~~~Jude~~~
Her hair glissened in the sun and I swear, the way she ran towards me was something straight out of Baywatch. Lauren Gallo was on the varsity volleyball team, she earned a perfect score on her SATs, and was the wet dream of every guy in our grade. I thought about her incessantly since freshman year and finally my chance had arrived. After three long years, we were going to be introduced.
"Bro, you literally look like you're about to shit yourself."
"Shut the fuck up," I elbow Tom hard in his side, watching closely as Lauren approaches with her squad. Three girls flag her on each side and Lauren halts before Tom and I, golden skin and all legs without leaving much to the imagination. A white bikini provides some coverage but I don't need much more.
"Hi," her plush lips part, glossed against her pearly whites.
"Hey, I'm Jude," I smile, wondering what to do with my hands or why I've suddenly got the urge to reach out and hug her.
"Lauren," she smiles back - I swear I won't make it.
Her irises are a brilliant hazel and one lone beauty mark sits just beneath her right eye. Her locks are messy and curled oddly, framing her heart-shaped face and chest until they taper off just above her waist.
"Party's at Eric's house, up this block here."
"Angela has the bud, Lauren," A girl to Lauren's right tugs on her arm.
"Tell her to just come later with Josh," Lauren replies cooly.
The girls turn and begin to walk, Lauren holding out a towel which she proceeds to tie loosely around her hips. I immediatly mourn the loss of view.
"Tom," I whisper as we follow the girls off the beach.
"What?"
"Lauren Gallo smokes weed?"
"Bro, you're literally the only one who doesn't."
I digest the newfound information and follow diligently.
I don't remember a whole lot from that night, except for keeping Lauren on my radar. The way she flirted and drank, still managed to be somewhat graceful even when she had just a bit too much. How she danced with her closest friends, swaying her hips to the beat of the music with a solo cup in one hand, hair swishing closely behind.
I remember feeling so angry with myself for waiting so long, for shutting myself out from people I didn't know. I had cheated myself out of experiences that now I could only get in my last year of school. Never before had I uttered more than one word to each person who attended the party that night.
So I did a shot of some cheap tequila with Tom, chugged a beer, took a hit from Eric's bowl, and marched right across that room out on to the patio where I planted myself beside Lauren on some ratty couch. The patio is cluttered with an assortment of odd, mismatched furniture not meant for the outdoors, but everyone keeps to their corners with their partners.
"Hey," I perk up, letting confidence flood my veins.
Lauren breaks off a laugh, swinging her gaze away from some other guy to me.
"Where you been all night?" She giggles, her thighs crossed but only meagerly covered by a scrap of cloth called shorts. Her bikini top peeks out around the back of her neck from beneath a t-shirt, and her toned arms lie pressed against my side.
"Just seeing everyone, what about you?"
"We're waiting for the sunset," Lauren points with her beer to the orange haze which has settled over the horizon, and I smile as the music from inside has dulled just a bit.
"I have my sunset right here," I grin at her.
Lauren's eyes widen and she covers her mouth with a delicate hand, her laughter setting off a nervous twist within my stomach.
"That has to be the corniest shit I've ever heard!" She smacks my knee and takes a sip.
"I bet it isn't" I counter.
"Oh, you got more?"
I nod my head and she shoots me a toothy grin, adjusting herself suddenly to face me cross-legged.
"Go ahead, Jude," she waits dramatically as I savor the way my name rolls off her tongue.
"Are you tired? Cuz' you've been running through my mind all day," I add a suave kick to the pick-up line.
Lauren giggles again, her hazel eyes brightening with each corny line I deliver. The sun has set and they've lit a small firepit on the balcony. For the remainder of the night, Lauren and I remain glued and everyone had steadly made their way out to join us.
The music continues, significantly lower than before, and I've taken a few more hits off a shared joint between Lauren and I. We lie back, her head cradled against my shoulder. It's pleasant, the feeling of her cheek against my skin when we laugh and I know I never want this moment to end. Her palm snakes up to my chin, leading me to crane my face towards hers as slowly her lips meet mine in a warm, soft embrace.
I walk her back to her beach house with her friends, Tom long gone, passed out on that ratty couch on the patio. Her friends knowingly enter the house without another look back as Lauren stays put. We stroll a bit down the sidewalk, breathing in the salty air.
"Can I tell you something?" I focus on the beach ahead of us.
"Sure."
"I've always wanted to talk to you."
"I wish I met you sooner," Lauren's hand slips around my forearm and I smile towards my feet, cheeks heating slightly.
We turn back towards the house and at the door we share one last kiss. She tastes of beer and something else, something distinctly only Lauren Gallo, and I relish in her touch, her attention, the fact that everything I had wanted turned out to be so much more than anticipated. And then I hope that she won't forget my name or regret me tomorrow.
"Here's my number, text me," She breaks away and takes my phone from my pocket, slipping in her digits smoothly before handing it back.
"I will," I watch her walk into the house, the lights shutting off behind her.
Please don't disappear.
YOU ARE READING
Trace
Teen Fiction"Jude." "Yea?" "Look at me." I sigh and turn back to Ellie, hands shoved in my pockets as the tingling grows more intense. She stares eerily into my face, her skin blanching as her lower lip begins to quiver. "What's wrong," I swallow. "Why are you...
