A/N: hey all! I'm back and into the action, so keep reading and reviewing!
Disclaimer- don't own Summerland or anything in this story that you've already heard of
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I walked through the airport security system holding on to Ali and Anthony for dear life. I was clutching their hands tight as I could without hurting them.
Cy was walking behind us along with two of his assistants. The three were pushing luggage carts carrying all possessions that belonged to my younger siblings and I.
Pierce's brown leather messenger bag hung from my right shoulder, the strap running across my chest, and the bag bouncing against my left hip with every step I took. He'd given it to me as a good-bye present.
Inside was a CD mix he'd burned on his own along with my CD player, my white iPod Nano 4G, a GameBoy Color with all my favorite games, perfume, lip gloss, lip pencil, eye shadow, eye liner, the BFF necklace that Neely gave me as a good-bye present, my PerrierX3.0 cell, vanilla hand moisturizer, my six by eight inch BilliamPx3 flattop, and the one and a half by one inch JacquesXc5 mini camera that Ariel had given to me so I could send my friends pictures of my California life.
A musky but pleasing scent surrounded the messenger bag. Pierce had sprayed it with his all time favorite Prince ChannelX3 cologne so whenever I missed him, I could smell the bag, and feel close to him.
Before I boarded the plane with Ali, Anthony, Cy, and his two assistants, I dialed up Neely on my Perrier.
"Hey!" she shouted.
"Hey. Look, I'm about to board and I can't call you until the flight is over. Something to do with technical control difficulties if someone uses a cell. I have my BilliamPx3, so I'll web cam you," I said.
"Promise?" she asked.
"Given," I said, "Oh, got to go. Web you in fifteen."
I shut down and turned off my Perrier before putting it back in the messenger bag and boarded the plane.
It was half an hour after the plane had landed. I was officially in California, and was about to see my dad for the first time in four years.
"Melanie?" I heard a voice ask.
I turned slowly on my heel and faced a man that looked like a forty-year-old version of Anthony.
Short dirty blonde hair, straight nose, full lips, and medium build, except that he didn't have Tony's brown eyes. He had my gray ones.
He was wearing sandals, khaki cargo shorts, and a short sleeved light blue button up shirt that was un buttoned over a white wife beater that hugged his four pack.
"D-dad?" I asked shakily.
The next thing I knew, I was engulfed in his arms. He hugged me tight, kissed the top of my head, and said, "I'm so glad you're finally here."
When he let go, he shook hands with Cy and said, "Thanks for bringing me my kids."
The twins stood in front of me, looking up at our father.
He squatted down and said, "Ali, Anthony, I'm your daddy."
"Melanie, is this the guy?" Anthony asked.
I nodded down at him and he and Ali hugged our father.
Dad had the proudest look on his face.
"Well c'mon! We're wasting precious time standing around here. Let's go," dad said.
He picked up Ali in one arm and Anthony in the other. With that, we walked out of the airport and I walked on to a new life.
"This is our house?" I asked staring at the three level beach house in front of me.
"Sure is," dad said walking towards it.
I followed behind him along with Cy and his assistants.
The foyer had a beach style wooden wood staircase that lead up to the second level, and the same style staircase going down one yard into a living room that was decorated like a California paradise with plants, two big forest green leather comfy chairs, a matching couch, tikki bamboo candle holders in each corner, sand colored shag carpet, and an ebony based 60 inch Tiarax7 big screen. Fresh unburned forest green candles stood on the bamboo holders.
"This place is awesome!" I shouted walking down into the living room.
Opposite the small staircase I'd just descended was one identical that led up to what looked like the kitchen. One of the couches was pressed up against a wall, and about seven feet up the wall jutted out a bar table that was six feet long.
I walked past the couch and up the staircase into the kitchen. It was pretty big.
There was a fridge to the right of the opening into the kitchen, a double-decked oven to the left, and an island in the middle with a stovetop and sink, and a door on the far side opposite me that supposedly led to the basement.
"Mel, c'mon! I want to show you your room," dad called from the foyer.
I followed him up the wood stairs to find that they led to a loft where there was a big bookcase filled with books, a flat screen Rosaria3 computer, and an oak desk scattered with papers and pens.
"Dad, is this your office?" I asked.
"Sure is. As you can see, it's a bit of mess," he laughed.
"What do you do for a living?" I asked.
"I'm an author," he said proudly.
"Are all those books in the case yours?" I asked.
"Only the ones on the top. The rest are my reading material. Inspiration," he said.
'Mom always wondered where I got my love for writing,' I thought.
I noticed a spiral staircase going up to another level.
"Where do those lead?" I asked.
"Your room," dad smiled.
I ran up them so fast I was dizzy when I arrived in the room.
It was the attic, but it was finished.
The walls were painted a light coral color and there was a window seat under a large window that looked out over the shore and the Pacific. The base of the seat was ebony wood with a soft white suede pillow seat on it. Two coral colored suede pillows and a dark brown one that matched the base of the seat sat on the white pillow seat.
Directly to the left of the window seat, there was a seven by eight foot room blocked off made of brick that was painted the same soft white as the pillow on the window seat. I looked inside to see a sink, a counter, a toilet, and a shower. It was my own bathroom!
To the right of the window seat was a bed with a suede down filled soft white comforter. A foot away from the foot of the bed was an ebony desk with a row of drawers on the left side of the leg space. On the right of the desk was a matching ebony bookcase with a few books already stocked on the top shelf.
Opposite the bookcase was an ebony dresser, and to the right of that was an ebony closet. The far right wall of the closet was connected to the far left brick wall of my bathroom.
There were sheepskin rugs covering the floor, but I caught a glimpse of some ebony wood flooring peeking out in uncovered spaces.
I hugged my dad who was standing at the opening where the stairs from the loft connected to the floor of my room.
He hugged me back and said, "One of my best friends designed this room for you. She lives right next door," dad said.
"That's awesome!" I shouted, "I love this place already!"
Suddenly there was the ring of a doorbell.
"That's her. She said she wanted to meet you," dad said walking back down the spiral staircase.
I followed him, wanting to meet my room designer and thank her.
Dad opened the door and a beautiful woman stepped in. "Mel, this Ava Gregory," dad introduced, "She designed your room."
"It's nice to meet you Melanie. Rick's been off the walls for the past few days about having you come to live here," Ava said.
Then she looked back out the door and said, "C'mon Braden. Melanie is sixteen too."
Then, a gorgeous boy walked inside. His dirty blonde bangs hung just above his green eyes that sparkled lightly. He was wearing a baby blue thermal tee with intensely dark forest green cargo shorts and tan flip-flops. His hands were stuffed in the pockets of his cargos and he was smiling shyly.
"Melanie, this is my nephew, Braden Westerly," Ava introduced.
"Nice to meet you," I said sticking my hand out. He pulled one of his hands from his cargos and shook mine.
"Nice to meet you too," he said softly.
'He is too hot,' I thought, but then my mind was filled with thoughts of Pierce. 'I have a boyfriend. I so can't be crushing on this guy,' I thought fiercely.
"Thank you so much for designing the attic for me. I absolutely love it," I thanked Ava.
"You see Mel, Ave is a clothes designer, but I told her about you coming over with Ali and Anthony and begged her to help. She was more than happy to give a hand," Dad said.
"Braden, Rick and I are going to discuss some things over here. Why don't you take Melanie over to our beach house and have her meet the family?" Ava asked.
"Sure," Braden said simply.
I followed him out the door and as we walked over to the house next door, he asked, "So, is that bag important?" I had to think for a moment before realizing he was talking about Pierce's messenger bag.
"Oh, uh, major. My boyfriend gave it to me as a good-bye present before I left NY," I said. I immediately regretted saying that Pierce gave it to me when I saw the sweet sparkle in Braden's eyes disappear, and a darker shade of green take over them.
"How long did you guys go out?" he asked looking at he ground instead of me this time. "Since the seventh grade and still going," I said quietly.
"You do long distance?" he asked.
"I hope. There was this one girl back home and I'm sure she'll try to steal Pierce in the next week," I said.
"Pierce?" Braden asked.
"Yeah. My boyfriend. His real name is Payton, but he doesn't like that," I said.
"So, what are you going to do if the long distance doesn't work?" Braden asked.
I didn't like that question and looked away. He immediately caught the drift that it was none of his business and softly apologized, "Sorry."
"It's ok," I said flatly, still looking away from him.
I didn't want to think of Pierce being taken by Jezebel. The thought sent shivers down my spine.
She had turned plastic and popular after Pierce and I had started going out.
"Well, are you coming in or what?" he asked. I hadn't realized that Braden was holding open the door. "Oh, yeah," I said waling inside.
It was sort of like dad's house, but it had a different style to it. It didn't look as California paradise as Dad's did.
"Braden! That you?" a voice called. It was thick with an Australian accent.
"Yeah Jay! Rick's daughter is here! Aunt Ava's orders!" Braden called back.
A man with shaggy dirty blonde hair, navy eyes, and an even tan walked through the living room to meet Braden and I in the foyer.
"So this is the infamous Melanie Myers," the man said.
"Shiftwit. My name is Melanie Shiftwit," I said.
"Oh, taking your father's last name. Rick was pretty sure you took on your mother's after he came out here," the man said.
"Melanie, this is Jay," Braden introduced.
"Hi," I said.
"Braden? Jay? I heard the words Rick's daughter! Is she here?" another voice called.
man with short black hair and sparkling blue eyes walked down the stairs.
"Hi. I'm Melanie," I said sticking out my hand to this man. He shook my hand and said, "It's great to finally meet you. Rick's been psyched about having you down here. I'm Johnny," the man said.
"Nice to meet you Johnny," I said.
"So, are you two Ava's brothers or something?" I asked Johnny and Jay.
"Nah. We're her friends. We live here," Jay answered.
"Jay, where're Nikki and Derrick?" Braden asked.
"Well Nikki's with Cameron and Amber and Derrick's over at Margaret's," Jay answered.
"Who are Nikki and Derrick?" I asked.
"My kid siblings," Braden said.
Suddenly, my ring tone came from the messenger bag. I reached in, fished around, and pulled out my Perrier. The Caller ID column said Pierce.
I flipped it open and a voice said, "Hey hot stuff. How's my girl?"
"Pierce, I'm kind of in the middle of an intro with Dad's neighbors. Can I call you back in five?" I asked.
"Anything for my baby," he said.
I hung up and said, "Sorry. Boyfriend."
"You only just got here and you have a boyfriend?" Jay asked, sounding impressed. "No. He's back in NY," I said.
"She believes in long distance," Braden said rolling his eyes.
Jay elbowed him in the ribs and shook his head.
"Oh, so you don't think I'll hold up?" I asked with a tinge of attitude.
"Have you been plugging your ears for the past minute?" Braden asked.
Suddenly my Perrier started ringing. "That's Pierce now. I've got to go. It was nice meeting you, Jay, Johnny," I said walking out the front door.
I flipped open my Perrier and said, "Pierce, you will not believe this new Braden guy that lives next door! He thinks that you and I won't last."
"Mel, what're you talking about?" a voice asked. I realized it was Neely on the other line.
"Oh, nothing," I said, "So what's up?" I asked.
"New Braden guy that lives next door? Oh! Is he hot?" she asked.
I rolled my eyes, even though Ly couldn't see and said, "I'll web cam you a picture when I get a shot with my JacquesXc5."
"You better get that shot soon then Mel. You know I can't stand to wait for anything!" Neely shouted.
"Melanie!" a voice shouted behind me.
"Hold real quick Ly," I said softly.
I turned on my heel to see Braden coming towards me.
"Melanie, I'm sorry," he said.
"For what?" I asked, even thought I knew.
"For thinking that you and your boyfriend can't last long distance," he said looking down at the pavement of the sidewalk.
I looked away, sighed, and said, "It's okay."
"So, uh, why'd you move out here?" Braden asked.
I looked away and said, "It's nothing."
"Ok," he said.
"So why do you and your little siblings live out here?" I asked.
His face dropped and paled. I could tell immediately that it was bad.
"I don't like to talk about it," he said grimly.
"That's ok," I said.
"Hey, do you mind if I take a quick shot of you? Ariel said to use my new JacquesXc5 to take pictures of my new friends and my new life. Might as well start somewhere," I said.
"No problem," he said, the natural tan of his face returning.
I fished around in my messenger until my fingers wrapped around the cold metal of the tiny camera.
When I held up the JacquesXc5, Braden was standing with one leg straight, the other angled a bit, hands in his cargo pockets, and he was smiling softly with his bangs hanging in his eyes.
I snapped the shot and he walked to me and looked over my shoulder at the picture.
"Perfect," I said slipping the camera back into my bag, "I can upload that to Neely and Ariel later."
"Who are Neely and Ariel?" Braden asked.
"My total best friends forever! I've known them both since I was five. This is the farthest I've ever been from them," I answered.
"Braden!" a voice shouted.
Braden and I turned around to see a boy in swim trunks, a white wife beater, and sandals running towards us, a blue surfboard under his arm.
"Hey Lucas. Sup bro?" Braden asked as Lucas approached.
"Sup? Hey, who's the chick?" Lucas asked.
"Dude, don't even start. She has a boyfriend. She's Rick's daughter from NY. Came over here to crash with her little sibs," Braden explained coolly as if he did this every day.
"Rick's girl, eh?" Lucas asked.
"Yeah," I said.
"You know who I think you should meet?" Lucas asked me.
"Who?" I asked.
"Callie," Lucas said.
"Callie? Who's Callie?" I asked.
"Good friend of Braden's and mine. She'd love to meet you," Lucas said.
"Well, I do need a few more pictures to send to Ly and Ariel, so let's go," I said.
I reached into my messenger and pulled out my Perrier. I opened it and dialed Dad's.
"Mel?" Dad asked.
"Hey dad. I'm going with Braden and Lucas to meet some Callie girl. I'll call you later," I said.
"Okay. Have fun," dad said.
"Mel, this is Callie. Callie, this is Mel," Braden introduced.
Callie had tan skin and long brunette hair. She had ocean blue eyes and a sweet smile that made me feel like we were already friends.
"Nice to meet you," Callie said sticking her hand out for a shake. We shook and I said, "It's nice to meet you too."
"Hey, you girls want to go to the Pier?" Lucas asked. "Sure," I shrugged with a smile. Callie nodded with agreement and we headed off.
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A/N: ok, it's been four months since I've updated this story and I just sort of had this burst of inspiration for this story, so review and I'll update! XD