Stardust & Smiles ✅

Chapter 14: 4th of July

"She is not mine.  I don't think she could ever be anyone's.  She doesn't want to be owned.  That's what I love most about her."

~9 years before, age 13~

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The fire in front of us is sending sparks whirling up in the air. 

We're staying at one of the rental houses on the beach at Camp Pendleton, as per our 4th of July tradition.  This year our parents finally let us kids have our own villa and we are celebrating with a campfire session, watching the occasional stray firework explode above the ocean. 

Archer is busy stuffing his s'mores stick with as many marshmallows as possible and stuffing his face with extra Hershey's bars when he thinks we aren't looking.  Elaine and I are finishing eating our chocolate and graham cracker sandwiches, since we didn't have time to order vegetarian marshmallows online before the trip.  Liam is somewhere inside, probably getting more chocolate since Archer has pretty much finished the first bag of bars. 

A giant red starburst explodes above our heads leaving behind a shower of sparks.  Liam emerges from the villa, chocolate bag in hand, and settles in the sand on my left. 

"It's so nice out here." I sigh, licking the stray chocolate off my thumb.

"I an ee-eef ey e uh af oh owh huh ih ear" Archer  mumbles through a mouthful, spraying graham cracker dust everywhere. 

"Say it don't spray it."  The rest of us say in unison, rolling our eyes while we wait for him to swallow.

"I can't believe they let us have our own house this year."  He repeats, reaching for the marshmallow bag again.  I quickly grab it away from him and stick it under my beach chair.

"Ohhh, see now that you say it that way, it seems so obvious that that's what you were saying!"  Liam jokes and Elaine and I roll our eyes. 

"Alright who wants to go for a swim?"  Liam asks with a challenging look.  I groan.

"Are you kidding?"  I wrap my blanket tighter around my shoulders.

"Oh come on!  YOLO and all that!"  I look over at Elaine but she's zoned out, already half-asleep.  She never had a good tolerance for staying up and it's rare to find her still awake after 9pm. 

"I'm not going."  Archer announces, stretching out on the sand.  "Because then I'd have to take a shower and no way am I doing that."

Liam looks pleadingly at me.  It's really, really hard to ignore his puppy-dog eyes, especially when they're lit by the glowing firelight.

"Please don't make me!"  I whine.  "It's so cold!"

"We're going."  He announces, standing up and brushing stray sand off his swim shorts before walking over to my chair and grabbing my arm.  I push down into the seat and he strains to lift me.  I finally relent, throwing my blanket down on the chair with a longing gaze and peeling off the T-shirt covering my bikini top. 

"You know this is kinda dangerous, Liam.  We could get in trouble or be dragged out to sea!" 

"Oh quit worrying so much.  Besides, we won't go all the way in, just to our knees."  He compromises and I shake my head, already walking down the beach behind him. 

"If we're not back in fifteen minutes, go get the parents, okay?"  I shout behind me to Archer.  He gives a thumbs-up, his mouth already stuffed with more marshmallows he stole back from under my chair. 

Liam and I make our way down the small sand hill to the beach.  A breeze hits our faces, filling my nose with the salty air and sending goosebumps down my arms.  Despite the cold, the beach smells are some of my favorite smells in the world, reminding me of the best summer days spent with Elaine and the boys.  I could sniff sunscreen for hours just to fill myself with that nostalgic feeling again.