Original Stories Fan Fiction ❯ Ai no Natsu ❯ Vol. 1, Chap. 1: Summer Begins ( Chapter 1 )

Summer Begins

Ah, summer's here. Good times, less clothes, new loves, freedom to do whatever. Fun times, right? Not for Hallie Ross. She just wanted to stay home, play video games, and maybe go to the beach. But instead, she's in a taxi to Fuji Apartments in Tokyo. Why? Her father, the navy captain, pushed her to go. He didn't like her attitude.

“I didn't raise an unpleasant child,” he said at the dinner table three days before school let out. Hallie rolled her eyes.

“You didn't raise me at all,” she mumbled. He shot a glare at her.

“What did you say?” he asked. Hallie looked her dad in the eye.

“You're never here!” she barked. “You're always at your job.” Her mother, the peacemaker, tried to stop her.

“Hallie, don't,” she murmured. Her daughter didn't listen.

“It's always about for you!” she shouted. “When you get home, all you do is boss us around like we're your cadets. This isn't your work place. This is home!”

“One more word out of you…” her dad said.

“Or what?” she challenged. That never goes well. As a result, Hallie got shipped off to Tokyo for the summer. Nice one, Hals, she thought. Nice one! Hallie sighed as she looked out the window.

Whoopee! City, she thought. Tokyo ain't that great. Hallie turned her Ipod back on to Green Day. And to top it off, she was staying with an aunt that she had never met before. Her mother insisted it would be okay.

“Choko is a great woman,” she told her. “You're going to love her.”

“No, I won't!” Hallie argued. “I've never even met the woman.”

“Exactly,” her mom said. `You won't know until you meet her.” Hallie frowned. Her mother noticed her face.

“Aw, what?” she asked. Hallie snorted.

“Why do you always take his side?” she complained. Her mom blinked at her.

“What do you mean?” she asked.

“You always take his side,” Hallie complained. “What can't you fight for me for a change?” Her mother lowered her head.

“I wanted some peace and quiet…” she mumbled. Hallie's face dropped.

“What?” she asked. Her mother sat down on the futon with her.

“I don't like when you and your father fight,” she said. “So he and I talked and decided that this would be best for you.” Hallie stared right at her.

“Best for me?” she asked. Her mom nodded.

“Yes,” she said. “We just want some peace and quiet for a change.”

“So you would sell out your own daughter for yourselves?!?” Hallie asked. She fell back onto the futon. “Unbelievable!” she sighed.

The taxi pulled to a stop. Hallie looked out the window and met true disappointment.

This is it?, she thought. The building desperately needed some renovations. The windows had too much dust in them. Abandoned was the word that came to Hallie's mind at first thought.

“Seriously?!?” she yelled. “This is a joke, right?!?” Nevertheless, she was stuck here. Might as well suck it up. Hallie dropped her shoulders and reluctantly got out of the cab.

“Hallie-chan!!!” she heard someone yell. The poor girl looked up to see a plump Japanese woman in purple running towards her with open arms.

“Oh my baby!” she cried as she gave the girl a big, wild hug. “I'm so glad you're here!” Hallie looked up at the sky in discomfort.

Oh Gold help me!, she screamed in her mind.

Come On, Little Gamma Ray