mona lisa , chris sturniolo

20 | mermaid in another life

Chris nods in agreement, letting go of my hand as we walk to opposite sides of my car. "We'll be home in time, I just want to make a detour."

We are soon settled in the car and Chris begins giving me directions. It doesn't take long before I figure out where we are going, and I can't stop the involuntary squeal that slips from my lips. "Are we going to the beach?!"

Chris laughs at my reaction, and the noise only makes my grin widen. "I'm honestly shocked you didn't force Matt to take you already."

"It's been busy since we got here!" I protest, but my words suddenly become irrelevant when I spot the beach. "Holy shit, I'm going to cry."

"Save it for after you safely park the car," Chris chuckles, directing me towards the parking lot.

After parking, a sudden gasp slips from my lips as I whip sideways to face Chris, whose eyes widen in surprise at my sudden movement. "Will you swim with me?"

Chris immediately laughs, nodding in agreement. "Man, have I missed your spontaneous ass."

I beam at him before unbuckling and clambering into the backseat. "It's a good thing I carry a swimsuit in my emergency bag!"

"Your what?" Chris turns around, his eyes narrowed as he watches me unzip my backpack to riffle through it.

"My emergency bag. It's got a change of clothes, a swimsuit, bathroom stuff, some snacks, a sketchbook and whatnot, you know," I shrug, reaching to the bottom of my bag where I know my bikini is. "I usually keep it in my car, and since I knew that I would be acquiring Sully today, I brought it with me. I have a pair of your old shorts in here too, if you want them to swim in."

"Are you serious?" Chris exclaims, plucking the dark shorts from my hand when I pass them to him. "B, these are from sophomore year, why do you have these?"

I roll my eyes at Chris, finally locating my swimsuit. "I always steal your old clothes, I don't know how you don't know that. They make good pyjamas or painting clothes."

"You're crazy," Chris chuckles as he climbs out of the car. "I'll wait outside while you change."

Once I've changed, leaving my sweater on top of my bikini, I bounce on my toes on the asphalt of the parking lot, waiting for Chris to finish tugging the shorts on.

"These are tighter than they used to be," he groans, pulling at the fabric.

"You'll be fine. Let's go!" Impatiently, I lock the car and grab Chris' hand to tug him forwards.

Having left my shoes in the car, my feet immediately sink into the warm sand, and I toss a wide grin over my shoulder at Chris. "Thank you for bringing me here."

He grins, squeezing my hand. "Of course."

The beach is relatively empty, only a few stragglers watching the sunset. The fresh smell of the ocean is carried along by a light breeze, and the sky is lit up in vibrant pinks and oranges as the sun sinks towards the ocean.

We stop at a spot close to the water to ditch the few items we carried with us, and I quickly strip off my sweater before grabbing Chris' hand again to pull him with me towards the water. "Come on!"

Chris' laugh is loud and bubbly, and I grin at the sound. "You are so impatient, holy shit!"

I slow for half a second to let the warm ocean water lap against my feet before I continue charging forward, elation filling my body. Chris suddenly disconnects his hand from mine and I spin around to question his action, but I am quickly being scooped up and thrown over Chris' shoulder.