Shark Bait [H.S.]

Chapter One.

Clear blue waters.

That's all I see as I stare out into the distance across the large expanse of land in front of me. The day is warm but the breeze that hits my skin is tamed, just a little on the cooler side as we approach the end of July, heading into August.

Living here in Canada means that we get all four seasons, the summers are hot and the winters are brutally cold, but this.....this is my favourite time of the year. I love spending the last few weeks of subtle warmth at the beach, coming alone and staying here until the sun begins to set — just relaxing. A time away from all my real life responsibilities.

It also helps that fall is my favourite season and I absolutely love Halloween, so I'm incredibly eager for the seasons to change. Jesse loves to tease me about it and he always has ever since we were kids going trick or treating together.

I always went as salt and he went as pepper.

He'd tell me how he didn't claim Halloween to be an 'actual holiday' in his eyes, but he never once complained about dressing up with me and as we grew older, going to parties together eventually led to us handing out candy together.

It's so nice to come here and just escape from the busy city life of Toronto. Sometimes living downtown in the city can be so hectic and overwhelming, sometimes I just need a break. I don't have the time or energy to head up north and spend some time in a cabin in the middle of the woods, so Sugar Beach will just have to suffice for now.

The beach is also the best place to think. Oftentimes I crave inspiration, I need words to jot down onto paper to bind into a story and present it as work so it always helps to just come here and find that little bit of peace and silence to just think. I've found myself doing it a lot more than usual recently.

There's something oddly comforting about the silence speaking to me. I've written so many good stories sitting here, sometimes even ones just for my own personal journal. They're bound to never be found by anyone, purely a way to get words down on paper, but inspiration doesn't tell you when it's coming and I always welcome it.

It just so happened to work out that this time I didn't come alone. I don't mind it, I like having the company of other people around me so long as they give me the quietness that I desperately need sometimes. 

This is not one of those times.

"There's fucking sand in my pants," Jesse complains, shaking his legs out in front of him as if they were asleep. I watch in amusement as the little sand particles slip out past his black wide-legged jeans, returning back onto the ground where they belong. "I don't know why you wore pants to the beach," I comment as I stretch my bare legs out further to bake them under the sun, "I told you we were going to Sugar Beach and yet here you are in literal jeans and a cardigan, in July."

I feel his hand come out and shove my shoulder lightly in annoyance, making me laugh. "Shut it, Indigo. It was cool out this morning, sue me," he scoffs, flicking his shades back down over his eyes. "And anyways, I've got this pretty pink umbrella keeping me covered. When you get skin cancer don't come fucking crying to me."