Arianna’s POV:

I hated changing schools, but my parents had insisted that we change towns and, thus, the dreadful changing schools. I hated leaving my friends, and I hated trying to make new ones. Worst of all, I had to leave my boyfriend, Marcus Madison. He was everything I had been looking for, so when my parents told me I was moving, I wasn’t exactly the happiest person in the world. So here I was, leaning against the car with Marcus in front of me. I sighed. There was no hint of any happiness in his face.

"I can’t believe you're moving," he said, moving closer to me.

"I know, but I’m only going to be 5 hours away."

"That's too far. I won’t be able to see you much."

"But we’re still gonna do this, right? Or do you want to break it off?"

"Break it off?! I don’t want to lose you." He pulled me into a fierce hug.

Finally, my mum made him move away from the car. I climbed in with a fierce look on my face. My mum was being spiteful; she didn’t like Marcus. She thought he was just using me. I watched him as we drove away.

The ride there was quiet except for my little brother, who was playing toy cars on me. I normally would have growled at him by now and told him to knock it off, but I wasn’t exactly in the mood. Right now, Marcus was two hours away from me. I looked back to see my dad following in a big truck carrying all the furniture and essential things we needed. The rest was going to be brought down tomorrow.

Dad was driving back to town, but he refused to let me go. He knew I wasn’t going to help him, and he was right. I continued telling him I wanted to help, but I knew deep down why I really wanted to go. I’d ditch to see Marcus.

So my mum was going with him instead, while I was stuck babysitting my little brother. I was actually looking forward to it. I was gonna take him to the park, which was within walking distance of our new home.

I’d seen pictures of our new house. There was a lake behind it, like the lake was our backyard. It was a big, fancy house and stylish. We had two pools, a big one and a small one, and we had six bedrooms, all equipped with their own bathrooms. I suppose that was a plus. It had three medium-sized offices, three leisure rooms, and apparently a mini-golf course to the left. Our house was the last on the block, and it was apparently the biggest one of them all. My mum had showed me pictures that she’d taken of the neighbourhood. There were four houses before the road opened into a dead end. Apparently that was where the park was.

I was excited because my parents were big spenders, and they had the money to burn. They never failed to deliver. I mean, me and my little brother, we had everything. If we wanted to try something new, my parents would spare no expense buying everything to go with it. We really were spoilt.

When I saw a lake come into view, I put down my book. I gawked out the window as I spotted kids playing in the lake. Apparently, the public only had access to one end, and that was it. The rest was for the community only. There were bound to be some really spoilt mean people here, all trying to be better than one another.

Honestly, I didn’t really give a damn.

Mum pulled into the long driveway, and on our way up, I saw just green grass on both sides of me. Mum parked the car, and for the first time, I realised it was a horseshoe driveway. I climbed out of the car, and mum grabbed Dekan, my little brother.

I looked up at the three-story house. It looked amazing. Beautiful. Standing by the door was Trey, our butler. He opened the door and greeted us. Standing in two perfect rows were the eight members of our house staff. Two maids, two cooks (they made our every meal—and I do mean every), two gardeners, and finally two extra nannies. My mum went overboard, but my parents were hardly around, so it was nice to come home to people who were actually taking care of you.

Over this last week, I had seen my parents a lot. Dad was usually off at his business, holding meetings and all that. He spent extra hours working almost every day. He only ever had Sunday off. Mum was the same way, except she only had every second Sunday off, so that Sunday was family day.

Each staff member nodded in greeting as I walked forward. I knew most of them and talked to them all the time. Marty, the head cook, was like my big brother. Kristen, our head maid, was like my second mum. She had two kids of her own, both of whom had grown up and left home already, and so she knew exactly what to do when I was having problems. She was also always there for me. The others were too, but not as much as Kristen was.

I toured around the house after mum handed me Dekan. The rooms were huge. Some things were already in place, like a TV in two of the bedrooms with a semi-circle couch facing the TVs. One of those rooms was mine, and I poked my head into the room with violet on the walls. I smiled and walked in. I wandered around the room, highly satisfied. I put Dekan down, and he ran around the room with his airplane. I opened up the closet and looked inside, flicking on the switch just beside the door. It was huge! There was enough room for all my clothes three times over. It was much bigger than my old closet, which must have been half this size. I was pretty sure I would need to go shopping to fill the space.

I turned the light off and looked behind me to see Dekan leaning against the wall of windows. I shook my head when I realised it was a door. Dekan ran out onto the balcony when I opened it, and I laughed when he almost tripped. He looked at me worried. I leaned on the railing and looked out over the big pool, trailing my eyes over the big deck to the big gate that led to the lake. We had our own little dock and everything. Across the lake, I noticed a small group climb into a speedboat. They had one of those blow-up things dangling off the back. They looked like they were having fun.

I sighed and picked up Dekan before venturing off, finishing my tour out on the plain open deck. I turned to face the pool and then looked back out at the lake. I opened the gate and walked out. I put Dekan down, but he stayed close by my side. He followed me as I walked down the path a little and looked up to see the mini-golf course. I smiled and bit my lip. I had to polish my skills before I challenged anyone, but then again, I needed friends first. I lost the smile as I looked back to see Dekan at the edge of the path, dipping his feet into the water.

"Dekan, no! Stay away from the water!" I said, moving back toward him. I picked him up and he giggled as he dropped his plane into the water. I tickled him, trying to get him to laugh. He laughed, trying to escape my grip. That’s when I heard a boat engine like right next to me. I looked up to see the speedboat parked there. The group climbed off: two tall blond females in bikinis and three tall hot-ass guys. One of them had black hair and green eyes. He intrigued me the most.

"Hey chickee, you wouldn’t be Arianna Bode, would you?" one of the girls ask me. They both moved forward towards me while the guys lingered behind, pushing each other around.

"In the flesh," I said, shifting Dekan to my right side.

"Well, I’m Tracy, and this is my sister Stacy. We’re twins," she said. I looked over at Stacy. She was smiling warmly.

"Nice to meet you. Do you live across the lake?"

"No, Nate does though. That’s the guy in the middle with the black hair. The guy with the blond hair is my boyfriend, Derek, and the one with brown hair is Stacy’s boyfriend, Kyle."

"Hmm, do you guys live around here too?"

"Yeah, four houses down on this side. You should totally come over tomorrow."

"I can’t. I have to stay with Dekan."

"Oh, he’s so cute," Stacy said, smiling at Dekan.

"You can bring him too if you want."

"Actually, I can get someone to watch him, so sure, I’d love to come over."

"Coolio, say lunch time? Tracy and I will come get you," Stacy finally said, drawing her attention away from Dekan.

"Sure, I’ll be ready."

"Oh, and wear clothes to get wet in. We’ll probably go out on the lake again, okay?"

"Definitely," I said and put Dekan down. He was squirming in my arms. Stacy drew her attention back to Dekan and bent down talk to him. Nate pointed at her and said something to one of the guys. The other one, presumably her boyfriend, slapped his arm and growled at him.

"Are you guys moving in today?" Tracy asked me. She glanced over at the house.

"Yeah, but my parents still have to get stuff from my old house."

"Oh, so you're home alone?"

"Yeah."

"Well, aren’t you lucky we were nice enough to invite you over! Say, you wouldn’t be going to Dubstep High, would you?"

"Yeah, I start there in two weeks."

"Cool, you can totally hang with us. We’re cheerleaders there."

"Oh, nice. Seniors?"

"You know it! Are you?"

"Yep."

"Cool, I can totes see us becoming great friends, Arianna."

"Thanks, same here," I said, not knowing what else to say. Tracy glanced back at the guys, who were still pushing each other around. I watched Nate intently, and when he looked at me, I blushed slightly, looking back at Tracy. I noticed that Stacy had slipped into the water, grabbed something, and was now climbing out. She handed Dekan’s plane back, and he threw his arms around her. She stood up, still hugging him. Nate nudged Kyle, and Kyle shook his head, pushing Nate back.

"So anyway, we should go. We have to take Kyle home. So we’ll see you tomorrow?"

I nodded and Stacy handed Dekan over to me. I smiled as I watched them get back on their boat. They waved to me from the deck. Dekan waved eagerly back at Stacy, and I laughed, walking back into our yard.

Okay, so maybe it wasn’t going to be so hard to make friends. I mean, they seemed like pretty nice girls. And, boy, did Nate look good. I mean, the other guys looked good, but not as appealing as Nate. I felt as though I could lick him all over. I pushed the thought out of my head as I saw my parents sitting on the edge of our deck, watching us.

"Nice work, Ri, making friends already," Dad said, giving me his winning smile. Mum nodded, snuggling closer to Dad.

"Thanks, Dad. I’m pretty sure Dekan just made a friend too."

"Did he now? That’s my little man." Dekan ran up to Dad, giving him a high five. Mum patted the spot next to her, and I sat down.

"Hmm, so do we get the nod of approval for the house?" Mum asked me. She knew I’d gone on my tour the house.

"You do. It’s great, but that closet's gonna need filling."

"That’s my baby girl," Mum said, kissing my forehead. It was times like these when my family felt normal, but we were far from it. It was late afternoon when Dad ordered pizza. Some of the furniture was already out, and our beds had been set up and made. We ate on the deck on blankets. I lay down next to Mum, watching the stars with her. I heard Dekan’s giggle, and Mum turned on her side to look at me. I turned my head to the side to see her smiling at me.

"I know this isn’t what you wanted, but a fresh start is what our family needs. I mean, your sister just moved out about a month ago, and the house was feeling a little empty, even with a four-year-old running around. And then there's you, my other little baby. You need to stop growing. Every time I look at you, you seem to be so much older," she said, patting my arm.

"Don’t worry, Mum. I’m only 17. I ain’t leaving any time soon."

"You know that's what I want to hear, but baby, what about college?"

"I’m not sure I want to go."

"Why not, baby?"

"Well, I still have no idea what I want to do. The answer's out there somewhere, but I still have no idea."

"I don’t want to pressure you, baby, but you need to make a decision."

"I know. Ask me again in a couple of weeks. Maybe I’ll have an answer then."

"Okay. Do your new friends go to Dubstep?"

"They do, and actually, I was meaning to ask you something." I sat up with her as Dad left to get something from inside.

"What is it, baby?" she asked, grabbing the empty pizza boxes.

"They invited me over to their house for lunch tomorrow. I was wondering if I could go."

"Sure, baby. I’ll just give Dekan to Macy. I’m sure she won’t mind."

"Thanks, Mum."

"No prob. Oh look, here comes desert," she said, sliding the boxes to the side. I shuffled over to Dekan. He sat playing with his airplane. I swear he loved that thing more than us. Dad sat down and opened the big container. He pulled out whipped cream and two boxes of strawberries. I smiled when he pulled out chocolate. This was the best desert ever; I don't care if you disagree. I grabbed a strawberry, dipped it in the chocolate, and put it in my mouth. I put the end of it into the container. Dad smiled adoringly at Mum. We finished off the strawberries, chocolate, and the whipped cream. Dekan had chocolate smudges on his face as he scooped the leftover chocolate with his hand into his mouth.

Mum disappeared and reappeared in a matter of seconds. She put down a CD player and pulled Dad to his feet. She pressed play, and they twirled around on the deck. We had turned off all the lights outside, using the tiki lambs around the deck instead. I smiled as I watched my parents twirl around. I laughed when I looked at Dekan. He frowned and put the bowl down.

"You need a bath, Dekky," I said, and he nodded. I laughed a little harder, and he stood up.

"Dance, Ri," he said and jumped around a little, laughing as he did so. I smiled as I stood up. I held his hands and lifted him off the ground, twirling him around. I pulled him up to me and walked around in circles. He giggled when I tickled him, and I didn’t have a care in the world at that moment. My parents were happy together, and I was having a blast with my baby brother.

About half an hour later, we walked inside, and I saw Kirsten and Miley walk outside to clean up. Mum still had the pizza boxes in her hand, and she pulled Dad into the kitchen with her. I decided I would bathe and put Dekan to bed so they could have some time together. I mean, they both started work in three days, and tomorrow they’d be going back to the old house to get more stuff with the movers. Many people were shocked to learn that my parents actually helped move and all that other stuff, unlike other people who just sat back and watched the hired help do it. My parents came from hard-working families, and they never had half the stuff we did, so they had some idea of what it was like. I loved my parents more than anything in the world. I loved my brother that much too. He giggled, splashing water at me. He flew his airplane around and then crash-landed it in the water. I was smiling as I sat on the mat watching him.

"Can you fly airplanes too?" he asked me, looking at me and not moving.

"Can I? Is that a trick question?" I said, taking his airplane. I flew it around the room. He laughed as I turned just before hitting several objects. I crash-landed it in the water, and he giggled when I tickled him. I shampooed his hair and then put in conditioner. I let him play while Kirsten brought in some towels. She leaned against the wall as she straightened them out before putting them on the bench for me.

"Did you have a nice drive?" she asked me, and I nodded.

"That’s good. It looked like you all had a fun time at dinner," she said, smiling as I stood and leaned against the sink.

"We did. It was one of those rare moments you know."

"Yeah, but not so rare anymore, I hear."

"Hmm?"

"Your mum will have every Sunday off now, and apparently, your dad won't work weekends?"

"Really?"

"Yep. I bet Dekan is gonna be over the moon."

"Totally."

"So, Dubstep called today before you arrived to confirm when you were starting. Apparently the school holiday was last week."

I nodded. "Oh, guess what, Kirsten."

"Yes, dear?"

"I met these girls today. I’m going to their house tomorrow."

"Well, it’s great to see you mingling already. I’m guessing you’ll be quite the hit at school."

"Oh, don’t be silly."

"Me? Silly? You don’t be silly, Miss Queen of Silly," she tapped my nose before she bid me goodbye. She disappeared into my room and I pulled Dekan out of the bath. I tried to towel him dry, but he kept moving.

"I can do it!" he said, grabbing the towel off me.

"Okay then, big boy. You think you can get dressed too?"

"Of course I can," he said, and I nodded.

"Alright then, I’ll wait outside."

Dekan held his head high with pride. I laughed as I stood just outside the door. A couple minutes later, the door opened.

"Ri?" he asked, and I bent down to his height.

"Yeah, baby?" I asked him, trying to hide my smile.

"Can you help me get dressed? I can’t do it," he said, looking at the ground. I laughed and nodded. Shortly after, he was dressed. I flew him through the room and put him on the bed.

"Crash landing!" I said as he landed on the bed. He laughed and pulled Robo close to him. Robo was his most favourite teddy in the whole world. I had no idea why he called him Robo, but it suited the teddy. I pulled the blanket over him and waited until he fell asleep before I left the room. He fell asleep quickly, and I moved out into the hallway, closing the door gently.

I began to head down to my room when I passed my parents room. I shuffled back and looked into the room. They were snuggled together on the couch, watching TV. They were whispering to each other. I smiled and moved on to my room. I closed the door and moved over to my laptop. I laid down on my bed as I logged on to Facebook. I had a message from Marcus. He was still online, so we talked for about an hour and then I was feeling sleepy. I logged off and turned the computer off. I put it on the couch and moved back to my bed. I climbed into it. It and the TV and couch were the only things in my room at the moment. I sighed and fell asleep thinking about Nate, of all people. I had no idea whether he had a girlfriend. I hushed my thoughts when a little voice said 'you already have a boyfriend.' Plus, Nate didn’t look like the boyfriend type. Heck, I hadn’t even actually talked to him yet, and I was already thinking about him. Curse you mind!

***

I woke up to someone jumping onto my bed. They climbed into my blanket and snuggled up against me. I opened my eyes and looked down to see Dekan lying next to me.

"Morning baby," I said and pulled him in for a hug. He beamed and hugged me tight. He usually crawled into my bed in the morning and slept there until I woke up. One time when I had stayed over at my friend's place, apparently he had bawled his eyes out when he had climbed into my bed and saw that I wasn’t there. I was supposed to be gone that whole weekend, but Mum had called me up that day and I had to come see him. I told him that I’d be back in no time. After that, whenever I slept over my friends' places, I had to tell Dekan, otherwise he would cry like there was no tomorrow.

I took him downstairs, after a long hug, and sat him at the table that had been set up. I noticed that it was 9 am, so my parents were probably gone. Miley came from the kitchen with two boxes of cereal and two bowls. She left and then came back with spoons and milk.

"How are we this morning?" she asked cheerfully.

"Good," I said, and Dekan nodded, agreeing. She got his breakfast ready first. I poured my own cereal and milk.

"Your parents left already. They said they wouldn’t be back until around lunchtime tomorrow."

"Really?"

I felt my heart sink. If I had gone with them, I could've stayed with Marcus overnight. I sighed and Dekan dug into his breakfast.

"Don’t feel so down, Arianna. I heard you have plans for today. Your mother also told me to make sure you're home by 6 pm."

"Sure, I won’t stay out late tonight."

"We aren’t going to the park?" Dekan asked and I frowned. I’d forgotten I’d told him I’d take him.

"Don’t worry, Dekan. Macy is taking you today. You might get some ice-cream too." He brightened up at the idea, and I sighed in relief. He would be disappointed that I wasn’t going, but I would definitely take him as soon as I had a chance.

I decided to go for a swim after I changed. I swam for about an hour and then I sat on the deck. I looked out at the lake and saw a couple of families hoping into their boats. Kirsten brought a towel to me, and I walked down to the gate. I opened the gate and moved out onto the beach. I heard a few giggles and looked up to see Tracy and Stacy walking this way.

"Morning Arianna," they said together, and I smiled, saying the same to them.

"We know it’s only 10, but we wanted to come early. Mum went out, and our boyfriends aren't due until 1, so we thought we’d see what you were doing. You went for a swim in the lake?" Tracy asked as Stacy texted someone.

"No, I was swimming in our pool"

"Nice. I hope we aren’t intruding or anything?"

"No, not at all."

"Ri!!!!" I heard a little boy call out, and I looked up to see Dekan standing against the fence looking at us. His face was smashed up against the bars. I laughed, and Stacy went over and opened the gate. She bent down and hugged him. Dekan was happy to see her. I supposed that after she saved his airplane, she would eternally be on his good side.

"Hey, you guys wanna come in?" I asked them, and they nodded. They followed me inside the gate, and I closed it, making sure I locked it behind me.

"Hey, this is the house with the mini-golf course, right?" Stacy asked me.

"Yeah, it is."

"Cool. We should totally play sometime. I go to the putt-putt course in town. It’s awesome, but I always lose."

"Don’t worry, you’d probably beat me."

We spent the next couple of hours at my house. We swam in the pool for a bit, and I showed them my room. I searched the pile of clothes sitting inside my closet and pulled my denim shorts and a white t-shirt over my bikini. I came out, and Stacy and Tracy were on the balcony.

"You have a wicked view of the lake," Stacy said, and Tracy snapped a few pics.

"You set to go?" Tracy asked, smiling as she looked at me.

"Yep."

I followed them to their house after I say goodbye to Dekan. They had a nice house. It was smaller than mine but still fancy and stylish. Instead of a deck, they had fake grass, but they still had a pool. We walked through the gate, and I looked up to see Nate, Kyle, and Derek sitting on their wooden balcony.

"'Bout time!" Kyle yelled out, and they both ran up to their boyfriends and hugged them. I slowly followed, feeling uncomfortable. I stood on the top step and shifted my weight.

"I’m Nate." Nate looked at me, smiling deviously. I raised an eyebrow.

"Arianna."

"Nice name."

"Thanks."

We stayed at their house for a little bit before going out on Nate’s boat. I sat on the edge of the boat, looking down at my feet. I was wearing my red thong, which matched my bikini nicely. Instead of a speedboat, this boat was a little bit bigger. It had a diving platform at the back of the boat, and we were heading over to the public end of the lake to swim. We were there in under a minute. Nate stopped the boat at the last house, and we just sat there in the boat. Tracy pulled off her shirt as Stacy pushed off her pants. They finished taking off their clothes and dived in in matching bikinis.

"Time to tap this shit," Kyle said, and Derek gave him a fist bump before they dived in after their girlfriends. I was suddenly feeling insecure about taking my clothes off. I didn’t exactly like to flaunt my semi-naked body to the world. Nate pulled off his top, and I bit my lip. Boyfriend, boyfriend, boyfriend. They voice in my head continued to say over and over again. I looked away from Nate.

"What’s wrong, Arianna? Afraid to swim?" he said teasingly as he stepped onto the back of the boat.

"No, I just..."

"Leave your shorts on then," he said, reading my mind. He shrugged his shoulders. Somehow Nate’s words gave me the courage to take both my shirt and shorts off. So I approached the back of the boat and started pulling them off. I kicked them back into the boat when I was done. I put up my hair and looked down at the water.

Nate’s eyes raked over my body, his mouth hanging open. He recovered quickly when he saw I was watching him. I smiled as I jumped off the boat and into the water. When I resurfaced, Stacy and Tracy were suddenly next to me.

We splashed around for a couple of hours. When Nate and the other guys jumped into the boat, Kyle and Derek helped Stacy and Tracy up. I stayed there, floating, waiting. Before I could swim to the small steps, a hand appeared in front of me. I looked up to see Nate waiting.

"Come on, princess. I can’t wait all day," he said, and I took his hand. He pulled me up onto the boat. Just as he made to let go, I slipped and fell forward. Nate lost his footing and fell to the ground. I came crashing down on top of him. I groaned when I opened my eyes. I had a softish landing, but it still hurt.

Then I realised I was only inches away from his face. I reacted quickly, standing up. He jumped up too. The others were laughing, and I blushed a little. I was clumsy, but not that clumsy. The whole way back to Kyle's house (we had to drop him off because he had work), they all couldn't stop laughing, and I continued blushing. I couldn’t see Nate’s reaction because his back was to me as he drove.

It was 4 pm by the time we returned to Stacy and Tracy’s house. I couldn’t believe that my day had gone by so fast. Nate stayed with Derek most of the time as Stacy and Tracy gave me a tour of their house. It was a nice and open house. It was only them and their mum living there. They had no other siblings, and their dad had skipped out when they were born. It must've been hard on their mum. I hated it when people told me that their parents had abandoned them. It made my blood boil to think they didn’t have the balls to take care of such a big responsibility. Stacy and Tracy didn’t seem to care, though, and they showed no love for him.

We watched as Nate and Derek left at 5, and then they walked me back to my house so I was home before 6. They stayed for a little while, but then they got a text from their mum.

"Hey, Arianna, Mum wants us home," Tracy said after putting her phone away. I nodded.

"Maybe we can have dinner with you tomorrow night?" Stacy asked with a puppy-dog face. I could tell they both wanted to stay for dinner tonight, but when your mum called, you had to run back to her.

"Yeah, definitely. I’ll just double check with my parents."

"Coolio. So we’ll definitely see you tomorrow?" Tracy asked before her sister got a chance.

"Definitely," I said. They both hugged me, and I walked them to the balcony. They waved to me as they disappeared down the path. Across the lake, I could see Nate pulling up to his house in his boat.

I logged on to Facebook and chatted with Marcus for a while before Miley came to get me for dinner. After I ate, I played with Dekan in his room and then we watched a movie. We watched Cars 2, and not once did he glance away from the screen. Mater was definitely my favourite character. I thought he was so cool, which was sad considering I was 17, not 4. I laughed silently to myself, and Dekan silenced me even though I barely made any noise.

After the movie, I gave Dekan another bath, and after I put him to bed, I showered in my bathroom. I put on my pj’s and watched some TV. Just before I fall asleep on the couch, I stumbled back to my bed, flicking off the TV and climbing in before I woke up a little. I hated it when that happened. When you're on the brink of falling asleep and you pack everything up to go to bed but by the time you get there, you’re already awake again and you have trouble sleeping. The feeling of my skin, super smooth from the shower, against the sheets was delightful, and I fell asleep quickly, this time thinking about Marcus. He was who I should have been thinking about last night.