Nina's POV:
"So, this must be Summer Bay…" said mum as she admired the beautiful scenery of the beach. "Mum, are you sure about this? I mean, you don't even know if they're your brothers yet…" I said stepping out of the car. "Honey, stop fretting, your granny said they are, so they are. Anyways, even if they weren't what harm could it do?" mum said. "I just don't want you to get hurt…" I sighed. "Babe, don't worry about me! I should be the one worrying about you! Come on now, lets go find your new uncles. We can start by going over to that diner" she said pointing at a diner overlooking the sea. As we stepped inside, the smell of coffee filled our lungs. Mum went over to a lady at the counter with red hair and asked where she could find the Braxtons. "At Angelo's restaurant, darl, you can find Brax there." she said in a kind tone. "Thank you" mum said appreciatively.
Dread was spreading throughout my body. I didn't want to meet my new 'uncles'. I didn't want my mother to get hurt. Again. Its happened before, with my dad. He left us. It was awful. Mum had no job, no money, nothing. Since Gran told mum that she has brothers, mum looked at this as an opportunity for a fresh start. So now, the plan is to move to Summer Bay, with my so-called uncles. I don't even know if Gran is telling the truth. She has a reputation for telling lies.
I never experienced the feeling I got when we entered Angelo's. It was a mix of dread, nerves and anxiety. The restaurant was surprisingly modern, you could even say it was fancy.
Mum walked up to the counter and asked where Brax was. "You're talking to him" the barman replied. He was tall, muscular and quite handsome. "Oh, Hi. Do you have a moment to talk?" mum replied feeling stupid. "I could take a break, yeah…". We went and sat to the nearest table. "Em… Hi my name is Rochelle and this is my daughter Nina. Well, I don't know how to say this and it may come a surprise to you… But…err, I'm your sister…" mum said nervously. There was a moment of silence. "And this girl here, my daughter, is your niece…" she said putting a hand on my shoulder awkwardly trying to break the tension. He chuckled "Is this some sort of joke Casey put you up to?". "No, no, well I'm really your step sister, we have the same mothers you see…". I could see the look of surprise and confusion on Brax's face. "Okay so prove it's not a joke" he said amused. " Well, if you call your mother she will explain everything…" mum said. "And you expect me just to believe you like that?" he asked. "Well, I have a birth certificate to prove that I'm not lying." mum said handing over her birth certificate. He observed the certificate for a few seconds. "This is real…" Brax said amazed. "Why didn't mum tell me…" he said. "Mum said that she wanted you to call her once you found out… she wanted to come to explain but she said she couldn't, I don't know why though…" mum said trying to cover for her mother. "Right… I probably should call her now then…" he said, confusion in his eyes. He went over to the counter and took out his mobile phone from one of the shelves. "Mum, are you sure about this? You can stop it now if you want." I said to mum desperately. "Honey, we've come this far and I'm not going to give up now." she replied, but I still wasn't convinced. After what looked like a heated conversation on the phone, Brax came back. "I guess you really are my step-sister… and step-niece." he said awkwardly. We just sat there in silence. " So… do you live here, In Summer Bay?" I asked trying to break the silence. "No, I live in Mongrove River. "Where do you guys live?" He asked. "Well, we lived in Sydney, but we're thinking of renting a caravan here, in Summer Bay." mum said. "Oh, so your moving here?" he said suprised. "Well, that's the plan…" mum said. "So, I hear you have other brothers?". "Yeah, Heath, Casey and Kyle. You should probably come over to our house so they can meet you." he said. "Yeah, that would be great." mum said.
We walked down to their house. Brax was on the phone ordering his brothers to meet at the house for a meeting most of the walk down. "So, this is where we live" he said as he opened the door. It was nice. Not what I was expecting. "Oh wow, Its really nice here." mum said with a pleasant smile. "Its okay, I guess… Do you want a drink?" he asked. "Yeah, that would be lovely" mum replied. He went out in the kitchen to get some drinks. "He seems nice, doesn't he babe?" mum said as she lowered herself on the couch. "I guess…" I said. Just then, the door opened and two brothers walked in. Their eyes landed on us. "Hello." said mum as she stood up. Brax came into the seating area with two drinks in his hands. He gave me a can of coke and mom a cup of coffee. "Eh… Brax, whats going on?" asked the younger one. "Yeah, this better be good, I had to leave my surfing for this." said the older one who was covered in tatoos. Just then another brother came in. He was about the same age as the younger guy. "Brax, whats the problem?" he said. "Okay, this is Rochelle and Nina, and well… they are your sister and niece…" Brax said. "What?" the young one chuckled. "Okay, I know you and Casey like to play little pranks on each other but isn't this one a bit too much?" the older one said. "This isn't a prank, I thought it was one too at first but then they proved it too me with a certificate. They have the same mum as us." Brax explained. Mum saw this as her queue to give her certificate to the brothers. The older one looked at it for about 10 seconds. "I think this is real." shock on his face. "What? Give me that.." the younger one said as he snatched the certificate from the older one. He got the same impression on his face after reading the cert. After everyone had a chance to read it, Brax introduced them to me and mum. The older one was called Heath, the younger one called Casey and the one who came in last was called Kyle. "So… you're my sister and niece?" Casey said, still shocked. "Yeah, well, really your step-sister and step-niece." mum said. We had a converstation about me and mum for about 20 minutes. "So, do you know who to go to to rent a caravan?" mum asked. "Yeah, I'll show you where to go" Brax said. He brought us to a house that was beside a load of caravans. Brax said he'd leave us to it. Mum knocked on the door of the house and an old man came and opened it. "Can I help you?" he said in a polite tone. "Hi, Im Rochelle and Im looking to rent a caravan." mum said. "Oh, come on in then. Im Alf" he replied. Mum and Alf talked business for around half an hour. I wasn't listening for most of it., I was too busy drinking my hot chocolate. Finally Alf gave mum a key. He said our caravan number was 26. We left and went to pursue our caravan. After around 15 minutes searching the caravan park we finally found it. It was smaller than I expected. Mum opened the door with the key. It was small. Very small. It looked only big enough for one person to live in it. "Well, this is nice and cosy…" mum said. "Yeah… for a mouse." I said not impressed. "Stop always being negative Nina, Its perfect…" mum said. "What ever you say…" I said. "Now, go and get your bags from the car." mum ordered. I went reluctantly. It was only a five minute walk to the car park. I opened the car boot. My surfboard was the first thing I saw. Dad had given it to me for my birthday before he left. I used to surf on it back in Sydney, but that was 6 months ago before he left. The ocean in Summer Bay looked so good, even better that Sydney. I couldn't help but change into my swim wear in the car and go to the sea with my surfboard. That was a big mistake. It was refreshing at first, clearing my mind while swimming to the waves. The waves were beautiful. Just as I looked back the perfect waves was coming. I started to paddle and as the waves came under me I began to lift my legs up one by one. It was great… for around 2 seconds. My foot slipped on the board. I forgot to wax it. I fell into the water. My head struck the surfboard. My hand felt as a huge bump began to grow on my head. I was still under water. I began to panic. My head was throbbing. I tried to swim to the surface of the water but something was pulling me down. Desperately I swam down to see that the leash of the surf board was caught onto something at the bottom of the sea. I quickly untied my foot from the leash. I swam up to the surface of the water. I already had some salt water in my lungs and my head felt like it was going to explode. Once I reached the surface of the water I tried as hard as I could to swim to shore, but something was holding me back again. The current. Panic was starting to settle into me again. I screamed. My legs and arms were getting tired. I couldn't stay up. I kept going under, swallowing more water. Screaming was my only choice. I tried to cough up the salt water, but even if I did, more salt water would fill my lungs each time I went under. My head was getting worse, the throbbing turning into harmers hitting at my head. Suddenly my vision started to get blurry. My whole body started to shut down. Slowly my body began to sink deeper and deeper into the ocean. It was over, nothing could have saved me now. Just as I lost all hope an arm grabbed me back to the water's surface. I was too exhausted to even speak. I began to move. I was heading to shore. A muscular body was cradling me. Tattoos were
Inked all over his arms and chest. The only one I could read out was 'Blood And Sand'. The person holding me was obviously a surfer. He lay me down on the sand in an awkward position. I began to cough. The salt water Travelled out of my mouth. I kept coughing until it was no longer present in my lungs. Now it was just my head. My vision was still blurry and I felt like I was going to pass out. "We need to get you to hospital" someone said. He sounded familiar. I looked up, my head pounding. It was Brax. I saw the tattoo 'Blood And Sand' that I saw earlier. "I never knew you were a surfer." I said with all my strength. "How do you know?" he asked. "Your tattoo.". At that moment everything blacked out.