Chapter 1
I remember that day well. I woke up to the sounds of urgent knocking on my hotel room door. Disgusted that I was woken up at such an ungodly hour, I struggled out of bed and to the door. I opened the door and looked at my dad with a stern face through halfway open eyes.
“Taylor, you’re not even dressed yet?” he said exasperated.
“Dad, I thought you said we have today off” I protested in a groggy voice. I vaguely remembered the conversation just 5 short hours ago when we had arrived at the hotel.
“No, tomorrow we have off. Today we’re visiting the estate we’re thinking about shooting the next video at” my dad reminded me, even though it didn’t really click.
“Where’s that?” I asked.
“Its right on the coast. It’s a horse ranch and wine vineyard owned by friends of Aunt Jan’s. Remember they donated money to sponsor the last tour. They have a daughter that’s a fan” he explained. My ears perked up at the word daughter. Things were slowly starting to fall into place in my memory. Something in my memory was telling me that she was my age.
“Yeah yeah, just give me 15 minutes. I gotta grab a shower, then I’ll be ready” I told him.
I turned shutting the door and stumbling to the bathroom. When I stepped into the shower the warm bead beating on my skin refreshed me enough to fully open my eyes again. After another 5 minutes of standing under the stream of water I was good as new. I quickly washed my hair and then got out. I threw on the first jeans and tee shirt I could find, finger combed my hair into place and called it good. “Some rock star I am,” I thought as I glanced in the mirror on the way out the door to join my family.
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The rocky, southern California shoreline passed by as I stared out the window of the big SUV we were all riding in. The surrounding area was certainly beautiful, but I couldn’t help but think about how far away from civilization we were getting.
At long last we apparently came to the end of the road. In front of us was a sprawling, stucco mansion; to one side was the blue-green ocean; and to the other side was what appeared to be acres and acres of plantation. It was all breath taking, but I couldn’t imagine where we would shoot a video here.
“Tell me again, why are we planning on shooting here?” I asked to anyone who could answer.
“We were having problems finding open land. Aunt Jan mentioned it to the people who own this land and they suggested we come and check it out. I guess behind the house and past the stables there’s a lot of open land, and the coastal area will be a perfect setting” dad explained. “Just try and give it a chance.”
He knew me well. He knew how picky I would be. As doubtful as I was about the place I convinced myself to at least look around. There was no telling what we would find on this amazing piece of land.
Eventually an entourage of management and crewmembers that were already there met us outside. The owners led us through various parts of the huge mansion, and around back.
We stopped briefly at the stables to check it out. Everyone except me began debating whether we could use this area in any scene. I started paying attention, but soon I was off in my own little world looking around the area. I peeked around a corner and into the main stable at the horses. That’s when I saw her.
Brushing one of the horse’s shiny coat was the most amazing girl I had ever seen before. She was a very petite girl, possibly even skinnier than I was. Her dark brown hair was long and wavy, extending halfway down her back. I was completely mesmerized by her. Then, as if she could tell she was being watched, she turned at looked me in the eyes with her huge brown eyes. She gave me a smile that stopped my heart. She was absolutely gorgeous.
