'The first time I saw him, I knew it was love at first sight.'

That was all I needed to read before I snapped the book shut.

Love at first sight? What a joke. There's no such thing and I'm sure of it. Sure, you may be attracted to someone when you first see them but I hardly call that love.

You can grow to love them but you can't just fall in love when you look into someones eyes...unless you're unconditionally shallow like 45 of the female population at my school. Actually, let me correct that - unless you're unconditionally shallow like 45 of the female population at my previous school.

I'm eighteen now and just last last week I happily graudated from Shiverens Bay High in California where I spent four long years partying it up, studying it down, and milking the last four years of being a kid for all it was worth. It's June 14 now and in September I'll be part of the freshman class at Ohio State but until then my summer is all about hanging with my three best friends and enjoying the company of my two siblings and my mother before school starts.

"Aroura!" I jumped at the sound of my name being shouted and sighed before stepping from my oldest sister's room and ran down the steps.

"Coming mother!" I ran into the living room where I found my mother sitting on the couch with my 19 year old sister, Clarissa, and my 11 year old brother, Troy.

I sent Clarissa and Troy confused looks which they quickly returned, their blue eyes staring back into my honey brown ones. Clarissa swiped a long piece of straight dirty blonde hair from in front of her eyes and bit her bottom lip as she shrugged at me. I looked over at Troy who shook his mess of dark blonde hair at me and I sighed before looking at my mother.

She looked as if she didn't even notice I had walked in. She looked up at the ceiling, shoulder length dirty blonde hair cascading around her delicate face and covering her dark blue eyes. I looked over at a window and caught a glimpse of myself causing me to smile slightly.

I always was the odd one out.

While my two siblings looked so much like my mother, I had the exact same looks as my father. The very wavy brown hair with red tints and the honey brown eyes were the complete opposite of everyone else. It's a shame that I haven't seen my father's eyes in years...

"Mom?" Troy broke the silence and my mother seemed to snap from her trance as she looked at all of us. I immediately sat down next to Clarissa who grabbed my hand and squeezed it hard out of fear.

"What's going on?" Her voice cracked and my mother sniffled.

"Oh god...you three...I don't know what I'm going to do..." She mumbled to herself as she let tears falls from her blue eyes and that's what caught everybodies attention. My mother hasn't cried in front of us in three years. Three long years ever since The accident.

"Mom?! What's wrong?" Troy gasped as his eyes widened fearfully, my mother shook her head and tried to dry her tears.

"Is it dad?" I quietly asked the question that was haunting my siblings mind and to our horror, she nodded.

"He...he...oh god, his condition is getting worse. I...I need to stay with him..." She explained as fast as she could. "I'm going to be spending the summer at the hospital." She finished.

"When do we leave for the hospital?" Troy asked and my mother bit her bottom lip.

"You...you guys aren't going with me." She stated.

"What are you talking about, what do you mean we're not going with you?" Clarissa interupted quickly and my mother shook her head.

"You see...do you realize how expensive it is for your father to stay there?" We all nodded, it was very expensive and let's just say that our family wasn't rich. We weren't poor either, we were middle class and that's why it's still surprises me how my father's hospital bills are paid without any suffering on our part.

"Well, when they have someone who is going to stay as long as I'm planning to...it's costs a bit of money."

"So what are you saying?!" Troy practically screamed.

"She's saying we can't go..." I whispered as the tears started to build up in my eyes.

"Then where are we supposed to go?! Don't you think we have the right to stay with dad and you?!" Troy told, frusteration lining his words. My mother nodded.

"Of course you have a right but the money isn't there, honey, and that's why I'm sending you off to live with other peopl while I'm gone." This caused us all to go silent - what?!

"Wh-what?" Clarissa asked as she ran a hand through her hair.

"Clarissa, you and your brother are going to be living with Grandma Winnie." She said. Grandma Winni was her mom and she was a very active and stern lady...not someone you want to sped a whole summer with. Mom said she only turned this stern when her husband (mom's dad) died a few years before Clarissa was born.

"What about Aroura?" Troy asked suddenly and I looked up.

"Yeah! What about me?"

"Okay, this is the big thing sweety...you're living with your Aunt Rebecca." I blinked.

"I don't have an Aunt Rebecca." She sighed.

"Yes you do. She's your fathers younger sister."

"Why haven't we met her?!" Troy cried.

"Because she never really got along with your father to well so they tried to avoid contact."

"Then why am I staying with her?! If she hates dad, she'll probably hate me too!"

"She doesn't hate your father, who do you think has been paying for all of his hospital bills?!" Everyone went silent. An aunt of whom we have never met has been paying for our daddy's care? In a softer tone, my mother continued.

"I couldn't pay, the hospital bills would have brought us to bankruptcy. You're aunt is rich, her husband was a millionaire so when he died in a car accident, she got the fortune. When she found out that your father was in a coma, she jumped at the chance to help us and her brother out. She does care for him even though they don't get along very well. So that's why she offered to take one of you in when she found that I would be spending the summer with your father."

"Why me though?" I asked softly. Mom smiled weakly at me.

"You look so much like your father, sweety. So much like him and I think that would do your Aunt Rebecca some good. Also, your grandmother can't take care of all three of you and since Clarissa is the eldest and Troy is the youngest, it makes sense for her to take the middle child since it would balance out perfectly." We all looked at each other a sighed; there would be no getting out of this one. My mother was headstrong and when she got like this, what she says goes, no matter how ridiculous or unfair.

+--+
Two Days Later...

I walked up with my mother to the front door of this...house and found it hard to believe that only one person would be able to live in a house this big comfortably.

I had already said my goodbyes to Clarissa and Troy yesterday afternoon as they boarded a plane to Florida where my grandmother lived, well atleast they'd get to go to the beach often while I'm stuck here in some town called Callaway.

My mother rung the doorbell and after a few minutes, a women who looked to be in her mid 30's opened the door. She had brown hair and the same honey brown eyes and me and my dad. She stood at around 5'8 which was about 2 inches taller than me and she looked to have an athletes body so she must have been an athlete when she was younger.

She smiled at my mother and I and opened the door wider.

"Welcome Lilly, Aroura." We followed her into what I presumed to be the living room and we all sat down.

"Hello Rebecca, how have you been?" My mother asked politely.

"Marvelous, actually." She said with a slight smile befoe tucking a piece of brown hair behind her ear and turning to me. "And this, I presume, is Aroura Katherine-Elizabeth Patterson? My niece?" My mother nodded.

"Yes. Aroura, this is your Aunt Rebecca." I smiled slightly at my aunt and she returned it.

"Hello." I stated akwardly and she laugh slightly.

"Hello, listen - your mother and I have some things to discuss before she leaves. How about you take a look around the neighborhood and come back in about a hour or so for dinner? We can all chat then before your mother leaves." I nodded and smiled before standing up and walking from the room.

I had a feeling I was going to like my Aunt Rebecca.

I walked from the house and looked around; the whole neighborhood was full of HUGE houses and I was starting to feel a bit uncomfotable; I was used to normal houses not ones that could give Buckingham Palace a run for it's money.

I sighed and started to walk. I must have been walking for about twenty minutes before I thought that I heard a strange noise in the park. Yes, there is a park in this neighborbood and it's complete with all the nessecities (swings, jungle-gym, slide, ect.) along with a pond that probably freezes over in the winter, a forest, and a bunch of sidewalks complete with food vendor people standing at the sides.

I walked over to the park and followed the noise until it led me to the forest; I hesitated before stepping in. The forest was a bit scary but I found that the closer I got to the noise, the more it sounded like crying.

And crying it was. After about twenty seconds of walking into the forest, I found a clearing where a girl sat on a huge rock as she cried. I hesistated again before speaking up.

"Are you alright?" I asked and the girl immediately jumped up and looked at me. She had light, tan skin, dark brown eyes, and light brown hair with natural looking brown highlights; she kind of reminded me of Jessica Alba.

"Who..who are you?" I shifted.

"Aroura Patterson..." She gave me a blank look. "I...I'm uhh...moving in with my aunt for the summer...my Aunt Rebecca?" After a moment of two, her eyes widened.

"You mean Rebecca Hanks?!" I nodded; Owen Hanks was her husbands name.

"You know her?"

"She's like the most well known person in town; she gives heavy donations to chairties and always helps out in the town events. She's so generous and pretty." She explained before walking over to me, wiping her eyes, and extending a hand.

"Patrisha Adams but everyone just calls me Trisha. I live down the block from your aunt." She explain and I made an 'oh' face. She nodded.

"So if you don't mind me asking...why were you crying?" She was silent for a moment before looking up at me.

"You're spending the summer here so I guess it's only fair to tell and warn you..."

"Warn me about what?" She sent me a dead serious look.

"About the Calvin brothers."