Chapter 1: The Girl By the Pool
NEWPORT BEACH, CA
AUGUST 25, 1979
The early morning fog had dissipated by the afternoon and it was turning into another gorgeous day in Newport Beach…the sun was shining bright and the sky was as blue as the ocean that lay beneath it.
He had decided to take advantage of the beautiful day by giving his dog, Penny, a walk and exploring the new neighborhood he had just moved into. He walked to the end of his street and turned onto the main road of the development of high priced mansions. He walked down the street and turned onto one of the streets. As he walked toward the end of the street, he spotted the largest mansion that he had seen in the entire neighborhood thus far and walked closer to get a better look.
As he approached the mansion, he was able to see into the backyard, which sat at a lower level than the house itself. And that's when he saw her. The most beautiful girl he had ever seen in his life. She was laying out tanning by the side of her private pool. She was wearing a bikini, so it was easy for him to see that she had a fabulous slender and tan figure and her bright blonde hair seemed to shine even brighter due to the reflection of the sun upon it.
He stopped and stared at her for a few moments and then headed back down the street, away from the large mansion, hoping that maybe he would get to meet her someday if he was lucky enough…
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Kirsten Nichol took a sip of her spiked lemonade and set it back down on the small table next to her chaise lounge that she had been lying down in. She had decided to relax and spend the afternoon tanning before her debutant ball that was later in the evening. As she took another sip of her drink, she could feel the vodka in the lemonade burn a bit as it went down her throat, but it was simultaneously pleasing and somehow helped to ease her feelings of loneliness…
But no one even suspected that Kirsten Nichol was lonely…I mean, how could they. Her father was the richest man in Newport and showed a façade as a loving and caring father. Her mother was one of the most well respected and elegant women of the neighborhood. And she had an adorable six year old sister.
However, the truth could not have been further from this. Although her father's real estate business had been doing even better than ever, her mom had been mysteriously "ill" much more often than usual. Kirsten suspected that in at least some of the cases, her mom was hung over…especially when her bouts of "illness" occurred after a fancy Newport party. And this alone was not all that new to Kirsten. However, it seemed that in the recent months, her mother had been having a bit more to drink than she normally did, and it was starting to worry Kirsten. And if that was the case, Kirsten was sure that she could pinpoint the reason for it in two words. Her father. It seemed as though lately he was working at the office more than ever, and when he was home he was always demanding something out of everyone…in other words being even more challenging than he normally was. It had been hard on everyone, especially her mother. And as for her sister Hailey, she seemed to be getting on Kirsten's nerves more than ever…always knowing just how to please their father, while it seemed that Kirsten was failing in every way.
Kirsten sighed and took yet another sip, suddenly finding it ironic that she was dealing with the stresses of her own life, including her mom drinking, by drinking herself. Jeez, Kirsten thought, why am I doing this…definitely probably not the smartest move…and yet somehow I don't care…
Kirsten was just starting to think about heading into the house soon, when her 6-year old sister Hailey came running toward her.
"Hey Kiks!" Hailey exclaimed.
"Hey Hails," Kirsten replied back.
"Hey, whatcha drinking…can I have a sip?" and before Kirsten could stop her, Hailey had already taking a large gulp of the spiked lemonade.
"Yuck! That's awful Kirsten! Why are you drinking that?" Hailey asked, disgusted.
"Um, well, um, it's something…well, I didn't like this stuff when I was your age either, but you will like it someday…don't worry about it…it's nothing, just something you drink when you are older…" Kirsten trailed off, hoping her answer would satisfy Hailey.
"Yeah, right! I'll never like that stuff! Anyway, Dad wants you to come inside to start getting ready for your debutant ball," Hailey told her.
"Alright…tell Dad I'll be inside in a few minutes," Kirsten informed her and Hailey ran off in the other direction. Here we go again, Kirsten thought, another night with the Newpsies…