*Day of Departure for Vacation*

The weeks have flown past in a flurry of packing, worrying, and talking excitedly with Lisa. My suitcase barely fits the scales, so I put some of my stuff in my carry-on bag. I've also packed a large beach bag that contains all I'll need for a day on the beach. Inside, I've packed tanning lotion, sunscreen, a sun visor, sunglasses, an umbrella, my three bikinis, and three hoodies. Not gonna let anybody see those scars!

In my carry-on bag, I've packed three books, my MP3 player, my IPod, headphones, and a blanket. What, don't judge me. I get cold easily.

"Alex, hurry! We have to go pick up Tristan and Reese!" my mother's voice startles me from my thoughts. Quickly I throw my razor and bandages in with my toiletries, and rush downstairs to meet her. She's waiting for me with the car started and running.

I slide in the passenger's seat and click on my seatbelt. Mom speeds up and soon we're at Brittany's house.

When we get there, Tristan, Reese, and Brittany are standing outside, waiting for us. Brittany hurriedly hugs and kisses both her children, gives them some last-minute instructions, and thanks us before getting in her car and driving to her airport. Tristan and Reese get in the backseat and Mom drives us to the airport. Once there, we pass through the metal detectors and shit before sitting down to await our flight.

Almost as soon as we're settled, Reese wanders off. I stare after her receding figure and look at Tristan. He shrugs as if to say, "I'm not fetching her." I huff an annoyed breath at him and get up to follow her. I can feel him staring at my backside as I walk away. Finally, I can't take it anymore. "What?" I ask, spinning around. He gets up to come and follow me. "I'll come with you." I roll my eyes. This guy is bipolar!

We walk side-by-side through the halls, eyes alert for a mop of curly brown hair. Finally we find her near an ice-cream stand, chatting with an employee. After a few hurried apologies to him, we take her back to our seats and we keep an eye on her for the rest of the time.

When it's finally time for our flight, we enter our plane first. "I call a window seat!" I screech as we find our assigned places. I sit down quickly before Tristan can come and rob me of my spot. As I'm doing so, the devil himself walks over and sits down next to me. I want to tell him to go away and go sit by his sister, but I don't want to be rude. So I stay silent. I lean my head against the cool glass pane of the window, sighing. This is going to be a long summer.

***

"Alex, wake up! We're here!" "Mmph," I mumble, opening one eye. I see Tristan's face and immediately wake up the rest of the way. He nudges my shoulder and says, "Hurry up, we've already landed." I look around and, sure enough, we're the last people on the plane. I quickly unbuckle my seatbelt, which Tristan must have buckled for me when we landed. As I'm thinking this, Tristan takes hold of my wrist, pulling me up. His touch is so comforting, I don't even wince as his hand clutches at my scars. I expect him to drop my arm once we're up, but he keeps a hold on my wrist and leads me off of the plane. I happily let him tow me around, his touch as gentle as the lapping waves on the pond at home.

When we're finally ready to leave the airport, we rent a car from a nearby agency. We pile inside. I manage to claim the driver's seat and I quickly get us headed in the direction of our beach house.

When we get there, I'm immediately in love with the house. It's a very modern building of two stories. It's also almost directly on the beach. Palm trees line it's corners, and shells are decoratively arranged in rock gardens that surround the house. I stop the car and we all get our bags and go inside.

On the first floor, there's a large kitchen with all new appliances and marble countertops. There's also a living room stuffed full of chairs and sofas. A large flat-screen TV is anchored on the wall in front of the main sofa. A large master bedroom with an on-sweet is just down the hall. That's Mom's bedroom.

 Upstairs, there's a gym room with a treadmill, elliptical, exercise balls, weights to lift, a bench press, and one of those bike-pedal thingies. There's a large room with a nice-sized indoor pool, hot tub, and lounge chairs. There's also a sunroom with lots of chairs and beautiful stained glass windows. Three bedrooms are up here. We let Reese choose her room first, then Tristan takes the one next to hers and I take the one down the hall.

My room has a large queen-sized bed pushed up against the wall. Decorative pillows festoon it, making the room pop. The bedspread is sky blue, my favorite color, and the color of Tristan's eyes. The pillows are mostly crocheted Encouragements, with words like, "Be Yourself." Seeing the quotes that I oh-so-obviously can't live up to saddens me, so I stuff the pillows on the floor of my small closet.

I begin to unpack, doing everything with careful precision. (SOUNDS SOOOO WRONG LOL) I put my clothes in the closet. I put my MP3 player, IPod, headphones and blanket in the chest of drawers standing on one side of my bed. Then I stack my books on my side table, on the other side of the bed. I stuff my now empty suitcase in the closet. I put my yellow beach bag in the armchair that's situated in one corner of my room. Then I get up and sit in the beanbag chair that's in the other corner and take out my cellphone. I dial Lisa's number to tell her we've arrived. She says that she's coming over, so I wander downstairs to wait for her.