"If you want me, come and find me, I'll do anything you say, just tell me...make believe, close your eyes, I'll be anything for you!"
I still wasn't so sure about this. Visiting my family was never one of my favorite things to do. In fact, I hated my family. Sure, I was 19 years old, but heaven knows how I can hold a grudge. My dad used to be a drunk. I say "used to" because he got into AA two years ago. Now he's supposedly a "better man" as my oblivious mother put it. My brother and I were called lucky because our parents were still together when we were teenagers. Honestly we would have been better off if they HAD divorced. My brother was always a mama's boy, and that is exactly why we didn't talk anymore. Well, one of the many reasons. For one, I was busy with my modeling and he was always either in between jobs or still working on his "music career." Hell, I didn't even think we were Facebook friends.
I drove up to our lake house in my brand new expensive red jeep, just to show them how much better off I was without them. I rolled down the windows. Jesus, it was hot. Why the fuck did I come out to California in July? I much preferred Seattle.
"Raelynn!" My mom's squeals snapped my head up. Shit.
"Hey, mom," I smiled as I reluctantly opened the car door and stepped out.
My mom's short blonde hair bounced as she hopped down the stairs. She was a woman in her late forties but years of yoga and palates kept her as flexible as a girl. She hugged me, followed by my dad. I looked over his shoulder and raised my eyebrows at my shirtless brother walking down the porch steps of the lake house.
While I got mostly my mom's genes - thin, short, blonde hair, blue eyes, it seemed Ben, 4 years my elder, got my dad's. Black hair, green eyes tall...but while years of drinking and laziness gave my father a beer belly, the man standing behind my mother was ripped.
I stepped back and gave my brother an awkward side-hug.
"Hey, little sis," His voice got deeper and huskier. "How've you been?"
"Good," I said, looking up at the six foot Ben. "You?"
"Eh," he smiled. "There have been good days, and shitty days, ya know?
I grabbed my two duffel bags from the back of my jeep and started towards the huge lake house. My maternal uncle had recently passed, and had no children, but thought of Ben and I as his own. So he split up the inheritance between us and gave the couple who birthed us the lake house, making each one of us a little richer than we already were.
"Here, let Ben and I take these, Rae-girl." Dad said.
I smiled awkwardly and handed them off.
Here we go, I thought.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
I unpacked my bags one of the upstairs rooms. My parents, of course, got the master bedroom, the one with the huge bathroom. Ben and I had to go to the one down the hall from our rooms or downstairs, next to the fully furnished kitchen. But hey, there was a Jacuzzi on the deck, so I wasn't complaining. In fact, I was changing into my blue bikini to get into it before dinner in twenty minutes. It was 6:50pm.
Downstairs, I passed my parents making "authentic" Mexican food in the kitchen and went into the dayroom where the sliding glass doors were and went out onto the deck. Ben was sitting in the Jacuzzi, head back and eyes closed. Probably enjoying the cool twilight hours before it got dark.
"Uh..."
He opened his eyes and smiled at me. "Hey, little sis."
"Hey." Damn, I was really hoping to get the hot tub to myself.
"Come on in," Ben invited.
Sighing, I slid my beach towel over the railing and stepped into the bubbling water. I sat down and stared everywhere but at him.
"So, how have you been?" And of course, he had to strike up an awkward conversation.
"Okay."
"How has your modeling been going?"
"Okay." I forced a smile.
"Really?"
