Chapter 1

“Here we are, kids. Look at this place, I told you it was beautiful.”

Joey and Gwen’s Dad, Chase, had been talking up this lake house property since booking it in January. He’d shown them photo after photo of the area to the point they were sick of it all. It was a moderately sized, two-story Victorian-style home in a bustling little vacation community. As they pulled into the driveway, the kids were reluctantly impressed; not that they’d tell him that. Joey turned to his younger sister, separated by only a year, and rolled his eyes. She giggled and covered her mouth with the sleeve of her wind jacket.

Unlike most siblings, the Tanner kids had always been close. As they grew from small children and progressed into their teenage years, their parents expected them to drift apart, especially when Joey entered high school. That didn’t happen. The next year, when Gwen entered her freshman year, the two hung out even more, even forming a common friend group. Each was the other’s best friend, which made for a mostly peaceful household, although the occasional argument would occur from time to time. That closeness was the reason their parents decided to rent a house for the majority of the summer, six whole weeks. If they didn’t make friends in the town, they could keep each other company as they always did.

“Alright, everyone grab a few bags and unpack the car,” their Mom, Renee, said after stretching out her back, sore from the four-hour drive.

Each of the four members of the Tanner clan loaded themselves up with as much as they could reasonably carry. They walked up the stone slab path from the gravel driveway and climbed the three stairs to the front porch. Chase, his hands overloaded, fiddled with the key box left by the rental’s owners. He dug through his pocket to find the code he’d written down, then mis-clicked the number once or twice.

“Any time now, Dad!” Gwen groaned as she started to lose her grip on the bags she held in her hands.

“Sorry, sorry ... almost there and ... got it,” he said triumphantly as the little black box opened up.

With the door unlocked, they piled in through the front door and immediately dropped whatever they were carrying in the main entranceway. There was a mad rush to use the two available bathrooms, with one on the main floor and the other on the second as part of an ensuite with the master bedroom. Joey and his Dad waited their turns while the women of the family got first dibs. Once their needs were met, they all started looking around.

“Oh Wow,” said Gwen as she started to explore their temporary new home. “Joey, have you seen this back deck?”

Her brother arrived, and they both gawked at the large wooden deck, which held a BBQ and hot tub, and looked out on the lake just twenty yards away. It was actually bigger and better than the pictures had made it appear. There was even a small dock with a shed that held a canoe and a few kayaks for paddling around.

“Is that a beach over there, Dad?” asked Joey, pointing to a small brown strip on the far side of the lake.

“Yup!” Chase said proudly. “That’s the public beach for local residents. The town is a little way beyond that. Admit it, your old man did good with this.” They both grumbled their approval simultaneously, not wanting to let on that they were both excited about spending most of their summer here.

They had to do a few more runs to unload the rest of the SUV. It was mostly clothes, some food, and various other personal items they’d brought with them. When they were done, it was already late in the afternoon, and they still had to unpack and set up their rooms.

Their parents’ bedroom was on the second-floor landing. The smaller bedrooms, for Gwen and Joey, were on the first floor, off the kitchen at the end of a hallway. They were on either side with the bathroom sitting in the middle. There was a brief debate on who should get what bedroom, as one faced south, toward the lake, while the other faced north toward the road. After a quick game of rock, paper, scissors, Gwen happily unpacked her bags with the windows open towards the water.

The house came fully furnished, including cookware and linens. While the master bedroom had a California king-sized bed, the smaller bedrooms each contained double beds, a dresser, closet, mirror, and a small writing desk. The décor was sparse and simple. The walls were flat white with wood trim, with a few generic nature pictures to break up the larger walls.

That first day flew by, and before they knew it, night had descended. Both teens suggested they fire up the hot tub for a late-night dip, but their father hadn’t had a chance to go over the instructions yet. Instead, the family sat out on the back deck, looking at the stars. It would have been nicer simmering in their bathing suits, but it was still a good way to end the day.

“We don’t get to see this in the city,” their father said while trying to identify some constellations.

Joey was a little less enthused, “This is nice, but I hope there’s a bit more to do around here.”

“We’ll check out the town and beach tomorrow,” Gwen said while sipping a soda.

“You two can wander around all you want. Just stay safe, ok?” Renee added.

“Yes, Mom,” the siblings replied sarcastically. They were in the middle of nowhere with only a small town and vacation cottages, what kind of trouble could they get into.

Gwen’s night ended as it normally did at home, hanging out in her brother’s room. The two would normally talk until one of them got tired enough to sleep. Despite the long day, neither really felt tired yet.

“I hope there’s more to do than just paddle around the lake,” said Joey as he lay on his bed staring up at the ceiling.

“I’m sure there is. Maybe there’s a few people our age around to hang out with,” Gwen replied.

Joey hadn’t thought of that, “Oh, yeah. That would be cool. Maybe a few parties on the beach, break out that hot tub...”

Gwen laughed, “Of course, thinking about meeting girls, aren’t you?”

“No...” well, maybe. We’re here for six weeks. Maybe we could have summer flings.”

“What’s this we business?” replied Gwen. “Unlike you, I’m quite happy maintaining my virtue, thank you very much.”

Gwen said it jokingly, but she was growing more concerned with her brother’s quest to lose his virginity. It was something he’d become more and more obsessed with, to the point of it ruining one of their friendships with a girl. She really didn’t want to have to watch him struggle and mope around every time he got rejected. She loved her brother a lot, but this was one part that was a black mark against him.

“Come on, Gwen,” Joey argued. “Don’t you want to know what it’s like to do it? It doesn’t intrigue you at all?”

“Maybe a little, but it’s different for girls than it is for guys,” Gwen countered. “You get laid and you’re heroes. I get laid and I’m a slut or a number someone gets to wave around. I just don’t feel like dealing with that for a short-term fling.”

“But no one knows you here, Gwen. You have a free pass to do whatever you want. We could be different people from our normal selves.”

Gwen rolled her eyes, “Do I still have to be your sister?”

“Har har! I’m serious, though. Think about it. Haven’t you ever wanted to change your personality, be a bit more daring or risk-taking?”

“Not especially, I like me and I like you being you. You shouldn’t have to put up a front to meet girls, Joey. Find the right girl by being the wonderful you, you normally are and have a relationship ... let things progress from there naturally.”

“I tried that with Tammy Maroni, and it didn’t work out. Girls want a bad boy, not some nice guy. Everyone knows that.”

“You went on three dates with Tammy and wouldn’t stop asking her for sex, Joey. That’s why she won’t talk to either of us now, since you dragged me into it, too. I’ve tried to warn you; you’re becoming your own worst enemy with girls. Real you or fake you, if you can’t control yourself, you’ll keep failing. Just be you, and lay off the pressure. It comes across as desperation.”