The Beach Boy

Chapter 7

My father's stare pierced right through me. Chills went down my spine, and I was nervous about the words that would come out of my mouth next. Should I tell him the truth? I already lied to him about the dinner plans, and I knew the consequences were not going to be light on me.

"I'm twenty minutes after my curfew because I... there were friends and cousins of Cheyenne and Lexa visiting from Florida. Being the girls we are, we began chatting about our lives and getting to know one another. They were all nice! When we were leaving, we exchanged numbers. It took a while, but we did it anyway. I'm sorry I'm late Father."

"Oh, that's fine. I just don't want you to be hanging around the wrong crowd and going places you shouldn't be hanging around. It seems like you had lots of fun. You should go to bed now."

"I will. Goodnight, Father."

As I went upstairs, I regretted lying to my father. I knew he loved and cared for me so much, but I had this feeling that I had to lie. What was this feeling anyway? I knew I wanted to spend more time with Dennis and the girls, but especially Dennis.

A couple days later, I recieved a call from my friend Cassie. I hadn't talked to her for a while. I learned Cassie and her boyfriend broke up after multiple heated arguments, but she was checking to see how I was doing in Hawthorne.

"Any cute guys in Hawthorne? If I visit, you have to introduce me to them!"

"Of course there are, Cass. There are a few."

"There is a boy you think is cute! Don't hide it Kat, I can tell from the tone of your voice. Who is this guy?"

"His name is Dennis, and he's two years older than me. He's my neighbor, and we often go surfing together. He's pretty good-looking, but I think we're friends."

"He sounds like your dream guy! I'm developing a crush on Elvis again..who knew? I have to meet this guy named Dennis when I visit."

I was already gushing about Dennis to a friend. After that, I realized I did develop a crush on him, but I knew we were better as friends.

It was May, and The Wilson Brothers decided to have another afternoon beach picnic and hang out. Cheyenne, Lexa, and I were invited. I don't why, but I became very excited yet nervous at the same time.

At the picnic, all of the guys were there! Brian, Dennis, Carl, Mike, and David were all there along with Brian's girlfriend, Marilyn, and Mike's wife, Francie. I also met Casey, who worked at the pharmacy. My brother decided not to attend because he had "better things to do." However, he was going to pick me up at nine from the beach.

The boys began to surf or swim, while the gals sat in a circle on the warm sand and chatted for a while. Marilyn and I tanned while observing the boys from a far. She began asking questions about Dennis and I, as if we were secretly going out.

Marilyn: "What's going on with you and Dennis?

Me: "We're just friends."

Marilyn: "You guys went on a date! You two have always liked each other secretly. Admit it, Kat."

Me: "He's very handsome, I think everyone sees that. I don't know if I just think he's cute or just want him as a friend. It's a very serious dilema. Let's just leave it alone for now."

I turned on my back and bathed in the sunlight. A couple of minutes later, a shadow was blocking the sunlight. I quickly took off my shades to see Dennis kneeling near my head and had his face about four inches away from my face. It surprised me and I quickly pushed him away. He was laughing, and so was Carl. Dennis handed me a spare surfboard and motioned me to head to the water.

Cheyenne and Brian followed and eventually, everyone was in the water. Dennis, Cheyenne, and I surfed all together and I couldn't believe I was still great at surfing. Dennis and I experimented with surfing together on one surfboard and doing tricks. The first try failed because Dennis couldn't put me on his shoulders fast enough. On the second try, we were successful and looked so cool!

After an hour or two being in the cool, salty sea, I decided to walk back to our bonfire spot. I was shivering cold because it was windy, but suddenly, someone wrapped a towel around me. It was Dennis! He was nice to steal a towel from someone. He then put his arm around me and we walked together to the bonfire spot.

Me: "Thanks for getting me a towel, Denny."

Dennis: "You looked like you were about to freeze to death! By the way, you're still a rad surfer in the water."

Me: "Thanks. It's probably the best I've surfed in months. I liked that Carl attempted to surf... he's making process!"

Dennis: "He's getting there."

Me: "You guys are rising to fame quickly because I see a group of girls running this way!"

I tried getting out of the way but Dennis managed to grab my left arm and kept me there. I panicked because there were fifteen excited girls running our direction.

Me: "Dennis, I need to get out of here..."

Dennis: "You're a pretty popular model now so I'm sure some of them are your admirers or whatever. If they see me with a pretty girl like you, they'll be quick and leave. Besides, I'll protect ya if they decide to start a cat fight."

The girls came with some Beach Boy pictures and wanted Dennis to sign all of them. They were pretty nice as they noticed me standing next to him. One of them was brave enough to ask Dennis and I if we were dating.

Fan: "Dennis! Are you two dating?"

Dennis: "No... not yet."

Me: "Not yet? What?"

The girls began embarrassing us and we hung out at the bonfire place. The sun was setting, and Carl, Al, and Mark pulled out their guitars and started a mini-jam session. Whenever the guys sang some slow, intense, love song, they liked to fool around with us girls and stare at us with intensity.

Then, Brian turned on the radio and everyone began to slow dance in the sand. Of course, I was dancing with Dennis.

I think that was the very moment where I fell in love with him. After a long day, everyone was sinking all of their weight in a beach chair, or lying down on beach towels. I shared a huge beach towel with Dennis, Cheyenne, and Carl while Brian and Marilyn snuggled up with multiple towels. At some point, I found myself lying on Dennis' arm, but I was too tired to even try and move. Cheyenne and I were facing each other and she whispered to me.

Cheyenne: "So cute, this is a memorable moment."

I ignored her, but it was true. I saw a car's headlights towards our direction and realized it was my brother, Greg. I slowly got up, which kind of woke Dennis up from a calm state. He saw my brother and they began talking. I said goodbye to everyone with a hug, including Dennis. He held on tight, as if he didn't want me to leave.

As I got into my brother's car, I had this small smile on my face that he noticed.

Greg: "Kat, just date Dennis already. It's obvious that you two like each other."

Oh my. These next hours, days, weeks, months, and years will be interesting.