I Just Wanted A Normal Summer Vacation

by zephyr deity

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Chapter One:

Was That Too Much To Ask?

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Okay, umm, how should I introduce myself? Should I be all formal and say “good morning, good afternoon or good evening?” But maybe it’d be best if I just say “Hey.” Oh, so you’re reading this now aren’t you?

Well, allow me introduce myself. My name is Rheesa – not Marheesa or Arheesa, just Rheesa. I was born on the excuse to be all lovey-dovey which, is better known as Valentine’s Day. I was born at exactly the first minute of February 14. I’m exactly fourteen years old and I’m an incoming high school sophomore. I live at a town called Avent, I moved here after an unfortunate incident occurred. It’s a fairly pleasant town, full of different varieties of people – be it the local Filipinos or the foreign immigrants that are either Asian, European or American.

I’ve been in Avent for five full years now and I enjoy being here. The people are nice, the place is great and it’s generally a peaceful town. But then again, I can’t help but wish for the incident to have never happened. Before coming to live in Avent with my grandfather, my family – The Chavelers – resided in Tycone, an ordinary town in the heart of the metropolis. But the place didn’t matter much considering how my parents were always going off to some business trip. My brother Ralph and I had gotten used to our parents’ absence but we never expected it to become a permanent thing.

At one particular business trip, their journey ended because of a plane crash. There was some kind of malfunction and the plane just went haywire and came crashing down onto a steep part of a hill. It was awful, really. We couldn’t even visit the place because it was far too dangerous. But eventually, my brother and I both got over it. We sold the house at Tycone and were invited to stay with my grandfather who was already housing two of my cousins.

As of now, life is going well. I live with my Grandpa – Frederick Learson – the headmaster of Cithrien University, together with my brother Ralph and my cousins, Frances and Charlotte. What’s better is the fact that the school year has ended. It is officially summer vacation! Goodbye to staying up late at night to finish homework, sayonara to those stereotypical jocks and bimbos, ta ta real life drama and hello to two months of freedom.

There’s just one problem, though.

And he goes by the name, Grandpa.

Just when I think that I’m finally free to do whatever I desire, I get hurled back into reality with a big fat “Think Again.” During my first summer vacation here, Grandpa made me take personality development classes because he said I was gauche – I later learned that the word meant, “lacking social experience or grace.” He also said that I needed to boost up my confidence, which is absolutely ironic seeing as how he just bruised my ego after telling me that I’m gauche. So basically, I spent that summer getting pushed to learn how to socialize and improving my faults. I didn’t get it much. Aren’t people supposed to have flaws? On my second summer vacation, he forced me to take piano lessons, which wasn’t so bad if it hadn’t been for the strict disciplinarian of a teacher. The third time was indeed the charm. I learned how to cook, and the best part was learning how to cook my favorite dishes. My last summer vacation was probably the worst – though I have a feeling that this summer’s is gonna be far worse. Grandpa didn’t get me lessons or anything like that, he got me the best tutor he could think of – himself. And he was gonna teach me how to do household chores. Yep, I spent that summer scrubbing every toilet in the house, washing my own clothes and cleaning up after Sylvan – Grandpa’s Lakeland Terrier – and Bitsy – Charlotte’s Cavalier King Charles Spaniel.

I can’t wait to see what trick Grandpa’s got up his sleeve this time – and the fact that I’m terribly terrified about it, goes without saying.

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A knock on my bedroom door interrupted my sudden jolt of inspiration to blog. I was in the middle of an entry about my latest read, Every Boy’s Got One by Meg Cabot, and Heather’s display of clumsiness at the mall yesterday afternoon. She tripped on a candy wrapper and almost fell headfirst onto the wishing well, we warned her not to wear her skates in the mall but she was far too stubborn.

Without my approval, a figure emerged from behind the door. From what I could see this person had her auburn hair in a loose and messy bun, she had her glasses on the bridge of her nose, was clad in her pajamas and was walking towards me in furry bunny slippers – who knew those things actually exist? I thought they just made an appearance during sleepovers and whatnots. Anyways, It was weird seeing a grown-up twenty-two year old woman wearing bunny slippers.

“I had a feeling you’d be on the computer this early in the morning.” Frances said. She’s probably one of my closest relatives, maybe because she acts like my mother in a way and I guessed I missed out on some of that.

“Just lemme finish this entry, okay?” I begged.

“Okay, okay, wrap this up real quick cause breakfast is about to begin.” Grandpa is strict on that kind of stuff, like eating together and hearing mass every Sunday – it was a big change for me at first because my family was often times incomplete, especially during meals. At that time, my brother and I didn’t even make it a point to go to church every Sunday – we’d just go every so often. I uploaded the document onto the server and ran down the stairs hurriedly while brushing my hair.

“What did I tell you about running down the stairs and multi-tasking, Rheese?” Frances stood at the bottom of the stairs with her arms on her hips. She had changed from her pajamas to a peach suit – something I was accustomed to seeing her in.

“Sorry,” I apologized. At times like this it’s better to admit defeat. Especially when the opponent is a diligent student in a top-notch law school.

“Hurry and get your butt in the dining room, everyone’s already in there.” Something tells me I’ll be receiving a few deprived glares here and there.

Just as I was told, everybody was there. And just as I thought they would, they shot glares at me as I walked in. But the glares subsided as soon as I took my seat.

“Now that the zany is here, can we eat?” my chauvinistic pig of a brother asked. Don’t ask how he came up with the name “zany.” I’m pretty sure the word refers to a clown or a buffoon. The first time he called me a zany was back when I was still in grade four and I was not happy about it and up until now I still hate it.

“Of course we can, Ralph my boy.” Grandpa answered heartily and he reached for my hand while Charlotte let go of Bitsy to hold my hand. We said our prayers and proceeded to eating.

I learned a thing or two during breakfast. Seems that my brother is going to get his driver’s license in a few weeks and Grandpa is handing over his Porsche Carrera GT to him. God, sometimes I wish I could age faster. Oh well, at least Grandpa’s Ford Escape is still up for grabs.

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During the afternoon, there were a few people left in the house. Frances and Ralph both left at the same time, whilst Charlotte brought Bitsy to the Pet House for Bitsy’s weekly grooming session. That leaves me with Grandpa and Conchita, our warden – I mean, guardian. She basically does some of the general household cleaning and she looks after Charlotte and me. I know, how lame is it that a fourteen year old and a sixteen year old still has a nanny? Blame it entirely on Grandpa.

I was in the family room – the one with a television set – watching Madeline on Playhouse Disney. A little juvenile I guess, but then again, that’s just me and nothing interesting was on so I just went with it. That sounds just like me. A person who just goes with the flow, a person who doesn’t bother to fight when she knows she’ll just lose anyway. Yup, that sounds a lot like me.

“Madeline, am I correct?” Grandpa came up to couch and told me to sit up from my couch potato position. He didn’t like me lying around like some corpse. “Enlighten me on your peculiar new television craving.”

“It’s not a big deal, Grandpa. There’s just nothing else on.” I explained. He put his hand on top of my head – yes, he can do that because he’s huge – and shook his head slowly.

“Then why not turn the television off?” He asked. I shrugged and laid my head on Grandpa’s shoulders.

“You’re here to tell me what torture you’ve prepared for me, right?” I asked him. What’s the point in beating around the bush anyway? That just wastes my time, though I do need something to kill all the free time in my hands.

“Juliet, Juliet, Juliet.” Grandpa addressed dramatically. Oh, in case you’re wondering why he’s suddenly quoting some Shakespearean character, I want to inform you that Juliet is my second name. “You’re such a forlorn girl, Ms. Chaveler. I’m simply here to tell you that I’ve enrolled you in Caprice Summer Learning Center.”

“A summer school? Did I fail something?” I asked nervously.

“No, no, no.” Grandpa answered taking on a French accent that I so jealously desire. “I signed you for advanced courses in Algebra, Biology and Computer Arts.”

Oh-kay, this is so not what I expected.

“Can I ask why?”

“Just to get you acquainted with the subjects and I know how much you’re into digital art.” Okay, I still don’t get it.

“But I’ve been doing fairly good at school,” I reasoned.

“Yes, but I want you to do better in order to get somewhere good in life.” Oh, I see. He doesn’t want me turning into some homeless slut when I grow up.

“Well, I guess there’s nothing else to do but accept this.” Grandpa kissed the top of my head and smiled. Here I give you a proof that Rheesa Juliet Chaveler is a pushover, like I said, I am a person who doesn’t bother to fight when she knows that she’ll just lose anyway.

“I knew you’d understand.” he said. “You’ll have tons of fun there. You’ll get to have a change of scenery, meet some new friends and learn new things. Oh, and I think your friends will be enrolling there too.”

They are?

“You mean, they’re going to the school as well?” Grandpa nodded his head and that made me feel a lot better. A picture of me hanging out with my best buds came into view and I smiled at it. Maybe with my friends this wouldn’t be so bad after all. But now that I know that Grandpa has put me into another weird summer vacation – that could only mean one thing. My prayers have failed. Why be so cruel, Lord?

All I wanted was a normal summer vacation. Was that too much to ask?

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A/N: This is actually my fifth fiction and the first three didn’t go so well but the fourth is doing good – though I wonder if this will be better. Anyways, tell me cause I really need to know. I hope you all like it. I’ll be updating my other fiction, “I’m Just A Girl, Nothing Special” soon enough cause our vacation got postponed so that gives me quite a lot of time. Please send in your comments, suggestions and questions. I’ll reply to them on the next chapter. Thanks a lot to those who took the time to read this.