Elle was the sort of girl who was quite sure whether she liked something or not the first time she heard of it. It wasn't easy for anyone to convince her to try something new or give it a chance if she already made up her mind about something.

For instance, being sent to stay at her uncle's house during the summer. He wasn't the problem, though. She liked her Uncle Axel just fine. He was her mom's younger brother and always acted like a cool older cousin whenever he came over for the holidays. He made her laugh when the world seemed to suck. Elle's only problem was where he lived. And she had sworn an oath to herself to never go there.

The pretty, sixteen-year-old girl gloomily watched the city turn to country out the car window. In an attempt to entertain herself, she played with strands of her long, red hair that fell out of her braid.

Her mother, who shared her hair, also copied the scowl on Elle's face as she drove to her brother's home. Margaret Cereni was quite stressed out. After arguing with Elle about the arrangements all morning, she then had to drive for over an hour to drop her off, then catch a flight to Boston for her business trip.

Elle let out a huge sigh when she saw the cheery sign, Welcome to Maretown!, getting her mother's attention.

"Elle, don't moan like that. You're not helping at all, you know."

She sat up in her seat and turned towards her mother. "I still can't believe you are forcing me to do this."

Margaret rolled her eyes as she turned down a street. "Hon, you have to let that silly pact go! Its ridiculous and unhealthy. Don't you think its time to move on?"

"No."

Elle knew she was being childish, but she didn't care. Her mother did not respect her wishes to stay as far from the ocean as humanely possible. It had been this way for years and this wouldn't change anything. She would lock herself in her room if that's what it took.

The two were quiet as they went down a narrow, dirt path that let the way to Axel's. Elle stiffened as the ocean came into view. A gray-blue stripe across the land, it was dreary and foreboding. She winced as the sound of seagulls reached her ears.

Uncle Axel's beach house came into view among the swaying grasses. It was on a plain piece of land with only grass and rocks. It was a shabby structure with faded gray wood and peeling blue paint, three floors, and hundreds of windows. There was a rickety staircase that one needed to scale to even reach the front door as the house was on stilts. Behind the house, a makeshift path led down to the water. Elle was distracted by the tall cliffs that towered in the distance. She could see white crested waves lapping their bases. During certain times of the day, they would cast the whole area in shadow.

Margaret pulled the car up to the house and they saw Axel was waiting for them on the front pouch. Waving, he bounded down the steps to greet them. Elle waited in the car for a couple more minutes to brace herself while the two siblings hugged. When she stepped out, she was instantly hit by the smell of sea salt. The seagulls were even louder now. Hugging herself, Elle scornfully scanned her surroundings, hardly believing she was here.

"ELLIE!" She jumped as her uncle's voice boomed in her ear. He wrapped in in a bone-crushing hug that cracked her back. "Welcome!"

"Careful Ax," her mother warned. "You'll break her." Even as she said it, she was smiling. Elle noticed that her mother always smiled more when Axel was around.

"Sorry," he said sheepishly, releasing her. He combed his light brown hair out of his face and flashed his most charming forgive me smile. Her mother told the funniest stories of Axel trying to be a ladies man when he was younger, but his clumsiness made him look for goofy rather than suave.

Elle still thought it was surprising her uncle wasn't married yet. While this lifestyle was something she would never agree to, she could see why some would like his laid-back T-shirt and jeans/ rugged look. A lot of women think the ocean is romantic so what a better place to live than right on it?

"So?" Uncle Axel asked, spreading his arms out like a realtor showing off his latest deal. "What do you think?"

"I think it looked better from the car."

"Elle!" her mother snapped, looking shocked. Her brown eyes were sharp and angry. "Apologize!"

Elle usually wasn't cruel to her uncle, but she was still too grumpy to be civil right now, even to him.

Axel, on the other hand, laughed. "Well it is the Atlantic seacoast, not the Bahamas. I'd think that's what you were thinking of when you thought of the beach, right?"

Over his shoulder, Margaret was shooting her looks of warning to not say anything else about it. They had kept Elle's hatred of the ocean away from him, as to not insult him, as he gave boat tours as a living and loved it. Axel knew nothing about Elle's meltdown at her 5th grade field trip to the beach that caused her mother to leave work and pick her up from the bus. It caused a rumor to spread like wildfire that she was afraid of the ocean. But she wasn't. She only hated it with every fiber of her being.

No one, not even her mother could fully understand. Margaret had made peace with the past, but Elle had not. Her mother was not five years old when she overhearing two gossiping old ladies talking about her family in town one day. The ocean had taken her father away from her, they said, and he was never coming back. That was the day that changed everything for Elle.

After a hug and a whispered "Behave yourself!", Elle's mother drove away to catch her flight, seemingly trying to leave the area as quickly as possible. It was as if she expected Elle to run after her and jump on top of the car and stowaway to the airport with the speed she was traveling. But no, Elle was left there. At the ocean. For a week.

Uncle Axel clapped his hands together excitedly. "This is going to be great! I have so much planned. I'll show you around town, have you try fish and chips, and I'll take you on an exclusive boat tour led by yours truly!"

Elle's stomach turned over on that last one. "Uhh.."

"Let's go inside." Axel glanced at the sky. "It looks like it might rain." He picked up her suitcase and headed up the stairs.

"Great," Elle grumbled, following him. "Now I'll get swept out to sea and die."

"That's the spirit!" her uncle responded cheerfully. "But not to worry, Ellie. If it does flood, the water will go under the house. That's why the stilts are here." He glanced back and saw that she didn't look convinced. "And if possible, we'd try to go inland to be safer." he added.

Elle was hardly listening anymore as she had the old wooden railing in a death grip, praying the wood steps would hold and she wouldn't go crashing through. She was relieved when they went inside.

The house was nice, but it seemed more like home for an old retired couple, not a young man. It had a fresh, relaxing feel with comfortable sofas and chairs in the living room and light coming in from all the windows, thought was dim with the oncoming storm clouds. There were drawings and sculptures of sea life all over the place, including the mythical mermaid. Everything was toned white, sea foam green, and blue. Colors of the sea.

"This wasn't what I was expecting your house to be like at all," Elle said, stopping in the center to look around.

"What do you mean?" Uncle Axel made a sad, pouting face.

"Is this your idea of a bachelor pad?"

Her uncle laughed again. "No, its not, but I like it this way. Reminds me of your grandparents and growing up here. They loved all this house, I couldn't change it."

Elle stared at him. "You lived here as a kid?"

"Yeah."

"So..." she couldn't believe it. "Mom lived here too?"

"She's my sister, so obviously." Uncle Axel told her to wait in the living room, while he set her room up.

Elle sank into an armchair by a big window. She stared out but wasn't really looking. Her mother had lived here and never told her? Elle was shocked that this information was never disclosed. Being just the two of them, they were actually pretty close and shared many things. Fashion ideas, traveling, celebrity crushes, you name it. Her mom told Elle everything about her life in Maretown but it never occurred to Elle to ask about her childhood home. Elle looked around as if imaging a younger Margaret strolling the halls, playing with the figurines, teasing little Axel.

It was like opening a new chapter of her mother's life. After growing up without a father, Elle was fascinated with her mother's ancestry (Irish and British) and her past. Though she still wished she was back home, this house was suddenly more intruding than before. What other secrets did it hold? She wanted to find them all.