A year after, in mainland ….
Ring. Ring. Ring.
"Urgh!" I heaved in frustration as I grabbed my phone from my bedside table.
It was a just a normal summer Saturday afternoon and here I am peacefully snoozing in my room. And yet my friends wouldn't leave me in peace.
"What is it?" I grumbled on the phone.
"Morning Courtney" A cheery voice said on the other line.
Cassandra. I muttered it like a scientific explanation for my pain. This is in my case, totally true.
"What do you want?" I asked totally annoyed. The thing is, we've just been dismissed from school for summer vacation and I want some time relaxing. But no, Cassandra keeps on bugging me 'bout making most of my summer, as if I wasn't already making most of it. There's only two things I wanna do this summer. Relax and Surf. Two of my most favorite things in the world. Cause when you're the Heiress of Seaside Regency hotel and resort, not to mention sea transport and a small island in Brazil, you will never get enough rest, ever. It doesn't help that my friend Cassandra's mom is Jennylyn Ashford, a successful and well-known lawyer slash politician and my other friend Cathy's mom is THE Mary Kate Rowe, a famous Hollywood actress. So all in all, my life's a whirlwind. A messy whirlwind to be exact.
"C'mon we'll meet you at the beach! Then we can have lunch together!" Cassandra chirped happily.
As much as I want to stay home and sleep, I still couldn't resist the temptation. I mean the wind in your hair, the sun at your back, and sand crunching beneath your feet. That's what made me endure every time Cassie (Short for Cassandra) plans another one of her activities. Cause I love the beach, and Cassie is using my weakness against me, which is totally unfair.
"Alright. See Ya'" I muttered not letting the little sensation in stomach show.
"Bye! And you better be there!" The scary part 'bout Cassandra is that she's got authority. After all she's been student body president three years in a row. And when she speaks, you're forced to listen. Not just because of her superiority but because of the power that comes out in her voice. It's probably in her genes, after all her mom's a politician.
I gathered my beach bag, which pretty much contains my swimsuit, a pair of changing clothes, SPF sunscreen, some towels, wallet, a few magazines, and a beach mat. I also grabbed a beach umbrella and my green surf board on the way out.
"Hello?" I said on the phone. I rang mom. "Yup it's me Courtney. Do you mind if I borrow Audie for a while." –Audie is mom's driver- "Great thanks mom!"
My mother, as usual is working, running the big company. Ever since dad died, my mom was so danged up busy with this company business, which she expects me to take over, not that I have anything against the company. Although I never met him, I kinda have some ill-feelings towards my father. I mean if he didn't die mom wouldn't be so busy running the company and have more time for me. The only thing mom and I had to a mother-daughter bonding was the long trip to Italy, where mom built another hotel. And I have to force and beg her to take me on a plane with her like a million times and when she did, the plane ride was all turbulence and wasn't really comfy, I haven't slept a wink on that ride.
Talk 'bout feeling abandoned. Even thought I know mom's doing this for me, I just can't help that feeling. The burden I have in my shoulders tops the list. After all I'm suppose to run the company after I turned 18 which is like four years away. That's why I wanted to relax. Cause when the time comes, I won't be able to do all the stuff that I want, like surfing and hanging out with friends, no matter how annoying they can be.
A black sedan was parked outside our house.
"Good afternoon mam!" Audie greeted me with a smile as he opened the door for me.
I nodded and smiled back. Audie is mom's faithful driver. He's been in the Rycroft family for decades.
"The beach again, milady?" He asked.
"You know me well!" I answered smilingly.
He winked and started the engine. The car roared and were cruising the streets of Philadelphia.
Yup, Philadelphia's my hometown but because of the whole company thing, we usually travel a lot. This means we have a lot of different houses and condominiums scattered. There's one in LA, In Sydney, Barcelona, Italy and a lot more. But most of them I couldn't visit because mother wouldn't let me ride a plane. What I like most about this, is that all of our houses are by the sea, usually just a few kilometers away from our hotel. This is totally awesome since I love to surf. Mom said it was to live up to our company's name, Seaside Regency.
"Were here, milady" I was forced back to reality. I held my breath, the way I usually do when I saw the long stretch of pure white sand and the endless stretch of blue catch my eyes. It's simply breathtaking that I still couldn't get over gasping every time I saw the unpolluted seaside.
"Thanks." I muttered. Audie drove off.
Sand crunched underneath my slippers as I made our way to our hotel with excitement all over my face. After all I haven't been here for two months.
Naturally, a light brown-haired girl and a black-haired one were sitting by the beach front already in their swimsuits sipping fruit shakes.
"Courtney!" Both said in unison when they saw me.
"Have you guys checked in already?" I asked placing my bag on the beach chair next to them.
"Nope. Ms. Sunshine wanted to wait for you." Cathy said drudgingly. I guess she doesn't want to spend too much time on the sun. She was wearing a black skulled loose shirt over a black swimsuit. That matched perfectly with her layered black hair, black eyes, and black nail polish. If it wasn't already obvious, Cathy's a Goth. But not just your typical Goth but THE Goth/punk girl of Woodland Academy. She's kinda famous because of her mom. The three of us, Cassandra, Cathy, and I gained the title C.C.C. or the 3C's. Probably because of our names.
With sigh I went inside the hotel. Our lobby was of course, ocean themed, with its sea green floor and sea like ceiling and seashells that decorated the whole place.
"Good afternoon, Miss Rycroft!" Leanne, the manager said with a quiver, dropping everything she's holding. She's kinda new to the job and thought I was one of those Heiresses that runs around yelling at her subjects.
"Hey! The usual" I said. She knew what that means. Every time me and my friends get the executive room in the middle floor. The one with 3 separate rooms and a balcony over looking the ocean on the right and the pool on the other. And every time Leanne would just smile and hand me the card. But this time she frowned, a mixture of shame and fear in her face.
"Um…sorry milady, but the room is…er, occupied already! I'm really sorry, we didn't know you were coming." She said with alarm in her voice. Then she said more apologies.
I held my hand and said. "It's okay. We'll just get another one"
"Immediately, milady" she breathed a sigh of relief and handed me a sliver card.
"C'mon guys," I motioned my friends to the elevator.
"Why didn't we get the usual?" Cassie pouted
"It's already occupied." I replied.
"I told you we should have checked in earlier." Cathy muttered.
"Doesn't matter. We'll be out most of the time anyway" I said as the elevator dinged.
The elevator opened and four figures stepped out. The first one was a dude about 17 or something with black hair, he was bickering with a curly blond hair girl and a guy who walks weirdly. Then there was a boy who looks like he hated the world so much, who followed the three silently. But the trio stopped when we passed by and looked as us weirdly.
As the elevators closed I heard the dude who walks weirdly whisper. "She must be one of them!"
Talk 'bout weird. I just rolled my eyes and listened to the awesome elevator tunes.
After we settled our stuff's and I changed into a pair of green surfing shorts over my light green swimsuit. I pulled my long black curly hair into a ponytail and we dashed outside to enjoy the sun.
I ran to the water planning to try some new tricks I learned on my board.
By the time a crowd gathered to watch, I'm already laughing at every wave that hit my face. I planned to do one last trick, the finale. And it worked, the crowd cheered and applauded, I can't help but smile.
As I was surfing towards the beach front, a huge wave hit my board and I fell down. This rarely happens to me! But it did and when I saw what caused my fall, it cause shivers on my spine and send me running towards the bay.