Shooting Star - Chapter 2

"Mom, wake up. Breakfast is ready. Come down when you can, okay? Me and Oliver are going to go play on the beach. We’ll be right back. Alright? Mom?" She groaned in response and rolled back onto her back, hiding under the covers. I rolled my eyes and hopped off the bed, giving up trying to wake her up before two o’ clock. This was how it always was—her with a hangover, me trying to wake her up, and Oliver downstairs making a ruckus.

I quietly got out of her room, picking up empty beer cans on the way. The luxurious master suite was already trashed with mom’s belongings and it reeked of puke. Poor Aunt Kelly, I knew she spent months re-decorating this house. It looked like it cost her more than a million, too.

As soon as you walked in through the double doors in the front, there was a huge spiral staircase that led right up to a wide hallway. The foyer was big and open and the ceiling was at least 20 feet high. And if you turned left, there was a small dining room with a huge kitchen. The counter top was made of marble and the cream colored cabinets looked brand new. All the rooms had a bathroom connected to it and they were all painted papaya whip or periwinkle—decorated with seashells and such. The whole house looked like a picture right out of a magazine. And I hated every bit of it.

"Annaliese, hurry up! I’m ready!" I could hear Oliver hollering from the back porch and as I rounded the corner towards the back door I saw him, too. Oliver’s head was full of messy brown curls and his round face was covered with freckles. He had our mom’s green eyes and they were now shining with excitement. His Spiderman bathing suit and his matching towel fluttered around as a small wind passed by.

"Shush, Oliver. I’m coming." I hurried out the door and took his free hand. We walked barefoot down the wooden steps and onto the soft sand. No one else was there except this one guy with a huge golden retriever. I carefully avoided him and dragged Oliver to the other side of the beach. When we finally found the perfect spot, we laid out the small towel and both sat down on top. Then Oliver began to build a sand castle while I just relaxed; only thinking about the warmth. My eyes were closed when suddenly I felt something wet on my cheek. I immediately assumed it was Oliver so I quickly threatened him. "Whatever you’re doing you better cut it out, Oliver!"

Then I heard an unfamiliar laugh, followed by Oliver’s hysterical giggles. "But it’s not me, Anna. It’s the doggie!" My eyes fluttered open finally and at first, I couldn’t see anything but the bright lights from the sun. After my eyes adjusted to the lights, though, I saw two things—a boy about my age and a bear-sized dog’s TONGUE about two inches away from my face. Disgusted, I pushed away the dog roughly and got up from the ground quickly. "What the hell?!"

"Hi!" The boy smiled, revealing huge dimples and a set of pearly white teeth. He then waved enthusiastically while I just stared him up and down. He looked to be at least 6’ 2’’ and he had a nice toned body with a boy-ish face. His hair was a blonde mess and his eyes were a shocking color of Midnight Blue—classic all American looks, yuck. "I’m Nick. Well, Nicholas but people call me Nick. I hate saying Nicholas because as soon as you say it you think of Saint Nicholas, you know that jolly old man? So you can just—" I cut him off immediately. Ew, all American looks AND a big mouth?

"I don’t really care about your name." I said fiercely and sat back down on the sand. Oliver was now busy playing with the dog and running around wildly.

"Oh okay," ‘Nick’ looked kind of shocked but amused. "Well, /I/ care about your name! Was it Anna?" He sat right next to me so that our knees were touching. I scooted away immediately but he acted like he didn’t notice.

"No, it’s Annaliese. Now go away. I can’t relax with you here!" I answered and glared at him.

"Ouch! I was only trying to welcome our new neighbors!" He put his hands to his heart and acted like he got shot or something. Wow, very mature, Saint Nicholas.

"Oh, I’m sorry. Where are my manners?!" I faked my goody-goody voice and rounded my eyes all innocently. "I forgot my magic words! Now go away, PLEASE."

Nick guffawed at this even though it wasn’t that funny. I just snorted and turned my back to him, facing Oliver and the beast of a dog. "C’mon Oliver, let’s go. Say goodbye to the dog."

"Aw, can’t we stay a little bit longer Anna? Pretty please?" Oliver begged with his puppy dog eyes and I refused him quickly before I fell for that trick.

"Yeah Anna, please?" It was Nick this time, making the same face as Oliver. He had this goofy grin on his face and he looked more like a kid than Oliver.

"Fuck. Off. NICHOLAS." I muttered loudly enough for only him to hear and grabbed Oliver and ran towards the house, leaving Jolly Old Nick and Rudolf The Dog behind.
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