Rayston Point Road || Editing

Chapter Sixteen

The following morning, I was reluctantly pulling into Andie's driveway, motivated by the fight Leighton and I had this morning over my sudden departure from the party the night before, which had resulted in my finding one of Dan's bottles of whiskey and passing out before they had returned home, only to wake to Leighton's wrath in the morning. I had also woken to a slew of texts from Andie, asking me if I was okay, and begging me to come over around noon the next day. I was a little early arriving to her house, due to my rapid departure in the midst of Leighton screaming at me while I yelled back, but Andie was already standing on her front porch, smiling at me. As I stood from my car and pushed the door shut, she bounded down the steps towards me, the glint in her eye telling me that the day of hiding out at her house that I had anticipated was not what I was actually going to get.

"Come on!" She smiled, floating over to her car. "We're going to the marina."

"Why?" I narrowed my eyes at her, walking hesitantly towards where she was waiting for me. I could see the strings of a bikini poking out from the halter neck dress she was wearing. She had a tan woven bag slung over her shoulder, her blonde hair pulled pack into a ponytail.

"Mac's dad is giving him the boat for the day. He's taking us out." I stopped mid-way to Andie's car, dropping my head back slightly.

"Andie," I groaned, sighing heavily.

"Come on," she whined in response, and when I tilted my head back she was looking at me with her chin stuck out slightly, pushing out her bottom lip, widening her eyes as she pleaded with me. "It'll be fun. We're going to stop at some of the islands, the beaches-"

"Fine." I held up my hand to stop her, watching as her face light up and her body straightened as I started to walk towards her. As we settled into her car, she launched into a description of some of the islands of the coast of Rayston, talking for the entire length of the trip to the marina. I listened painfully, my head already pounding from the spar I'd had with Leighton and the hangover I was dealing with from the copious amounts of alcohol I had consumed, but I had learned already that Andie was incapable of staying quiet for too long, and if I admitted to being hungover when I had left her party sober last night, it would have brought up dozens of questions that I didn't want to answer, so I let her chat away, thankful when we finally pulled up to the marina and I could free myself from the car.

There was a strong wind coming off the coast, making the sun feel less unbearable as it climbed higher in the sky above us. I followed Andie down the dock, past rows of boats with ridiculous ones not unlike what I was used to spending my summer on up north, and when we came up to a cruiser with the name The Renaissance printed in dark blue letters across the side, Mac moving around the deck as he prepared for their departure, wearing khaki shorts and a short-sleeved polo, every instinct in my body screamed with déjà vu and the desire to run.

"Hey." I jumped, not having realized somebody else had come up behind me while I contemplated bailing and Andie walked further down the dock to let Alex, who was onboard with Diego and a girl I didn't recognize, help her climb aboard. I turned my head and looked up over my shoulder, eyes landing on Isaac who was standing inches behind my right shoulder.

"Hi." I turned to face him fully, keeping my eyes on his face. He looked tired, as tired as I felt, and I found myself wondering what he had done last night after I left. His eyes were studying me the same way, no doubt taking in the puffy bags underneath my eyes, the bloodshot whites, and the pallor that had sunken into my cheeks from too much alcohol and not enough food. He looked as if he wanted to say something, his eyes flickering around mine as his mind worked, and I waited, wondering if it was an apology that was about to leave his lips, relieved when he decided to opt for another course, as I had already chosen to let it go.