In Summer Shade

Chapter Two

“I think you’ll like the house Laine,” my dad said, in an effort to cheer me up. Instead, I ignored him and continued to look monotonously out of the window, watching the traffic jam on the other side of the freeway grow longer and longer. The constant beeping of horns was enough to drive a person mad, let alone being stuck in it. For once, I was glad to be entering the city and not leaving it, like everyone in the jam.

   “Laine, I do wish you’d try and be slightly more enthusiastic,” my mother sighed, giving me a firm look that showed I had no choice in the matter, I either improve my attitude or get a sharp scolding from her retinas. I sighed and sat up properly, wincing like an old woman when my limbs were stiff from sitting in the same position for more than three hours.

“Fine, sorry,” I said, throwing her a smile that turned to a grimace when she turned to face the right way again. I’d made it quite clear that I didn’t want to move here.

   The sound of the indicator filled the car and we finally turned off of the freeway about a mile from central LA. I looked at my feet as the shadows from the trees above swept across the backseat. I didn’t look up until I felt the car come to a standstill a few minutes later. To my surprise, my eyes were met with a huge two story house with a garden that must have stretched for at least a mile.

    Okay, slight exaggeration.

I withheld the urge to ‘woah’ and maintained my ‘stroppy teenager trying to make a point’ attitude.

   “This is it, el casa de Campbell,” my dad announced, looking pleased with himself for speaking Spanish. I didn’t have the heart to tell him that it should’ve been la instead of el.

I opened the car door and stepped out reluctantly. I followed my dad, who was acting like a puppy, up the drive and to the front door. I stood amazed at the glass surrounding the frame of the door. You couldn’t see in, yet it was so clear. Astonishing.

   As soon as the door was open, I held on to the frame and waved my hand behind the window, just to make sure I couldn’t see my flesh from the outside. When I stepped inside, I was greeted by a very warm lobby with a large staircase to the left side. I kept a straight face but inside I was screaming with excitement.

  At least it would be giving my vital organs a good time.

“I’ll show you to your room, there’s something I really want you to see,” my dad said, and my parents took my hands like I was a little kid. They led me up the stairs, all thirty of them, and stopped at the end of a corridor before opening the door. The room was completely empty, almost like a blank canvas, and it was incredibly dark. I was led towards a huge window, covered by a chocolate covered blind, which explained the darkness.

  My dad stood fumbling about with a remote, quietly cursing, before stopping and looking at me.

   “Ready?” my parents said in sync. I gave a brief nod and grunt before my father pressed a button on the remote, making the blinds shoot up at a very high speed. Coolest thing ever - or at least it was until I looked outside. I turned to look out of the window and my heart did multiple skips.

   A beach.

    A beach!

I couldn’t hide my delight and my parents did a half embrace.

  “Okay, it’s not Australia, but it was the nearest I could get,” my dad beamed and I ran to hug him.

“Thank you,” I smiled as my parents embraced me.

   “I’m sorry to break this up, but I’ve really got to run,” he said. I sighed quietly and my mum rubbed my arm.

“Hey, why don’t we leave your mother to unpack and you can come with me?” he said, clearly feeling guilty that he had to leave so soon. I shrugged before nodding. I may as well take this opportunity to see my father’s work; otherwise I’d never hear the end of it.

 We piled back into the car, and I stretched my legs out in front of me, taking full advantage of the extra leg room. It was very rare that I ever got to sit in the front seat. The journey was only twenty minutes, but in that short time I saw some incredible sights.  However, I still remained ‘Anti-LA’ and I was going to stay that way for the foreseeable future.

   It wasn’t Bronte, therefore it wasn’t home.

The car stopped in a very posh car park that belonged to a gigantic building that was hidden very well. I wouldn’t have known it was there if we weren’t parked in its car park. I jumped out of our convertible, not bothering to open the door, much to the disapproval of my father but it was clear that jumping was the much cooler option than opening the door. Still, to keep my father happy, I promised to never do it again.

 The inside of the building was something else. Modern, classy, and huge. There was a slightly ‘clean’ smell about the place, but it was something that I would adjust to over time.

 We wound through a maze of corridors, criss crossing here and there and going through around fifty security doors. At each, my father had to tell the guards the same story, about how I’m his daughter and we’re only here for a few minutes. It took time, but each of them finally let us both through.

   “Remind me to get you your own pass,” my father said, rather peeved off by the whole ordeal.

We arrived at the end of a corridor and I watched my dad bang away at the keys on a security panel before opening the door dramatically, or it could’ve just been the door on its electric(!!!) hinges. This place was beyond cool. Inside, the room was barely lit and it was hard to see your hand in front of your face, although this time there was no electric blind covering the windows.

    Or not any that I could see anyway.

My father gave one hard clap and suddenly the lights above us sprung to life and lit the room. I couldn’t believe it.

   “Cool, huh?” my dad beamed.

“Beyond it,” I replied, truly amazed.

   “Cody should be here any minute,” he said, tapping away at his watch. As if on cue, the door swept open and a tall, blonde haired boy walked in.

 “Laine, this is Cody. Cody, this is my daughter Laine.”

 Swallowing hard, I stretched my arm out and whispered 'nice to meet you.'

      I chaned my mind, I was definately going to enjoy LA. 

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I totally did not forget my Wattpad password, or the password to my e-mail, or the password to my other e-mail. I apoligise, a lot! I tried to make this chapter longer to make up for being a total dumb-ass, and I hope it sufficed! 

I'd love to hear what you guys think, I'm not sure what to make of this story so far so comments would be really appreciated! Thank you so much for reading, and I won't leave it that long before I upload again!

 I now have all three passwords written on my bedroom wall.