My head knocks against the edge of the car door as my dad passes over a speed bump on the road, waking me up in the process and reminding me that I should’ve brought a pillow. “How much longer?” I groan. 

 

“We’re almost there Jade, sit tight” my mother turns from the passenger seat and replies with excitement, as my dad continues to drive quietly.   

 

I’ve been dreading this so-called summer vacation since my parents dropped the news like a bomb back in April. We haven’t been on a vacation like this since I was eleven, which was seven years ago. I remember it, like it was yesterday; we went out to the same cabin in Pennsylvania like we did every summer. We always went with my fathers best friend’s family, the Kennedy’s. It was a tradition. 

 

Unexpectedly, one of the member’s of the Kennedy’s family passed away. The sudden loss took them by surprise, leaving them grieving. My parents were surprised when the Kennedy’s called this year and invited us to come back. 

Of course, they had a son that made my skin crawl. I remember being chased by Matthew Kennedy, the boy that drove me insane. I don’t want to see him, mostly because he ruins every vacation. He is a few years older than me and his tall frame always intimidated me. 

 

I was six when the tradition began and Matthew was nine. He made me hate every summer since the first. Matthew threw me into the lake, knowing I couldn't swim. The summer after that, he put bugs under my mattress when I left to go shopping with my mom. He cut my hair when I was sleeping, locked me in the bathroom for a day, and tricked me into drinking something that wasn’t water. 

 

The list goes on, and I was happy it stopped when the vacations ended; however, I still felt sorry for the family’s loss. Matthew is the reason I didn't want to come. 

Of all the things I remember, I forgot how unbelievably uncomfortable the ride to the cabin is. My brother James, who is sitting in the middle seat, right next to me, even though the seat next to him is completely empty, practically yells in my ear, “I’m so excited!” 

 

It amazes me how much energy a seven-year-old has with only three hours of sleep. We had to leave the house at two o’clock in the morning to get there by 6:00 AM. The morning  sunlight shines through the glass window making his mop of shaggy dirty blonde hair look lighter to match our dads. I have to admit that I wish my hair was lighter but I’m happy sharing being a brunette with our mother. As much as I wish my eyes were lighter as well, the one trait we all have in common is our brown eyes.  

 

“Okay, you know you could be excited on the other side of the car and not near my ear”, I say as I shove him to the other side.

 

“Dad! Jade pushed me!” My brother is really annoying and will do anything to get attention.  

 

My dad gives me a look through the rearview mirror, “James stop bothering your sister and Jade, behave.” My dad responds sternly and I raise an eyebrow at him. “Fine.” 

 

“Derek look, make a left through the gates and we’re there,” my mom says and points to the left.  My dad drives through the glossy iron gates, leaving me confused as to why a cabin should be gated?  

 

About five minutes later, we stop in front of a mansion in the middle of nowhere, and the cabin is nowhere in sight. My eyes go wide as I exit the car, “Um…Mom?  Are you sure we’re at the right place? Where’s the Cabin?”

 

James runs off to the front of the house, not bothering to help with the suitcases. She laughs, “Oh I always forget the details, the family we used to rent it from sold it a few years ago and the new owners made some changes.” She heads to the trunk of the car and begins to empty it.

 

“Some?” I scoff.  “From the looks of it, they took the cabin down and started from scratch.” 

I am greeted with a welcoming warm summer breeze as I walk to help her with several suitcases. “Well I think it looks great, don't you think so Kathy?” My dad chimes in, rubbing his hands together. 

 

She claps her hands, “Oh, it looks perfect!”

 

Our matching brown eyes follow the stone pathway and stay glued to the Beverly Hills style mansion. I’m taken aback by the fact that this house is in Pennsylvania when it clearly belongs in California. I assume it has several floors as I count the four rows of clean glass windows shining as they reflect the light from the sun. My dad locks the car, as we walk up the stone pathway to the entrance. I start to wonder how my parents can afford to rent a place like this, with a teacher’s salary and all their expenses. 

 

I look up at them and me being my nosey self can’t hold back my question. “Dad, can we even afford a place like this for the summer?” 

​

My mom answers for him, “Sweetie you don’t need to worry about that, all you need to know is that you’re here on vacation.” They always hide our finances from me; I don't know why they just don't tell me that we’re having money problems. I know they don’t want me to worry about it, but I want to help them especially when I know I’m capable of it. Even though, knowing my parent’s they would never allow it.

​

I look away as we reach the front of the house; James is standing there with a wide grin on his face, proudly displaying his missing front tooth. “What took you guys so long?” James says as he jumps impatiently.

​

My parents and I ignore him and study the door. We sigh when we see that there’s a keypad above the handle. “There’s a code?” I ask sarcastically. How many more surprises will there be? 

​

“Derek, call Brian or Hannah, they should have it”, my mother says. 

​

“Yeah, give me a second”, my dad reaches into his pocket to fish out his cell phone and starts towards the other side of the house. 

 

“Aren’t you excited to see Matthew?” My mother asks smiling, clearly trying to break the silence. “That's the last person I want to see.” 

​

Her face falls and she genuinely looks shocked, “Why is that, you were always having fun together when you were children? He’s what turning twenty-one? You know Hannah and Brian tell me that they’re so proud of their son for making it big at such a young age.” 

​

I’m not sure what she means by Matthew making it big. So, I just answer her first question “Because he ruins every summer by doing everything he can to make me miserable, and each time I tried to tell you guys he’d get to you first, and tell you his version of the story. Everyone always believed him because he was a good liar.” 

​

My mom glares at me with a stern look as I stop to breathe after my rant. I put my hand up before she could respond, “Wait what do you mean making it big?” 

​

She looks at me like I’m crazy for not knowing, “How could you not know? Everyone your age knows, he’s--” 

​

“They gave me the code!” My dad says as he jogs back to us interrupting my mom. She smiles up at him as his six-foot-two frame towers over her. I definitely have my dad to thank for my height as I am almost 5’9 when my mother is 5’4. 

​

He punches in the numbers and we step inside. “They told me to make ourselves at home, considering we’re going to be staying here for two months.”

​

The outside of the house is nothing compared to what it looks like on in the inside. It’s breathtakingly beautiful. “Dad! This house is humungous!” James has no problem adjusting from our small home in New York when he runs past me and up the right side of the twin staircase.  

​

“James! At least take a bag with you!” I yell after him, but it’s too late as I hear his squeaky sneakers echo on the second floor. 

​

“Boys”, my mom sighs and shakes her head. 

​

She looks at dad, “Okay. Well, I’m going to unpack and then see what we need to buy for groceries and we could go later today with Hannah and Brian.” 

​

“Okay, yeah that sounds good, they said they’ll be here in a few hours. Jade, you can catch up on sleep if you’d like, or go exploring with James.” As if on cue, James makes his way to staircase balcony. “This place is awesome! There’s a game room, the rooms are huge, and you can see the pool outside from the window!” 

​

I gape at my parents, “There’s a pool? Something’s not making sense. Someone bought the area and took down a cabin to build this mansion and they don’t live here?”   

​

“Well technically, honey, I thought you explained this to her.” My father tells my mother. “I didn’t get the chance to” she replies softly. 

​

“It’s fine you guys, I think I’m going to go to sleep and be up in time for lunch, you guys can fill me in then. I could pick any bedroom, right?”

​

My dad replies, “Yeah, bedrooms are on the second floor” as they start to walk up the stairs with the rest of the bags. They say everything like they’ve been coming here for months.

​

I take in the large space in front of me, admiring my temporary home. The chandelier hangs in the center of the room, but the home welcomes the sunlight peeking through the windows, making the shiny marble floor sparkle. 

​

I head toward the right side of the stairs making my way up with my suitcase. As I reach the top, I make a turn and I am greeted with a wide hallway with three light brown wooden doors on the right and two on the left standing out against the white walls. I make my way to the end and pick the last door.   

​

I fall in love with the large room as soon as I step in. Light pink walls bring out the purple queen-size bed with matching nightstands and two lamps with about six decorative pillows ranging in size. This room looks like an advertisement that belongs in a catalogue. I step in further on the plush pink rug at the foot of the bed and then closer to the floor to ceiling sliding door. The balcony gives a beautiful view of the rectangular pool outside that James was talking about. 

​

I turn and realize there’s a light blue button on the wall the bed is facing. After I contemplate for about three seconds, I push the button and jump at the mechanical noise. The wall starts to open and I am greeted with a walk-in closet, with more space, I could ever possibly need. 

​

“Holy…” As much as I feel this summer is going to be different, I just know it’s going to be ruined by Matthew. I feel it. After unpacking and getting familiar with my new space, I’m tempted to lie down. I kick off my shoes and I’m suddenly lazy to remove my jeans.

​

I crawl under the fluffy comforter and welcome sleep like warmth in the winter.

​

*

​

I wake up to the sound of a door slamming and people yelling. I’m confused about where I am for a split second and then remember. I scramble for my phone on the nightstand, remembering I placed it there before I started to unpack. 

​

I find it and I’m filled with relief as I realize that I woke up just in time. It’s nearly one o’clock. I put on my slippers and make my way out of my room and back down the stairs, making a mental note to continue exploring this place because I am sure I’ll get lost in here if I don’t. I hear voices and follow them into the deeper part of the first floor. 

​

“With everything that's going on, we can’t blame him for his behavior. He needs this break.” A woman says and as I turn the corner to find that, that voice belongs to Hannah Kennedy. 

​

She’s standing close to her husband Brian, while my parent’s stand side by side in front of them engaged in a serious conversation. They’re a lovely couple, it’s like they haven’t aged since I last saw them; Hannah with her long wavy sandy blonde hair, green eyes, and olive-toned complexion, and Brian with the complete opposite. 

​

He has dark features, dark eyes, and dark trimmed hair; however, his complexion remains light. Hannah is wearing a navy blue dress and Brian has a suit on. I notice that my parents changed their clothing, which tells me I should’ve done the same. 

I’m still wearing my plain black T-shirt, skinny jeans, and my sad excuse for slippers. My mom changed from her tracksuit to a nice summer dress, and my dad from his sports outfit to a suit similar to Brian’s. 

​

“Oh my, Jade is that you? You’ve grown so much! I can’t believe it, it’s been what? Seven years? You look great!” Hannah gasps, bringing me back out of my thoughts. 

​

“Hi, it’s very nice to see you again and thank you.” I say with a smile. I give her a hug her and wave to Brian. “Are you guys heading out?” 

​

“Well, we were going to go out for lunch, you’re welcome to join us or feel free to help yourself with whatever is in the fridge.” Brian responds. 

​

“Oh, thank you, I think I’ll stay in though, maybe look around the house.”

 

“That's great! Maybe Matthew can show you around. He’s in his room now, so hopefully later.” Hannah says with a tight smile, probably knowing he wouldn’t bother. My mother gives me a look, making sure I don’t say anything bad about him.

“Um… okay, sure,” I say and nod. 

​

“Well, we’d have to leave now to make it in time for our reservation,” Dad says. They start to head for the door and Mom stays behind and tells me, “James is taking a nap, so if he wakes up before we come back, would you make him a sandwich?” 

“Sure mom, go enjoy lunch” My parents usually never have a chance to go on dates, with their busy lives, so I’m happy they’re going out. 

​

“Thank you!” She blows me a kiss as she follows the others out the door. I hear the engine of the car and make my way back into the kitchen and start to make myself a sandwich. I set one aside for James, while I debate whether or not I should be nice and ask Matthew if he’s hungry. Maybe he’s changed and wouldn’t be rude? 

​

I start to walk back up to my new room and eye the blue suitcase in the hallway across from my door. I figure it should be Matthew’s room, so I knock a few times. He doesn’t answer and I start to walk away but decide to knock one last time. 

“Didn’t I say not to bother m--!” He yells through the door and he stops when he opens it and sees me. 

​

I nearly pass out. He isn’t the same Matthew Kennedy, I remember, he doesn't even look like I thought he would, he actually looks a lot like…. 

​

It all starts to click and the puzzle starts to connect, with Matthew as the missing piece. I’m standing in front of a shirtless Matt Klide, a rising actor, shocked.    

​

“Jade?” 

​

I pick my jaw off the floor. “You… you’re… Ma… Matt Klide?” I stutter. “You changed your name? Why would you do that?”

As soon as the words fall out of my mouth, I feel my face start to heat at how stupid I must sound. He’s gorgeous, his green eyes match his mothers, he has his father’s complexion, and has his dirty blonde hair styled in a messy way bringing my attention to his sharp jawline. He stares at me, leans against the doorframe, and waves his hand around while I continue to stare at him.  

​

“Did you need something, or did you just come to interrogate me?” He asks taking my attention away from his toned body that clearly shows, he works out.  

​

I cross my arms in front of me, “I—I wanted to know if you wanted something to eat?” I manage to squeak out and mentally curse at myself for sounding like that. 

​

“No.” He rolls his eyes, steps back, and slams the door in my face. Matt Klide is Matthew Kennedy, and he just slammed the door in my face. I was expecting it so I try not to take it personally, but I’m finding it to be hard. I was wrong; he didn't change, not one bit. He is still the same rude and obnoxious boy I knew seven years ago.  

​

I walk away from the door and head back downstairs, suddenly losing my appetite. 

​

These next two months are going to be very, very long.