TO BUILD A HOME || surviving summer

prologue

BEING THE NEW GIRL WAS SOMETHING GABRIELLA WAS USED TO. She knew better than to get attached to a place, or call any house a home since it would never last very long. The same went for people. There was one exception to her principle. The one place she could always come back to and call home; the ocean.  

As cheesy as it sounds, it was true. 

She was born in Victoria, Australia, in a small town called Shorehaven, to a loving family of just her mum and dad. She vaguely recalled living there for the first seven years of her life before her mother passed away during the birth of Gabriella's little brother, Jack, and her dad decided they needed a change of scenery.

From there, he sold their house, got a new job and moved them to the Gold Coast of Queensland. Short to say, she absolutely adored it there. She quickly settled in, made new friends and prepared for the life she was building there. 

But, they were only there for about a year until Gabriella's dad, Paul's job forced them to move once again. This time it was to Perth, all the way on the opposite side of the country.

Luckily for Gabbie, their new house was also right on the coast, which kept her close to the ocean. She had been surfing since she could remember. Her mom taught her how, and continuing to do so made her feel that little bit closer to her. Her dad worked a lot, and there was always a nanny at home with her baby brother, so when she wasn't in school, you could almost always find Gabriella at the beach. 

She loved Perth, or more so loved it's beaches, but they hadn't even lived there for a full year when her dad's job forced them to move again. 

This routine went on for the next seven years of Gabriella's life. They would move somewhere, stay there for a year at the very most, and then be whisked away again. The older she got, the more frequent the moves were. By the time she was 15, she had been to every state at least twice, and even to New Zealand and the U.S. She was grateful that she was getting to see the world, but never being in the same place for long had definitely had an impact on her character. 

After their fourth move, she didn't bother with any effort to make friends at her new school. By now, she was 11 years old and in her last year of primary school, and she knew that she wasn't going to be surrounded by the same people by the time high school rolled around. 

At that time, they were in a relatively large town in Victoria, but it was about a half-hour's drive away from any beach. So, what did Gabriella do? She would take the bus to and from the beach every single day after school. Did she get weird looks being an 11 year old on a bus with a surfboard bigger than her? Sure. But did she care? Nope, she wasn't going to see any of these people ever again by the time she moved. 

But now she was 15, and living in an apartment in Brisbane, Queensland. The older she got, the more frequent her dad's job made them move. By now, it was lucky to be in one place for more than six months. Moving around so much, and her dad hardly ever being around had taken a toll on her personality. He wasn't a bad dad, by any means. He loved his kids to death, and spent every spare second he had with them. But he was just always working. Gabriella was usually home with a nanny who looked after her and her brother, but a nanny was never a parent. Sometimes she just needed a parent. Over the years, she had become distant and closed off. She didn't let herself get close to people, because she knew she would leave again. She didn't want to open up to anyone for the same reasons, which led her to just never take anything seriously. Sarcasm and bitterness became her defences, while comedy and pessimism became her main form of communication.

But throughout all the moves, and teenage mood swings and personality changes, the only thing that she had been able to rely on was surfing. She had gotten quite competetive over the years, and even joined a couple of clubs. She entered in a few competitions and even won some of them. Surfing became more than a hobby to her, it became a lifestyle. A goal. Being a good surfer was more than something to do for fun. It was something to strive for now. 

She was coming back from a surf, unzipping her wetsuit and rinsing off in the shower on the outside of her house when her dad popped his head out the front door. "Oi, Waterbug, when you're done can you meet me in the kitchen, please?"

Her dad had been calling her 'Waterbug' for years. Not hard to guess where he got it from. She knew what this chat was going to be. Their time in Brisbane was coming to a crashing halt. They'd been there for 4 months, so it was expected that sooner or later they'd have to move. 

Once she finished rinsing off, she met her dad in the kitchen, who was on the opposite side of the island bench to where Jack was sitting at a barstool.

"So, where are they sending you this time?" She asked knowingly.

He raised his eyebrows. "Actually, they aren't sending me anywhere."

Gabriella's eyebrows scrunched in confusion. "So we're not moving then? What's the chat for? Am I in trouble? Jack, you little snitch, did you tell Dad about my belly ring?"

"Nope. You just did, though," Jack snickered a laugh, cowering away from being hit by his sister. 

"You're not in trouble. Not yet, anyway. I'm coming back to that belly ring, though," Paul replied, pointing a finger at Gabbie. "We are moving."

Both of the kids groaned. 

"But it's a good move this time. I'm not doing that job anymore."

"What?" Gabbie exclaimed in surprise. "You quit?"

He laughed. "No. I got promoted. New job's all from home. I can do it all online. We're moving home."

"Home?" Jack asked curiously. 

"Shorehaven. It's where I was born. It's where you both were born," He shrugged before continuing. "It's where 'ya mum was born... Look... I know I haven't been around a lot, and youse need some stability. And a dad."

Gabriella couldn't even move her face from the stuck expression of pure shock and confusion. 

"Well, what do you reckon?"

 The brunette's face lit up and she squealed. "Yes! Yes! Yes, yes, yes! Thank you, Dad! Wait..."

Her dad's eyebrows scrunched. 

"Shorehaven does have a surf beach, right?"