Lacey packed up her things and got in the car. She said goodbye to the beach and possibly her lamest summer yet. It was goodbye Myrtle Beach, and hello boring old Atlanta suburb.

May 20, 1991. Lacey McNeely throws the ultimate house party to ring in the first night of summer. Vases shattered, paintings ruined, high heels broken. Busted, Lacey's small get together turned into a nightmare. However, this did not phase her. She was the typical rich private school girl, Lacey's sees stuff like this all the time. That is exactly why she was shocked at her parents reaction. "It's couple thousand Dad, I don't understand why you're doing this!", she cried. Her mother grabbed her suitcase and threw it on top of her plush bed. "You're out of control, Granny and Grandaddy have been wanting to see you so that's exactly where you're going. For the whole summer.", exclaimed her dad.
The car ride was silent. Lacey's curly blonde hair looking perfect as usual. She was always dressed to a "T", so some people mistake her for a real-life Barbie. As her parents drove away, she stood at the front door of an old beach house. She hadn't seen her grandparents in five years. Granny opened the door to welcome Lacey, and she knew that she wasn't too happy about her change in summer plans.

Lacey settled her in the small back bedroom of the old wooden beach house. She hated the beach. She hated the outdoors in general. She made her way out the back door to explore some of the beach. Old dunes lay beneath the house and consume the yard. When she first approaches the actual beach, she was appalled. No malls, no houses, just sand and water. The beach was deserted by this time of the day, so Lacey decided to take a stroll. She wanders down the beach headed south, contemplating going home.

A week had gone by and it was time for Lacey to start her new job. She was horrified when she learned that she would be working at her grandparents' marina a few miles down from the house. She was even more horrified when she learned she would be bicycling to work every day. As she reluctantly peddled to her first day on the job, she cried, "What did I do to deserve this? " She found her way into the marina, still sobbing, she parked her bike. The first few seconds of her new job were ok she thought, until she found out what her actual job was. "You're going to be cleaning all of the sailboats over there on that right side, and reassembling them for the campers." "Great", she thought, "manual labor." After working for three hours, Lacey decided to take a lunch break, except without any lunch. She walked down to the floating dock that overlooked a large estuary full of sailboats. She laid down, closed her eyes and took in the mild salt air. Suddenly, after dozing off for a few minutes, Lacey heard guy's voice yelling. She opened her eyes to see a sailboat sailing in from an intense ride. Adjusting the sail was a young man about 18. He had blue eyes almost the color of crystal clear water. His tan skin almost matched his chestnut-colored hair. Lacey had never seen anything so beautiful. His name was Braden Garrity, me he too was working at the marina that summer. Lacey and Braden hit it off instantly while working together that summer.

He loved sailing, and sometimes he would bring his dog along with him on trips. Although Braden spent most of his time on the water, he wasn't raised near it. Braden came from a well-established family in the Myrtle Beach area, who lived on a beautiful plantation home outside of town.

One rainy morning, Lacey woke up to the sound of thunder shaking the old wooden house. She stumbled out of bed and got dressed to for work at the marina. Instead of biking in the rain, her grandfather brought her to work. She set her bag down on the desk inside of the small office and walked towards the boat slips. There, the waves were rough and crashing over the docks. First, she started taking inventory of the boats for the campers. She then realized that one of the boats was missing. She ran as quickly as possible tote office to question where that boat was. "Scott #4?", said Tony, the manager of the marina, "Braden took that one out at 5 this morning I told him it was a bad idea". Lacey's eyes showed horror. She wanted to take action, but couldn't, knowing that she had no idea how to sail. In fact, Braden was supposed to give her a lesson that day if the weather was clear enough. The weather was not anywhere near clear, and Braden was nowhere to be found. A few hours after the storm passed, a boat came drifting in. From afar, it looked occupied by a young sailor, but the air was still hazy. There he was Braden adjusting the sail, entering the marina, soaking-wet, with a smile on his face. "That was fun", he surprisingly exclaimed. The other marina employees stood on the dock staring at him looking aggravated. He kept smiling as he sailed in, "Such an exhilarating ride". Lacey was antsy because she thought he was dead. Everyone thought he was dead.

The weeks went by and the end of the summer grew closer. Lacey and Braden developed a special friendship that summer, rather than a relationship. If it weren't for the tragic stunt he had pulled during the storm, she might have been slightly interested in him. She felt that he was too reckless for her.

Lacey's parents decided it would be best if she returned home for the month of July. She packed her bags, said goodbyes, and headed back to Atlanta. Although her time spent at the beach wasn't too eventful, she learned that maybe being reckless isn't the best way to experience things. Her parents had taught her a lesson, even when they weren't trying to.