Chapter 1
Tally Brighton sighed heavily with exasperation and stared at her bare ceiling. It was literally the second day of summer and she could already tell that this summer was going to suck. Just the other day, her parents had announced their brilliant plan to spend a majority of the summer Up-North, in some ho-dung little town. In fact, that was probably the last thing she wanted to do; be away from her best friends Hunter and Kelly, take a chance in leaving behind her crush and potential boyfriend Bryce, and stray away from all forms of civilization. Her parents had insisted it was "family bonding time," and it would be a great "experience." Tally laughed to herself silently. What did her fifty-some year old parents know about how a 16-year-old wanted to spend her summer vacation? she fumed. Wham! Something pounded against her door. She sat straight up, and swung her legs over the side of her bed. Making her way to the door, all the blood rushed to her head, and she began to feel as if she were going to fall over. As she bent down and grabbed her knees, she continued to shuffle to the door, but before she could reach for the stainless steel knob the door swung open with great force. There stood Alex, her 19-year-old brother. To her parents, Alex was perfect; smart, athletic, handsome, what more could they ask for? To Tally, he was a hell making, space wasting, ass kissing human being, who she would give anything not to be related to.
"Mom says you have to pack everything by tonight, or else your going to stay with grandma," Alex sneered with a smug look planted on his perfect face.
"F you," Tally spat at his 6'4" frame blocking her door way. He shrugged with the smirk still firmly positioned, and turned away.
"Ugh!" Tally exhaled. Her room was an absolute stye, how was she going to pack clothes for at least a week, not to mention an entire summer! This was pretty much a lose-lose situation, one all to familiar with Tally. Either she was stuck at her grandmas nursing home, with an overpopulation of funny smelling old people, or she was stuck traveling four hours away from everything that actually mattered. She quickly made up her mind and yanked out a dust covered suitcase from underneath her bed.
"Up-North it is," she mumbled quietly to herself. Hastily shoving the contents of her closet and floor into the old black suitcase, anger and frustration began to build within her. Anger at her parents for doing this to her, for ruining the only month and half she began looking forward to every fall. Anger towards her brother Alex, for yet again, being perfect, and refusing to speak against the torturous trip. And frustration mainly resulting from the stress of packing a whole summers worth of clothes in less than a day. This was definitely in the running for the worst summer of her life.
Chapter 2
Her mom's mud covered minivan turned on to a long winding stretch of unpaved roads. Deers hid timidly behind trees, rabbits scampered quickly from side to side, and tree branches seemed to know they didn't belong, for every turn they made, another branch smacked against the wind sheild fiercly. Well, Tally thought to herself admiring the serenity amongst them at the moment, so far, this deffinitley beats spending an entire summer with smelly old people, her crazy grandma, and her even crazier posse of blue-haired friends. The vans muffled turn signal clicked on, and she looked to see that they were turning on to a short sreet called Oak Court, with a small culdasac at the end. The few houses looked historical in a way. Their old screen doors stood propped open welcoming anyone who happened to walk by. Their paint was decorativley chipped, and windows hung open, with no screens seperating the life between the outside and in. Tally could survive a summer here if she had to, there would be no family bonding if she had a say, but spending a summer here didn't seem all that bad. Their van suddenly turned into a driveway of a decent sized white house.
"Here we are," her mom stated happily.
"Wow mom," Alex started with a fake tone of awe and amazement, "This place looks great," he finished. Tally glared at him, and mouthed the words ass kisser much? to him. He frowned at her, but she grinned in response. Before the developing argument could progress any further, Tally slip open the door and jumped out onto the long uncut grass. It felt good to walk after being packed in the back with the rest of the families belongings. A couple from the house next door was slowly making their way over to the parked car. There was a woman with beautiful, shoulder length, black curly hair, and a man at her side, with a buzz cut and fierce blue eyes. They both smiled warmly at her parents who seemed to be oblivious to the fact that there were actually other people who lived here.
"Umm, hello, I'm Lynda," the women with the curly black hair introduced herself meekly. Tally's mother peeked her head around from the trunk of the car and smiled. But before any further introductions could be made, a large commotion came from the other side of the van.
"J-j-j-JONAS," her father exclaimed loudly.
"B-rightan," the man with the buzz cut shouted in return as the two gathered themselves into a back slapping hug.
"Tally come over here," her father demanded glancing hastily in her direction. Her shoulders slouched and her expression became full of disappointment. A reunion for her dad and his crazy obnoxious long lost friend, she thought bitterly to herself.
"Tally this is Mr. Jonas, he's one of my good friends from college, and he lives right in that house over there," her father explained, motioning to the house next door as he spoke. Tally nodded politely and smiled.
"Well Tally," Mr. Jonas started, a smirk forming upon his face, "You sure are a looker arentcha?" he joked. She could feel her face getting warm, and her cheeks turning a rosy shade of pink. Tally's father cleared his throat uncomfortably, but regardless, Mr. Jonas persisted.
"Oh come on Bright-man, it was a compliment! She's a pretty girl, that's all I was sayin'," he explained apologetically. Mr. Brighton rolled his eyes and smiled, signaling his long lost college buddy was forgiven. Tally turned to join her mother in unpacking their overflowing car, until she felt a hand on her shoulder. She turned to face Mr. Jonas standing plainly with his arms crossed.
"Hey, I've got some one I think you'd like to meet," he said to her. Tally raised her eye brow and changed her posture to match his.
"Come on, it'll get ya out of unpacking," he suggested. She sighed, dropped her arms to her side, and sputtered a quick "alright," before she followed him to the house next door.
Chapter 3
Sitting at the Jonas' kitchen table, she nervously tore apart a chocolate chip cookie.
"So kid," Mr. Jonas said as he turned to face here.
"You ever been up here before?" he questioned. Before she could answer, the loud thud of footsteps in the nearby hallway came into range, until someone entered the kitchen. There stood a boy with chunky black hair that hung slightly below his thick brows. He was dressed in cargo shorts, a t-shirt that read JUNIOR SENIOR, and dirty and torn flip flops.
"Speak of the devil," Mr. Jonas chuckled.
"Tally, this is who I wanted you to meet actually," he said as he gestured to the boy standing a few feet away from her.
"This is my son Joe, he's also 16, and I think you guys will get along great this summer," he told her simply.
"Umm hi?" Tally offered. His warm brown eyes scanned her quickly, and his lips curved into a smile.
"Hey," he replied cooly. She smiled awkwardly in return and began to run her fingers through her soft blonde hair nervously. Joe observed the girl now sitting in his kitchen. She sat with her legs crossed, and sitting on top of her delicate looking hands. A heart shaped necklace hung from her neck, and her perfectly tanned skin seemed to create a heavenly glow. Tally's large sparkling green eyes looked up at him, he caught her eye, but she smiled, and quickly looked away.
"You like boats?" Joe asked breaking the awkward silence.
"Umm sure, I guess so, I haven't really ever been on one, but yeah they look pretty fun," she replied trying her best not to stumble over her words.
"Good," he said simply, smiling warmly at her. She smiled bashfully in return and looked up into his welcoming hazel eyes.
Chapter 4
"There ya go." Joe grunted softly as he helped Tally onto the boat. She could see the muscles in his arm flex when he hopped in himself. She made her way over to one of the seats on the boat, and watched as Joe took the seat in front of the wheel.
"So you ever been tubing before?" he smirked at her.
"What's that?" Tally asked dumbfounded. Joe laughed loudly.
"Haha, this is gonna be great." He mumbled under his breath. Tally's stomach churned as those words left Joe's mouth. She watched as he pulled an oversized circular tube out of the back.
"This, my friend, is a tube," Joe explained sarcastically to her. Tally nodded shyly.
"And this is what your going to be hanging on to, as I whip you around the lake." He laughed. Tally arched one of her eyebrows and giggled.
"Don't worry it'll be fun," Joe assured her, as he pulled the boat out of the dock. He pushed up the throttle, and the boat suddenly lurched. They began flying across the lake, wind whipping through their hair. Once they got to the middle of the lake, Joe slowed down the boat to a stop.
"Okay, I'm gonna throw the tube out the back, and tie it to the boat, and then your gonna get on ok?" he asked Tally enthusiastically.
She shrugged her shoulders, and simply replied,
"Sure, as long as you don't kill me," she laughed.
"Don't worry, I would never kill a girl as beautiful as you," he replied. "Well not intentionally at least." He added.
"Oh that's real funny." she shot back at him sarcastically. She slid off her t-shirt and shorts and flip flops. Joe tried to steal a quick glance, but met Tally's nervous eyes, and turned beat red. He led her to the back of the boat where the tube was already resting in the water, with a bright orange rope coiled in a mess on top of it. He helped her onto the tube, and showed her how to hang on to the small handles at the top. Tally was left at the back of the boat, while Joe made his way to the front, and revved the engine.
"You ready?" he yelled back to her.
"As ready as I'll ever be," she shouted back. The boat lurched again, and they took off across the vast water. It felt to Tally as if the boats speed increased with every passing second. She wanted to yell to Joe to slow down, but now the wind was whipping her face wildly, and the water sprayed into her eyes, and filled her mouth. After what seemed like forever, the boat slowed down, and Joe's smiling face reapeared at the back of the boat. He reeled in the roap, and took in her pathetic appearance. There was a frown planted firmly on her face. Her golden hair was now clinging to her face, and body. Her makeup was a little smudged around her eyes, but it made her stunning blue eyes stand out even more in the bright afternoon sun.
"That was amazaing!" she blurted out to his surprise. He laughed at her excitement.
"I'm surprised you held on actually, I was going at least seventy," Joe replied. She grinned at him, and his heart faintly fluttered. He grabbed her hand, and helped her back onto the boat. Tally began shivering as the wind blew, and Joe grabbed a towel from underneath one of the seats, and wrapped it around her.
"Thanks," she offered quietly. He nodded to aknowledge her, and started up the boat.
