"It's so nice out!" I exclaimed, holding my arms out at my sides and spinning in a circle, my face turned towards the sun. The rest of the Mcvey family got out of the car behind us, laughing at me.
"You're right." James agreed, putting on his sunglasses and squinting up at the sky. I grabbed my bag from the car and followed them to the sand, laying out my towel next to Katie's and kicking off my sandals. Katie was already standing up, waiting for me. I pulled off my cardigan and set it on my towel, putting on my sunglasses and joining Katie. We set off along the waters' edge, giggling at the cool water on our feet and letting the sun hit our faces. Katie was in some jean shorts and a hoodie that I swear I'd seen James wearing once. I'd opted for similar clothes, wearing some white shorts with daisies on them and a beige v-neck over a yellow bandeau with my sunglasses. Katie had done my hair again this morning, putting it into a bun shaped like a bow on top of my head, which was pretty cool and I insisted she show me how to do later.
"Booo!" James shouted, running up behind us and grabbing me, lifting my into the air around my waist. I gasped and pulled my legs to my chest while James held tight around my waist.
"Good lord, James! You frightened me!" I laughed, tilting my head back to look up at him. James laughed as well, flashing me a heart-melting lopsided grin before swinging me around while I laughed, snorting very unattractively. James set me down when I snorted because he was laughing so hard I'm almost sure he would have dropped me. Katie was laughing beside me while I leaned over, trying to catch my breath.
"What a beautiful noise!" James teased, straightening up and throwing his arm around my shoulder. He walked along with Katie and I while we all chatted, finally stopping when his parents were just specs in the distance, turning around to start back.
"Race you?" James suggested. Katie and I exchanged a look and nodded.
"Bring it on, James!" I teased. We all got ready, standing in our position to start running.
"Ready, set-" James started, then began sprinting before he said go.
"No fair!" I screamed, taking off running after him. Katie was a few feet ahead of me and James was already slowing down, clearly putting too much effort to start out with and running out of steam. I giggled and waved as I past him, which shocked even me seeing as sports have never been my thing. James shouted and picked up speed, grabbing me around the waist and stopping me, almost knocking me clear to the ground.
"Hey, I was kicking your ass there!" I exclaimed, shoving James away slightly as I righted myself on the sinking sand.
"That's exactly why I stopped you!" James laughed, holding me around the waist from behind and swaying us back and forth as he walked. I grabbed his hands and James let me go, stepping to wrap our connected hands around my shoulder.
"It's perfect today." James commented, playing with a piece of my hair that had gotten loose while we walked along, his arm still around my shoulder. I wrapped my arm around his waist and our hips bumped together while we walked, making me laugh.
"It's definitely a perfect day for the beach." I agreed. Jame looked down at me, grinning. He plucked my sunglasses off my face and ducked down, his nose touching mine slightly before he pressed his lips to mine. It was a gentle, yet lingering kiss. James pulled away, grinning at me and putting my sunglasses back on. I smiled and blushed involuntarily looking away from James while we walked along, his parents and Katie getting closer and closer.
"Hey, you two ditched me!" Katie giggled, pouting at us.
"That was the plan." James joked. I hit him with my elbow and ducked out from under his arm.
"That was his plan, not mine. I was going to beat both of you but he just had to interfere." I joked, sitting down next to Katie and taking a sip of my water bottle.
"James, you're disqualified." Katie teased. I laughed and stuck my tongue out at him. James returned the gesture and flopped down next to me, lying on his back and resting his arm on my leg, tracing pictures on my calf.
Katie and his parents and I chatted away while James occasionally threw something into the conversation, though he mostly stayed silent unless he had a chance to tell his parents a story about me that was probably cringe-worthy.
"What if we head home soon? The clouds are rolling in and I'm quite tired." Mr. Mcvey suggested, looking up at the sky. For how warm it had been all day, the sun pounding down on us, the sky was indeed fading slowly to a sickening grey colour. We all packed up our things and climbed into the car, getting settled in and playing the radio quietly, a Kooks song I recognized. I'm sure I would have sung along if it wouldn't have interrupted the flow of conversation. I was sat in the middle of the back seat with Katie on my right and James on my left. Mostly Katie was on her iPod while Mr and Mrs Mcvey talked about work and what was for supper. I rested my head on James' shoulder and he offered me an earbud, which I put in my ear and listened to Owl City with him. James wrapped his arm around my shoulder and I snuggled into his side, closing my eyes while James hummed along, his chest rumbling slightly.
