Serenitatem

Chapter 5

Elle was the sort of girl who was quite sure whether she liked something or not the first time she heard of it. It wasn't easy for anyone to convince her to try something new or give it a chance if she already made up her mind about something.

For instance, being sent to stay at her uncle's house during the summer. He wasn't the problem, though. She liked her Uncle Axel just fine. He was her mom's younger brother and always acted like a cool older cousin whenever he came over for the holidays. He made her laugh when the world seemed to suck. Elle's only problem was where he lived. And she had sworn an oath to herself to never go there.

The pretty, sixteen-year-old girl gloomily watched the city turn to country out the car window. In an attempt to entertain herself, she played with strands of her long, red hair that fell out of her braid.

Her mother, who shared her hair, also copied the scowl on Elle's face as she drove to her brother's home. Margaret Cereni was quite stressed out. After arguing with Elle about the arrangements all morning, she then had to drive for over an hour to drop her off, then catch a flight to Boston for her business trip.

Elle let out a huge sigh when she saw the cheery sign, Welcome to Maretown!, getting her mother's attention.

"Elle, don't moan like that. You're not helping at all, you know."

She sat up in her seat and turned towards her mother. "I still can't believe you are forcing me to do this."

Margaret rolled her eyes as she turned down a street. "Hon, you have to let that silly pact go! Its ridiculous and unhealthy. Don't you think its time to move on?"

"No."

Elle knew she was being childish, but she didn't care. Her mother did not respect her wishes to stay as far from the ocean as humanely possible. It had been this way for years and this wouldn't change anything. She would lock herself in her room if that's what it took.

The two were quiet as they went down a narrow, dirt path that let the way to Axel's. Elle stiffened as the ocean came into view. A gray-blue stripe across the land, it was dreary and foreboding. She winced as the sound of seagulls reached her ears.

Uncle Axel's beach house came into view among the swaying grasses. It was on a plain piece of land with only grass and rocks. It was a shabby structure with faded gray wood and peeling blue paint, three floors, and hundreds of windows. There was a rickety staircase that one needed to scale to even reach the front door as the house was on stilts. Behind the house, a makeshift path led down to the water. Elle was distracted by the tall cliffs that towered in the distance. She could see white crested waves lapping their bases. During certain times of the day, they would cast the whole area in shadow.

Margaret pulled the car up to the house and they saw Axel was waiting for them on the front pouch. Waving, he bounded down the steps to greet them. Elle waited in the car for a couple more minutes to brace herself while the two siblings hugged. When she stepped out, she was instantly hit by the smell of sea salt. The seagulls were even louder now. Hugging herself, Elle scornfully scanned her surroundings, hardly believing she was here.

"ELLIE!" She jumped as her uncle's voice boomed in her ear. He wrapped in in a bone-crushing hug that cracked her back. "Welcome!"

"Careful Ax," her mother warned. "You'll break her." Even as she said it, she was smiling. Elle noticed that her mother always smiled more when Axel was around.

"Sorry," he said sheepishly, releasing her. He combed his light brown hair out of his face and flashed his most charming forgive me smile. Her mother told the funniest stories of Axel trying to be a ladies man when he was younger, but his clumsiness made him look for goofy rather than suave.