Innocent

Chapter 7

The last time when James and I came down to Santa Monica Beach, it began raining. We ran across the sand until we came to the Santa Monica Pier and just stood underneath it until it had stopped raining. It felt weird coming down here because I hadn’t stepped onto the beach for two years.

The beach was crowded and it felt as half of the population of LA was all down here to keep cool from the hot summer’s sun. I almost couldn’t get a park. James and I walked down the beach in silence until we reach the pier and stood under it. It felt cooler under it.

I stood near a pole and rest my back against it, watching the waves wash up onto shore. It felt relaxing being here. Above us we could hear footsteps as people walked across the pier, as well as people nearby chatting.

“So, do you want to tell me what’s going on?” he asked.

Truthfully I didn’t want to tell him anything because I knew for sure I would burst into tears and I won’t ever stop. I don’t want to ever lose James as a friend. Ever.

I forced myself to look at him where he was standing in front of me, looking concern. I inhaled and then quickly exhaled. “Daniel came into the café to tell me that my parents are furious with me because I worked out of the house to come to work. Mom was supposed to drive me. And now that you’re out on parole, Mom and Dad has decided to…” I paused as I bit my lip. I could feel the tears swelling in my eyes.

“Ellie?”

“My parents want to move away so I’m nowhere near you.”

I turned away from him. I couldn’t look at him at all.

“Are you going to go with them?” he asked.

I shrugged my shoulders, biting down my lip. “I’m trying to think how I can still stay here with you.”

My lip trembled as the tears flowed down my face. I felt James’ hand on my cheek as he wiped the tears. I turned to face him. Our eyes locked together. We stared at each other. I then wrapped my arms around him and hugged him tightly. I cried into his chest and felt his arms wrapping around me. He kissed the top of my head.

We stood like that for awhile without saying anything.

“Come on,” James said after awhile, pulling away from me. “Let’s go do something to keep our minds off everything.”

I wiped my eyes. “Like what?”

His eyes drifted up at the pier and then looked back up at me. “Want to go to the pier?”

I smiled. James always knew how to keep my mind off things. “Yeah. That sounds good.”

“We can eat a while lot of junk, and then ride the rollercoaster until we throw up.” He threw me a huge grin where I could see that he was trying not to laugh.

I punched him hard in the arm. “No! There is no way we are doing that.”

“Why not? It will be funny.”

“Funny? More like disgusting.”

He put an arm around me. “I’m only joking.”

“I know.”

We walked towards the entry of Santa Monica Pier. The first thing James wanted to do was get something to eat. We both ordered a hot dog, sitting down to eat it. Once eaten, we played some games. We didn’t win any prizes, but we sure had fun. It took my mind off everything that had happen at the café. When we played all the games, James suggested we ride the rollercoaster.

“Okay, but just as long as we don’t have to throw up,” I told him.

He promised me we weren’t. We stood in line. When it was our turn to get on the ride, James grabbed my hand and dragged me to the front of the first carriage.