud music but when she turns around and I see her face I freeze. It's the redhead from the plane.