We're going to the beach today
We're gonna laugh and sing our cares away
~ My Time With You (David Choi and Kina Grannis)
When I got home, I changed into my polka-dotted swimsuit, slipped on my flip-flops and braided my hair. I took off my tortoise shell glasses – I only needed them for reading – and grabbed my pink wayfarers.
I would be meeting Ariel, Nate, and our friend, Leo, at the beach. After I put on my sarong and grabbed my tote bag, I ventured out to the sandy dunes. It was 1:30, so the beach was extremely crowded. Tired parents chased excited children around elaborate sand castles, threatening to fall apart. I smiled at the familiar sight.
Over the years, things changed – what with my sister living in New York, my best friend and brother dating, Ariel becoming a cheerleader and me staying a happy nerd. However, this was comforting to see: the more things changed, the more they stayed the same.
I walked over to our signature spot, under the cliff on which the lighthouse was perched. We'd established this when we were much younger, when we'd have our adventures here year-round. Whether we were pirates gone on a seafaring adventure or secret service spies undercover, we always knew to come back here, to our spot.
I saw Leo waving at me where Ariel had set up a lavish picnic under a rainbow coloured umbrella. Leo enveloped me in a massive bear hug.
I giggled, "Hey, Leo, miss me?"
He looked at me strangely. "Of course! I haven't seen you for, oh, I don't know, 23 hours? I nearly perished without your touch!" He put his hand on his forehead, mocking the signature damsel-in-distress pose.
I rolled my eyes. "Oh please. Don't be such a drama queen." I smirked.
"For you? Never." He rolled his darling gray eyes back at me.
From behind, I heard some girls squealing. "Leo looks so hot! Is he gonna surf soon?" I turned around and they pretended to not see me.
Leo took it in stride. "Hey, ladies," he flashed his devilish grin.
Poor girls.
Leo was utterly gorgeous; perfect sandy blonde hair over smouldering gray eyes, six-pack abs and he was six foot four. Captain of the track team and a surfer. Total eye candy. The catch? He was undeniably, irrevocably, and completely –
"Hey, that new guy's pretty cute. You seen him yet?"
– Gay.
"Cruel, cruel Leo. Why do you choose to leave a trail of broken hearts behind you?" I followed his gaze... and gasped.
"It's not like it's a secret. If they choose out of their own will to love me, it's their problem." He followed my gaze and noticed whom I was staring at.
Ariel spoke up. "Yup, the new employee at our book shop, Damon. Handsome, isn't he?" She pointedly turned to my brother, who had an adorable jealous expression on his face. She burst out laughing.
"Oh, does our little Isa have a crushy-crush?" Leo chastised me too much.
I, of course, blushed furiously. "No, he's just really nice is all." Which reminded me . . . "He gave me these tickets for the open mic at La Coquille," I said, showing them the tickets,
"You mean the one I begged you two to sign up for?" Ariel gave both my brother and I an icy glare.
"Come on, Ariel, you know Nate was busy with football, as I was with AP."
It sounded completely fake, even to my ears. The real reason was that I was too afraid to sing for all those people – not stage fright, but the fear that I wasn’t good enough. Ariel, having known me forever, could see right through me.
“Right. How many times have I told you that you sound amazing, and Nate’s guitar skills would’ve been perfect?”
I sighed. “Plenty. But believe me, I will, when the time’s right. I promise, alright?” I gave my pinkie swear. One of my rules was that I never broke pinkie swears, whatever cost.
“Deal.” She smiled at me. “I knew you’d come through, you softie.”
“Yup, I’m just a big panda bear.”
“Uh, did you two forget that I’m in this deal?” Nate ambled over.
“Oh yeah... would you please play for me? If not for me, for Ariel?” I teased. “You know you want to . . .”
“Fine, but there better be a guitar solo somewhere in this hypothetical song,” he grumbled.
He pretended as if he was doing us such a big favour, but I could tell that he was excited at this new prospect too. And, I’ll admit, he had a reason to. His guitar skills were crazy good – making up tunes and melodies were as easy and natural to him as breathing. Just another thing to add to the list of why Nate was the most sought-after boy in our school. I feared that his player past would catch up to him someday though . . .
“Hun, there’s just two tickets. How do you expect us to come with you?” Leo brought up a good point.
“He told me to contact him for more tickets, should the need arise.”
He grinned slyly, “Well, he’s right there, you could . . .”
“Please can it wait for tomorrow at work?” I didn’t want him to see me in a swimsuit, nor was I ready to see him in just swim trunks.
“Nope. Where’s your confidence that you always have at school?”
“This is different.” I actually liked Damon. I tended to mess up my conversations when it didn’t have anything to do with academic issues.
Leo just rolled his eyes. “Just go.”
I turned towards Nate and Ariel for support, but they weren’t there. I heard Ariel shrieking in the water as Nate splashed her, laughing. They must have slipped away when I wasn’t paying attention.
I gave Leo a pleading look. “Come on, Leo, don’t make me do this . . .”
“Carpe Diem...” he recited his favourite phrase. “Will you do it, for me, please?”
I was a total sucker for Leo. He had a talent for making people do what he wants. His charms were definitely not lost on me.
“Okay, only for you, Leo,” I grudgingly answered him.
His eyes sparkled and he gave me a huge grin. He jumped up with glee. “I knew it! I knew it! Now go get your man, girl!” He smacked my butt.
It wasn’t unusual for him to do that. I gave him my patented confused half-smile and sauntered away, just for show. When I was a safe distance, I started having second thoughts.
Okay, Isabel, you can do this.
I adjusted my sarong for the thirty-seventh time and fixed the straps on my suit. I drew nearer to him.
100 metres. 50 metres. 25 metres. 10 metres.
I waved to him. However, he didn’t see me. He was hunched over a guitar, eyes closed, softly humming a tune. I detested the fact that I would break this perfect picture. I saved this scene as a memory in my head, so that it would always be with me. I tapped his shoulder.
“Damon. It’s me, Isabel.”
His eyes snapped open and he plopped his guitar on the sand. He was blushing and his expression was bewildered.
“Oh, hey, fancy seeing you here.”
Now that he was standing up and the guitar was gone, I could see his chiselled physique and sky blue swim trunks. I had to keep down my own blush from surfacing.
I smiled nervously. “Just wanted to ask for more tickets, please.”
He smiled at me. “Well those are gonna cost ten dollars each. They’re raising money for the animal shelter, so it’s completely non-profit,” he exclaimed.
“That’s wonderfully kind of them,” I said, “I’ll give you twenty bucks tomorrow then?”
“It’s a done deal.”
We smiled at each other for a while until I asked, “You were playing something earlier. It sounded great.” And really, it was.
He looked embarrassed. “I was just messing around with some chords . . . it was nothing really spectacular.”
“I think you’d get along great with my brother.” He seemed pretty lonely here, so I invited him to our spot. “You can come chill with us, if you want to. We have food!”
He smiled this slow, sexy grin. “I’m in.”
“Cool. Cool cool cool,” I quoted my favourite TV show, Community.
We walked over, and Ariel and Nate were out of the lake, wrapped in towels and lounging on the bench. Leo had gone surfing, which was probably for the best. When Ariel saw Damon, her eyes sparkled and a devious look appeared on her face. Boy, she looked like an angel, but she didn’t always act like one. Nate seemed chill and didn’t catch on to the fact that I liked Damon, which was definitely for the best.
Time for awkward introductions . . .
“Damon, meet Ariel and Nate. Ariel and Nate, meet Damon.” I looked on nervously as they shook hands.
“Ariel, I’ve already met you,” she smiled as he continued, “And Nate, do you play guitar by any chance?”
Nate seemed pleasantly surprised. “Actually, I do. Isabel told you? I bet she’s told you she can sing then?” He grinned like a mad man. Damon’s eyes lit up and I glared at my brother.
“It’s true, but it’s nothing compared to my wonderfully talented twin brother.”
“No, no, it’s Isabel who would probably make it big.” We were bickering now.
Damon bit back a smile and seemed genuinely enraptured. “Wait, you guys are twins?”
“Yup. Even though we don’t look alike,” I responded.
“No way. I have a twin sister too!”
Nate smirked. “Good. At least we don’t have to tell you that boy-girl twins are quite common."
Damon rolled his eyes. “God, I know! People everywhere always think it’s the most fascinating thing in the world, like it’s never happened before.
I agreed. “It feels like we’re alien species, trapped under their gaze like scientific specimens.”
“Actually that would be pretty cool!” Nate laughed.
I giggled, then I noticed Ariel was looking a bit lonely. “Hey guys, I’m pretty starved. We should eat.”
Damon looked over. “Wow, this looks really good.”
I put my arm on Ariel’s shoulder. “That’s because Ariel made it.” She smiled appreciatively at me.
The food really did look delicious. There were smoked salmon and cream cheese sandwiches on pumpernickel bread, watermelon and berries for dessert and a few bags of chips to munch on. In the cooler, we brought ice cream sandwiches, cans of pop and bottles of water. I grabbed a cucumber salad out of the cooler.
As we ate, I’d found out that Damon and his sister, Raechelle, were the older of a family of six – four girls, two boys. He was part Scottish and part Spanish (Spanish mom, Scottish dad). He could play most instruments if he put his mind to it. He also knew Latin – “Harena Beach means, literally translated, Sand Beach,” he’d said – which made sense since he was into languages. We shared that love – I wanted to be a writer someday.
While we were indulging on ice cream, Leo returned from his surfing adventure, and a trail of fangirls followed his every move. I gave him a look that said, "You’d better shoo them off before you get here!"
He whispered something in their ears, and I could see the hearts forming in their awestruck eyes.
They breathed flirtily, “Bye, Leo!"
“See you, ladies.” He said, making his way over to us.
“He really seems popular with the girls, huh?” Damon observed.
Nate snorted, “Yeah, but it’s not like he’s interested in them. He’s gay.”
Damon apprehended this and breathed out. “Wow. It’s great how you can just say that out loud here.”
Nate seemed dubious. “It’s different from where you live?”
Damon smiled, but his eyes were sad, “Yeah. A lot different.”
Leo strutted to our table. “Yum, a feast! Hello, cutie,” he called out to Damon. Damon laughed to play it off, but he was blushing; his ears turned pink.
I gave Leo a death glare. “Leo, can I speak to you got a second?” I yanked his muscular arm. He gave me his devilish grin.
I sighed. “Please don’t embarrass me too much, okay? You know I love you, but he might need a few moments to warm up to you, okay?”
He rolled his eyes. “Alright, alright. But he is cute. Are you sure he’s not gay?”
Now it was my turn to roll my eyes. “Just be nice.”
The thing that was wonderful about Leo was that even though he was flamboyant and a bit difficult, he was very loyal and respectful to his friends. We walked back, and Nate and Damon were happily talking about guitar techniques. Damon had his guitar out, playing a soft tune. It took a second to get it, but it was an acoustic version of Dancing in the Moonlight by Toploader.
“I love that song!” I blurted out.
Nate just laughed. “I was waiting for you to say something. She’s always singing and dancing to this song all around the house, like a maniac,” he turned to Damon.
He gave me an amused smile and I simply turned red. I tried to think of something witty to save my sorry soul when Ariel spoke up.
“So Damon, you seem pretty skilled at music. Can you perform something for us?” She gave me a look that said, "I got you." I smiled appreciatively.
“Sure, why not?” He started playing Lucky by Jason Mraz and Colbie Caillat.
Then he started singing.
His voice was rich and wonderful, and very smooth. It flowed effortlessly over his notes, like liquid silk. Before I knew it, I was already singing along. It was one of my favourite songs; I couldn’t resist. I smiled at him the entire song, and he grinned back. As we sang the last note, I looked into his eyes. There were golden flecks in them, I could get lost in his eyes forever.
Then, Nate whistled.
“Wow, that was . . . actually really good,” he smiled, sharing a look with Ariel.
She nodded enthusiastically. “Your voices sounded perfect together. Your harmonies were fantastic.”
I turned crimson. “Yeah. You were really great, Damon. You have a true gift.”
He smiled shyly and looked through his lashes. “Well, it wasn’t all me.” His smile grew wider. “It looks like I’ve got a new singing partner.”
Leo piped up. “I’ll toast to that.”
We all laughed and downed our soda. The sun was setting and we decided to take one last dip before we left. I was always the first in and the last out of the water. As I crashed into the waves, Leo picked me up and threw me across the lake.
I shrieked with laughter, and as I surfaced, I saw Damon hovering near the shore. “Don’t you want to swim?”
He gave me a sheepish look. “I can’t. I never learned how.” I must’ve looked really shocked because he blushed. “I lived near the mountains so. . .”
I could never imagine not knowing how to swim. I’d spent my entire life here at Harena. I lived for the summers at the beach. I loved swimming. I’d usually stay until my fingers would become wrinkly like a new born baby’s. These waters were a part of me.
I blinked back to the present. “Oh.”
Leo said, “I can teach you, if you like.”
Damon seemed nervous, but smiled at the offer. “Thanks, that would be great.”
We got out and yelled, “Goodnight, sun!” It was our nightly tradition.
The stars and full moon gave us enough light to locate our spot. As we packed up, I snuck another glance at him. He was laughing at something Nate said. He was so beautiful in the moonlight, here with my friends. It truly looked like he belonged here.
He caught me looking and gave me a wink. I just laughed, and felt warm all the way to the tips of my toes.
We walked on the boardwalk, the bright lights illuminating a familiar sign. Harena Beach’s Carnival had started up again.
“I’ll take you here soon,” whispered Nate to Ariel.
I flicked him on the arm. “Don’t make it awkward for those of us who aren’t happily dating.”
All the while, I was sensitive to Damon’s presence, and hoped he didn’t think I was weird for saying what I did. Thankfully, he chuckled, out of his kindness towards me. A tiny smile made itself onto my face. We all walked back to the residential area, where we said our goodbyes. As I waved to Damon, I felt my heart swell. I could hardly wait to see him again, tomorrow.
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You're welcome for the yummy pictures on the side.
Feedback for Patricia is awesome.