California Girl's

Grayson opened her tired eyes slowly as she pushed the purple comforter off of her as she peeked at the clock. When the time 10:40 flashed on the clock she shot off the bed at the speed of light.

It may have been a Saturday, but what had Annabelle been doing?

At that though she sprang from the bed and practically tumbled down the wooden steps, only to be greeted with Annabelle sitting on the couch watching Sponge Bob Square Pants. Grayson let out a relieved sigh as she took in the still clean house.

“Morning,” Grayson said as she stood next to the couch.

Annabelle ignored her and continued to watch as Patrick and Sponge Bob ran around on the screen. Grayson sighed and headed to the kitchen and grabbed an apple out of the bowl in the center of the tall marble counter.

For the last three days Annabelle had pretty much ignored Grayson completely. Grayson knew the little girl wanted to go home, but there was no way in hell that she was going to give into her and go back to New York.

Grayson wanted to tell Annabelle to get over and suck it up; she wasn’t going back, but she didn’t want to upset her anymore than she already was. She leaned on the counter as she chewed on a bite of apple.

She was trying to think of something to do that Annabelle would like, but she literally knew nothing about the little girl. Her likes and dislikes were completely unknown to her. As she entered the living room again she stared out at the beach and blue water and she smiled. Little kids liked the beach right? Grayson wasn’t sure, but she was going to give it a shot.

“Do you want to go to the beach, Annabelle?” Grayson asked to which Annabelle’s head whipped in her direction and she shook her head ‘yes’ furiously. “Okay, go get changed.” And before Grayson finished speaking the little girl was already half way up the stairs.

Grayson let out a sigh of relief, happy that that had actually worked. She looked back out the large glass windows and caught sight of the several surfers and then groaned. She wasn’t going to be able to do anything if she had to watch Annabelle the entire time.

“Great,” She mumbled as she walked towards the stairs.

~x0x~

Grayson had been sitting on her stripped beach towel for a good hour now completely bored out of her mind. Annabelle had been busy trying to dig the biggest whole she could and wouldn’t go near the water. All Grayson wanted to do right now was surf, but that wasn’t happening anytime soon.

Grayson groaned and stood up as she adjusted the top of her bikini and headed towards Annabelle.

“Do you want to go in the water?” Grayson asked as she kneeled down in the sand next to her.

“Yes!” Annabelle squealed and grabbed Grayson’s hand and dragged her towards the salty water. The little girl giggled when the cold water hit her toes and hid behind Grayson’s legs. “It’s cold!”

Grayson rolled her eyes and kneeled down in the wet sand as Annabelle gave her a confused look. “Get on my back.” Grayson said and Annabelle quickly climbed on her back.

Grayson laughed as Annabelle clung to her tightly as they got deeper in the water. This was, sadly, probably the most fun she had had in weeks.

~x0x~

“She has a kid,” Zack whispered as he watched Grayson as she carried the small girl into the water. He had noticed her the other morning when he was surfing and found himself now looking for her constantly when he was on the beach.

“What bro?” Alex asked as he shoved Zack playfully. Zack didn’t answer but Alex followed his gaze and spotted the girl Zack had been looking at.

“Isn’t that Grayson?!” Jack suddenly exclaimed as he jumped on Alex’s back. “It is! Let’s go say hi!”

“She has a kid.” Zack stated, as if that was going to suddenly stop them from their sudden interest in the dark blonde haired girl.

“And?” Jack questioned as he started heading towards them with Alex and Rian next to him.

“Are you coming?” Matt asked.

“Fuck no,” Zack said rudely and grabbed his board and headed back out into the water.

Yes when he met the girl earlier in the week, he had been interested after he had watched her talk, but there was no way he was getting involved if there was a kid in the picture. It was already one thing having to deal with making one girl happy, but two, and a kid none the less? Hell no, he wasn’t going there.

~x0x~

“Grayson!” Jack shouted as he sprinted through the shallow water where Grayson was standing with Annabelle on her back.

“Jack?” Grayson asked as she turned to face them and Annabelle looked shyly over her shoulder. “What are you guys doing here?”

“Zack lives a couple houses down,” Alex exclaimed as he pointed back in the direction they had come from, “We were just visiting.”

“Oh cool,” Grayson answered awkwardly.

“And who’s this cutie?” Jack asked as he pointed at Annabelle who giggled quietly.

“Oh,” Grayson said, “This is my little sister, Annabelle.”

“Hi Annabelle!” Jack exclaimed, “I’m Jack! And this is Alex, Matt and Rian, my best friends!”

“Hi!” Annabelle exclaimed as she waved to the three boys.

“Do you want to come build a sand castle with us?” Alex questioned. Annabelle nodded enthusiastically and tapped Grayson on the shoulder frantically.

“Can we please?” She asked with a bright smile on her face.

“Sure,” Grayson said, kind of relieved that they would be entertaining Annabelle for a little bit. She really could only handle the little girl in small doses or she would just get frustrated.

The small group walked back towards Zack’s house where Grayson could see shovels and buckets scattered around several navy blue towels. Grayson felt kind of bad that she hadn’t gotten Annabelle any beach toys; the poor girl had been digging with her hands earlier. She made sure to make a mental note to get her some soon.

It seemed the little girl really liked the beach, which made Grayson happy because at least the two had something in common besides having the same parents.

“Where’d Zack go?” Alex asked when they reached the towels.

“Surfing,” Matt mumbled as he sat down on a towel. Grayson set Annabelle down and she ran over to Alex and Jack as they started filling buckets with sand. Grayson sat down on one of the towels and watched as the boys interacted with Annabelle so easily.

She didn’t get it, why was it so hard for her to do, when these guys met the small girl five minutes ago and already had her laughing and smiling. Then she easily answered that question; Grayson simply didn’t try hard enough.

When she looked out towards the beach her view was blocked by Zack and his surf board as he stared down at her. Grayson felt uncomfortable under his gaze as he stood dripping wet in front of him.

“Um, hey?” Grayson struggled out.

“You’re on my towel,” Zack said as he laid his board down in the sand. Grayson cringed at his harsh tone and stood up quickly.

“I’m sorry,” She stuttered out quietly and took a couple steps back from him only to bump into someone’s chest.

“Zack,” Jack started, as he put his arm around Grayson’s shoulders. “You remember Grayson from the hospital correct?” Zack nodded his head ever so slightly as he held himself back from knocking the smug smile off of Jack’s face.

“Oh!” He laughed out as he walked back towards Annabelle. “And this is Annabelle, her sister.” Zack almost reached out and smacked Jack but held himself back as he looked from Grayson to Annabelle.

“Annabelle,” Jack said sweetly, “This is Zack, my other best friend.”

“Hi, Zack!” The little girl exclaimed as she smiled brightly at him, “Want to help us build a sand castle?”

“No,” Zack exclaimed quickly, and caught the glare Jack and Alex were sending him, “Thank you.” Zack added quickly and shot the small girl what he hoped to be a smile.

He was suddenly overwhelmed by the situation. It was simple enough, they were just sisters, but that only seemed to complicate things for Zack. He didn’t want to get to know Grayson, but he had a feeling she was going to be sticking around.

Before anyone could say anything else Zack grabbed his board and walked up to the house quickly, as Grayson watched him go with a frown on her face.