Brittany walked inside the house and locked it softly behind her; her camera was slung in her neck. Her father was at his desk again, carefully studying a house model.
"Hi," Robbie Pierce looked up. "How's the morning?"
"Nice. I got a lot of photos by the backyard and beyond those backyards. You wouldn't believe what was in there, Dad!" Brittany shrieked as excitement coursed through her body.
"Mhhhmm…I'll take a look at your photos this afternoon, then we'll decide together for those photos we keep."
"Yeah, sure," Brittany sauntered over the clean kitchen and poured herself a glass of water. "It's pretty hot out there, Dad."
"Yeah, right. I can even feel the radiating heat by just looking outside. Poor Mother Earth," Robbie said as he was peering at the window of his little house. "Umm…Britt," he said as he looked up to his daughter who was making her way towards the TV.
"Yeah?" Brittany said as she punched the remote control.
"My boss just asked me for dinner at their house on Thursday night and, well, I want you to go with me. He's in Santa Barbara for three days, so it's kind of I'm trying to get to his boat and this is a perfect time."
"Is it a dress-up party, Dad?"
"I don't think so. My boss, he's like, a big burly man with a kind heart. He didn't say about clothes, though. What he said was it was just an informal dinner. I've been working with him since like, five years from now. Since I moved out of Ohio and transferred here to Santa Barbara. He knows I have a kid, and that's you, and he kind of knew you're here…it's really informal, some sort of friend's dinner," Robbie smiled a sad, little smile from mentioning the 'moved out' part
"I know the next part, Dad. We really need to go because we can't really refuse them," Brittany raised an eyebrow.
"Yeah, that's what I mean," Robbie said dejectedly.
"Well, I'm not keeping you out of your social circle, Dad. And besides I have nothing to do on Thursday, so, why not?"
"Well, then, that's settled," Robbie felt relieved.
"Yeah, well…hey Dad, umm can I go…swimming tonight?" Brittany asked in a childish tone.
"Yeah, as long as you stay near the shore and you don't stray too far. You know the perks," Robbie said, eager to give her daughter the freedom.
Brittany giggled. "Thanks, Dad!" Brittany enveloped her father in a great bear hug.
The afternoon dragged on and Brittany spent most of her time editing the photos. She put on an extra effort on Santana's stolen photograph and she used a photo paper to print it. The blonde then inserted the photograph to her journal.
Just as she inserted the photograph, her father popped on her bedroom door.
"Hey, what up?" her father sounded as if he was one of Brittany's high school jock schoolmates.
"Dad…" Brittany moaned with exasperation.
"Who's that?" he pointed to Brittany's now-closed journal.
"Just some nice shot I chose to put in my journal," Brittany averted her eyes towards the window.
"Really?" her father pulled out the photograph.
He stared at it for a while and studied it. There were overlapping arrays of hues and shades of green, yellow, red, and orange, and a standing shadowy figure silhouetting against the light.
"Nice colours," he said as he put the photo down.
"Thanks," Brittany mumbled as she turned back to her computer and continued to her photo-editing.
"Here, let me look at this," Robbie leaned towards the computer. "That wouldn't need any major editing anymore, just a few touches here and there."
"Don't you think, the lighting on the left's kind of…pale?" Brittany inquired.
"No, I don't think so."
They continued on for hours, helping each other out and taking photographs together at their expense. Brittany even posted some of them on her Facebook. Brittany made the both of them a refreshing cup of chocolate, topped with marshmallows.
"Hey, Britt, did you ever consider surfing?" her father meekly asked.
"No, Dad. Well, I don't know," Brittany said with a sigh. "Why?"
"Nothing. Most teens in Santa Barbara at least know how to surf. And that would leave you out on your friends. And I don't like you to be left out."
"I like it here, Dad. I like the way how things work for me, so it's not really a problem."
"Okay, it's not like I am forcing you into doing something you don't like, you know," Robbie patted his daughter's shoulder.
"I know, Dad," Brittany said. She started to open her mouth when the doorbell downstairs rang.
"I'll get it, kiddo," Robbie stood up from the side of Brittany's bed. Brittany could only nod.
It was Rachel, smiling widely at Brittany's father. She was carrying two McFlurries.
"Hi, Mr. Pierce. Is Brittany in?" Rachel's grin was unwavering.
"She's in her room," Robbie motioned upstairs.
"Thank you, Mr. Pierce," Rachel walked past Robbie and went up the stairs.
"Hi!" she beamed at Brittany, who instantly snapped her laptop closed.
"Hey," Brittany awkwardly said. "You didn't say you'd come over."
"I love surprising people!" Rachel blurted out as she flopped on Brittany's bed.
"So what do you want?" Brittany asked.
"Share me with this McFlurry. I am going to tell you two very, very special and very important things," Rachel winked.
Brittany noticed there has been a sudden spark in Rachel's eyes.
"Let me guess, one of it was Jesse?" Brittany muttered.
"Well, it was kind of about Jesse but not really Jesse," Rachel twiddled her fingers as. Then she added quietly as if it was a very delicate secret.
"It was Finn."
It took Brittany a few moments to remember who Finn was. She wracked her brain as to where and when she had heard the familiar name.
"Santana's friend?" Brittany asked innocently, trying to conceal the sarcasm in her voice.
"Yeah. He asked me out tomorrow night. Can you go with me? So I can't really feel so alone. If I know, Puck would be there, too."
"Uh-oh, sorry Rach. Dad and I will go to a…some sort of dinner so, well…you know. Sorry," Brittany said, watching Rachel's face drop.
However, the shorter brunette had recovered. "It's okay, B."
"Really, sorry," Brittany suddenly felt a wave of guilt wash over her.
"Nahh, it's okay. As long as you'd join the annual surfing competition," Rachel stated in a matter-of-factly tone.
"What?" Brittany was shocked. She had enough of Rachel's crazy ideas already.
"But I don't know how to surf…" Brittany looked at her shoes.
"What do people do when they don't know how to do something?" Rachel yapped.
"I…I don't know," Brittany stuttered.
"They try to learn it!" Rachel waved her hands up in the air and flapped them.
Brittany just looked at her. "Okay…I'll try to weigh it out, is that okay?" Brittany said, her own battle about learning how to ride the waves was raging inside her.
The truth is, she wanted to learn surfing, but the whole idea was so new to her and sometimes it scared her. The sea scared her. Almost everything scared her. And if she learns surfing there is still a Santana Lopez to deal with. The Latina is the top-riding surfer in the place, and that means a lot of worry for her, especially that the Latina and Brittany had never been to good terms.
If she has to learn how to surf, she needs to get to solid ground when she walks past Santana with a surfboard. Especially, when she walks into a competition.
Rachel seemed to be considering things over, too. For she was shifting her glances to Brittany, then to her hands, then back to Brittany.
"Okay, but the competition would be in three weeks, and that's a little time," Rachel said worriedly.
"Why can't I just take pictures about it? Rachel, why do I have to join?" Brittany wailed.
"Because, I'm trying to impress Finn," Rachel said.
"What about Jesse?" Brittany tried to avert the idea of surfing from Rachel's head.
"He's dating Sugar," Rachel said indifferently.
"Oh," Brittany looked down. It wasn't like she's going to act weird and tell Rachel she's sorry for her because even Rachel did not seem to care about Jesse dating Sugar.
She's more worried about Rachel having a thing for Finn.
"Hey, Rachel, how about coming over tonight? Then maybe we'll have a nice night swim and…stuff," Brittany suggested.
"Sleep over? That would be fantastic!" Rachel's usual high-pitch tone reverberated across Brittany's room as she clapped her hands.
"I'll just go get some of my stuff and I'll be back in like, seven in the evening, is that okay?" Rachel said.
"Yeah, let's go tell my dad," Brittany took her friend's hand.
"Dad, Rachel's gonna sleep over here tonight, that okay?"
"Yeah, sure," Robbie smiled at his daughter.
"Umm…Mr. Pierce, I need to get my things back," Rachel looked at her shoes.
"Yeah, that's pretty cool," Robbie smiled at Rachel. "Go get your stuff."
Brittany walked Rachel to the front door, joking all the way as they walked.
"So, see you later," Rachel smiled at Brittany.
"Yeah, take care."
And Brittany meant it. Rachel had been her closest friend since she came to Santa Barbara. But, she's just staying there for the summer.
Suddenly, Brittany felt a lonely feeling creep over her.
