Sammy and I stood on the pavement of our driveway eagerly awaiting the arrival of my parents. Each of us searching the road for any sign of the car on the gravel. It had been almost three weeks since I last saw my parents and I hadn't realized how much I actually missed them until this very moment. They were almost here, my mother calling every two hours to give us a progress report on their location. Sammy and I had spent the entire morning cleaning the house. Setting up and air mattress in the living room so I would have somewhere to sleep while my parents stay in my room.

I thought back to my childhood with my family. They were always the light of every adventure. We were very close, even after we took Sammy in. I glanced over at the red-head standing next to me. She was taller than me by quite a lot, her body skinny but well proportioned. Her hair falling almost to her butt in a wavy mess of half curls. She was my best friend and when her parents died in that horrible car accident my parents were quick to swoop her up, taking her in so she didn't have to leave the town she always knew.

Sammy and I had grown close in that event, almost like we were sisters. Even though she looked nothing like me. I couldn't help but think about all the times we went to the beach as a family. Sammy would always go surfing, but I never had much interest. My family and I would stay on the beach and play in the sand for what felt like hours, while Sammy searched for the best wave possible.

"There they are!" Sammy shouted, whacking me with her hand nearly knocking the air out of me. We rushed to the car as soon as it pulled into the driveway. My father in the driver's seat. My mother sitting eagerly in the passenger seat, her door flying open as soon as my father came to a full stop in the driveway. She jumped for joy as Sammy and I ran over to her, wrapping our arms around them in a giant bear hug. She engulfed us both in a warm embrace, her perfume that smelled like daisies putting me in a trance. It reminded me of home.

"My girls, I missed you both," She beamed, my father jumped out of the car his hands held wide in the air, a hug missing its partner.

"Hey, no love for me, I drove her all the way here," He chuckled. Both Sammy and I bounced over to hug my father. He wrapped his arms around us tightly. Finally, we both pulled away to help grab their bags. Once all the stuff was dragged inside, Sammy and I finally plopped down on the couch. My parents doing the same.

"So how have you girls been?" My mother began the conversation. Sammy quickly hopped up running to the kitchen to grab everyone drinks. My mother had a smile on her face the length of the wall of China, her warm personality filling the room with joy. I had gotten lucky with the family I had, they were always so supportive and welcoming, they were easy to talk to if I had any problems. I knew if there was someone I liked, or someone was bullying me at school, I could always tell them and they would have my back.

"I think we have been good," I watched Sammy carefully, making sure she didn't do another sneak attack on me. Horrible visions of transforming into a mermaid right in front of my parents started flashing through my mind. Was I going to tell them? I shook my head turning back to the conversation at hand.

"You think?" My father bellowed, his voice loud and gentle, like a friendly giant. I smiled, he was a smart ass that's for sure, but that was what made him fun. Sammy took her seat next to me again.

"You guys have got to see the house," Sammy raved about the interior design, ushering them from her seats before leading them around the house to the man different rooms. I followed alone silently listening to her as she gave the worlds best pitch on the tiny shack we lived in. She could sell a box of spiders to someone with arachnophobia.

My parents would ooh and ahh at every little detail she pointed out, they too thought she was just as funny as I was. Our excitement had settled down about twenty minutes after my parents had arrived and finished their house tour. We met back down on the couch.

"You guys sure did get lucky with this house, it's small but to have a house that's fully furnished like this," My mother held her hand out like she was including everything in the room. I looked around as well. We really were lucky, both Sammy and I worked on the pier back home, at a small restaurant that was always crowded. We had spent no money the last few years saving up as much as we could for a place like this. It was perfect for us right now, just something to help us figure out what we wanted to do.

"So, Olyvya, Sammy, you two meet any boys yet?" My mother leaned forward whispering so my father would hear. Sammy and I both turned the brightest shade of red. Shaking our heads as quickly as we could.

"Nope, no boys here," Sammy piped in hoping my father would believe it. This wasn't a trip for us to find love, this was a trip for us to discover ourselves. My parents would be disappointed if we both had boyfriends in the first month. Granted neither of us did, but Gage was close enough to a distraction as any other boy would be.

Before anyone could say anything else, there was a knock on the door.