The MagCon Ships II: In Time (Shaylor)(BoyxBoy)

Chapter 1 - The Beach

[Picture: Aaliyah (Lia) Mendes]

February.

Taylor's birthday is in two more days. 

It worries me. 

I lay down, resting my head on the hard trunk of the tree I'm leaning on. 

The beach, it's kind of a nice place to relax, get away from technology and spend some time with nature, your family, friends, and your fellow human beings. 

Today, it's my family who decided to drag me along. 

I set my phone aside and place both of my hands behind my head, closing my eyes and trying to get comfortable. I like cloudy days, I think they're the best, when the devil doesn't try to kill you with heat and when nature doesn't decide to follow you around, freezing you cold, which constantly feels like you are trapped in a little snow globe. 

A ball hits me in the head. 

"Come on, Shawn! Don't be such a bore." My sister, Aaliyah, whom I call Lia yells. 

I manage to scruff a smile, picking the ball up. "I am so not a bore." 

"Come on." She claps and taunts. "One on one, volleyball, you and me." 

I raise an eyebrow and spin the ball with one finger, walking to the other side of the sand. "You challenge your older brother who is six years older than you at a sport?" 

"We're only five years apart, dumb dumb." 

"Aren't you like, ten?" 

"Eleven!" She yells, clearly annoyed. 

I chuckle. "Alright." 

I throw the ball up and hit it with my right hand. She volleys it but I return it quickly, quick enough that it hits the ground before she's able to hit it. 

"Race to five points. game? It's already one-to-zero."  I say.

She picks the ball up then walks back to her side of the beach. "Race to seventy points." 

"I came here to relax, Lia." 

"Ugh. Fine." She groans. "Five points." 

__ . __

"Four-all." My mom yells from the side. 

I wipe the sweat from my forehead, I think it's been fifteen minutes, I'm not sure. But I'm sure of one thing - and that is that Lia has been working on her Volleyball skills. She's good, and I'm not going to lie, I am breathless now while she still looks like she's warming up. Maybe I'm out of shape, it's been a while since I've been to the gym but my body still looks fairly good. You know, abs still firm, arms, biceps, and all that .

I toss the ball in the air and hit it, it goes flying towards her but she bends down and receives the ball like a pro. I run to the left, extending my arm which thankfully hit the ball, which comes to a slow descent, giving her the time to prepare for a smash. 

And she does. 

I try to meet the ball but I'm too slow, or the ball was to fast. It hit the ground before I did. I stay there, on the sand, facing the sky, catching my breath. A little kid comes into frame, it starts out as a silhouette but my eyes focus and recognize the little kid. She offers me a hand and I take it. 

"Boys aren't always good at everything." She winks with the ball in one hand.

I laugh and mess with her hair. "At least I can do the helicopter. "