Disclaimer: I do not own the amazing novel that is The Last Song. That belongs to the talented Nicholas Sparks. I do, however, own the character of Addie Miller.
Hello, I'm whatagleek, It's lovely to meet you. I would like to express my love of this novel and how it had me smiling, frowning and sobbing as I turned every page. Kudos, Nicholas Sparks, kudos.
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Addie ignored her mother's incoherent babbling and watched as the dust specks danced in the sun light. The window beside her was cracked down as far as it would go and the wind flew past her ears, replacing her mother's voice with a loud howling.
"Come on, Addie. You haven't said a word in a little under two months now" Kim sighed, finally noticing that her useless chit chat wasn't working with her middle child.
Addie ignored her further, her blue eyes searching past the greenery to the ocean.
"Brian and I are starting to get worried" Kim tried again with a heavy sigh.
Addie rolled her eyes the slightest. Starting to get worried, of course they're starting to get worried. The two of them have been too caught up in planning the god damn wedding and screaming at Ronnie for the past couple of months to even care what she was doing.
Kim seemed to hear her mistake. "No, I mean, we were worried before, sure, but we thought you'd have come around by now. We thought that if we kept you in New York for a couple of weeks while Ronnie and Jonah stayed with your father, we'd have you good as new again. But that doesn't seem to be the case"
Please, shut up. Addie knocked her head against the window quietly.
"You're a teenager, Addie, I understand that. I was a teenager too, you know. But this isn't normal"
Our whole family isn't normal. Addie rolled her eyes. Jonah's a pain in the butt, Ronnie's a copout, our father is a failed piano player, and you're insane.
Kim drummed her fingertips against the steering wheel. "Your father says Ronnie's changed. She's happier now. What a change, huh?" Kim laughed lightly at her own comment but stopped when it didn't catch on. "If Ronnie was fixed—helped, then maybe you'll be helped too"
The trees eventually stopped and the ocean roared as the waves crashed onto the shore. The car moved along the sandy driveway and came to a slow stop. Kim turned to her daughter as she pulled the keys from the ignition, cutting the engine.
"Listen to me, Addie" She started lightly. "If you won't talk to me, then why don't you try and talk to your father? I've heard that talking helps. It helped Ronnie"
It was quiet as the salty air filled the vehicle before Addie pushed the door open and climbed out. She snatched her smaller bag from the backseat just as she heard the house door open. Her father was on the small steps and was waving a greeting to her mother.
Addie rolled her eyes and turned on her heels, heading around the car and down the sand towards the water's edge. Dropping her bag down, she lowered herself until she was seated in the sand beside it. She stared at the horizon wondering, as she always did, whether it looked flat and like the water would drop straight off the edge in the distance.
It distracted her from the snarky voice in her head.
It didn't, however, distract her from the one voice she'd been forced to listen to for the entire car ride.
"Addie!" Addie turned her head and spotted her mother waving her arms around in the air, trying to get her attention. "Addie, I'm leaving!"
Addie made no move to get up, instead opting to turn her head back around. She heard the car a moment later and let out a relived sigh. But she wasn't sure it ended there. She expected her father to walk down to join her on the sand and he would take up her mother's position of talking and talking and talking.
But he didn't and she stayed where she was.
The sun sunk slowly as the afternoon rolled around. Addie hadn't moved, hadn't eaten since she'd arrived and her father hadn't interrupted her either; though he did stand at the door several times for several minutes just watching her.
It was almost night time when Addie was joined by the sea. Ronnie dropped down beside her and turned to offer a small smile. "Dad says you've been out here for quite a while"
Addie didn't even look at her older sister.
Ronnie continued after a minute's silence. "We've got dinner on the table" She gave a small shrug. "Pasta"
The waves crashed onto the sand again, deafening the silence slightly as Addie peeked through her long black waves. That stupid purple streak had disappeared from Ronnie's hair and her sister's face was stripped of any makeup. She actually looked—pretty.
"Come on, Addie, don't be like this" Ronnie sighed lightly. "Dad's really not that bad. And, believe it or not, Wrightsville isn't that bad either" She suddenly had a bigger smile on her face and her cheeks touched a shade of red. "And there's someone I want you to meet. His name is Will and he's—amazing"
Addie really didn't feel like listening to her sister babble on about her new boyfriend. Like Addie cared if Ronnie liked another guy, it's not like her sister had been short of them in New York.
Addie climbed to her feet and walked back towards the house, dusting herself off as she did so. She climbed the small stairs, pushed into the small house and headed towards the small hallway. As she passed the kitchen area the conversation at the dinner table stopped but she ignored whoever was sitting there and slammed her way into the small bedroom.
Ronnie entered the house soon after. She took her seat beside Will and shovelled a fork-full of pasta into her mouth.
"That's our sister Addie, by the way" Jonah told Will.