I'm not the kind of person who would be very social able, but I am very good company. You see, whenever I start doing something that I love, you'll never notice that I'm even there. Except if I make some kind of annoying sound, but I only do that if my sisters are bugging me.

I sigh and breathe in the salt sea air. I can't wait to get to Loretta Island, I've waited all spring for this trip. Every summer my family vacations at Loretta Island; which is just off the coast of California, but no one knows how to get there except for my family. My great-granddad had owned Loretta Island and had named it after my great-grandma after they got married in the early 1900s. Yes, I'm named after my grandmother. Which is totally cool because when I was little I used to pretend that Lorretta Island belonged to me and that I was the princess. I had a wild imagination.

"Land ho!" Dad shouts as the island comes into view. "It won't be long now!"

I smile and hurry to the bow of the boat. My two younger sisters hurry beside me, giggling.

"What's with you two?" I ask, staring off at the island.

"Dad has two of his interns coming to stay with us," Daniella replies excitedly.

"Since Jake and Sam are not coming this year," Gabriella adds with a squeak.

"And where are they going to be lodging? My loft? Because last time I checked, you two never, ever liked sleeping up there. And that was because of me."

My sisters exchange a look, they stop giggling. I release an exasperated sigh and go to where Dad is steering the boat. It's actually the size of a yacht, it's big.

"Dad," I say, sitting in the seat next to him. "Where are the interns going to be staying?"

"Well," he says hesitantly. "I haven't gotten that far yet. But I wanted to be nice and let the boys enjoy the summer."

Boys? No wonder my sisters were giggling.

"They're coming in the company chopper," Dad goes on, speeding up the boat. "That's why your mother stayed behind. She's coming with them."

"OK," I say and look out over the horizon.

Dad knows what he's doing. Everything always falls into place, eventually. I wish my brothers were coming though. It's the first time they chose not to come. Not that I'm blaming them, it's just more fun when they're around.

"I see the helicopter!" Gabriella is shouting from the roof. "They're nearly here!"

I walk out onto the balcony and look towards the mainland would be. The chopper is almost at the helicopter port.

"I'm going to greet them!" Daniella calls from downstairs.

I can hear running footsteps above and below me.

"You going with them?" Dad asks, coming to stand next to me. "You can if you want."

"I'll wait for Mom here," I reply, leaning on the rail. "And I'll stay on the downstairs couch. The boys can have the loft."

"No, no. I was planning to obligate your sisters to share the loft with you. And the boys can have the downstairs rooms."

"You know that Dani and Gabbi totally hate the very idea of having to sleep in the loft."

Dad gives me a one-armed hug and goes inside. I watch him for a few seconds before looking back at the helicopter. It's leaving. I can see my sisters running into the house below me.

"Loretta!" Mom is calling from downstairs.

"Coming!" I call back and go inside.

"This is Loretta," Dad says as I come down the stairs. "My eldest daughter. Lori, this is Sam and Jake."

OK, they have the same names as my older brothers. That is just a bit weird. But they are really cute! Sam is tall; he has blonde hair and hazel eyes. Jake is equally tall, but he is an exact opposite of Sam. He has black hair and eyes to match.

"Loretta," Jake says as I shake their hands. "Thank you for having us on your island."

"I was going to say that," Sam says with a cocky smile.

"It is not my island," I say timidly. "However, I was named after my great-grandmother, Loretta Teresa Velasquez de Montañez. My great-grandfather named the island after they were married."

"Don't get all historical, Lori," Daniela says, in a sort of hesitant tone.

Ok, now I am not dumb. I can tell when my sisters are stating a claim. It happens every time we meet people; guys, to be specific. Dani and Gabbi are the girls who fit with the popular crowd. I am their shadow, telling them to remember what Mom and Dad said. If we happen to meet a couple of guys in, let's say the mall. Even if I am not interested, Dani and Gabbi make sure that I know that the guy is theirs, in a manner of speaking. I like to compare my sisters to the two youngest Bennet daughters in Pride and Prejudice. They are just like them.

"OK," I say, "I guess I will go finish setting up the loft."

"You have a loft here?" Sam asks, his smile is becoming more genuine.

"Yeah," I reply, smiling back despite Gabriella's glare. "It is the only other place with enough space for three beds. Since you two will be staying in the rooms down here."

"What?!"

My sisters are staring at me in horror.

"I can't share the loft with them," I explain, crossing my arms. "No offense to Jake and Sam. But they are not our brothers. This is a completely different situation, obviously."

"But we already have our stuff set up," Dani says with a moan.

I roll my eyes and march up the stairs, ignoring my sisters' protests to Dad. Being the middle child, I tend to be stuck with whatever the older and younger sets of twins do not want. That is right; I am the one without a twin.

I climb the ladder to the loft. There really is not anything set up; there are three mattresses leaning against the wall. The bed linens are folded on the shelf, ready to be used.

"Loretta," Dad is saying as he comes up to the loft. "I'm sorry, but your sisters are not letting up."

"I figured as much," I say with a sigh. "So, what is the new plan?"

"We put up the Wall of Jericho," he replies with a shrug. "You can pretend your brothers are here if you like. But of course you will have to, you know...."

I give him thumbs up. Dad nods and goes down the ladder. A few minutes pass before he returns with a wrap-around curtain structure kit. I help him set it up so that it fits in the center of the space.

"I will let you make them feel at home," Dad says before going down again. "I will send them up."

"OK," I open the big trunk in the corner and take out the 'Wall of Jericho'.

It is actually an extra, extra large dark, blue sheet.

"Knock-knock," Jake says as he and Sam come up the ladder.

"Hey," I say, clipping the sheet on the structure. "Make yourselves comfortable, guys."

My back is turned to them, so I cannot see them. A second passes and all of a sudden Sam and Jake are helping me with the sheet.

"Thanks," I say when we are done. "Normally my older brothers put up the sheet."

Sam grinned, Jake nodded and smiled shyly.

"Your dad said that you know all the best swimming spots," Sam says as we arrange the mattresses.

"I do," I reply slowly. "But I do not really like swimming. I go along to sketch."

"Jake likes to sketch, too."

"Sam!" Jake says, hitting the back of his head.

"What? You do!"

"What do you like to sketch?" I ask, opening the trunk again.

"Random things," Jake replies, pulling a sketchbook out of his bag. "I am not that good."

"Well, you're probably better than I am."

We exchange sketchbooks. I sit on the floor as I look through Jake's drawings. He has a sketch of the Flat Iron building in New York City. It is good; it almost looks like a black and white photograph.

"Wow," I say when I get to a sketch of Emma Stone. "This looks just like her."

"Thanks," Jake says, "this looks JUST LIKE Justin Bieber."

"Hey!" comes Gabriella's voices from below. "Dad's going to the falls! Anyone wanna go?"

"Coming!" I yell as I give back Jake's sketchbook. "The falls are beautiful. Are you guys coming?"

They nod eagerly and start rummaging through their bags. I am already wearing my suit under my shorts and tank. I grab my art bag from the big trunk and put my sketchbook and art box in it. Jake and I are the only ones in the loft now. He lets me go down the ladder first. To be honest, I am glad that Jake and Sam are staying in the loft. It will give me a chance to learn about them since I might be working with them soon. When I finish college, that is.

***

I am sitting in my usual spot next to the top of the waterfalls. I have my sketchpad out; I am trying to draw something that is not around me. I have drawn these falls a zillion times. In fact, I have drawn everything on this island. I need some new material. I sigh and look at Sam, Jake, and my sisters at the bottom of the falls. I smile and start to draw a line down the center of my page. I start to draw the outline of a face. Somehow, I manage to get every detail in the exact right shape and place. Half an hour passes and my sketch is complete. I look up at Jake who is now on the other side of the falls, across from me. My sketch is an exact replica of him. I sigh and turn to a new page. I draw a rough sketch of the rushing water in front of me, the boulder Jake is sitting on, and an outline of his body. I am making light pencil lines, I can darken them later.

"OK," Dad is shouting from below. "Let's start heading back. Dinner will be ready soon!"

I close my book and shove everything into my bag. As I climb down the small cliff, I overhear Sam whispering something to Dani.

"I think Jake likes your sister," he says. "They have a lot in common."

"Which sister?" Dani asks quickly, in a not so hushed voice.

"Loretta," Sam replies just before walking away.

I smile to myself and start down the trail to the house.

I am out on the roof with my flashlight, finishing my sketch from earlier. When I start something, I try to get it done fast, but not always.

"Lori?" Daniela pops her head out the door. "Can I talk to you a second?"

"Sure," I reply, closing my book. "What's up?"

"Well, uhm..." she comes and sits on the chair next to me. "Sam told me that Jake likes one of us girls. I wanted to let you know that I really hope that it is me. So, if Jake starts flirting or something, try to talk me up."

"Dani," I say, pretending that I never heard what Sam said. "Don't you think it is a tiny bit selfish to make me and Gabbi try and get Jake to focus on you? And what ever happened to Chris?"

"I broke up with him the other day."

Daniela is speaking as if she has accomplished something. I look at her in horror.

"That makes five breakups in six months!" I say, holding up five fingers. "Don't you know that you are creating a pattern of divorce?"

"I never said that I planned to marry," she says with a nervous laugh.

"Oh! So you want to be known as the heartbreaker in the family. My bad! I had no idea."

"Loretta, what is your problem?"

"I don't have a problem. However, I am not going to let you break another guy's heart. Not Sam's and definitely not Jake's."

I pick up my pencil box, march inside, and down to the second level. I go down the hall and climb up to the loft. I put my stuff in the trunk and sit on my mattress. In any case, Daniela knows that I am right and that I mean what I say.

A little while later, Jake and Sam come up the ladder.

"So," Sam says, rubbing his hands together. "Are we supposed to hit the hay now?"

"Well," I reply, getting up to look down the ladder. "I actually have my laptop and projector. Even though there is a television downstairs, it only plays VHS. We can watch movies up here."

You see, the way the loft is built is so that the ladder can be pulled up. There is a secret door to close the opening. It is completely sound proof, which is totally awesome.

"So what do you want to see?" I ask as I set up the projector. "I have some action-comedies, suspense, thrillers..."

"Titles, please?" Sam says as he and Jake put up a white sheet.

"Hang on," I open my movies file on my laptop. "Let's see... I Am Number Four, The Tourist, The Hunger Games, Taxi..."

I also have Bridge to Terebithia, and the Narnia movies, but I do not want them to start teasing me. Gabbi and Dani tease me all the time.

"Does that AC unit work?" Sam asks, pointing to the central air conditioner.

"Duh," I reply, opening the trunk for the remote. "If it gets too cold, there are comforters in the other trunk."

Jake comes next to me and looks at my movies.

"That one makes me cry like a baby," he says, pointing at Bridge to Terebithia. "Every time I see it."

"Really?" I ask, connecting the projector to my speakers. "I only cry at movies when I am already bummed about something else."

"Well, when I cry everyone starts crying. My emotions are contagious."

"No," Sam says, getting comfortable on one of the mattresses. "You are just a sissy; everyone just makes fun of you."

"Dude," I say the way I would to one of my brothers. "You are just like Daniela. Take the log out of your own eye before reaching for the speck in your friend's eye. At least Jake is mature enough not to give a comeback."

I click on Taxi and turn off the lights. The Wall of Jericho has been pushed aside so that I can see the movie from my side of the space.

OK, so Sam is extremely cocky and rude. That is my definition of dude. I mean, come on! Why does he have to treat Jake that way? Jake has said nothing against Sam in the six hours that they have been here. Yeah, he smacked the back of Sam's head once, but nothing more!

It is the middle of the movie and I am starting to fall asleep. I am so tired that I am not going to even bother with fixing the Wall of Jericho. I roll over, yawn and wrap up in my blanket.

***

I wake up to the smell of pancakes and eggs filling the air.

"Mmm," I say as I push the blanket off and get up.

I come into the kitchen; Mom is preparing a plate of breakfast.

"Good morning sweetie," she says, kissing my cheek. "Would you like a plate?"

"Sure," I reply groggily. "Where is everyone?"

"Your sisters are still sleeping. Your dad went to the mainland, with Jake and Sam, to get some things. They should be back after lunch."

I nod and sit at the counter with a plate. Scrambled eggs, my favorite. I shake a little salt on them and take a bite.

"Pancakes," Daniela says longingly as she enters the kitchen. "Where's Dad?"

"Mainland," I reply with my mouth full. "The guys went with him."

My sister releases an exasperated sigh. I shrug and continue eating.

***

It is around two in the afternoon; I am sitting on the boat dock, drawing the ocean. All of a sudden, I hear my name being called through a loud speaker. I look up from my drawing; the boat is around eighty yards away. I wave and start to put my things in my bag.

The boat near the dock now. Dad tosses me a line and I guide the boat along the dock. That has always been my job, even as a little girl. Except at that time I had my brothers helping me.

"For you," Dad says, handing me a smallish cardboard box.

I peek under the lid and gasp.

"No way!" I say excitedly. "You got me art supplies?"

"Actually," he replies, "it was Jake's idea. We also got a couple easels and canvases."

Jake comes onto the dock with a larger box, balancing the canvas frames on top of it. I smile at him before leading the way to the house.

"Thank you," I say as we bring the boxes to the loft. "Thank you a billion times."

"You're welcome," Jake replies, setting the larger box on the floor. "Lori, I have a challenge for you. Are you up for it?"

I nod and set the smaller box on top of my trunk.

"OK," he goes on, picking up a small canvas. "I would like for you to paint a portrait for me. A portrait with both of us in it. You make one for me; I will make one for you."

He takes the lid off the bog box and takes out two easels. He also takes out a camera and printer. I love this idea!

"It might take me most of the summer," I say as Jake puts the battery in the camera and sets up the printer.

"That's alright," he says, motioning for me to stand next to him.

We take five pictures and print two of each. There are two nice ones that we took; in one, we are looking at the camera and in the other, we are looking at each other. That is the one I am going to paint.

"Do not tell me which one you will paint," Jake says as we set up the art stuff. "Keep it a surprise until the end of the summer."

"Okay," I say with a smile.

***

Week three on the island. I have been working on this portrait every day, for nearly two and a half hours. I love this challenge, and I love that Jake wants to exchange portraits. However, I am such a perfectionist; I do not want any visible mistakes.

"Lori," says Mom, coming up to the loft. "You have been up here for hours. Why don't you go swimming with the others?"

"OK," I reply, putting my paint down. "Let me just clean up."

I pull the Wall of Jericho back into place. Don't want my painting to be revealed yet. I grab my bag and go down the ladder.

"She's alive," Daniela says dryly.

"Of course she is," Sam says, giving me high-five. "Why wouldn't she be alive?"

Sam and I have a new comradeship, so to speak. He also has a new respect for Jake...and me.

"We were going to go whale watching," Jake says, he has his sketchbook. "Your dad is not going. He said that you know how to drive the boat."

"He meant that I was the only one willing to learn," I say, taking the keys from him. "Not to mention that I know the best spot to see whales. Do you people want to bring any munchies? You'll be hungry out there."

Sam holds up Mom's mini-cooler and Jake points to the big cooler. I smile and look at the boat key.

"This is the key to the big boat," I say slowly.

"Dad said to take that one," Daniela says, crossing her arms.

She is obviously still mad at me. I sigh and lead the way out the door.

It's three-thirty, we have been sailing around my favorite spots. But there's still no sign of the whales. I stop the boat and turn off the engine. Maybe it is the noise scaring them away. I climb down the ladder and go to the back of the boat.

"Why did you stop?" Gabbi asks.

"I think the noise of the motor is scaring them off," I reply, taking out my sketchbook. "Just wait a little while and keep your eyes on the horizon."

I join Jake at the bow of the boat. I sit in one of the lawn chairs; Jake is concentrated on whatever he is drawing.

"What are you drawing?" I ask.

"Nothing," he replies, turning to a new page. "What are you going to draw?"

"I was going to ask if you minded me sketching you. You don't have to pose or anything. And maybe this would be a good time to confess that I already snagged some good sketches of you."

Jake stares at me in mock horror. I laugh and hide my face behind my book. He pulls it away and starts turning the pages.

"Let me see if they follow standards of appearance," he says jokingly. "Oh no! No, my nose is all wrong!"

"No!" I shout and sit up.

Jake has his thumb placed over the drawn nose. I shove him lightly and sit back down.

He laughs, "Gotcha!" he says, giving my shoulder a shake.

I smile and look over the water. A sudden fountain of water shoots into the air.

I gasp, "Look!" I say, pointing as the whale splashes its tale under the water.

A smaller tail comes out; Jake and I rush to the rail.

"Did you see that?" Daniela asks, coming to stand extremely close to Jake. "It has a little baby."

"Yeah," Jake replies; he still has my sketchbook, and is drawing the whale. "I saw; it's good inspiration."

"Wow! That is so cool!"

I look at the paper. Jake has only drawn the outline of the whale's fluke. I roll my eyes and look out over the horizon. Dani can flirt all she wants, but she is not going to get the reaction she is expecting.

"Lori," Jake says, keeping his eye on the whale. "I can tell that you are itching to sketch something. Use my sketchbook; just remember to sign your name on it when you are done."

"Thanks," I say and go to get his book.

It is open on a clean page. I grab a pencil and go back to stand with Jake. I look at him from the corner of my eye, I know what he meant. I move away just a little bit so that I have a good view of both Jake and the ocean. Dani is giving me a scowl, but I ignore her.

I smile at my work as I add the finishing touch to the drawing.

"For you," I say as I scoot closer to Jake.

I hand him his sketchbook as he hands me mine.

"This does not count as the portrait," I tell him."

"This is awesome," Jake says, grinning.

"Loretta, since when were you such an artist?" Daniela asks, leaning her arm on Jake's shoulder as she does so.

Jake looks at her for a moment, then politely pushes her hand off.

"Chris is my best friend," he says, "and I would never stab him in the back like that."

Dani's jaw drops as she slowly looks at me. She thinks that I told Jake.

"Don't look at me," I say, shaking my head. "My mouth has been sealed shut."

She scoffs and stomps off to where Sam and Gabbi are. I sigh and look at the drawing Jake is pointing to. It is a sketch of me, drawing on a sketchpad, with a whale's tail in the background. It is a mirror of my drawing, only it is not Jake. At the bottom of the page, he wrote his name, the date, and his contact info.

"Thanks," I say softly, smiling.

"Listen," Jake says slowly, looking over his shoulder. "When we get back to the mainland, would you go out with me?"

"Like on a date?" I ask, smiling wider. 

"Yeah," he replies with a soft smile. "Unless you only see me as a frien-"

I cover his mouth with my hand.

"Definitely more than a friend," I take my hand away and see his lovely smile.

***

It is the end of the summer. I am packing my things in the loft. Jake is up here, too. Sam is downstairs helping Dad load stuff onto the boat.

"Jake," I say as I walk towards him with the finished portrait. "Challenge complete."

I hand him the canvas. The smile on his face is rewarding enough.

"Lori," he says, picking up another canvas from his bag. "This is yours."

I take it from him. Ok, I think I am going to cry. Jake painted the same picture as me.

"What's the matter?" Jake asks. "Don't you like it..."

"I love it," I reply softly. "This is going on the wall in my dorm."

Jake smiles softly and puts the canvases aside. He sets closer, tucking my hair behind my ear. I smile and stand on my toes as I put my arms around his neck.

"Will you go out with me tonight?" he asks in my ear.

I giggle, "Yes," I reply.

Jake chuckles as he pulls back to look at me before leaning in. So ends my summer.