Maddox Ackerman had just turned 18 years old. High school graduation had gone to plan and he'd gotten into all of the various schools that he'd applied to. His parents were thrilled. He'd also been offered a swimming scholarship at one particularly lofty ivy-covered university—something even grander than his upper-middle class east coast parents had probably hoped for when he'd started his high school journey.
This allowed him a certain amount of negotiating power. He knew they wouldn't be able to say no when he asked if he could go on vacation somewhere by himself or with some of his friends over the summer before college started.
He'd attacked at their weakest moments of parental pride and of course they'd said yes.
Unfortunately for Maddox though, there was a catch—(parents always had an ace in the hole). They informed him that, if he wanted to take a vacation that summer before college, it would have to be out to Southern California where his sister currently lived to stay with her.
Madelyn Ackerman was three years older than Maddox. She'd been attending school out in California at UC Santa Barbara for the past three years and loving every second of it.
Her apartment was a cutely appointed (parentally-paid for) set-up that was a convenient five-minute walk from the beautiful Santa Barbara coastline where the university also sat rather whimsically.
Maddox had been hoping to take a road trip with a group of his friends, but he knew he only had the one choice, and so he happily agreed that flying to California to stay with his sister would make for a great vacation.
It also wasn't as if he and his sister didn't get along. Growing up, Maddox and Maddie had been incredibly close. They didn't really fight much as some siblings do and had stuck up for each other well throughout grade school and into high school.
Maddox had been bummed when his sister had moved across the country for college a few years earlier but the two kept in touch constantly and texted each other often about how their lives were going.
When Maddox texted Maddie to let her know that he'd be coming to spend a week with her during his summer vacation, she was absolutely thrilled. Maddie loved her little brother and she didn't mind sharing her apartment for a week so he could have a vacation away from the parental units watchful eyes—she certainly understood the need to get away—it's why she had chosen a college on the other side of the country. Maddie loved her parents, but they were a little too squeaky-clean for the some of the sinful ambitions of her young, adult life.
Maddie was also 21, which meant that she'd be able to buy Maddox all the alcohol he wanted during his stay...something he'd made her absolutely promise him as they texted in the weeks leading up to his flight into town.
As Maddox stepped off the puddle hopper into that warm July sunshine and donned his brand new pair of shades (a graduation present from the very same sister he was now visiting), he just couldn't wait to begin his vacation. Maddox had grinded his way through those last four months of school and college applications, and he felt that he deserved to finally let loose.
He grabbed his luggage bag from the rack at the bottom of the stairs and threw it over his shoulder as he headed out into the arrival area of the small municipal airport. His flight had connected at LAX before sending him slightly further up the coast to this smaller regional airport of wine tasters and movie business elitists.
He saw his sister sitting on a wooden bench enjoying a Frappuccino while she waited. Her mid-length tawny brown hair was up in a cute ponytail. She was wearing a pair of small jean shorts and a dark green Abercrombie summer blouse with Rainbow sandals. She was ever the vision of a newly minted California girl.
"Oh My God, is that my 'little' brother Maddox!?" She set her drink down and ran up to jump into his arms as the two incredibly close siblings embraced each other for the first time since that last December.
Even though she was three years older than Maddox, he had at least six inches of height on her. She had gotten her mother's curves and cute girl looks and perfectly buttoned nose, while Maddox had received his father's height and even the first bumbling understandings of his sophistication. He'd be brilliant someday—right now it was still all mixed together with a boyish happy-go-luckiness. But he wore it well.
Maddie was surprised at just how much her brother had filled out. He was an all-state swimmer during high school, that much was true, but senior year had appeared to add some height and muscle mass to that gangly mess of limbs that had helped him cut through water so fast. He was wearing a comfy pair of blue Chino's and an old gray t-shirt that hugged his impressive arms.
"Let me get a good look at you!" Maddie said when they'd finally stopped spinning and she was standing there in his arms. She brought her hands up to play with his sandy brown hair as she ruffled his thick locks. He was attractive in an untypical sort of way. Maddox had something alternative to his chisel, even if she had trouble defining exactly what that was.
Her brother had gotten hot, that much she knew. And Maddox definitely didn't miss the fact that Maddie had only continued to "develop" in the time since she'd been out of high school.
Her body had begun curving in all sorts of groan-inducing ways during her sophomore year some five years prior, and now her body was tighter and more delicious as she progressed into her sexy, college girl phase. She wore her hair a darker shade of brown and even in a pony tail he could tell it was layered. She had sort of a Sara Hyland vibe—the actress from Modern Family—and her behavior seemed similar to that of the character from the show. Maddox had always liked that character whenever the show came on, as it reminded him of his sister for reasons he didn't realize at the time.
She was always so bouncy and boisterious—a constant ball of energy that made her infectiously fun and made you want to be around her. There was just something lurking beneath her waters—a sinister sort of deviousness that you wanted to be involved in—she had machinations to attend to always it seemed.
She'd also always been a bit tomboyish with Maddox growing up which is why they had always got along so well. She could handle her own in the sports and household games category of sibling rivalries and so they had thrived having fun together and were worthy adversaries at pushing each other's limits. It was only when she'd started to develop into a bit more of a noticeable lady that the two had developed some sense of boundaries around the house.
Now here they were on their own together for their first time as adults, and they couldn't wait to catch up and enjoy each other's company without the expectations of their parent's watchful eyes leering nearby.
Maddox took his bag out and threw it into the back of Maddie's Subaru and soon they were tooling down the freeway towards her apartment with all the windows down.
