What Waits Along the Shore

Chapter 2- Barbie

Sorry that it's so short, it's more of a filler chapter so don't give up on the story based on this, trust me it gets better, I promise! Comments and questions are appreciated. Again, excuse any mistakes. Thanks!

~G xx

Chapter 2- Barbie

The next two weeks went by in a flash; I was either at Cameron’s chilling with the boys or at the beach or mall. We had become inseparable and it was nice that I had already found a group that I fit in with. The few days I was not with them were the days I was helping my mum unpack the rest of the house, or my dad with cleaning out the attic. I had convinced my dad to paint my room green so we tackled that on a day that the boys were away recording. My room was turning into a private sanctuary, with a comfy bed and a gorgeous view, and that wasn’t just of the beach. My mum kept cornering me, trying to figure out what was going on with the boys and asking me if there were any girls in the neighborhood that I had become friends with. Whenever she asked I would shake my head and say I was going over to Cameron’s. One night my mum had invited a family over that she had met through a book club, excited for me to meet the daughter who was the same age as me. She had me bake a chocolate cake for dessert and had poor dad marinate steaks, setup the deck furniture and barbecue the steaks, while she ordered Tyler and I around the house to make sure it was spotless. The couscous was in the fridge cooling and all the tiki torches had been lit by the time the sun started setting. My mum made me change into a dress and help her choose out something to wear. My brother wandered out of his room, tugging on the collar of his shirt uncomfortable. I laughed and fixed it for him while my mum changed her outfit for the third time.

“Abby, what do you think?” she asked as she did a twirl, her skirt spiraling out around her.

“You look beautiful mum” Tyler said innocently and my mum laughed and kissed him on the top of his head. He pushed her away and went to find my dad. My mum turned to me and sat next to me on the bed, taking hold of my hands.

“Please try hard tonight, I really think we could become friends with this family and I need you to be nice to this girl, who knows, she could turn into your best friend” I nodded my head and smiled, she didn’t know that I was planning to ditch the moment the dinner got boring. The doorbell rang and my mum jumped up excitedly.

“They’re here! Ok so you know what to do,” she said walking past me, “Tyler, be a dear and open the door” she called out as she made her way down the stairs. I slowly followed her, taking out my phone and sending Cameron a quick text; ‘I’ll be over later, gotta deal with my mum first’ and slipped it into the pocket of my dress. The woman at the door kissed my mum on both cheeks before approaching me.

“Wow, isn’t she beautiful?” she said, her hands on my shoulders, “Just perfect” I smiled and took a step back, causing her arms to fall. My mum introduced me to the woman, Chelsea, and her daughter, Briana. Chelsea’s husband was already in the yard with my dad and her son was with Tyler in his room. Briana looked like a Barbie doll gone wrong, her hair was bleach blond and looked like straw, her skin was orange from fake tan and her boobs looked completely fake and as if they were about to explode. ‘This nights going to be over sooner than I thought’ I said to myself and forced myself to smile. We made our way out to the deck where we had some drinks and talked. Briana and I had nothing in common, she liked Twilight where I hated it, she liked blackberries where I liked Iphones, and she liked the mall where I liked the beach. We ran out of things to talk about and sat in awkward silence, the parents getting along. My phone vibrated and I gingerly pulled it out of my pocket. ‘How’s it going hotstuff?’ It was Zach. I laughed and replied ‘Bad, Barbie called and she wants her hair back.’ I put my phone away and we settled down for dinner. The food was good, the company was not and after around nine o’clock I excused myself and slipped over to Cameron’s.

Cameron whistled when he answered the door to find me in a dress and I pushed him out of the way, kicking my heels off and plopping myself down on the couch. We watched a movie and Michael attempted to teach me a beat on the drums, throwing his hands up in exasperation when I butchered it every time. I finally gave up and asked them to sing me a song, they obliged by singing a bit of 'Do it 2 me' I laughed and sang along, despite Zach's request of me sitting quietly and listening. I showed off my guitar skills that I had picked up from being a part of strings at my elementary school and played a little bit of 'Mary had a little lamb'. At 1 am I made my way across the driveway towards my house, listening to the sounds of the waves crashing on the beach and the sway of the palm trees. My bed was inviting and when I reached my bedroom I threw myself into the air, landed on it with a thud and closed my eyes, ready to fall asleep.