[Fiction] My summer and beyond

[samskye1995]

Volume I

Chapter 1 - An introduction

Allow me to introduce myself. My name is Isabelle, or Izzy as everyone except my parents calls me. I'm 18 years old, and I live with my parents and younger sister, Ellie, in Southern California. I have an older sister, and an older brother, but she's at college for most of the year and my brother is 7 years older and has moved out and works in New York.

My family are pretty well to do. My dad owns his own business designing and selling computer software, and employs more than 400 people. My mom is a professor of French history at the University of Southern California. In fact, my mother is half French, which meant that my siblings and I had French drilled into us as children and can all speak it almost fluently. Incidentally, my father is also half Norwegian, which I guess is where I get my blonde hair from. Unfortunately, he can't speak Norwegian, so I never learned it.

On account of their jobs, they spend a long time away from home. Mom is always in Europe attending seminars and conferences, and dad works late almost every night. I guess that's the price of living so comfortably, and we really do live comfortably. We have a 8 bedroom house on the seafront, with a private beach that we share with the other houses on the complex. Our garden has two tennis courts, two swimming pools, and a separate outbuilding with two bedrooms, next to the beach. Dad drives a Ferrari, at weekends when there's no chance of rain, at least, and moored at the jetty that runs out from the beach is our motor yacht that we take out on nice family days. Our 'proper' sailing yacht is moored in Santa Barbara harbor, about half an hour's drive away.

Yet for all the wealth and the comfortable lifestyle, my siblings and I have never been excessively spoiled. Sure we get stuff that most other families can't afford, and go on fancy skiing holidays in the Alps and go on sailing holidays in the Caribbean, but my parents have taught us to keep our feet firmly on the ground, and to work hard for everything. And our upbringing has really paid off. My brother, who as I said, works in New York, is working for an international Law Firm and got their, unlike some, on his own merit. My older sister is studying at Harvard Medical School. And at the end of this Summer, all things being equal, I will also be attending an Ivy League university to study Economics and Finance. I'm in no way trying to boast, I'm just illustrating that we are all hard workers, and unlike some of my school friends, I'm not a stuck-up snob who has everything provided for them on a plate.

Then again, nor am I a sheltered, innocent, introverted bookworm. I have a sense of humor. I rebel in small ways, and have done since the beginning of my teenage years. I get in trouble with mom and dad. I go out and party with my friends like most girls my age. I have a group of half a dozen close friends, and we shop, go to restaurants, study and work out together. Maybe I am one of the more shy ones, especially when it comes to people I don't know, but I'm in no way socially awkward. I had a boyfriend at high school, whose name was Johnny. He was cool, but his family moved away to Asia in my final year, effectively ending our relationship. We talk occasionally, but long-distance proved to be impractical.

I'm a pretty active girl too. I take care of my body, I'm a pescatarian, and I go to the gym at least three times a week. When I was young I learned to sail with my dad, and we've always enjoyed spending quality time together on the waves. I surf occasionally, go horse riding with mom on most weekends and go to yoga and pilates classes with my health-freak friend Erica. But my main sporting love is tennis. Having two tennis courts in your backyard, you can't help but learn to play when you are young. I first picked up a racket at three, competed for my middle school and high school teams and at 14 made it onto the state team.

I guess I'm not your typical build for tennis. I'm 5'7, which I guess is tall, but some of my teammates and competitors are 5 inches taller. I'm not all that broad, nor am I muscular, toned - yes, but not muscular. I guess good hand-eye coordination has got me a long way. At high school I played around 5 times a week, twice on weekends and on alternate weekdays at team practice. Now that it's summer and high school is over, I play with the local academy, usually hitting with men in the absence of serious female competition.

Anyway, that's me in a nutshell. Well done for reading all that, I realize it's quite dense and perhaps not all that interesting. Trust me, keep reading and you won't regret it!