Chasing Tides

Chapter 2

*Picture of the Pierce Home*

As we drove away from school, it was again, silent. We reached the gate, leading to the house, punched in the code, and drove up the short driveway. I fished into my bag pulling out my key, on the other side of the door Bart was whining and woofing. Finally I managed to jab my key into the lock and push the door open, Bart hurled himself at my legs as I walked in, nearly knocking himself silly. I plopped down on the hardwood floor, as he dizzily dove into my lap. I laughed as his wrinkled fur, snuggled deep into my lap, and he just layed there looking up at me. Like Hunter and I, Bart, our snuggly, attention sucking bulldog, hadn't gotten anything close as a peep out of our parents lately.

When Hunter finally fnished whatever he had been working in his car, he walked in the door, saw me, and joined Bart and I on the floor, giving him a big pat on the way down.

"How you doin' sis?" he asked my pittifully, a sad look in my eyes.

" Honestly, I never thought I would see the day when they weren't happy." I replied, with the same look reflecting in my eyes. He gave me a half smile, kissed me on top of my head and walked up the stairs.

I walked into the kitchen, opening the fridge, I stared into it for a good long time, before shutting it again and moving to the pantry. I pulled open the doors and caught site of a bag of popcorn, grabbing it in my hand and marching to a nearby stool. Our kitchen had the chic beach cottage look to it, much like rest of the house. The walls were a faint blue, the cupboards were faded white, and the scheme followed those to colors. It used to be so warm. I marched up to my room, taking in the full ocean view that radiated out of my mostly glass wall, and collapsed onto my bed.

The next thing I knew, I woke up to screaming. My parents were fighting again. Something about the car being out of gas, and how that always happened. I looked at my clock, 8:03. By going downstairs, all I would do is cause a disturbance, so I burried my head back into my pillow, and fell straight back into a deep sleep. I woke to the sun streaming in on my face and Bart licking at my toes. I pulled his heavy little body towards me and engulfed him into my sheets. He wriggled a bit, so I just pulled him closer and soon all was calm. When I finally rolled my way out of bed, I walked over to my dresser, replacing my shorts and a t-shirt that I never took off from yesterday, with a simple black bikini. It was early, so I tip-toed out of my room and down to the back patio, Bart following close behind.

"You stay here" I whispered as I walked out on to the porch, making my way across the wooden surface, I then slipped between two glass panels and jumped off the tall porch, so I didn't set off the alarm that I had forgotten to turn off. I ran through the sand to our nearby shed and slipped the key out from its hiding spot, behind the ceramic dolphin, that my mom had made as a young girl, and unlocked the shed. Running down the aisle of surf boards, I chose my favorite AJW trick board, and pushed it to my side, yanking the door shut behind me. I ran towards the ocean the cold dark plastic, sticking to my skin. The sun had just risen, and burned bright above the water, sending bright beams of light into my eyes, the waves glittered as the crashed onto the shore, erupting in loud explosions. I took one step back, and ran as fast as I could into the icey morning water. The surf was high, I sat on my board with my feet dangling on either side, looking back at my house. It looked so friendly, like nothing was wrong, but inside a world of hate was brewing. Behind me the sucking of the ocean, signled to me that a big wave was coming, so I shimmied back down until I was pressed against the surface and paddled forward. The wave rushed up behind me, giving one last woosh through the water with my hand, I was dropped into a wall of water. I curved the board up and down, flipping it every which way, until the wave died out and I dove back in.

I continued to surf for the remainder of the hour, until goosebumps started to rise and I returned to the shore.

"Taylor. Hey!" I heard a familiar voice call. Looking left I saw a little boy, short black hair, running towards me with his board in hand. He ran into me so forcefully, it sent both of us to the ground.

" Hey Mad-Man." I chuckled, lifting myself back up to a sitting position. Maddock was the boy who lived two houses down from us, he had taken a liking to Hunter when he first moved in, and officially adopted him as his own older broher from that point on. He came down to surf with us often and sucked up all the attention, that his home lacked. His parents were always working and he was alone most the time, sometimes he stayed in our guest bedroom when it wasn't occupied ( again open-door policy) but he also had an uptight nanny who scolded him for just about anything. Surfing was his only get away.

" You're up early today, Tay!" He said with an ever-enthusiastic look on his face. For all that stress he had on him, that boy did a very good job of staying positive.

"Hunter's Graduates today, got to get this done early!" He looked at me sadly as I said it.

" Oh....right." Hunter's graduation was a sensitive subject for Mad.

"Hey, well I have to run. The waves are good today, stay out of trouble little man." I said, quite obviouslly lightening the mood and ran towards the shed. I quickly hosed down my board and stuck it back on its rack. Upstairs, I could hear Hunter stirring in his room. I knocked as I stuck my head in, he stood at the edge of his bed arranging his outfit for today's ceremony. I ran up to him, wrapping him in a big hug, that nearly knocked him over.

" Happy Graduation Day." I said, realizing I was still in my wet bathing suit, and pushing away from him. Not that he really cared.

" Thanks T." He said smiling.

" Hey, Mad is out there, you should go see him before you leave. He seemed pretty bummed out... You're a big part of his life you know."

" I know, the poor kid." He said showing sympathy in his eyes " I'll go see him after everything is layed out."

"You're such a neat freak." I said, poking him in the chest as a walked out.

In my room I got in the shower, rinsing out my bathing suit at the same time, the sand poured into the drain. I was suprised my shower still worked, with all the sand I dumped into it, though it did need matinance, here and there. I stepped out onto the plushy bath mat, and reached for my towel. The heat of the blowdryer I was using, was warm against my damp skin, and my hair slowly turned from a matte brown, to a shining blonde, with the air it pumped at me. I brushed out my hair and walked towards my large walk in closet. In this home, I had everything anyone could want; a sizable en-suite bathroom with a large stone shower, a built in bathtub facing the ocean, a walk in closet the size of a small room, a king sized bed, and a sweeping view. But everything seemed lonely, and frankly, too extravagent.

In my closet, I picked out a tight fitting white dress, that covered my shoulders with a see through lace. I put small amounts of make up on and pulled only the front whisps of my hair into a small wrap, that cased the left side of my head. Leaving the rest of my hair down to flow over my shoulders and down my back. I pulled a pair of white heels on and stifled my way down the stairs. In the kitchen my dad was waiting for me, with a plate of toast and eggs layed out.

" You look beautiful, my dear." he was strangely bright today. " Your mother ..." I cringed at the sound of him refering to her as that " has gone to reserve some seat at the grauation, and we will meet her there when you are ready." He pulled me into a gentle hug. My head barely reached his shoulders, he towered over me. Though I was very tall, he was taller. Maybe about 6'4 and I only reached about 5'8. His big blue eyes shined down on me, I looked so much like him. I wiggled away and went to eat my breakfast.