When Waves Meet Sand

Prologue

The sand feels different here, yet so does everything else. The sand from back home would stick to your toes as you walk into the water. Sand stuck to everything, and even when you thought you were completely clean from it, you would wind up finding more. Even back home, away from the beach, we would find sand in our car for months afterwards. It was impossible to break free from, just like her. This sand, here on Holden Beach, is different. It doesn't stick like the sand back home. You can pick it up and let it fall smoothly from your hands. It's beautiful. White and fine. It's just not home.
How can I be in a place that's this beautiful surrounded by laughter while holding Samantha in my arms and allow my mind to miss the darker, stickier sand? I wonder if it misses me too.

   The sound of Samantha's phone ringing broke me from my ocean memory spell, and I let out a sigh as I saw my mother's name shoot across her screen. My mother and Samantha quickly became close after I introduced them almost a year ago. Samantha owns her own oceanic research company and comes from a family well known in the Carolinas. Samantha is a wonderful girl. She treats me well and lets me love her without trying to push past my walls I obviously have built to withstand a hurricane. Her dirty blonde 5'3 foot frame was easy on the eyes. She's beautiful. I really do love her... It's just been hard to be excited for a future for years now. Knowing I was the one who changed the future for all of us 4 years ago. Knowing I set something free. Knowing that by doing so I shackled myself to a life filled with what ifs and a constant yearning I couldn't avoid even though I've tried. For four years.

"Callum" Samantha calls from behind me. Apparently the ocean still had me under its spell because I had no idea when she got up and started gathering our things. "Come on! Your mom is waiting for us at the club for lunch." Giving myself an inner "get yourself together, she's better off without you, and you have Samantha now" talk I hop up and dust the white sand off my dress pants. I'm wearing a bright green polo that screams Happy Easter and to me screams "my girlfriend bought it for me or it would still be on the rack in the store." She said it looks great against my soft brown hair, and while it does, it's just not me. Although, I haven't felt like me in years. Maybe it is me, and I just need to allow myself to accept the change. "Alright. Let's go eat lunch with your best friend. I can't wait to be ignored for an hour while y'all talk about shopping." Samantha rolls her eyes and pulls me into a hug. "Stop it. You know you love how close I am with your mom!" Do I? That's news to me. I put on my best fake smile and reach down to touch the side of her face. Memories creep up and as always I pull Samantha in quickly to dissolve them back into the past."I honestly have no idea how I could go to sleep tonight without hearing the latest fashion trends and the most popular nail color currently... whatever you call them." Samantha gives me a smirk and takes my hand to lead the way.

  The club is noisy and busy as we are escorted to our private dining area where my parents and Samantha's mom, Lynn, wait for us. "That's a unique shirt color, Cal." her mom says with eyes that read "why on earth is that on your body?" Same lady. Same. I give her a sweet smile and scoot into my seat between my mother and Sam. Great, a prime location to be updated on the trends of today. Forget the mimosa by the glass, an old fashion is calling my name today. The waitress comes over to take our orders, and like the perfect gentlman I am I wait for my turn to order my dad's preferred lunch order for gentleman. Maybe it is, but once again, it has me missing the surf and turf from the Turtle Shack. I'm usually better at keeping the past and my feelings about it buried deep in the ocean's depths, but something has my memories at the forefront of my mind. For the life of me I can't keep them from surfacing. I want to revisit every moment of that summer. At least most of it. At least until the accident or maybe until the lie. I still can't decide what moment is the one where I truly lost her. Us. Everything.

   My phone pings in my pocked, and I get a slight look from both my mother and Samantha. An unknown number is calling me, and I can feel my body stiffen and my heart rate speeding up. Anytime I get an unknown caller my chest aches, and I find myself terrified of who can be on the other end but also desperately hoping it's her. Sandwiched between these two has me reluctantly declining the call and sending up a silent prayer that it was a spam call. A few moments later, our drinks arrive and I find myself staring at an empty class after two swigs. Damn. We're going back to this again aren't we. The look I can feel from Samantha without having to turn my head has me asking the waiter for another. I'm already in trouble as is. Might as well enjoy another. Slower this time. Obviously.

    Another ping from my phone has me glancing at my phone still tucked in my pocket, halfway as a measure of privacy and halfway as a measure to keep my brain from reeling. One text. One unknown number. A million emotions as my trembling hands click to read the content.

Unknown number - "I know you lied to her. She needs you."