The Choice

2 - Beaches and Bodies

He trails behind me as I lead the route to the beach. I'm hoping he doesn't say anything the whole way there, and if I'm lucky, the whole time at the beach. But of course, that doesn't happen.

He comes up right behind me. "So, how much further?"

"Have you not been to the beach here before?"

"No, not really. My parents actually have a beach house down south. We usually go there. We just rented this beach house for this summer."

"Why this summer?" I ask.

"I don't know, your parents and mine decided that they wanted to spend it together or something."

"Why?"

"What's with all the questions? Are you a cop or something?" He jokes.

"I thought you already knew I was majoring in pre-med."

"You don't have a sense of humour, do you?"
He's right. My social skills suck. I'm awkward and sometimes clumsy. I blame it on being homeschooled and to be honest, Maddie isn't the best person to learn social skills from. She has a nonchalant, could-care-less attitude. She can also be a lot sometimes.

"I-I  was joking", I tried to play it off.

"Sure, you were," he says smirking. He comes closer to me. "Do you do that often?"

"Do what?" I ask

"Stutter and stammer." He comes even closer, his body only inches away from mine. "Or do I make you nervous?"

He does make me nervous, but I would never admit that to him. I back up.

"W-we should just make our way to the beach." I continue walking. We finally get to the beach and I get excited.

"So, what do you wanna do first?" Leo looks around the waterfront.

"You can do whatever you want, I'm going to go read a book by the beach."

"You came to the beach to read?" He asks, his eyebrows are raised.

"Yes Leonard, I did."

"You don't have to be so formal, just call me Leo."
I nod and I go my way. I find a nice spot on the sand under a shade. Leo goes for a swim.

Several minutes pass and I look up to see Leo emerging from the water, soaking wet. His body glistening from the sun. I can't help but stare, and apparently, neither can the girls who are practically drooling over him. They approach him, flirting and finding excuses to touch his arms. I roll my eyes. Of course, he's allowing them to touch him. After a few giggles and what I believe to be a few exchanges of numbers, he approaches me.

"You ready to go?"

"But we just got here," I say.

"But I'm hungry." He whines.

"Then go ask one of those girls to take you out to dinner," I tell him.

"I never even got the chance to get in your pants yet and you're already getting jealous?" He says grinning.

"I am not jealous."

"Don't worry Ari, there's enough of me to go around," he says winking at me. I roll my eyes.

"Want to join me and eat?" He asks.

"No thank you," I reply. I open my book to show him that I'm actively ignoring him.

He smirks. "Suit yourself."

He leaves and I am too annoyed to read so I go for a swim.

An hour later and I decide I should probably grab something to eat. I pick up my things and stroll across the beach. I pass by an easel set up on the sand close to the walkway. A medium-sized painting is sitting on the easel. I stop walking. It's a painting of the sunset. It is amazing. It looks almost identical to the sun that is setting in front of me. The artist was able to capture all the colours of the sunset and all the blue shades of the ocean.

"You like it?" I hear a voice behind me say.
I look back and see a man approaching me.
He is gorgeous. His gorgeous is different than I've ever seen. His attractiveness is unique, nothing like the guys from the suburbs. The majority of them are pale and have short buzz cuts or shaggy hair. Unlike the guys in the suburbs, he grows his hair long. He has darker skin, like toffee, and his skin and appearance show a mix of different backgrounds. I wonder what they are. He puts his long dark hair in a bun. Some hair strands fall in front of his face, covering his eyes. He sweeps the strand back from covering his eyes and I am able to see his beautiful brown and green mixed eyes.

"It's beautiful," I say looking back at the painting.

He comes closer. "Feel it," he says.

I raise my hands and place it on the painting. He places his hand over mine and guides me as I slowly stroke the painting horizontally. I began to feel the texture made from the strokes of his paintbrush.

"Wow," is all I can say. "I used to paint, but nothing like to this," I admit.

"It's not so hard," he says. "Maybe I could teach you."

"I wouldn't have the time," I say. He nods. "Well, I should probably get going," I say.

He smiles. "It was nice meeting you," he says.

"You too," I say as I make my way back to the beach house. When I get home, my mom calls me into the kitchen.

"Yes, mom?"

"Honey wash up," she says. "We have guests joining us for dinner tonight."

"Already? It's only been one day since we arrived at the beach house mother."

"I know, but it is good to get things going as soon as possible."

"What things?" I ask.

"You're asking too many questions. Honey just get ready."

I get upstairs and take a shower. I put on a sundress, fix my curls a bit and head downstairs.

"Mom?" I call out.

"I'm here honey," she responds.  I follow her voice into the dining room and see Leo and his parents sitting at the dining room table. The table is full except for a vacant seat that is near Leo.
I sit down beside him and we begin to eat.

"So..." of course, my mom starts the conversation. "Aria, did you know that Leonard will be attending the same Med school as you?"

"No, I didn't know that," I say.

"Isn't that exciting?" She says.

"Not really," I murmur under my breath. My mom gives me a stern look. Luckily no one else heard, well except for Leo. He laughs.

"Yes, Misses deCastle, it is exciting," Leo says looking at me. I'm convinced he's mocking her or maybe me.

"Aria," Cara, Leo's mother finally speaks. "What are you planning on specializing in?" I open my mouth to answer, but my dad interrupts.

"She's going to specialize in cardio just like her old man."

"Very impressive," Leo's father, Joseph, says. "Leo here will be specializing in Neuro, right son?" He taps Leo on the shoulder and Leo just smiles.

"That is also impressive," my mom cuts in. "You need to have very steady hands for that," she continues.

"Yup, he has the hands of a god. Very sturdy and precise," Leo's mother says. Leo looks at me as his mom says this, making sure I hear every word that she is saying. Hands of a god? Oh please.

After almost an hour of both our parents talking about both Leo and me becoming surgeons , the subject finally changes. At first, I am relieved, until I understand where this conversation is leading.

"You know Aria, you are a very good girl," Cara starts, "nothing like these wild girls from the suburbs. Leo really needs a girl like you to settle down with."

And suddenly it hits me. Why my mother invited the Wellingtons to join us on this trip, why she was so eager to have us spend time together. Why she kept mentioning his name for the last few weeks.

She's trying to set us up...