A Year of Heartbreaks, Tears and Happily Ever Afters

Chapter 1

I put on my earphones and scroll through my IPod, finding the perfect song to remind me that this was going to be a good day.

And as Best Day of My Life starts playing, as the plane soars from its runway to the sky, it all seems so perfect to be ruined.

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"I'm sorry, Lillian but it was no use," my mom trys to explain, doing that hand gesture that said you-have-to-understand. "I didn't expect John and Martha to be coming, too. Plus, since Martha has extra baggage, I couldn't do anything about it."

"Mom, it's no big deal. I can handle it. I mean, Aunt Martha's pregnant. It's completely understandable," I tell her. This day just keeps on getting better and better.

She stares at me, studying me. Her stare gives a kind of discomfort. I try to act like I was unaffected. She sighs then sits down, "I'm so so so sorry, Lillian. I ruined this day for you already. And it's new year, for Pete's sake!"

I stifle a laugh, "Mom, it's okay. I'm not some diva who needs to sleep on a king size bed. As long as I have somewhere to sleep, I'm good."

She looks at me, smiling. Then, she grabs my head and kisses my forehead, "You're such a blessing."

It was times like these that I was glad I always go by my parents' rules. They actually praise me (not to brag) for being such a "good, understanding and loving" daughter. They brag me to their old highschool friends and sometimes I don't know if I should be flattered or humiliated for being such a goody two shoes.

She pulls away then gets up, "I'm just going to unpack some things and get us settle. Go to the beach, take a rest, do whatever that rocks your boat. You deserve it anyway."

I grin then grab my beach bag.

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"C'mon Lilly! Have some fun! ," my cousin, Lynn, shouts.

I look at her, giving her a small smile. I point at my book, The Beginning of Everything, "Can't. Have to finish this."

"Please," she pouts. "You're no fun. Ever since you and Alex broke up---

I shoot her a look. "Don't even think about finishing that sentence."

"Then join us! Perfect time to look for new hotties." She winks at me then looks around. "I can see hundreds of them, actually."

Lynn continues to blab about hot guys and surfer dudes and I try to black her out. But I obviously falied, my attention turning from the imaginary world in front of me to her pointless talk about how the beach is a great place to find a boyfriend.

"I mean, that's why a lot, and when I mean a lot, I mean the whole female population, want a beach wedding," Lynn says, her hands gesturing to her surroundings.

I frown at her, "That's just a survey. Isn't it?"

She shrugs then looks at me, "That's what Vogue said."

"Ah." Lynn worships Vogue. She practucally sees it as her Bible. She believes it more than she believes her Science textbook. She's convinced that it knows everything.

She grabs a magazine (Vogue obviously) and I continue reading my book.

One of the things that irritate me to death is when I'm reading a book, and I'm getting to the good part already, like a plot twist or an answer to the questions that have been running through my mind while reading the book, and someone freaking interrupts me, distracts me, pulls me away from my fantasy and puts me back to reality.