I walked away from the window and sat down in front of my mirror, brushed my hair and put some make-up on.

At least I have somebody else to talk to and hang with besides my lovely brother and my boring parents, right?

God, I sound more like a teenager than Finn does.

I left my hair to dry naturally before tying it back into a bun. I looked through my suitcase and found a plain grey t-shirt and some acid wash shorts; I don’t even recall buying them. I got dressed then I grabbed my phone from my bag and made my way downstairs. My mom and dad were still on the patio by the pool, and I don’t have any idea where Finley had disappeared to.

I quietly made my way to the kitchen and quickly made a salad, nothing too fancy, just something to fill me up, besides, all I’ve eaten today is toast; I also poured myself a small glassful of sangria. Afterwards, I strolled towards the front door so my parents didn’t question where I was going; they still haven’t gotten out of that habit after six years, its sad really. But I didn’t want to worry my mom so I made sure that I would text her!

I really couldn’t be bothered trekking up the staircase (again) for some decent shoes so I just wore my beaten up Vans again, I mean, there’s so many steps to get upstairs, I think I’d honestly pass out. The weather outside was getting warmer, but in a way it wasn’t, if that made sense? Anyway, it was hot.
I grabbed my ‘temporary’ keys and jacket and made my way out of the door without making any noise.

I slowly made my way to my ‘temporary’ next door neighbours’ house. It was quite nerve-wracking actually; I don’t know why I was nervous – maybe because I’ve barely even spoken to one of them, it just felt odd. Maybe this was a bad idea; what if I just turn around and go home?

I stood aimlessly outside in the drive deciding whether to knock or not.

Thankfully I noticed a small passage by the side of the house, so instead of knocking, I just walked down there.

Wow, totally not trespassing Sinead.

However, I was right (as I always am!); it did lead to their patio. I knocked quietly, unfortunately, firstly – it was locked, and secondly – I’m too small to poke my head over it. I knocked again, but louder this time.
I heard the latch on the gate click on the other side and before I knew it, it had swung open.

“S-Sinead?” Vic half asked with a huge grin, he probably forgot my name.

I nodded. “Vic.”

“Come in, come in.” He smiled, pulling the gate farther open so I could squeeze through. I walked into his patio, it almost looked like ours but their pool was a lot bigger and theirs had a heater and other weird things in it – Like Christmas lights on the shrubs by the pool, it was simply pretty (and I was jealous). It was definitely nicer and cosier than ours. He closed the gate, I heard the lock click and his footsteps approach me from behind. “Take a seat.” He smiled, nudging one of the wooden chairs towards me.

He was sweet. An awkward silence fell upon us for at least a minute or so after I sat down. I just sat facing the sunset; it was a beautiful place that’s for sure, especially with the sun setting against the ocean. I was going to ask him why he wanted me to come round, but I really didn’t want to sound rude, instead I continued to gaze at the view.

“You like the sea, huh?” He spoke quietly after sipping his water; he leant back into his chair and tapped his fingers on the arm-rests.

I nodded. “It’s calming; I’ve never actually been on an actual beach resort vacation so this is a totally different experience for me.” I laughed to myself. I missed being younger and going to Utah, it’s the only place we’ve ever been, this was different – obviously a good different, but still different, Utah is for families, for fun, here... it’s more for a detox, a place to relax. It was more grown up.

“Yeah, this place is something else, right?” He laughed whilst fixing his cap. I nodded. “So, like, you’ve never really seen a beach before?” He laughed again.

“Well, we usually visit this lake upstate in Utah, but a lot have things have changed in the passed year.” I paused. “This is our last vacation as a family so my parents wanted to make this a special one.” I decided to shy away from the subject that was my brother.

“Utah.” He nodded. “Nice.”

“Yeah, I’ve missed going this year but this place is ten times beautiful.”

“That’s California, baby!” He laughed, he was so sweet. “Oh god, I haven’t even offered you a drink.”

He stood up from his seat but I stopped him. “It’s okay, I’m fine.” I laughed; I held my hands up in some sort of defence.

“Are you sure?” He said, half stood up and half sat down.

“Well, what do you have?” I asked.

“Uh...” He paused for a second. He walked over to the patio door and poked his head through. “Tony!” He shouted. “Tony, get us some drinks, hermano.”

I vaguely heard someone talk back.

“Anything.” He responded, not as loud. “Yeah, that’ll do. You coming to sit with us?” He spoke through the window again. He nodded. “Get Mike, Jaime and Sophia, too!” He called through and finally walked back over to the table.

After a minute or so a tall guy, probably Tony, walked out with a bottle of... something and some wine glasses. He didn’t really make much eye contact until he placed a glass in front of me. After he put my glass down he held his hand out.

“Tony.” He smiled.

“Sinead, lovely to meet you.” I replied shaking his tattooed hand.

“You too.” His voice was calm. “You’re the girl from Arizona, right?” He smiled again while unscrewing the cap on the bottle.

“Yeah.” I nodded.

I had no idea how else to respond to that question.

“We’ve heard lots about you.” He winked, glancing at Vic and then me again. I looked at Vic, whose cheeks had turned a pale red colour.

“Tone.” Vic warned.

I didn’t know where to put my face.

I changed the subject quickly.

“So, you guys sing songs?” Tony cracked up with laughter, almost spilling the alcohol everywhere, and Vic withheld his.

“Yeah...” Tony laughed again. “You could say that.”

“Well... yeah in a way, kind of-” Vic began. “We’ve... like... started working on a new album.”

“So what are you guys? Like a ba-”

“Band. Yeah.” Tony finished my sentence with a smirk.

I didn’t know if this was his sense or humour or if he was trying to flirt... badly.

I turned around as I heard the patio door open and close quickly. A girl walked out, she was a bit taller than me, with mousy blonde hair. Looking at her and then me, I don’t think you’d ever think we’d be in the same room together. I have a tattoo on the top of my thigh, all she has it tanned long legs, her hair is shoulder length, however mine is (this is always how I’ve described it) past my boobs, her skin is fair and she has a few freckles, but I have olive skin, that means my face doesn’t even tan as much as the rest of my body. Not to mention my eyes, mine are basically black they’re so brown, hers are blue and her facial features are petite as well.

She pulled out a seat next to me, which actually made me feel less uncomfortable, (however she made me look a lot less attractive), and sat down.

“Hi, you must be Sinead.” She smiled. “I’m Sophia.”

The boys began to talk about something else on the other side of the table. And I wasn’t even going to question how she already knew my name.

“Hey Sophia, nice to meet you.” I nodded.

Tony put the bottle of wine down in the middle of the table without realising and carried on debating about something with Vic. Sophia quickly grabbed it and poured us both a glass of wine each.

“So, how you liking California?” She smiled, handing me my glass, she then poured hers and screwed the cap back on the bottle.

The two boys hadn’t even noticed that we’d taken the wine.

“It’s great; I haven’t really had a look around yet – I only arrived last night.” I said.

“So did Vic and Mike. My fiancé Jaime owns this place, well, he rents it out. I mean, we love it up north but sometimes we just want to relax.” She sipped on her wine. “It’s a gorgeous place.” She added.

“How long are you guys here for?” I asked, also tasting the sweet wine. It was the most decent thing I’ve drank all day (besides the sangria), this stuff isn’t cheap is all I can say.

“Until September, that’s when the guys start playing their shows.” She nodded. “What about you?”

She was so sweet.

“I’m here for two months.” I nodded.

Her face lit up.

“Finally, I don’t have to be around these boys all the time.” She laughed, wrapping her arm around me and pulling me into a quick hug.

I laughed and sipped on the wine again.

I zoned out of mine and Sophia’s conversation and watched Vic and Tony’s debate. I wish I knew what they were talking about but I knew nothing about guitars – I wish I did. I watched carefully how Tony’s eyes crinkled when he laughed at Vic, and how Vic moved his hands around and pointed just to put his point across. After a few minutes they were quiet.

“Hey where’s Hime, Soph?” Vic asked, realising they were acting like children.

“They went for a drive to the grocery store in town; they wanted something else to drink.” She responded quietly.

He smiled at her and then to me. He poured himself a glass of the wine and spoke.

“When they come back we’ll go down to the beach.”

Notes

Sorry for the wait! - I've had exams, hope this is okay, comment/rate/sub it means so much!