The One

1

Veronica's POV

"We made it!" Lee said excitedly as we pulled into the parking lot. From my window, I could see the waves crash into the light brown sand. The three of us unloaded the trunk and made our way to the edge that divided the pavement from the sand. Ty, Lee's boyfriend, carried all of the chairs while Lee and I held the drinks and towels. 

"It smells amazing" Ty said, breathing in the fresh air. The light breeze blew my long hair back, tickling my shoulders. 

"Let's set up over there." I said, pointing to an open spot. We waddled over and began to lay the chair and towels out, marking that this spot was now ours. Within a few minutes, everything was set and we all sat down, Lee and Ty both holding hands. I pulled off my shirt, revealing my new red bikini top that Lee had gotten me for my previous birthday. One of the perks of having a gay best friend. I then dug around my bag for the sunscreen, which was buried underneath our six-pack of beer. 

"Oh girl, you look hot" Lee said with a grin on his face. I shook my head and snickered at him. "We need to find you a man. There is no reason why a girl like you would be single at your age." he said. Ty nodded his head and they both started looking around the beach.

"What about him?" Ty said, pointing to a tall, blond guy not too far from where we were sitting. I laughed and gave both of them 'the look'. 

"Guys, it doesn't work like that. You can't just expect me to pick a guy and magically fall in love with him. You both know how things turned out last time." I said, thinking of my ex-boyfriend. The nodded their heads yet continued to look around. "How about you guys go on a walk. I bet you two could use some alone time and honestly, I could too. I can stay here and watch our stuff." I said. They looked at each other and shrugged. "Come on! I've been third wheeling on your time together. Go!" I smiled. They nodded and stood up in unison. 

"We will be back soon." Lee said. 

"Call us if you need anything." Ty chimed in. With that, I was left alone. After covering myself in sunblock, I decided to lay out and work on my tan. With my eyes closed, I listened to all of the sounds around me, including the waves, while I soaked up the sun. Everything was so peaceful that I drifted off into a light sleep.  

After what felt like only a few minutes, I felt a light tap on my shoulder. My eyes fluttered open and I saw Lee, smiling and looking down at me. 

"Girl, you fell asleep. Hard." he laughed. I sat up in confusion, seeing Ty sitting in the chair right behind me. 

"What do you mean?" I asked. 

"It's two o'clock" he said. My eyebrows shot up as I realized I had been asleep for two hours.

"What? When did you guys get back?" I asked. Lee handed me a beer and I moved to sit next to them. 

"About an hour ago. We were going to wake you but you looked so relaxed. I only woke you up now because you were starting to get a little burnt." he said. I looked down, seeing a little red tint on my arm. Both Lee and Ty laughed at me while I took a swig of the cold beer. We chatted for awhile and they told me all about their walk, which was nice to hear about. I was glad they had some time alone. Soon enough, it was quarter past four and we started to pack up our things. I took the empty bottles and grabbed my bag, making my way to the trash cans. 

"I'll meet you at the car!" I yelled, stepping out of the sand onto the white pavement. There were many people around me, going in all different directions. I threw away our trash which consisted of the beer bottles and a couple snack wrappers. I then made my way to the outdoor showers, hoping to rinse the sand off of my feet. I turned the nob and cold water came blasting out. Within seconds, all of the sand has washed off and was now making its way down the drain. As I backed away from the showers, my body came into contact with something rather large. I bounced back, turning to see what I had run into. 

"Sorry, I didn't see you there" it said. My eyes wandered up to see a tall and handsome looking man. My eyes widened as I realized he was talking to me. "You alright?" he asked. I could feel the redness rushing to my cheeks. 

"Y-yeah, I'm good." I said at a complete loss of words. He began to laugh as he noticed me blushing. 

"I'm glad." he smiled, suddenly revealing his perfectly straight teeth. I couldn't believe this was happening. "Wouldn't want to hurt a pretty girl like you." he said. I smiled which made the grin on his face even bigger. His blue eyes were glistening in the sunlight. 

"Thank you" I said with a quiet giggle. We began walking towards the parking lot but he kept his eyes focused on me the entire time.

"So what's your name?" he asked. I looked up, seeing the curiosity on his face. 

"Veronica but everyone calls me Roni." I replied. 

"Roni," he said. "I like that." 

"What about you?" I asked. He smiled again which made my stomach do a twirl. 

"I'm Hayes" he said. Before I could say anything, I saw Ty and Lee waiting for me by the car a few yards ahead. They were both looking at me with excited expressions on their faces. 

"Looks like I have to go. It was nice meeting you Hayes." I said, turning towards him.

"Right back at ya, Roni. Maybe I'll see you around." he replied. I smiled and nodded my head. We both turned away from each other and I made my way to the car. We all hopped in and Lee began to back out of the spot.

"Who was that?" Ty asked excitedly. I looked over my shoulder, seeing him in the distance. Soon enough, I could no longer make him out in the crowd. 

"That was Hayes" I said.