Disclaimer: I don't own anything 'In A Heartbeat' related whatsoever. I only own the story, and the characters that I made up. You get the point : )
West Side Story
Two Summers Ago
As they made a stop at the middle of traffic, memories of the place started coming back to Tyler, but when his dad made a left turn instead of a right, something didn't quite click.
"Dad, isn't the way to the house on the right?" Tyler asked.
"Actually, when I told you that I renovated, I forgot to tell you that I relocated as well."
"Where do you live now?"
"It is a beach house, so you can guess where I moved."
It took them ten more minutes before finally arriving at the house. Not surprisingly, the beach house turned out to be as good as expected from someone with the surname of Connell. It was a two-story house on a considerably huge lot. The place was located on an elevated ground that oversaw the beach, which was only a walking distance, and if that wasn't good enough, it even had a pool: front and center. In a nutshell, the property was more than enough for its one person resident.
"Wow," Hank said. "It looks better than I expected."
The rest of them just nodded.
"You live here by yourself?" asked Jamie.
"A couple of families have rented the place, and I occasionally come here once in a while, but to answer your question, well, not really. The truth is, I spend most of my time in the city, and I end up living out of hotel rooms, if you know what I mean."
"You are staying here, right?" asked Tyler.
"Of course. I mean, Ill try my best. You know how it is, and please don't get upset, but I have to leave for a couple of days."
"I understand," he replied, trying to hide his disappointment. "Can we go in now?"
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After the entire luggage has been carried inside, Matthew Connell directed them to their respective rooms.
"There are five rooms in the house: two downstairs and three upstairs. My room is upstairs on the right end of the hallway, so that's off limits. Your rooms will be down here since they are much bigger. The room to the left of that hallway will be the guys' room. There is a bunk bed and a separate bed. The room just across that will be the girls' room. There are three beds. Each room has a designated bathroom, and they're all big enough for three occupants per room. Any questions?"
"When can we eat?" Hank asked.
"Food will be out soon," Matthew laughed. "I'll be in the kitchen if you need me."
As Tyler's dad left, they all proceeded to carry their bags.
"Pig!" Marianne said.
"Did you say something?" Hank asked.
"Nothing," Marianne said.
"You said something!" Hank replied.
Out of nowhere, Jamie and Tyler started scrambling and headed straight for the room.
"What's going on?" Hank asked.
"I think they're trying to vie for the best bed in the room," Val told him.
Hank turned to Marianne with an exasperated look.
"This is all your fault," he said before catching up to them.
"Why am I dating him again?" Marianne kidded.
"Guys!" Caitie sighed, before hearing Val and Marianne follow the guys' lead. "Well, so much for that."
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After they finished eating, they went back to their respective rooms to finish setting up their belongings.
"How was dinner?" Mr. Connell asked as he marched inside the guys' room.
"Dinner was terrific, Mr. Connell," Hank said. "I liked that thing with the sauce and all that."
"Thank you, Hank. How about for you two?"
"Hank didn't seem to mind," Tyler said.
"Hey, if it's good enough for Hank, then it's good enough for Hank," added Jamie.
"I guess that means you liked it as well. I'm glad. I better leave you all to finish what you're doing. If you want to head out later, feel free to go. I'll be in my office."
"Before you go, where exactly is your office?" asked Tyler.
"It's behind those two brown doors near the main entrance."
"Okay, thanks Dad."
"Tyler, what time is it?"
"Well, if we were back in Virginia, we arrived at the airport around 12:30 and here an hour later. We settled ourselves and had lunch, which should comprise an hour. If my calculations are correct, it should be around 11:30 here."
"I could've told you that, Mr. Rocket Scientist," Hank said. "There's a big clock hanging on the wall."
"Well, that would have worked, too," Tyler said.
"Once a nerd, always a nerd," Hank said.
"Hank, would you quit talking about yourself?" Jamie said. "And Tyler, he was also referring to you."
"Thank you for your kind words, Mr. I-Wanna-Be-Bad," said Hank.
"Nice comeback, Hank," commented Tyler. "Really nice."
"Oh, shut up!"
"Do you guys want to do something after we finish up?" asked Tyler.
"We can walk around the neighborhood or something," Jamie said. "We have plenty of time to do whatever."
"Hank, tell the girls what we're doing after you finish, okay?" said Tyler.
"Do I have a choice?"
"Does it really matter?"
"Do you think it matters?"
"Is it up to me?"
"Do you think it's up to you?"
"Do you think that I think that it's up to me?"
"Do you think that I think that you think that I think that it's up to you?"
"Do you think that I think that you think that I think that you think that I think that it's up to me?"
"Do you think that I think that you think…"
"STOP IT!" Jamie yelled. "You know, this just proves what I said earlier. Geez, is this what you two do all day? How do you expect somebody to follow that conversation, if it was one. I mean, did the words you said mean anything to you? Are you trying to drive me crazy?"
"I can't really follow you since you're talking freakishly fast, that's an alliteration by the way, but to answer that last question, it's second nature to me," Hank said.
"Hank, would you please benignly impede yourself from articulating any word for just one laconic second?"
"Whoa! Where did that come from? Having an aftershock from you Academic Team experience?"
"It's either that, or you're rubbing off on me in the most unfortunate way."
"I think we should stop talking for a few minutes here and get our work done," Tyler said. "We're starting to act like the people across the hall."
"Good idea."
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The "people across the hall" were sitting around the room as they talked to each other. They were done for almost ten minutes and were just waiting for the guys to finish up. Not a moment too soon, they heard a knock on the door.
"Come in," Marianne said as Hank popped in the room. "Oh, it's him."
"I'm glad to see you, too, Marianne. Anyway, we want to know if you ladies want to look around the neighborhood with us."
"We've been waiting here for ten minutes," said Caitie. "What took you guys so long?"
"It's a long story," Hank replied. "It's really nothing. Let's go."
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After hours of wandering around, they settled on the beach and resumed talking about whatever popped into their heads.
"Whose been here before?" asked Marianne.
"Hank came with me about two summers ago, although it was an entirely different house, and we only rented a beach house around here for the rest of the summer."
"What did you guys do?"
"We did what the average person would do in a setting like this," said Hank. "It was pure fun, although Tyler right here had something on the side."
"What happened?" asked Val curiously.
"I don't remember," Tyler replied as he looked at Hank.
Until now, the thought didn't really cross his mind. It wasn't something that he wished to remember. As Hank mentioned, it was something on the side. It was the summer after their freshman year. At the time, he didn't really acknowledge Val as one of his close friends, let alone someone he would be interested in romantically. He was younger then, and one could say that he was even foolish. At a place like where he is now, anything can happen. It all started with that one girl.
"It wasn't really a story worth telling," Hank covered when he noticed the discomforted look on Tyler's face.
As it turns out, Hank was not the only one who noticed. It grew evident when everyone stopped speaking, and the four who weren't there two summers ago became increasingly curious. The look on Tyler's face only added to their curiosity. For Val, the look on his face only spelled T-R-O-U-B-L-E. As fate would have it, T was right around the corner.
"Speak of the devil," Hank said under his breath, though only Marianne and Jamie heard him.
Approaching them was a brunette in a skimpy swimming outfit. Despite her beauty and obvious attractiveness, she is the person Hank wished to never come across again. There were a number of people on the beach, and Hank hoped she would alter her course, but luck would not be on his side on this matter. As expected, she continued to head towards them as though there was a big sign that gave away their location.
"Long time no see, Connell," she greeted him.
Tyler was not even aware of what Hank witnessed, yet he knew who the person was by her voice. There could only be one person, and he was sure of it. Gradually, he looked up at the face he once longed admired. As he stood up to meet her, the feeling that he once had on that fateful summer started to return to him, and the people around him started to disappear.
"Surprised to see me?"
"I guess you can call it that," Tyler said.
"You sound nervous."
"I am? No way. Is there a reason why I should be… nervous?"
"Is there?" she asked rather alluringly.
As she watched and listen to them responding to each other, Val can't help but feel resentment and jealousy to the stranger who seems to be sweeping Tyler off his feet. Inspite of those feelings, nothing worried her more than the fear that maybe… maybe… she would lose Tyler.
"Val, are you okay?" asked Caitie, who seemed to have felt her worries and doubts.
"I'm fine."
"Who's the hot babe?" whispered Jamie.
Upon hearing this comment, Caitie stomped on his foot, not only for making Val feel bad and her angry, but also for using such a title when referring to a girl.
"I'm sorry. I meant to say 'who's the hot girl?'"
When he saw Caitie glare at him, he immediately moved his feet out of her distance.
"So Hank," Jamie continued. "Care to fill me in?"
"You wouldn't want to get tangled in her web," Hank said.
"I don't plan to," Jamie said. "I'm just curious like everyone else here."
"That's Tonya Miller," Hank said. "Tyler and I met her…"
"Two summers ago," Jamie said. "Yeah, yeah, we get it, but what's her story?"
"I don't really know. I never really had any deep, let alone real conversation with her."
"She doesn't look like she's capable of one," Caitie said.
"All I can say is that she has the looks, the body, and the personality to go with it."
"What's the deal with her and Tyler?" asked Marianne, but regretted it the second she saw Val squirm at her question.
"She's Tyler's ex."
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I'm really sorry it took long. I hope you liked it! I just got back from CA. Like I said before, I'll be back! ~ Scarlet182