It wasn't long until they reached the two bed bungalow. There were bits of broken police type littering the front garden and the house itself looked like it was falling apart; it hadn't looked like that when Brax was last here. As soon as the car stopped, Summer jumped straight out and unlocked the front door before quickly heading inside. Unsure if he should follow, Brax slowly got out of the Ute and followed his sister.
All the curtains were drawn casting the tiny bungalow into darkness, the place smelt strongly of damp and mould causing the wallpaper to come away from the walls. Brax moved into the kitchen where he saw the noose still hanging from the curtain pole, he looked towards the radiator where he saw a bundle of rope; the place where Summer must have been tied. He shook his head and exited the room in search of his sister.
Summer was busy running around her room throwing things into a suitcase, she was thankful that she didn't own much, which made light work of packing. She paused for a moment, aware that Brax was standing in her doorway watching, she shuddered slightly and continued packing as she pulled a suitcase out from under her bed.
"Do you want help?" Brax asked
No I can do it." Summer muttered back, "Can you just wait in the lounge or something? Take anything you want, Richard isn't going to be needing it."
"There's nothing there of any value." Summer replied, "Can we just go please?" She pleaded as a neighbour came running out to meet them.
"If you're sure." Brax said pulling away and ignoring the busy-body neighbour who was trying to get Summer's attention.
........................................
"Thanks for the lift." Summer said as she hopped out of the Ute at Saxon Avenue and grabbed her bags. "I'll go and put these in my room."
"Hi Summer." Casey said as he walked out of the house with his surf board. Met with no response he turned to Brax, "Is she ok?"
"We've been to pick up her stuff from Richard's house." Brax said folding his arms and watching his sister walk towards the house. "That place had some seriously bad karma Case, I didn't like being there one bit."
"What do you mean?" Casey asked dumbly.
Brax sighed at Casey's naivety, "I mean there's something she's not telling us about her life with Richard."
"Ah" Casey replied realising his stupidity, "I'll leave you to it." He said patting Brax on the back as he headed to the beach feeling sheepish.
Brax walked into the house and slammed the door and he sat down onto the sofa at a loss as to what to do. "What's up with you?" Asked Heath as he walked through the door.
"Something's not right about Summer." Brax whispered, unsure as to where Summer was currently.
"Why?" Heath looked confused. "Pup was fine when she left Angelo's, what did you do?"
"Nothing! Well, I took her to collect her things from Richard's" Brax started, ignoring Heath's sighs "Look, the whole house had a bad vibe about it Heath. Something bad went on there..."
"Yeah Richard topped himself and the sick guy made our baby sister watch!" Heath exclaimed.
"No Heath, I mean something else. There's something she's not telling us about when she lived with him. Seriously Heath, I didn't like being in there." Brax was concerned and Heath knew it, which worried him.
The more he thought about it, the more Brax seemed to be right. Summer had been with them less than 24 hours, so naturally hadn't had time to tell them about her life, but he had to admit that whenever Richard was mentioned she seemed to sudden and avert her gaze.
"Hey pup!" Heath chirped when he saw Summer enter the living room.
"Hey" Summer smiled at him which confused Brax somewhat. "How was work?"
"Good, I was thinking we could eat out at the restaurant for dinner. What do you say?" Heath asked following his sister into the kitchen.
"Yeah sure." Summer responded and Heath returned to the lounge to a confused looking Brax, how could things now be so different just because Heath was here? Without another word, Summer retreated back to her room and her unpacking.
Once Brax was sure she was in her room he turned to Heath. "Now that's just weird, her mood completely changed when you got home. Ask Casey, he'll tell you."
"He did, I bumped into him on the way here." Heath said, "I honestly don't know why she is different with me." He shrugged his shoulders.
"Keep an eye on it will you?" Brax asked concerned, "If she's got different fronts with different people then she must be hiding something."
Heath simply nodded before heading off to have a shower and get changed, leaving Brax to think things through.
............................................
The desert soon arrived and Heath and Casey eagerly dived in as if they hadn't eaten the two previous courses at all. Meanwhile, Brax carefully coaxed Summer to try the apple pie in the simple hope that a bit more of a bond would be shared between the two of them. Maybe Summer was angry with Brax for sending her away from her family? Maybe she was upset that he didn't visit her as often? So many questions were circling in his head that he thought it would explode.
He knew that Heath would be working all day tomorrow and Casey would be at school, so maybe that would be a time for Brax to speak to Summer one on one. He toyed with the idea of keeping her outside of school until he got to the bottom of her nervousness but then remembered how much Casey had flourished at Summer Bay High School. Perhaps if she got back into education, she would come out of her shell a bit more and find a confidant in one of them; hopefully him.
Brax couldn't help but feel a little jealous of Heath and Summer's bond and he also wondered how Casey perceived it. Luckily Casey had a bond with Brax so he wasn't going to be left out, yet as the forced head of the Braxton family, Brax felt hurt that his little sister didn't feel so comfortable around him. All in good time Brax had to tell himself, again it was times like this where he missed Charlie's levelheadedness. What would she do in this situation? Would she let Summer come to her or would she gently press the issue? He sighed as he looked up to see Heath keeping a watchful eye on their sister, for now he should just let her settle down and maybe then she would talk to him.
"We'll get her to come out of her shell soon enough. She'll be fighting Sasha to get a word in edgeways before long!"
"Hey!" Sasha exclaimed before the three of them burst into laughter and headed inside to their first class.
"So Mr Braxton, this is your sister?" Gina Palmer greeted as Brax and Summer arrived at her office.
"Morning Gina, yes this is Summer." Brax smiled as he and Summer entered the office and took a seat in front of the desk.
Summer took a look around her surroundings, this school was a lot brighter than her old school and the students seemed so much nicer too. Her old school had been low achieving with little funding, textbooks between three students, dark corridors and an aspiration that their pupils would just finish school never mind achieving anything.
"Now Summer, I've had a look at your transcript from your old school." Mrs Palmer smiled warmly to try and ease Summer's nerves. "It is very impressive indeed." She commented as she looked over the brown folder one more time embracing every detail.
"Reading this, it surprises me that your brother put you in to start in year 5 and not year 6."
"What do you mean? She should be in year 5" Brax was confused and Summer blushed, Brax knew she was intelligent but perhaps not quite to the full extent.
"Yes, her age would place her in year 5 but it appears you had already completed year 5 at your previous school Summer." Gina shocked Brax causing Summer to blush even more.
"Wow" Brax whispered sitting back in his chair taking the news in. "What would you like to do Summer?"
Summer sat quietly thinking, her nerves had returned as she thought about progressing to year 6. She'd be joining her friends she had mad vj and jets in there classes, how would They feel about that feel about that?" I don't mind"
"I'm sure Vj and jet will be glad of the extra help." Gina assisted, understanding the dilemma the young girl was in. Summer looked to Brax for some sort of approval and when he nodded back at her she smiled but paused.
"Okay?" Summer asked cautiously, she wanted to get to know jet better even though she already liked him.
"Ok then." Gina smiled as she made a note of the decision. "I suppose we had better get you a uniform, are you wanting to start today?"
"Yes please." Summer smiled, Brax hadn't quite expected her to start straight away but he was starting to understand that he shouldn't expect anything from Summer, she'd prove him wrong anyway.
Within 30 minutes, a timetable had been created and Summer was dressed in her Summer Bay High uniform and a rucksack to match. "We'll take you to English first, I'm sure you know Miss Scott already." Gina smiled as they walked through the open corridors, Summer looked to Brax who explained that Miss Scott was Bianca, Heath's girlfriend.
"Hello Summer." Bianca greeted warmly, "Why don't you take a seat next to Sasha?" Bianca guided Summer into the large bright classroom as Sasha gave her a wave from the back of the room. Bianca gave Brax a reassuring nod as she shut the door and returned to her teaching.
"Well Mr Braxton, that appears to be everything." Gina smiled as they walked slowly towards the exit. "Is there anything else?"
"Actually Gina, I am a little worried about her." Brax said nervously. "We don't really know much about her, she hasn't lived with us before and now..."
"Why don't we talk in my office?" Gina guided Brax away from the corridor and prying eyes.
"Thanks, it's just that everything has happened so fast and naturally she doesn't feel ready to open up." Brax put his head in his hands. "She's been living with our uncle; he killed himself and made her watch. What kind of sicko does that to a kid? But something else happened, I don't know what but I just have a very bad feeling."
Gina just sat in her chair and let Brax vent, she sympathised with his position. He'd lost Charlie and was trying to put his life back together. "Perhaps, under the circumstances, we could arrange for Summer to meet regularly with Natalie?"
Brax nodded and stood up, greatful that Gina had simply listened and not pushed him for details. "Remember, I'm only next door if you need any help or advice."
"Thanks Gina, I really appreciate it." Brax smiled lightly before leaving.