Sandy Shores and Broken Hearts

Chapter One

The sun was shining brightly – that was my first rather obvious observation of the morning. It came through my bedroom window lazily and warmed the thin blanket that covered my legs. I rolled over, trying to get away from the warmth, mostly because it was beginning to wake me up and I didn’t want to yet. I was never much of a morning person… everyone in the house knew this and usually left me to wake up by myself. I half-opened my eyes, but groaned and closed them straight away – the sun was far too bright… who had opened my curtains anyway? I gave a small sigh and pulled the blanket over my head, just as my bedroom door creaked open. I could guess who it was without looking over there. Only one person would attempt to wake me up and subject themselves to my crankiness. I thought he might leave me alone if he saw his plan hadn’t worked – but I was very wrong.

Suddenly, I was blasted with sunshine as the blanket was pulled completely off me and tossed to the side. I gave a growl and rolled onto my front, stubbornness telling me that I didn’t need the blanket to go back to sleep.

“Wakey, wakey sleepyhead!

His annoying voice made me growl again and I mumbled something which was drowned out by my pillow. I had tried to tell my annoying brother to go away… forgetting that I my face in a pillow. I heard him chuckle and it slowly registered in my mind that he had moved closer to my bed. I didn’t even care about what he was going to do, as long as he did it quickly so that I could go back to sleep.

“Kenna… come on, I’m bored!”

I sighed angrily and turned over to confront my brother with narrowed eyes. Aston James Elmwood grinned down at me, a mischievous twinkle in his dark chocolate eyes. Annoyingly, Ash wasn’t just my brother… he was my twin, and he thought that meant he could be extra annoying. We weren’t typical twins, even if Mother had dressed us in matching outfits when we were younger. We only really spent time with each other when we had to, or when we were really bored. We had different friends, different styles and attitudes… we liked to be seen as individuals, rather than ‘the twins’. One thing we couldn’t change, however, was the uncanny likeness we had. No matter how long I grew my hair or how short he kept his, we had to face the fact that we looked like each other. Ash smirked, folding his arms and giving me a look that said ‘I’m not going away until you get up’. It was that sort of roguish look that made the girls hang on his arms at college. That and perhaps the fact that he woke up and looked perfect. His hair had grown a little over the summer and hung in front of his eyes… but he didn’t even need to style it! Ugh. He was such an annoying twin. Our features definitely looked better on him – the dark eyes and darker hair… the tanned complexion, and definitely the height. Ash was taller than me, but more… filled out. I was just lanky.

“Can I at least get dressed in peace?” I asked, sending him my most venomous glare. It didn’t faze him at all.

“As long as you promise not to go to sleep again. Warren wants us to take him to the beach.” And with that, he turned and left my room, shutting the door behind him. Good riddance. Although… I was awake now. Damnit. Damn him and his annoying personality. With an irritated sigh, I sat up and rubbed my eyes. Yes, usually people in the house left me to wake up by myself… the exception was usually Ash. He thought being my twin gave him the right to completely infuriate me…

I wasn’t usually this bad. This was me cranky from being woken up by my irritating twin. I assumed he was the one who’d opened my curtains in a lame attempt to wake me up. I glanced to my window, finding a clear blue sky… surprisingly; it had been very warm over the summer. I kept expecting to wake up and see storm clouds and rain, but it had been all sun so far… not that I was complaining. I stood and walked over to my wardrobe, picking out a pair of denim shorts, a bikini top and a loose, white blouse. After getting changed into those, I glanced at the mirror with a brush at hand to tackle my hair. As usual, it was coming close to resembling an agro, but I quickly sorted it out, brushing through it and creating my usual side parting, so that some of the dark strands fell across my face. My hair was the second bane of my existence (Ash was the first…). What I really wanted was to have it cut off, but Mother kept trying to guilt trip me… so I let it grow. Every time I went to the hair dresser, I walked in, determined to finally get it cut short… but I always ended up with just a trim. It had now reached my waist and fell down my back in curls and waves. You could put money on the fact that at any one point during the day, I’d be messing with my hair. But, as Mother says, that’s the price you have to pay for beauty.

I studied myself in the mirror and tried, unsuccessfully, to prevent a yawn. When I heard giggles coming from my doorway, I whirled around, cutting my yawn short and sending my little brother, Warren, running down the corridor in a fit of laughter. Curse him for being so cute! I could never stay angry at him for long… and he knew he had me wrapped around his little finger. I swore Ash had been teaching him how to annoy me – I wouldn’t put it past him to use his little brother as a tool of irritation.

I gave one last, longing look at my bed and walked out of my bedroom and down the stairs. Two things led me to the dining room – one was the sound of voices and the second was the smell of good, which seemed to jumpstart my stomach into action. I heard a vicious growl and skipped the last few steps in order to get some much needed food. When I turned the corner and entered the dining room, I found a table of faces staring at me, looking shocked. Well, all of them looked shocked except for one, but I tried to ignore Ash’s smirk.

“What?” I asked, innocently, and sat down at the table, taking a slice of toast from the middle and eating it as if there was nothing wrong. I knew what had surprised them… I wasn’t usually awake in time for breakfast. When I woke up, lunch was usually being served. The only time I would be up at this hour was it I had to go into college, and even then it was a chore getting out of bed.

“Kenna… are you feeling alright?” I looked up and threw Father a smile. He was usually the first one up, only so he could have his morning routine of reading the paper while having his breakfast. He’d neglected his paper in favour of staring at me in concern. Really, was it that much of a surprise?

“Blame the twin.” Was all I said, sending a glare in Ash’s direction. His smirk just grew larger. This time it was Mother’s turn to stare at me.

“What? And you haven’t killed him yet?”

I turned a sweet smile to her and she just shook her head, murmuring something that included the word ‘crazy’. One look at us and you could tell we were a family straight away. Ash and I had Mother’s dark brown hair, but Father’s chocolate eyes, whereas Warren had Father’s blonde hair and Mother’s green eyes. I got far too many comments on how I looked like Mother, and Warren, despite only being seven years old, apparently looked like Father. Mother was a beautiful, youthful woman and got told this daily – mostly by Father, who looked at her as though she were a goddess. She dressed in the latest fashions and always looked her best. She was a famous interior designer who had far too many assistants to do her designing, but I had to admit that Mother could make a house look glamorous just by re-arranging the furniture. Father, on the other hand, worked for a computer company and often didn’t get home till late. I knew how hard he worked to help our family stay comfortable and I was grateful to him because of it.

“Well, seeing as you’re up early, I might as well tell you the plans for today now, rather than relying on Ashton to pass the message on,” Mother said, pouring herself a cup of tea as she spoke. “Your father and I are going to a charity ball tonight and I was wondering if you’d both like to come along.”

Ash and I looked at each other and pulled similar faces. One of the few things we did agree on was our horror at the prospect of Mother introducing us to society – I knew she wanted us to start finding ‘prospective’ spouses – but I was happily in a relationship and I knew Ash wasn’t exactly ready to settle down yet… he had a different girlfriend every day of the week. “We’d rather not, Mother, we were going to spend the day with Warren.” I said, reaching over for another slice of toast as I heard Mother sigh.

“Well… alright. We won’t be back till late, so don’t wait up for us.” At Mother’s words, Ash threw a mischievous smile at me.

“Don’t worry Mother, we won’t… will we Kenna?”

I heard Father chuckle, but he hit it behind the newspaper. Mother hadn’t caught the tone in Ash’s voice, but everyone else had and I made a mental note to keep an eye on Ash tonight. He’d probably use their absence as an excuse to throw a party or have some girl over… well, not with Warren in the house. I gave him a look of warning, but he completely ignored me. No worries, I knew that Kate, our maid, would be on my side and she’d help put Ash into his place. At that very moment, Kate walked into the dining room, all blonde hair and blue eyes of her, and I saw Ash’s face lit up when she turned and curtsied to him.

“Warren is dressed and waiting in his room for you and Miss Kenna.”

“Thank you, Kate.” Ash replied and flashed her a smile, which she returned. Ugh. Annoying brothers are the worst.