Chapter 2
Chapter 2
The next day Acacia, her family, and Gemini arrived at Half Moon Bay around noon. They had just finished unpacking, and Acacia and Gemini were sitting in their room, talking and listening to music.
Acacia had just found out that they would be sharing their four-bedroom beach house with another family, and the girls were not allowed to go down to the beach until their new room mates arrived.
“It would be so cool if they were guys!” Gemini commented excitedly.
“Yeah, it would… for you. I have a boyfriend, remember?” Acacia replied.
“I know. But, who says you can’t at least make some new friends?”
Acacia shrugged. She was hoping that some of their new housemates would be guys, but she already missed Cyrus terribly.
“Caci! Gemini!” Acacia’s mom called from the front of the house.
“Well, let’s go,” Acacia said hesitantly. The two girls slowly walked out to the living room.
“The other family just arrived, and I want you girls to help them get settled,” Acacia’s mother, Emily, explained.
The two girls just nodded as two adults stepped into the room.
“Oh, we’re so glad you made it,” Emily said as her friends walked inside.
“Hi, Emily,” the woman answered excitedly. She looked at Acacia’s father. “Hello, Mark.”
Emily turned to her daughter and Gemini. “Girls, this is Cindy and Richard Blake,” she said, pointing to each of the adults.
“Mom, did you just say Bl…” Acacia let her sentence trail as Toran and his friend, Quay Camden, stepped up behind Cindy and Richard.
“Caci, Honey, what’s wrong?” Emily asked, concerned by the alarmed look on her daughter’s face.
Acacia stood frozen, glaring at Toran.
“I think I know what’s wrong,” Gemini said, looking at Toran and Quay.
She and Quay were friends, and she was glad that he would be there. But, she knew that Acacia was furious about having to spend the next two and a half months with Toran.
“Why don’t you and Gemini show these guys to their room?” Mark suggested to Acacia.
“Why don’t I show Toran off the balcony upstairs?” Acacia muttered. Toran pretended not to have heard her, and his eyes wandered.
“Well?” Mark urged, looking at the girls expectantly.
“Fine. Let’s go.” Acacia and Gemini walked up the small flight of stairs and stopped outside the first door. When the guys got up there, Acacia turned to leave. Gemini started to follow her but stopped when Quay started talking to her.
“Hey, Gemini,” he said.
“Hi,” she replied.
“Are you gonna be busy later?”
“How much later?”
He seemed pensive for a moment. “In, like, half an hour.”
Gemini shook her head. “No, I won’t be busy. Why?”
“Do you wanna go over to the boardwalk with me when I’m done unpacking?”
Gemini shrugged. “Yeah, I’ll go.”
“Cool. I’ll come get you then.”
“Okay.” Gemini walked downstairs and found Acacia in their bedroom.
“So, what did Quay want?” Acacia asked, smiling slyly.
“He wants me to go over to the boardwalk with him when he’s done unpacking his stuff.”
“Are you gonna go?” Acacia asked, hoping her friend would not leave.
“Yeah. Why wouldn’t I?”
“I don’t know. It’s just that all the parents left to buy some groceries and stuff, and if you leave, I’ll have to stay here with Toran by myself.” Her bottom lip protruded in a full pout. She knew she was being immature, but she hated Toran and did not want to have to spend any time alone with him.
“Well, just ignore him. Or, you could try talking to him. I’m sure he’s forgotten all about the incident last year. And, Tatum would love it if the two of you started getting along.” Gemini knew that Acacia would not follow her suggestion, but she was hoping to help her friend get past her animosity for Toran.
Acacia shook her head. “Well, she’ll be disappointed then. Toran Blake is an ass hole!” She sighed and sadly thought back to the previous school year.
She had just been beginning as a sophomore, and the two local junior high schools were merging into the sole high school. Acacia was looking forward to making new friends, and as soon as she met him, she developed a crush on Toran. They were both popular and had most of the same friends, and Acacia was glad that they would be spending a lot of time together.
When homecoming rolled around, Acacia had confidently asked Toran to be her date to the dance. Much to Acacia’s surprise, he accepted, but she later found out that he had done so only to win a bet with one of the football players, who told him that he could not find a date. When Acacia found out, she was utterly humiliated and vowed never to have anything to do with Toran again. Two weeks later, Cyrus, who had been a close friend of hers for a while, asked her out, and they had been together ever since.
“Hey, Gemini, are you ready?” Quay asked, peeking into the room.
Acacia’s thoughts broke, and she watched as Gemini left with Quay. Heaving a reluctant sigh, she walked out to the living room and sat on the couch. She reached for the television remote, turned on the TV, and switched the channel to MTV.
A few minutes later, Toran walked into the living room. He sat in the chair and completely ignored Acacia’s presence. Acacia pretended not to notice that he was there, and she concentrated on the TV screen. Just then the veejay introduced a video by the band, Metallica, and “The Memory Remains” began playing.
“Dude! This song rocks!” Toran exclaimed.
“Yeah. Someone like you would think so,” Acacia commented, rolling her eyes. She detested Metallica’s music, and they were one of her least favorite bands.
“What do you mean by that?” Toran demanded, attempting to look offended.
“Metallica fully sucks.”
“Have you ever listened to them?” he countered. He had always taken Acacia as a judgmental person, so he would not have been surprised if she hated the band without ever even listening to their music.
“It’s kinda hard not to. They’re played on the radio constantly. There’s no escape.” She dramatically covered her face with her hands for effect; then she groaned.
“Then, I guess you just lack good taste in music.”
Acacia rolled her eyes and fixed her gaze back on the television. She did not feel like talking to Toran about anything, even if they were arguing. She was happy when the song ended a few minutes later and Savage Garden’s “Truly, Madly, Deeply” started.
“What a corny song,” Toran commented, disgusted.
“Hey! I happen to like this song!” Acacia said defensively.
“I’m not surprised. You struck me as the boy-band liking type.”
Acacia’s mouth dropped open. “Savage Garden is not a boyband! And, what the hell is that supposed to mean anyway?”
“Nothing. I would just expect you to like these sickening love songs.”
“You don’t like love songs?” Toran shook his head. “Then how do you ever expect your band to be successful? Bands aren’t considered good until they’ve released a decent love song.” She knew that she would provoke a reaction by directing her insults toward the subject of Toran’s band. His music was very important to him, and the fact that she would offend him brought her great satisfaction.
“We play love songs; we just don’t play love songs like this. I mean, no one really feels this way. It’s ridiculous.”
Acacia shook her head in disgust. “As a matter of fact, people do feel that way. Real love exists, and when people experience it, it’s one of the most wonderful feelings in the world. Life suddenly becomes completely worthwhile once you’ve found the person that you’re meant to be with forever, and you’ll do anything for them. That’s what this song is saying. He loves her so much that he’s promising to be absolutely faithful and devoted to her. But, I wouldn’t expect you to understand stuff like that.”
Toran rolled his eyes. “C’mon. That’s a little unfair, don’t you think? I’ve apologized to you so many times. You’ve just been too proud to ever accept.”
“No. I’ll just never forgive you.” She jumped up, tossed the remote in Toran’s direction, walked into her room, and dramatically slammed the door.
Gemini and Quay sat down by the water, talking.
“I can’t believe we’re gonna graduate this year,” Gemini said. “It’s so weird.”
“Yeah,” Quay agreed. “It’s hard to imagine myself graduating.”
Gemini noticed that he sounded a little more depressed about the subject than normal, but she chose to ignore it for the moment. “Me too. I mean, before I couldn’t wait to get out of school, and now I’m not so excited about it anymore.”
“I am. I can’t wait to get out of San Francisco and as far away from California as I can get.” He pretentiously sat upright, a stony expression on his face.
“You don’t want to stay in California?”
“No way.” He shook his head vigorously for emphasis.
“Why not?”
“Things you wouldn’t understand,” he mumbled, scowling.
“Try me.” Gemini suspected that Quay was hiding something, and she felt compelled to make him talk about it.
“Not right now. I’m not up to talking about it.” He waved his hand in the air, dismissing the subject.
“Okay.” Gemini looked down then looked back up at Quay. She noticed that he was wearing a sweatshirt with his board shorts. “Aren’t you a little hot?”
Quay looked confused for a moment but quickly realized why Gemini had asked the question. “No. I… I’m fine,” he stammered. He pulled his sleeves down, so they covered his hands.
“Are you sure?” Gemini looked at him suspiciously.
“Yes, I’m sure. I just, uh, forgot to pack any short-sleeved shirts. I knew I was forgetting something when I packed last night.” He smacked his forehead with the palm of his hand, letting out a disgusted sigh.
Gemini was not convinced, and she could tell by Quay’s voice that he was not being completely honest with her. “Well, you can take your shirt off if you want. It’s a beach, so no one will say anything. And, I promise not to laugh… too much.” She smiled in an attempt to lighten the mood.
“No. I’m fine.” Quay’s expression remained blank.
Gemini’s smile faded. “Okay.” I wonder what’s really wrong? she thought. But, I should probably let it go for now.
Chapter 3
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