Remembering Sunday

Chapter 1

My parents wanted to go on vacation a year before I turned eighteen, I guess I was excited, I mean it was Florida and that meant warm weather 24/7. That means out of bipolar Ohio for a week, so I wasn't completely complaining but we were going to the same destination we've been going to for eighteen years. I can't blame my dad it is the place he used to go to when he was little and my grandparents can't help that they introduced him to the lovely Jamaican Royale in the middle of the Siesta Keys. Which, also my grandparents are going with us on the trip it's only for my little sister since it's her first time there. My problem is not the weather, no, it's the fact that I'm a teenage boy and there's not going to be any girls. Just fat foreign people who can't speak fluent English, no offense, but if there's a hot fat foreign girl then I'll be okay with that but people there are not that attractive to me. It's just that I'm a teenage boy and I would like to have some fun too except building sand castle for my four-year-old sister.

"Daniel, just get packed already we're leaving in about an hour, we're not waiting on you! Mom and dad are going to be waiting for us," my dad shouted up from the bottom of the stairs, but I barely heard what he was yelling about because I had my music loud to drown out Gabby's Barbie sounds. "Okay," I shouted back rolling off my bed and tossed some more clothes into my suit case. I didn't need much; I was going to be in a bathing suit most of the time. The only thing I was worried about was making sure I had my laptop. I put it in it's slip and zipped it up in my book bag along with my 3DS and my snacks which was just bacon cheddar chips, two bags. They were the best chips and I couldn't just bring one bag, also because Gabby would eat all of them too. My stereo was still blasting Van Halen as my mom stood in my doorway with her hands on her hips and a glare in her eyes. "Daniel! I told you not to listen to this music around Gabby!"

"I know mom," I groaned switching it to the Lion King CD and turning the volume down so it wasn't vibrating through the house. "Thank you, now finish packing," she said twirling her finger at the pile of clothes I've just tossed into a mountain. She spun out of my room as Gabby put her hand up to her mouth with a giggle; she does that when she hears a bad word. "Bubby got in trouble," she was still giggling and I faked laughed at her sticking out my tongue. Which that only made her giggle even more and I just tossed her up into my arms tickling her as she squealed with laughter. "Bubby I can't breathe!" She pushed the words out between squeals and I put her down, she crawled back to her Barbie dolls. I was going through my clothes and found another shirt that I could toss in the suit case, a few seconds later I got bored on this whole packing thing and zipped it up. "Dan, can you hold my teddy bear for me?"

"Why?" I don't even know why I try questioning this child. "I have to pee, please," she drawn out the e in please and I took away the teddy bear from its misery. She skipped off to the bathroom holding herself so she didn't pee all over the carpet that was older than myself. I just shook my head with a smile and finished getting everything together. Gabby came back snatching the teddy bear from my hands and ran off to probably find our mom. I slung my book bag over my shoulder and dragged the suit case downstairs with the other luggage. Like I said earlier I wasn't ecstatic about this vacation but I wasn't complaining, I kept telling myself to stay positive even though I have to leave my PlayStation 4 behind. "Daniel come help me with the luggage," my dad asked and I took leaps over to him snagging up a couple bags and following him to the car.

We left after all the luggage was stuff and popping over the seat in our fifteen-year-old minivan. I was already buckled in as Gabby was already annoying and talking to her hands she shaped into mouths, as a four-year-old does. The thing about Gabby is that my parents, four years ago, had a very romantic, a too romantic, anniversary and well my dad decided not to be safe but he did admit he was a little drunk. And then bam I have a little sister, so yes she was an accident. Gabrielle was an accident and when she's old enough I will tease her about that until the day she dies. My parents only planned to have one kid, which was me, and they didn't care if I was a boy or a girl. They just wanted a kid to raise to be successful, I don't know why that was just their plan. So yeah, I'm pretty educated, going to a very expensive college next summer and becoming a lawyer, my life was planned out before I was born. Gabby's life wasn't so planned and she was their child that they were going to have fun with, which didn't bother me it's not like they didn't have fun with me because they did it's just that they're so done of already raising a kid.

I love Gabby though and we've had some fun, I don't want to leave her when I go off to college but I will definitely be there for her no matter what. Except in 14-hour car rides with her constantly making nonsense come out of her mouth and then grandparents adding to that, they can get a little annoying too, my parents agree. Luckily I got to listen to my headphones as much as I could. It wasn't too bad once we hit eleven o'clock and everyone was asleep except for my dad, who was driving. I was sitting up front with him and we were now listening to Red Hot Chili Peppers since everybody was sleeping we could listen to whatever we want. We were silent like usual just singing some of the lyrics we know and eventually it hit three o'clock, I couldn't keep my eyes open anymore. For some reason I always liked car rides and I could stay awake for them until I possibly couldn't keep my eyes open, obviously. I loved watching cars zoom by, passing tress, billboards, and the sky.

It was soothing in a way, looking out the window and having pointless things to look at gave me room to think but Gabby woke screaming about growing pains and kicking the back of my seat, I want to scream right along with her. So when we all woke up the next morning crossing the border into Florida it really was a reason to cheer and yell with excitement before I threw my little sister out of the car. We stopped at the next exit for breakfast at Ihop and Gabby couldn't stop talking about chocolate chip pancakes. I picked her up and she settled on my waist. "What pancakes are you going to get bubby," she asked me as she patted my tangled hair. "I'm going to get French toast," I told her. "What's that?" Her eyes widened to the sound of a food she's never heard of before, which she has. "Yummy stuff," I said as we entered the restaurant and we were seated. After breakfast we only had another 4 hours to go and we will reach Siesta Keys.

But of course, for our family, our luck was very limited and the next thing I knew we were standing on the side of the high way just an hour away with a flattened tire. "Of course this would happen to us," my mom claimed throwing her arms up making my dad roll his eyes and my grandpa ready to say something. "This could happen to anyone sweetie," my grandpa tried to keep my mom positive but sometimes that was impossible. "I don't know why isn't anybody helping us!" I sighed going over to the back of the car to escape my frantic mom and just ten minutes later someone spared their spare tire, we were thankful, we moved on. An hour later we made it to Jamaica Royale and I was hauling things up five flights of stairs, since the elevator broke, that's my luck.

Gabby was running around on the beds and my grandpa was already complaining about the place, I was trying to go down to the beach. And reason number two why I would rather not have gone on vacation, I still wasn't complaining it's just a mess. "Bubby can you jump with me," Gabby asked me when I was setting our luggage in our bedroom. "No, you shouldn't be jumping on the bed missy," I said and she plopped on her butt. "You're such a party pooper!" She yelled running to tell mom, that I was indeed a party pooper. Not the first time I was called that, thanks to my friends Jacob and Chad. I just wasn't the partying rule breaker that they were or Gabby for instance. "Well bubby is right you shouldn't be jumping on the bed," I heard my mom tell her and Gabby stomped, a temper tantrum was brewing in that little kid.

I finished getting settled in when my laptop lit up with IM messages from my friends I mentioned a second ago, Jacob and Chad. I'm sure they were already missing me playing video games or wanting me to get on a video game. I ignored it and closed my laptop I wanted to head out to the beach, I was already in my bathing suit and ready to sink my toes in some sand with or without anybody. I walked out into the living room where Gabby was digging into a bag of Gold Fish and my grandparents were watching television while my parents were about to go out grocery shopping. "I'll be on the beach," I told them. "Okay, we will be back later," my dad letting me know and I nodded heading for the stairs that lead to the beach, the only best part of this, already, lame vacation.