Chapter One: Claudia

As I watched Kristy hasten toward the parking lot, I wanted to brain her. Just that morning, I'd been telling everyone, the BSC's founder included, how I was all aflutter to embark on my first and last summer of freedom. Knowing her, the "vacation" she had planned would involve a long-term baby-sitting job of some sort.

I was now eighteen-years-old. I had better things to do with my time than watch snotty nosed rug rats. For instance, get rid of the junk in my room. Not that the junk was within eye-shot of anyone. In fact, the things I planned on purging were hidden in various places. Despite that, I knew I had to rid my room of all the remaining junk food, as well as the Nancy Drew stories. If I didn't do it soon, someone was bound to find them after I moved out and be very angry at me. Now was a day for celebration, however. I could worry about moving preparations another day.

With that, I headed for the brand new Jeep my sister Janine had given me. Backing out of the school parking lot for the final time, I yanked the cigarettes and lighter from their hiding place in the glove compartment. I'd been a smoker for over a year, and somehow my parents and sister were still oblivious. Either that, or they were afraid I'd bite their heads off if they tried to force me to quit.

As I drove to the apartment Logan had purchased for himself and Mary-Anne, I pondered how different we'd all become. Meek Mary-Anne was pursuing a sexual relationship with Logan. Stacey and I would be getting an apartment together. Kristy was finally starting to behave like a female, rather than a boy with breasts. Though she still griped when she was forced, I even saw her wearing dresses sometimes. The more I thought about this, the sadder I got. Growing up, Mary-Anne had always been the emotional one. I'd never been much of a crier, so it came as a shock to me when I realized my own eyes were filling up.

"Damn it!" I shouted. I am not sure why I felt the need to curse. There was just this odd feeling inside of me and I needed to find an outlet for it before I met up with the others.

"Claudia?" I heard a concerned voice call out.

Great. Just great. I turned around, trying to stop the shameful expression from forming on my face. When I saw who'd shouted my name, however, that task became impossible. "Mallory?" I asked, confused.

"You did not think I'd stay at River Bend when my friends graduated high school did you?" Mallory replied," Logan and Mary-Anne planned this weeks ago. I told them not to tell anyone."

Without another word,I embraced my younger friend warmly. Breaking apart, I gestured toward the rectangular shaped building in front of us. "Shall we check out what is so great about "Stoneybrook Towers"?" I asked.

There was a man standing just inside the door. When we asked which apartment was Logan's, he looked surprised. I couldn't blame him. Most men with live-in-girlfriends would not have so many woman callers at one time. Pressing a button, he said something to someone through an intercom. "Go on up," instructed the man.

Before we could knock at the door, Mary-Anne flung it open. Her brown eyes sparkled. She had swapped the fancy gown she'd warn for graduation for a nylon sun dress. "Is that you in there?" I joked.

"It's not like you've never seen me wear a dress before," she replied, giving me a playful punch on the shoulder.

"Never one like that," came a bold voice from behind us. Unbeknown to us, Kristy had sneaked in behind Mal and me.

It was not long before everyone, but Dawn had arrived. Sadly, Mary-Anne informed us her stepsister would not be able to fly out for a few days. After several hours of childlike chattering, a shrill whistle hushed everyone up. Kristy had blown her ever present whistle, causing Jessie to spill her diet coke all over her best friend. "As we all know, today is the first day of the rest of our lives."

We all laughed at that comment. Kristy was always quoting the stupid things our parents said. "Seriously, guys. Don't you think we should all go to Sea City one last time? I know Mary-Anne liked the idea."

To my horror, Mallory was jumping up and down happily. "Yeah. Maybe then Mom won't be so mad at Clair. When I got home, they were in the living room. Mom was chewing her ass out. I didn't even know Mom knew words like that!"

I sighed inwardly. Turning to Kristy, I asked if this was a true vacation. I kept silent, but truth be told, I was no more interested in one of Kristy's working vacations than I was having a tooth ache.

A slight expression of anger appeared on Kristy's face, but she left my question unanswered. Instead, she continued babbling. "From what Mrs. Pike tells me there has been a small group of coeds from California around our age that have been renting the house nearby for the past few years."

Mallory wrinkled her nose unhappily. "Yeah. One of the girls as well as one of the guys are really snooty. They think they own the world."

Again I resisted the urge to sigh audibly. Inwardly I weighed the pros and cons of this trip. Spending the summer with friends was certainly more appealing than working alone. Yet, I had vowed to concentrate exclusively on my artwork. Then again, who's to say I couldn't work on my art in Sea City. The beach would offer a large array of subjects. That did it. I was in!

Suddenly, inspiration struck. Let's go to the Rosebud Cafe! This calls for a celebration!

A/N Hope this makes more sense. I will follow with a new chapter shortly. Bare with me. I lost a pet over the weekend so I am not functioning at my best.