Reversal (Camren/Norminah)

Chapter 13: Alone

"Deal."

We finished the meal, leaving the restaurant and deciding to move by foot to the beach. As a compromise for not going and seeing it, Shawn told me all about the new movie, and I played my part by pretending to listen. Halfway through the explanation why the film was both traditional and nostalgic, I discovered that watching the city's lights glitter against the sky was a great way to tune out his voice.

The two of us arrived at the beach, and I took the liberty of pulling Shawn over to as many cheesy carnival games as I could to watch him fail at each one. After a particularly entertaining display of frustration, he finally popped all the purple balloons on the clown and won me a giant teddy bear with a goofy grin and soft brown fur. With the stuffed animal under my arm and his looped through the other, we headed out from the crowd and down to the beach.

"Thank you for doing this." I mumbled, leaning against his shoulder. "It's been a while since it's just been the two of us. And I know it's my fault."

Shawn gave off a little laugh. "The only thing that's your fault is that I failed miserably at that free throw game. You know I'm a great basketball player, you were just distracting me."

"Sure." I rolled out the syllable. "I'm sure LeBron James has got your back with that one."

"Shut up and sit." Shawn stopped us, tossing his jacket to the ground. "Those hoops are smaller than regulation ones, and their also bent at a shape to make it seem like they're bigger at the front. Besides, the balls are always overinflated so that they bounce to much. It's all designed to interfere with my depth perception. My great depth perception."

I laughed. "Trust me. I'm the last person on earth that you need to prove your lack of manliness to."

"What are you talking about?" Shawn protested. "I'm a man!"

"With porcelain skin." I added. "Its nicer than mine."

"Camila!"

"Okay, it's not nicer than mine. Mine's way nicer." I moved his jacket to the side and sat down on the ground, placing my bear a few feet away on a rock to ensure it didn't get covered in sand. Shawn folded his legs up to his chest and ran his hand through his hair, while I crossed mine beneath me. Something was off. The little mannerisms of his that I had become so used to were still cloaked in a layer of nerves.

"Are you alright?" I asked, noting the cool breeze that blew through the area. The sound of the waves picked up closer to the waterline.

"Hm? Yeah, I'm fine." He replied distantly. "I'm just thinking."

"About?"

"Stuff." Shawn shrugged. "The future."

I scrunched my nose up in distaste. "Why would you think about that? The future's like... the most un-fun thing to be thinking about."

"But it's still coming." Shawn replied, his eyes locked out on the water. "Have you thought about where you're going to go after high school? Are you going to head out to the west coast?"

I sighed. "Don't do this to me dude. I can't think about all that right now."

"Sorry." Shawn looked over at me. "It's just been making me nervous, these last few days. It sucks to not be able to hang out with you all the time, and to think it won't be long now until I don't get to do it at all."

I frowned. "Who says you won't?"

"Come on." Shawn put a lilt in his voice. "You know you're going to go somewhere to pursue your writing, and I'm probably going to end up in my parents basement forever trying to get my non-existent band going."