Two Scoops of Summer Love

10. Cookie Dough

My eyes peeled open and squinted against the sun to see Cameron standing right over me, blocking the sun's rays almost everywhere except on my face. He had a volleyball tucked under one arm as he stared down at me.

"Funny, I don't remember you hitting me with that volleyball this time." I sat up and tried blocking the sun with my hand. He wasn't helping me any by standing directly in front of the sun. His silhouette appeared to be rubbing the back of his neck.

"Uh, yeah, sorry about that," he said. "I really wish that didn't happen."

"Well whatever," I sighed and but my sunglasses on. "It is what it is."

"What is how it is?" Camille piped up from the space of sand beside me.

"Cameron is here." I pretended that I couldn't see Camille's obvious eyebrow wiggle, and just prayed that Cameron couldn't. 

"What are you guys doing?" he asked. He finally moved aside and out of the sun and I could see his face better. Cameron had an easy smile on his face. Soft and genuine.

Camille spoke up first. "I'm going to try and see if I can get Ana on a paddle board without her eating it immediately." We all laughed and I tried to hide my blush.

"That's pretty cool." Cameron looked at me and I felt like melting; whether it was from embarrassment or the look he gave me is passed me. "You know, I used to live in a small lake town before my Dad got moved here for work. I may be able to offer you a few pointers sometime if you're up for that?"

Camille elbowed me when I didn't respond right away, making me hold back a whimper. "Yeah, that would be cool." I stared at my toes digging in the sand as I answered.

"Cool." I looked up and immediately made eye contact which sent me into another spiral. "I'll see you around then?" I hummed my agreement as he said goodbye to Camille. He headed back over to the group of people who were calling his name as I buried my face in my towel.

Camille turned her focus to me then, and made me want to bury myself in the sand even more. "So, not only are you guys casually running into each other, you're agreeing to plans with him? This is weird. I mean not normally, but for you? I'm impressed you've even been running into each other without you combusting from embarrassment." I traced drawings in the sand and tried to evade her prodding. A kick to my hip had me relenting.

"Who said I wasn't combusting every time we speak?" I raised my eyebrow at my best friend. I whispered, "I'm not really sure either. I don't know what about Cameron makes different than everyone else but I don't feel super out of place around him."

"Has it ever occurred to you that you aren't out of place anywhere?" Camille shot me a look. "I think if you got out of your head you might be able to not feel out of place around more people, not just Cameron. But, I will say, that boy has charisma for days."

"And have you seen his smile?"

"Does your dumb ass think I'm blind?" Camille laughed.

~~~

I pushed my way back to the surface of the water as bubbles floated around me. When I did break the surface, Camille's laughter was the first thing to reach my ears. I pushed the hair that fell in front of my eyes out of the way and scowled as I tread water. Camille shoved the board that had flown out from beneath me in my direction and I righted it. Now came the fun part. I stretched my arms out to the opposite side of the board and tried to pull myself back up. The first try I flipped the board again, and the second I pulled myself up just to slip off the other side. Eventually, with no help from Camille, I was again sitting on the board. Soaked and frustrated, but I felt light from spending time with Camille. We had had to move into the deeper water because I felt almost bruised from falling onto the sand in the shallow area.

"Now, I don't think you heard me right last time, but you need to stand up and then stay standing." I kicked water in Camille's direction at her dig. 

"I don't know if you heard me scream last time," I answered while smiling, "but I lost all my balance and asked for help."

"What did you expect me to do?" Camille laughed, "Catch you while on my own board? Honey, you can't stand well on land and I'm not a miracle worker, contrary to popular belief."

"Who on earth is popular and believing that?" I teased. My eyes lifted to the beach, where I could see Cameron and his friends were still playing volleyball. I felt myself enter a daze as Cameron leapt across the beach court for the ball. His tan skin glowed in the sun, and he looked like one of the posters that hung in the storefronts at the mall. Even though he missed, he rose to his feet laughing and brushing the sand off of his face.

Camille's voice broke me out of my thoughts. "Jeez... I'm glad I'm not standing or else my knees would give out and I'd eat shit like you did. That boy has a nice face." I hushed her immediately because voices carry across the water.

"They'll hear you!"

"So what?" She laughed. 

We began to paddle back in to the shore, my ass firmly on the board so that I wouldn't fall again. Wading in, Camille started telling more of the town gossip that she learned from her parents. Apparently the new ice cream place was raking in business, and more so than any other new store in the little town had before.

"All this fuss just over a new ice cream store when there's been one in town for literal years?" I asked to which Camille just shrugged. It seemed like the tourists are more into gimmicks and fun social media walls than the traditions of a small beach town. I sighed, thinking about how awful my summer will be if there isn't anything to do at work except sit quietly next to a sullen Bryan and clean counters. Scratch that, what would really be the worse is if we're so dead that I get laid off. I really needed this job to afford tuition for school once I've graduated.

"I think its time that The Creamery got updated," Camille said. "To be frank, its just kind of dingy now. there's only so many times a fresh coat of paint can brighten a place up."

I nodded as we dragged out boards out of the water to where our stuff was set up. "You aren't wrong." I sighed and continued, "I'm just not sure how we could do it. We can't look like we're just copying Sweet Thing, the locals would hate it. I know just myself I have so many memories there, to just erase all that history would wreck what little we have going for us other than the ice cream."

"Agreed, but you don't even have ice cream on your side." 

"What?" I stared at Camille in shock and dropped the board, making her wince. "How can we not have ice cream on our side? I work for an ice cream shop."

"I know that." Camille righted the board. "But The Creamery doesn't have daily homemade gelato flavours or fresh waffle cones."

"How do they have the time?" My mind felt like it was blown. Who on earth was making gelato on top of how crazy busy it has been since their opening.

"I'm not sure but I think it's worth having a conversation with Frank about how dead it's been," Camille smiled gently.

"I don't want it to seem like I'm not doing anything when I'm at work," I whined. "I need this job."

"Then we had better start brainstorming how to save The Creamery before it goes under."