9 years ago
"Found you!" Josh called out.
Carter let out a giggle and immediately rushed away when his hiding place was discovered. Josh quickly went after him and they ran in circles around the old, wooden boat. Josh had told Carter that the boat had to be placed on land for a moment because of the upcoming storm. He told how he had helped the neighbor who the boat belonged to pull the boat out of the water. It wasn't a large one; a rather small fisher's boat that was usually immune to the harsh tides of the ocean, but apparently did have to get pulled onto the shore for storms.
The grey, roaring clouds had already flooded the sky, warning for the approaching storm. They blocked the sunlight away from Port Hayland, creating a dark atmosphere above the town.
"No!" Carter laughed when he was tagged on his back.
"Don't be a sore loser," Josh said and he gave Carter a mischievous smile.
"I'm not a sore loser. You're a sore loser!" Carter tagged Josh on his chest before he ran away again, this time towards the shore.
The clouds were getting darker shaded grey and people were already retreating to their homes. Though Carter and Josh didn't notice. Their laughter filled the streets as they ran towards the docks. Like two birds flocking in the sky, ignoring all that was around them.
The tides of the sea got rougher as the speed of the wind increased and the boats attached to the docks bounced up and down along with the waves.
The sound of running feet over the wood was barely audible through the wind and Carter found himself cornered as he reached the end of one of the docks.
"Got you!" Josh called out.
It was then that a loud thunder was heard and the boys screamed in unison.
"Let's go back," Carter said, his voice hinted with fear. He hated thunder storms. The loud, sudden thunder sounds frightened him and he always hid underneath the sheets of his bed, closing his eyes and wishing for the storm to quickly blow over.
Josh grabbed Carter's hand and they started running over the docks, back towards the village.
Carter felt safer with the warmth of Josh's hand against his own as they ran back until they got to Carter's house. The rain had already started to pour down and they were soaking wet when they entered the house.
Carter's mother was shocked to see the two children completely drenched. She made them change their clothes. Josh borrowed some of Carter's.
They sat on Carter's bed, with the blanket over their heads and a flashlight between them to light up the darkness around them. Each time the roaring sound of thunder rolled by, Carter would flinch a little, though he felt a lot safer with Josh with him. He was holding his hand and squeezed each time the thunder was heard.
"Hey, Carter," Josh whispered.
"Yeah?" Carter opened his eyes again and they flickered up to meet with the blue ones of his friend.
"Do you want me to give you a safety charm?" he asked.
"What is a safety charm?"
"It's some sort of spell that protects you from all evil. When you have it, nothing can harm you. Not even the thunder," Josh said. "My mother gave it to me right here." His hand went up and placed his index finger in the center of his forehead. "Do you want me to give you the safety charm as well? Only people who have the charm can share it."
Thunder was heard again and Carter made a small noise out of fear before he nodded his head. "Yes, I want it."
Josh then slowly leaned forwards and puckered his lips before he pressed them against Carter's forehead. He stayed like that for a few seconds before he leaned back.
"Now nothing can harm you anymore," he said.
Now
As Carter unpacked one of the last boxes, he had to wipe a little sweat from his forehead. He had almost forgotten how warm it always was in Port Hayland. Those five years really seemed to have lowered his immunity to the heat.
He put a few more pictures on his dresser. Pictures of the friends he had made in Minnesota.
There was Clara, a red-haired girl with beautiful freckles all over her face and body, there was Ramona, a dark-skinned girl with a playful afro curls that would bounce up and down with each step that she'd take, and there was Devon, Ramona's twin brother who always had funny stories to tell about his adventures from his part-time job at an amusement park.
Carter would be lying if he said that he wouldn't miss them. Because he really would.
He looked at his reflexion in the mirror placed next to the dresser. He looked at his short, dark brown hair, his chocolate colored eyes and his light skin. He wasn't exactly muscular. People would probably say he's more on the skinny side. Though he did train himself from time to time and he at least could say that he had decent arms.
He still had light freckles sprinkled over his nose and cheeks which appeared whenever the sun would enlighten his face.
It was then that the doorbell rang and Carter was shot out of his daze. He left his room and soon heard a few frantic voices from downstair. The voices consisted of the one from his mother, and the other ones appeared to belong to teenagers.
"My God, you all have grown so much!" Carter heard his mother say excitedly.
He walked down the steps and saw said teenagers standing in the door opening. When he took a good look at them, he began to realize who they were.
Paxton, Melanie and Chris. His old friends from Middle School.
"Carter!" Pax called out when he looked up and their eyes met.
"Pax!" Carter rushed down the stairs and rushed over to his old friends to pull them into an embrace, almost losing balance as his arms were wrapped around them.
"Holy shit, man, you've grown!" Chris said.
"I could say the same from you guys," Carter smiled as he looked at his friends.
Paxton still looked the same. Tall, dark skinned, small afro and slim built.
Chris still had his curly blond hair, glasses and freckles that dusted his cheeks and nose.
Though Melanie had definitely changed the most of them. Her brown hair was a lot longer, she no longer had her braces and her skin had gotten a lot more tanned. Though she still was short.
"You cut your hair. It used to be so wavy and wild," Melanie commented and she reached up to touch Carter's hair.
Carter let out a chuckle and looked at his friends. "I really missed you guys," he said.
"Time flies, doesn't it?" Paxton said and he swung an arm around Carter's shoulders. "Though you have a lot of catching up to do. Like, a lot."
"Then you guys best get started," Carter said as he walked with them to the living room. "We're basically trying to get the old interior back. So far I think it looks pretty close but-"
At that moment, the doorbell rang again and Carter stopped mid-sentence.
Was it Josh? Carter had hoped to see him as well again today. He walked to the door and opened it to see who it was.Though to his slight disappointment, it wasn't the male he wanted to see.
In the door opening stood a girl with blonde, chest-length wavy hair, green eyes and fair skin. Carter didn't recognize her at first but after a brief moment of looking, he started to realize.
"Alyssa?" he said, almost not believing how much she had changed.
"Yes it's me! Oh my God I can't believe you're back!" Alyssa cheered and she swung her arms around Carter's neck to pull him into a tight hug. "I've missed you!"
Carter hugged her back and smiled. "I missed you too! You've changed so much. I almost didn't recognize you."
Alyssa was closest to Carter after Josh before he moved away. He had always considered her his best girl friend and she was also good friends with Josh.
"I have, haven't I?" Alyssa said as she let go of the male and smiled up at him. "You're finally taller than me!"
She walked into the house and Carter closed the door before following her. It made him really happy to see his friends again together after so long. Though he started to wonder why Josh didn't show up.
"Sorry I'm a little late, by the way. I was with my boyfriend and we kind of lost track of time," Alyssa said.
"As long as you did it safe," Chris snickered and Alyssa gave him a smack on his shoulder.
"Pervert," she said as she went to sit down next to Melanie.
Carter also walked up to the living room to sit down with his old friends. Seeing everyone together now really made him feel as if he was back home. He had a nice time in Minnesota, but his heart had always remained at Port Hayland. He had missed the warm breeze, waking up to the sounds of the seagulls, feeling the warm sand of the shore between his toes, the smell of the sea, the sunny weather. He missed everything about this town.
+++
The next day Carter was woken up by his mother, asking him to go to the supermarket for ingredients for supper. He groaned as he looked at the time on his phone. It was almost 11 AM and he realized he had slept in longer than usual. He figured it was probably because of the stress moving brought along. He pulled on some shorts and a loose shirt before quickly fixing his hair; he always got horrible bed hair.
He put on his flip flops, not really caring if he looked lazy, before walking downstairs. Even though it had been five years, he still knew Port Hayland by heart. "I'll be back soon," he said before he closed the door behind him.
He was greeted by the morning sun enlightening his face and he had to slightly squint his eyes to keep himself from being blinded by the bright light.
Even though it was the end of summer, it was still very warm here. His first year in Minnesota was the first year he ever saw snow in real life. It was an interesting occurrence; he had never experienced weather that cold before in his life. Though he thought the snow was amazing.
The streets of Port Hayland were calm as usual. Every now and then a few people strolling over the pavements, minding their daily business.
Carter knew the supermarket was a few streets away from his home and it was probably a ten minute walk towards the docks.
From afar, the blue ocean sparkled in the sunlight, giving an almost inviting sight. Swimming did seem very tempting for Carter at the moment. He still had to get used to the warm weather.
As was lost in thought, walking over the stone pavements and listening to the calm sounds of the streets, something caught his eye.
A small, bright blue, flying object. When Carter realized what it was, he stopped in his tracks. It didn't take him long before he recognized the butterfly as a Morpho butterfly. It reminded him of the first time he met Josh and how he had told him that it was rare for a Morpho butterfly to be in this part of the country.
The butterfly flew away and Carter, almost in an instant, followed the flying insect.
Maybe he could catch it or at least take a picture of it with his phone.
He followed the butterfly down the streets as it was headed towards the ocean. Carter got his phone from the pocket of his Jeans to try to take a picture of it, but he first needed to get closer.
It was probably ridiculous of him to follow a butterfly all the way down to the shore simply to take a picture, but since it was rare and reminded Carter of a happy time, he thought it was worth it.
When he almost got down to the docks, the butterfly stopped and landed on the flowers of a plant next to the wooden shack of the local Surfboard renter. He zoomed in with his phone to take a picture before it could fly away. Though right as he was about to capture the shot, his attention got drawn to somewhere else.
Against the outer wall of the shack, he saw two people kissing each other rather passionately. The girl had her arms wrapped around the male' neck and his arms were sliding over her back.
Carter stood there frozen for a moment, wanting to walk away but was afraid to make a sound that would tell the couple he had seen them.
Though when the girl's eyes opened, she met with those of Carter's and she quickly pushed the boy off her. It was then that Carter realized it was Alyssa.
"Carter!" she said, her cheeks turning a bright shade of pink.
Carter wasn't sure what to say. He felt rather awkward himself for having caught Alyssa making out like that with her apparent boyfriend.
His eyes then went over to the boy, taking in his tall frame. He saw his short blond hair, his light skin and playful blue eyes.
Carter held his breath as he began to realize who the male was.
"...Josh?"