Disclaimer : I only own my characters and the plot… The rest belongs to the creator of Summerland… If it weren't for him, there would be no fan fic to write

Responds :

JustTheGirl07 ; Dramagrl ; Beverleyd : Thank you for your great comments!

AnyWBShowsLover : I don't know what Payton's last name is. It isn't really important, I guess, so I haven't thought about it.

Chapter 2 : Parties and Beaches

"Come on, kids! You're going to be late!" yelled Ava from the front seat of the car. She honked the horn really loud. Bradin walked out of the house first, dressed in a black suit with a green and white tie. He opened the front passenger door and sat down.

"I don't know why we have to go to this dinner anyway, Aunt Ava." said Bradin. "I mean, it's just Mr. Meany's retirement party."

"Yes, but I happen to be good friends with Mr. Meany. And that's why we are going and I don't trust you alone." Ava said giving him a stern look.

"Look, I promised I wouldn't do it again."

"I'm smarter than giving you the chance to do it again."

"I wasn't completely wasted, Aunt Ava! It was only a few beers!"

"Yea, just a few. Enough to get you so drunk you passed out on the couch." She gave him a stern look that told him not to bother arguing his point. She honked the horn again. "Nikki! Derek! Get out here now!" she yelled. Nikki, wearing a pretty lavender dress, and Derek, wearing a navy blue suit with a gold and light blue tie, ran as fast as they could out the door and into the car. "It's about time."

"Sorry, Aunt Ava." said Nikki. "We had to find Jay because Derek couldn't remember how to tie his tie."

"You should have just gotten Bradin to do it." said Ava as she started to drive out of the driveway. "Everyone has everything, right? Because I'm not going home."

A collective "Yes." was heard from everyone.

"Good." she said as she continued driving the car. She finally pulled up to a restaurant called Il Delizioso. "Ok. This is it. Bradin, I want you to take Nikki and Derek into the place and get us a table. Ok?"

"Yes, Aunt Ava." said Bradin reluctantly, as he got out of the car. "Let's go squirts."

"Hey. We're not squirts." said Derek defiantly.

"Well, you're younger than me, so you're a squirt." Bradin said with a fake smile. "Now let's go." They all got out of the car and walked into the restaurant. There were tables covered in white tablecloths with navy blue plates. Mr. Meany, an old grandfatherly old man was sitting at a table in the front talking with a whole bunch of businessmen. Bradin looked around for a few seats. Then he saw her. She was beautiful. She had long blonde hair and pretty blue eyes. She was sitting alone at a table by herself. She looked rather lonely.

"You… You guys get us all seats. I'll be right back." Bradin said leaving before they could answer him. They rolled their eyes and found four seats and sat down. Bradin walked over to the girl. She was even prettier up close. She was wearing a knee length sky blue halter dress with a sheer layer over it that had sparkles. "Hey." he said. She looked up.

"Hi." she replied.

"I'm Bradin… Bradin Westerly." Bradin said, putting his hand out for her to shake.

"Riley. Riley Taylor." she said, shaking his hand.

"Are, uh, you a friend of Mr. Meany's?" asked Bradin taking the seat next to her.

"No. My dad was promoted to Mr. Meany's position after he retired." replied Riley.

"Oh. So, you're here for a while? In Playa Linda?" asked Bradin.

"I guess so." she said with a slight smile.

"What grade are you going into in September?" asked Bradin.

"Senior." Riley replied.

"Wow… That's gotta be tough, moving during your senior year."

"You have no idea. I had to leave everything. My friends and my school and everything. It was horrible." said Riley, staring into her lap. She had been trying not to think of Long Island. It always made her cry. It had only been three days and her parents had practically thrown her into this life.

"Yea, well I moved here from Kansas when I was 16. My parents had died and I came out her to live with my aunt." said Bradin.

"Oh. I'm so sorry." said Riley, feeling horrible that she had been feeling so horrible about just moving and this boy had lost both parents and was moving here all on his own. "Do you have any brothers or sisters?"

"Yea. One of each." he said with a small smile. Riley laughed a little. "That's them over there." He pointed to Nikki and Derek sitting over at the table talking to two other kids that had came over to sit with them. "That's my sister Nikki with the purple dress and that's my brother Derek with the gold tie."

"They look nice." said Riley looking over at them. Her sisters Zoë and Shanna were both 6 and they were identical twins. They thought that the move was so much fun. They got to redo their room all pink and they got to make new friends. She could see them with two other girls that looked their age. "Those are my sisters over there." Riley said pointing to them. "That's Zoë in the green and Shanna in the red."

"Identical?" Bradin asked, seeing as they looked just like each other.

"Yea." she said. "Both are 6."

"Cool." said Bradin. "They'll probably be going to James Madison Elementary. It's just down the street from my house. You on the other hand will be going to Playa Linda High. Unless you're going to private school?"

"No. Public." said Riley.

"Well in that case, you'll probably be going to school with me. I'm a senior, too." said Bradin.

"That's good news. Now I'll know at least one person in September." she said with a slight smile.

"Yea." said Bradin. "I'll even show you around if you'd like."

Riley smiled, actually smiled. "That's really sweet of you. I'd like that."

"Great." he said. "Do you know what time it is?"

Riley opened her clutch and pulled out her cell phone. "It is… 8:15."

"We've been here for an hour already!" said Bradin quite surprised at how fast the time had gone.

"Yea . That's a surprise." said Riley with a laugh.

"This restaurant is right on the water. Do you wanna walk on the beach?" asked Bradin.

"Sure. That would be nice." Riley said. "Let me just go tell my parents." She walked over to her mother. "I'm going to walk on the beach. Is that ok?"

"You're not going alone are you?" Mrs. Taylor asked.

"No. I'm going with someone."

"A boy?"

"Well… Yes, but I just met him and he goes to the same school as I'm going to. He's really nice. Please, Mom?" Riley asked, hoping her mother would let her go.

"I suppose it's alright with me." said her mother.

"Thanks." Riley said. She kissed her mother on the cheek and went back to the table. Bradin had already told Ava that he was going for a walk. She had reluctantly said yes.

"Shall we?" he asked.

"We shall." she said. They walked out of the front doors. The sun was starting to go down on the horizon. "Isn't it beautiful?"

"Gorgeous." he said. When they got to the sand, Riley took off her high heels and Bradin took off his socks and shoes. Riley walked down to the water.

"Wow. It's still pretty cold." she said, taking her foot out quickly.

"Yea. We have to wear wetsuits when we surf."

"You're on the surf team?" Riley asked.

"Yea." said Bradin.

"When are they having tryouts?" she asked.

"Next week." he replied.

"Can you get me all the forms and stuff? I mean, if you can't I'll go get them myself but -"

"You surf?" Bradin interrupted.

"Of course!" said Riley.

"Are you good?"

"No…" she said sarcastically. "I've only been surfing since I was 5 and I've only been teaching since I was 16."

"Are you serious?" Bradin asked. He was starting to like Riley more and more as their conversation went on.

"Yea!" she said.

"Are you doing anything tomorrow?" Bradin asked.

"No. Just some more unpacking, I guess." she shrugged.

"Wanna come down and surf with me?"

"Really?" she asked, another smile lighting up her face.

"Yea. Sure. That would be great."

"Ok. Is you're house on the beach?"

"Yea." said Riley.

"Well, walk along the beach until you reach Smithy's Bar and Grill. I'll meet you there at 2. Ok?" asked Bradin.

"Ok." said Riley. It was slowly getting darker and darker and the stars and the moon were coming out. It's really nice here. Riley thought to herself. Maybe California won't be as bad as I thought.

A/N : Ok… Chapter 2! Yay! It's boring… I know… I'm having a minor writers block. I just thought of this one in school. I was like "Maybe Bradin should meet Riley at the party… Ironic, no?" So yea, Chapter 2… I might get another chapter out soon since I have a 3 day weekend. yesss! Thanks to everyone who's reviewing. Please keep doing so! You can give me ideas for other chapters or characters if you want too. I'd credit you, of course. I'm a good person like that… -- Erica