Currents

Nine ~ Secrets

Nine ~ Secrets

"What's going on with you and Austin, then?" I asked Mia when we met up for an afternoon of sunbathing on the beach.

Austin lurked by Brent's chair, no doubt having heard that Mia would be here today. Almost as soon as she'd arrived, he'd ditched Brent and hurried over to greet her.

"We're very good friends—have been for years," she said. "He just jokes around like that because the others find it hard to believe we can be so close with nothing ever happening."

"And nothing ever has happened?" I shifted my gaze onto Austin.

When he noticed me looking, he blew a kiss. Brent glanced over his shoulder to see who'd captured Austin's attention, and I averted my eyes.

"No." She sighed. "I don't know if it will. I can't deny there's chemistry, but I'd be terrified of ruining our friendship. You don't make many friends out here, and if I lost him, I might lose the others, too."

"You're close with Brent, though, right?"

Mia shrugged and downed the rest of her water. "I'm close with all of them. Brent and I live the nearest, so we hang out a lot. Our group is so tight-knit that it'd cause ripples if anything happened between any of us. Plus, I can't imagine what Brooke would think of me."

"Who?"

"She didn't join us at the weekend, but she's made it clear that she'd never get with any of the boys because it'd be a cheap thing to do—getting with your friends."

I laughed, startling Mia whose brow furrowed at my reaction. "Sorry. I'm not laughing at you. I'm laughing because my friendship group is the complete opposite. Everyone sleeps with everyone."

"And does that make it awkward?"

"No, but only because it's normal, I think."

The two of us sat in silence for a while, watching Brent and Austin. We acknowledged that our worlds bore few similarities, and yet it seemed irrelevant. I enjoyed hearing about how Mia's friendship group worked over here. It was refreshing for me, and she found my lifestyle fascinating, too.

"So, you'd never go there?" I asked, my eyes still on Austin as he flung his arm past his head in a movement that resembled throwing a ball. Brent nodded at whatever he was saying.

"Not sure." She reached into her bag and pulled out a bottle of sun cream. "There's a lot at risk, and he's a close friend. Why ruin a good thing?"

"I'm sorry for sticking my nose in," I said. "It's none of my business."

"It's fine," she said, squirting a small amount of lotion into her palm then lathering it into her legs. "It's not that I don't want to talk about it; I'm just so used to ignoring it I'm scared I'll end up realising things I'd rather not. It's easier this way."

Mia reclined on her towel, closing her eyes and shuffling her body until she found a comfortable position. Although we were becoming closer, I still hadn't known her that long, so I was hesitant to interfere too much in case she genuinely didn't want anything to happen between her and Austin. Breaking up with a boyfriend was bad enough, so losing your best friend on top of that would be horrendous.

I remained cross-legged on my towel, alternating my attention between the ocean's rhythmic waves, the rustling of the trees' leaves in the gentle breeze, and the two boys' distant chatter by the lifeguard chair. No cars, no sirens, no shouting... Only peacefulness.

"Now I'm thinking about things I don't want to think about," Mia said.

"Oh, yeah?"

She sighed but didn't elaborate until restlessness got the better of her. Sitting up, she pulled her legs beneath her.