(7 years ago)

The alarm clock at my bedside was ringing fervently that I had no choice but to wake up. I squinted at the ray of sunlight seeping through my window. Ah, right. It's the first day of summer vacation, I thought. I jumped out of the bed and scurried downstairs. I could hear noises from the kitchen and knew exactly who it was.

"Good morning! What's for breakfast?" I asked my Mom while hugging her from behind. I was almost the same height as her.

"The usual. Hot chocolate, baguettes with chocolate paste, and some croissants," she replied sweetly.

"Uh, I think Dad and oppa will scrunch up their noses again," I chuckled. My Dad and my brother are not big fans of a European breakfast. They prefer Korean food or anything Oriental. Dad is Korean, that's why. Though my Mom is British, she basically loves any kind of food, which is one of the many traits I inherited from her.

"What are my pretty ladies doing?" Dad's deep voice filled the room. He enveloped us into a tight hug, squeezing me in between.

"Hey! Isn't it too early for that?" my brother, Shane, said as he descended from upstairs, and though he expressed great disapproval of super sweetness (as he puts it), he joined us anyways.

This is the family I belong to. I am so grateful that God has given me a loving and happy family. Mom is a manager at the biggest bank in Paris while Dad used to be a senior marketing manager at a car company, but earlier this year, he resigned from his job and started his own company. It was a rough start but thanks to his best friend, Eric's father, he managed to get investments and within the span of six months, his company was named the rising star of the West. Shane, on the other hand, is still in high school. He's two years older than me. We get along well, unlike other siblings, although bickerings aren't inevitable.

Shane and I don't look alike. We have a lot of physical differences. Like the color of our eyes, mine are brown thanks to my Dad and his are ocean blue like Mom's. My skin tone is Oriental-ish while he's Caucasian. I got Mom's hazel brown Latina hair while he got Dad's straight black hair. But that's all. The rest of our features are the same—shape of the face. which is semi-oval and semi-squared, thanks to our mother; same eye shape, which are semi-rounded and chinky, which are from Dad; long eyelashes; a high-bridged nose; and small but full lips.

After Mom finished preparing the food, she served the European breakfast. As I had predicted, Dad scrunched up his nose but picked up a croissant anyways.

"As usual, Mom's baking is the best!" Shane was stuffing his mouth with a slice of baguette.

"I though you're not a big fan of this kind of breakfast?" I asked him.

"Generally, I'm not. But hello? This is Mom's baking we're talking about," he grinned at Mom and gave two thumbs up.

I rolled my tongue at him and he smacked my head in return.

"Enough you two. Let's just enjoy the food," Mom said while laughing at our exchange.

"Oh right, your Aunt Carol called a while ago. She is inviting us to spend summer vacation with her," Dad announced.

"In Vancouver?" Mom asked, to which Dad just nodded.

"That's a great idea! Since we haven't made any plans yet, summer in Canada sounds good. What do you think kids?"

"It's alright with me. It has been a long time too, since we've seen her." Shane was just as excited as Mom. My Dad's sister and Mom were college friends and needless to say, my parents' love story started out because of Aunt Carol.

"I'd love to but Dad, you know I still have to practice for the race next year and I haven't mastered drifting yet," I said with sadness evident in my voice. Like Shane, I loved Aunt Carol so much because she baked the most delicious cookies in the whole wide world. But the Ferrari Challenge was next year and there were a few skills that I had not mastered yet.

"Then why don't we do this? We spend two weeks with your Aunt and then come back home for your practice. Besides, I also have a lot of things to do at the office," Dad suggested.

The three of us agreed with Dad's suggestion although Shane was a bit unhappy.

"Sorry oppa! I feel like I'm ruining your summer vacation," I apologized, trying out aegyo but failing.

"If only I didn't love you, I would have gotten mad at you," he replied and threw his left arm over my shoulder and kissed the side of my head.

The day we were going to Canada had arrived and I haven't packed my things yet. My room was a mess. I took out my navy blue carrier and stuffed the first clothes I saw. I was ready to leave my room when I remembered one thing that I always have with me. Ace. I grabbed the white alpaca stuffed toy sitting on my bed. He had been with me for eight years and when I was little, I couldn't sleep without him by my side.

I scurried down the steps after hearing Dad blow the horn. As I stepped out the gate, I saw Shane talking to someone. Eric. I ran towards them and gave Eric a high five.

"Have fun on your vacation Sammy," he said, ruffling my hair.

"Yeah, we will," Shane was the one who answered. "Why don't you come with us? That would be a lot of fun."

"I'd love to but Dad and Mom have other plans."

"Where are you going this time? Maldives? Monaco? Switzerland?" I asked. Eric's family was very rich. His Dad was the Vice President of the FIA and his Mom was a very famous surgeon in Europe.

"You got it right Sammy! We're going to the Maldives," he chuckled. "Well, I think Uncle Tom doesn't have much patience. He keeps blowing his horn." Shane and I turned around to see Dad telling us to hurry. Right, we didn't want to be left by our 10:00 flight.

"We gotta go. See you when we get back bro!" Shane patted Eric's back.

"Yeah, sure. Have fun!" Eric waved at us as we proceeded to our car.

The ten hour flight to Vancouver was so tiring, although it was not my first time. In fact, it was my fifth time. We have always loved spending vacations with Aunt Carol. She is a great hostess and the fact that she lives alone makes it more convenient. My aunt is an old maid. She was so busy with work that she forgot to make time for herself. My Dad has always told his elder sister that it's not too late to find a man who would be with her at an old age, but Aunt Carol told him that she's already happy and content with what she has.

"Oppa, aside from Aunt Carol's cookies, what is it that you are looking forward to this summer?" I asked randomly while we waited for our luggage.

"Hm? Seeing some old friends?"

"Friends? I didn't know you had made some friends during our visits here."

"Well, I'm not an anti-social person like you," he flicked my forehead. It hurt a bit.

"Ouch! I'm not anti-social okay? It's just that I'm too intimidating for my own good."

"Huh! Intimidating my ! Haha!" He spazzed from laughter which caught others attention.

"Keep it down will you?" I hissed, trying not to join his laughter.

After getting our luggages, we hailed a cab and went to Aunt Carol's house. The taxi ride wasn't that long because her house wasn't that far from the airport.

The first thing I noticed as I stepped out of the cab was a boy, probably 5' 10" tall, shooting balls at the basketball court in front of my aunt's house. At first glance you wouldn't classify him as gorgeous but the charisma he was emitting held my gaze. My heart thumped faster than a London train. It synched to the dribbling sound he was making. Everything went into slow motion and I knew I fell at first sight.

"Kevin!" Shane's voice bursted my daydream. The boy at the basketball court looked in our direction and waved. I felt my cheeks getting hot. Bloody hell! Did he just smile at me? I looked around and saw my brother grinning from ear to ear. He nudged me out of the way and proceeded to the boy. Duhh! The smile isn't for you, doofus!

The boy, Kevin as Shane called him, left the court and met my brother half-way. They hugged each other lo