Dedicated to anacedar because she is my first reader and voter for the new story I wrote and posted, Your Mess is Mine, and because she is one of my recent followers, so thank you very much Ana, it meant a lot!
Chapter Nineteen: Holy Abs
When I open my eyes, I stare at the ceiling. This is not my ceiling, and this is not my bed or room. Shit. I run my hands over my face. Oh...yesterday was not a dream. I am definitely here in Hana with Liam. I place my hands behind my head and look to my right to see Bella sleeping beside me. One day down with Liam...six more to go. I sit up and huff. This is going to be one long week.
Bella and I get dress and go to the buffet to meet up with the guys. As we enter, my eyes meet Liam's and I look away quickly. Shit. Why did I do that? Why am I being awkward? We agreed no more awkwardness.
"Shit..." I mumble below my breath.
"Come on," Bella beckons, linking her arm with mine and leads me towards the table the guys are sitting at, "Aloha!"
"Morning, babe." Jay rises from his seat and gives her a peck on the cheek.
I back away from them and stare with disgust. I turn on my feet and notice Liam sitting across from Jay. His cheeks are puffed out like chipmunks holding nuts, except his are filled with pancakes. He smiles at me, his eyes crinkling at the ends because his cheeks get in the way. My body is impaired. Shit. He looks so cute. Shit. No. No.
"I'm hungry!" I announce, but after my thoughts, I sputter, "For food. I'm gonna go get food."
We drive to Hamoa beach talking quietly amongst ourselves. Well, I'm sitting in my little corner of the jeep staring outside. I'm nervous beyond anything else. We're going to the beach with intent on actually enjoying ourselves on the beach - if that even makes sense. Okay, to simplify it: Liam is here, it's day time, it's a tourist beach, there's the ocean, and if I get wet I will have a tail in front of everyone. Shit...Not to mention, Liam and I are awkward again...well, fine, I'm awkward with Liam, again.
We step foot on the beach. I dig my toes into the warm sand and stare at my colored fourth of July nails. Here we go...Standing side by side, we stare at the clear, blue ocean in front of us. There's not a cloud in the sky. There is barely any wind. It's the perfect day to surf. I look sideways to see everyone holding a board. It's too bad I won't be joining them...
We settle near the front of the beach, a couple feet away from the shore and with some distance from the tourists. I place my paddle board down and drop my backpack on the ground. I place my hands on my hips and take a deep breath as I feel the heat of the sun beating on me though my tank top. I grab the ends of my top and pull it off revealing my light lavender bikini top with a pink line that goes around the cup, cute and simple. I toss my tank on the sand and unbutton my jean shorts. I wiggle out of them and kick them away from me. I bend down and open my backpack pulling out my necessities: water, sunblock, and my current read: The Giver.
I hear Jay snicker and I turn around to see Liam covering his eyes with his arm over his forehead to block the sun. He's staring at the water and I turn my head to look as well. A pack of surfers are swimming out to a wave and now all my attention is focused on that. A surfer with a neon green gun surfboard turns around to face the beach as he prepares for the wave to arrive. I'm watching intently as the wave begins to form, a big good one, he sits up and stands up and take over the waves riding to the end of it. He rides over the wave and disappears behind it.
"Holy shit! Wow!" I clap, "Did anyone see that?"
I whip my head over and my eyes are glued onto Liam. My breath is caught in my throat. Holy shit. He's taking off his shirt and my eyes travel to his body. Holy abs. He's stretching his arms over his head to take off his shirt and not only does it reveal his six pack, but holy mother of - is that a V-line? Ladies and gentleman, I have a Tom Daley torso look alike standing next to me.
"See what, Gaby? What exactly are you looking at?" Jay asks, with a teasing tone.
Shit! My jaw drops and I whip my head away, feeling some heat rise to my cheeks and not because of the sun. I grumble under my breath and huff, placing my sunglasses over my eyes.
"Nothing. Nothing. You guys missed it."
"Uh huh..."
I purse my lips tightly and viciously grab my towel and spread it out on the sand. I stomp onto it and take a seat. Holy shit. Was I checking Liam out? Oh no! I couldn't have because everyone looks at everyone. My eyes just happened to stumble upon him...taking off his shirt. He has abs, so what? Everyone loves abs! Everyone stares at abs! Abs are cool! It was completely innocent. It didn't mean anything. They were just abs. I sneak a glance Liam. He's applying sunscreen onto his arms, and...Holy biceps. I avert my eyes away and purse my lips tighter. Stupid Jay.
"Holy shit!" I release and plop onto my back.
"What's wrong?" Bella asks.
"It's so hot!" I cry. Then my eyes almost bulge out my sockets because of my words, "The sun! The beach! It's really hot outside!"
"It's only eighty-four." Bella says.
"Oh."
Jay snickers behind me and I brush him off by taking my book and opening it to a random page. Although it's hard to concentrate after my little slip up. I lower my head onto my towel and stay still. There's a cool sensation on my back and then a hand begins to rub my back. Liam?! I jump and turn around to see it's Bella applying sunscreen on my back. She smiles at me and I crinkle my eyebrows together. Cool it, Gaby. It's just Bella. I love Bella. But I also wish it was Liam. Holy shit. Did I just think that?! I haven't had him physically close to me in a long time. I wonder what it would be like to have his hands rubbing sunscreen on my back. To have his hands on my waist and down to my hips.
"Are you girls coming in, or what?" Liam asks.
I snap out of my thoughts that are on the brink of dirty. Holy shit. Did I just have dirty thoughts about Liam?! I look at Liam holding his white and blue long board over his head. My eyes can't help but travel down his chest and torso. Stop it, Gaby!
"Uh..." I drag and tear my eyes away and glance at Bella.
She's staring at me with narrow eyes and then looks at Liam, "We're not feeling it right now...we're still exhausted from yesterday." Liam nods his head and follows Jay up ahead, "Be careful!"
Both of them turn around and my eyes skim over Jay and go straight to Liam, he grins widely and nods his head. I inhale deeply and sit up. I clap the sand off my hands and pull my sunglasses onto my head.
"You know, it's so really nice of Liam to invite us like that." Bella says.
"Like what?"
"You know...how he invited us when we were at Twin Falls and just now." she tells me, "I just wish we can actually agree and be there to join him."
"Yeah."
"He really wants to be with us."
"Yeah."
"I mean, he's putting in so much effort with you."
"Yeah."
"What do you think?"
I glance at her and then back at the sand, shrugging my shoulders, "I don't know. I guess I wish it wasn't this way."
The tide washes just five feet away from my knees as I sit pretzel style near the shore. I'm itching to take a dip and take form, but that's impossible right now. I just want to feel the warm water around me. Maybe Bella and I will take a swim later when everyone is out of the water. The sun is set high and I'm applying sunscreen on my shoulders while staring at Jay intently. That's right, I'm staring at Jay now. Nothing sexually though - oh the horror that would be! Bella and I are watching Jay and Liam surfing competitively together, while scoring them. We have our white, dry erase boards with us and we've been watching them for quite sometime now. I scribble a eight-point-five and hold it up for Jay to see.
"Yeah!" Jay shouts, pumping his fist to the sky.
"What." I quip. I gave him a pretty low score. I lean forward to look at Bella's board, "Another ten?" I don't let her speak, "Your score shouldn't even count! Your bias because he's your boy toy!" I shout, shaking her arm back and forth and then playfully pushing her away.
She's laughing uncontrollably and I laugh with her as I wipe my board off. I chuckle and tug a strand that fell out of my bun behind my ear and look at the guys in the water. It's Liam's turn. He's sitting on his board waiting for wave to form. I take a deep breath looking at the horizon for a wave. Ah, there it is.
"One o'clock?" Bella says.
"One o'clock." I agree, a smile growing on my face.
Bella and I both share the rare talent of feeling a wave forming, and not because we're mermaids. We've had this feeling since we were little. The wave begins to form and Liam prepares himself by paddling towards it. I sit up and watch carefully with my board and marker at hand. Hey, I take my surfing seriously. He surfs down the wave and then surfs towards the end, zigzagging up and down. The wave starts closing in on him and he races to beat the tube, but instead he dives out of it. I quickly write an eight for the hell of it. When Liam appears from under the water, I lift my arm up to show him his score. He squints and claps his hand against the water, displeased at his score. I smirk and shrug my shoulders. Bella peers at my board and her jaw drops.
She lightly slaps my arm, "That deserves at least a nine-point-five."
I roll my eyes and scribble a point-five next to the eight. I hold it back up, shrugging my shoulders once more. Liam squints and then glares at me. He slowly lowers his head under the water and I laugh out loud as I erase my board. Jay and Liam wait for another wave and I feel my stomach growl.
I turn to Bella, "I'm so hungry! This better be the last one."
Bella quickly writes 'FINALE' and shows it to the guys.
When a wave forms, they race towards it. I throw my head back laughing when I see Liam almost slip off his board. I cover my face with my hands and peek between my fingers. Liam rises on his board first and surfs down it. Jay quickly makes his way towards Liam, shredding though the water to catch up. Jay begins to step forward on his longboard then scurries back, trying to dance. Bella cheers for him and I cannot stop laughing. Liam does a curve and then rips the wave, he waddles a three-sixty on his board. They cross each other back and forth, one of them is either in the front or back. The wave starts to fall over into a tube. I watch eagerly as they try to make it towards the end, but the wave is already falling apart. Knowing that they're not going to make it through the tube, both of them surf upwards and do a back flip off their boards and into the water. My smile widens when I see the wave crash.
"Wow! Yes! That was great!" I say.
"A ten?"
"A ten!"
Bella and I lift our boards up with a big fat ten. Jay and Liam resurface and rub their eyes and look towards us. They both grin and high-five each other. Bella stands up and brushes the sand off her butt and legs. I join her and take my things as we head back to our places.
"There's no place I'd rather be!" I sing, wrapping my arm around Bella's shoulders.
"Than on the seashore dry, wet free!" Bella joins me as we sing one of our favorite childhood disney songs, Hawaiian Roller Coaster Ride from Lilo and Stitch.
I scurry to our cooler and take out one of the sandwiches Bella and I prepared before the trip. I grab a peanut butter and jelly sandwich and a bottled water and take my seat on my towel.
"On golden sand is where I lay,"
"And if I only had my way,"
"I'd play til the sun sets! Beyond the horizon!" we finish together.
Bella and I are halfway done with our first sandwich when the guys arrive. I double take at Liam because he dripping wet in all his and glory with a surfboard. I stop mid-chew. How the fuck did he get this hot? I thought he was cute back in the old days, now? He was hit by the puberty train. Hot damn!
"Gaby, you're such a judgy judge!" Jay accuses.
I bark out laughing shrugging, "Hey, I'm being fair. There are no special starfishes with me."
Liam turns his head to while drying himself off with his towel, "Isn't that what Coach Kapula used to say?"
I chuckle and nod my head, "Yeah, but I mean obviously I was his favorite."
"Oh, right because who isn't Gaby's favorite?" he teases.
I gulp down the last bits of my sandwich and laugh off his comment, "I'm just kidding. I'm pretty sure he favorited everyone."
"No way, your team had a bunch of trouble makers." Bella pipes in.
"Nope, he loved all of us." Liam tells her.
"Okay...who was his least favorite?"
"Kai." Liam and I say together.
After lunch, Bella and I walk over to the ice cream stand. Bella is taking a lick from her strawberry flavor ice cream when she turns to face me and begins walking backwards.
"Are you having a good time?" she asks.
I think about it for a second and yeah, I am having a good time. This is probably the best time I've had all summer. I'm away from Lahaina, away from the past troubles, away from me. I feel more myself here than back home.
"Yeah, I am having a good time." I smile sincerely.
The sun is beginning to set, casting a soft pink and orange hue over the beach. I sigh deeply, feeling just a pinch of sadness because I'm missing out on what what I really love, being free on the beach and in the ocean without any fear. It's times like these that I regret the mermaid wish. I'd rather be here, just a regular hawaiian girl on vacation with her best friends. Life's not that fair though. I spot the guys heading our way, dragging their boards behind them. I look sideways, Bella is lying on her back with her headphones looking tan as ever.
"Hey," Jay calls out.
I lift my head and raise my eyebrows expectantly.
"The water has calmed down a bit and a lot of people have left, why don't you guys come in for a bit?" Jay asks.
No. Absolutely not.
"Yes! Yes, let's do it." Bella sits up, yanking her headphones out and rising on her feet. I stare incredulous at her. She looks down at me, "What?"
"I don't know...I really don't feel like getting wet..."
Bella's gives me a puppy look, "I promise with our paddle boards you won't get wet. You're going to be okay."
It seems like she doesn't even care if she gets wet at all and transforms into a mermaid. But, I care. I can't have Liam see me like that. It'll make matters worse between us. I look away from her and avoid the eyes of Jay and Liam. I don't know where to look - I mean the sand seems interesting, I can try to count the grains instead of Liam's freckles. Nah, they're not as great. I lift my eyes and they're stuck on the calming waters of the ocean. Jay's right, it is calm and pretty empty. The paddle board has enough room for me not to get wet and I have a strong enough core to keep my balance. Once again, I sigh deeply and look up at them.
"Okay." I crack a small smile.
Not okay. Not okay. I'm a foot away from the tide with my paddle board in front of me. I haven't done this in awhile, let alone with a crowd near by.
"You okay?" Bella asks, already waddling on her board in the shallow area.
She's standing tall on her paddle board, her leash is latched on her ankle and she's leaning carefully on her paddle. How the hell did she do that so easily?
"Yeah," I tell her sharply.
Okay, I got this. I lean forward, crouching, and push the board forward into the water. I step on quickly only to rock the board. I lose my footing and kick my right foot up. Holy shit! My life flashes before my eyes as I feel myself almost slip back, but I catch myself. I groan out loud, steadying the board when I step in the middle.
"There we go...see, you got this." Bella encourages me lightly.
I glare at the board, gripping my paddle tightly, trying not to snap at her. I paddle forward a bit, switching from side to side, trying to avoid droplets of water to land on my feet. I realize now that I've been staring intensely at my board and the clear water. Feeling safe, I force my eyes up. It's then that I immediately relax. It's so beautiful. The sun is just beginning to set. The waves are off in the distance away from me. I move my gaze around me, Jay is paddling next to Bella, and Liam - is on his way.
"Come on, Gaby. The water is great." Liam says playfully, dipping his hand in the water and sending a tiny splash towards me. I step back on my board and whip my head to send him a death glare.
"Do that again and I will hit you with my paddle." I threaten, pulling my paddle into a hitting stance.
He lets out a light laugh and my heart skips a few bits. Shit...I lick my lips and look away.
"Gabs, relax."
My heart flutters at the sound of my nickname and I groan inwardly.
"I'm trying," I mumble harshly.
I ease myself down onto the board to sit pretzel style. I accidentally put too much weight on one side and tip to one side. I gasp out loud trying to save myself, when I'm steadied. I whip my head behind me to see Liam's hand on my board, holding me still. An overwhelming feeling of warmth washes over me. Wow, I didn't know he had it in him to help me like that.
"Uh, thank you,"
He nods his head and looks away from me. I look away too before I hard core stare him down and count all thirty-two of his freckles. I glance down at the water to see a clear view of the white sand below us. I unclench my hands from my paddle and place it in front of me. Relax, Gaby. I lean back, placing my hands behind me and close my eyes. I take a whiff of the ocean spray and smile softly to myself. Opening my eyes, I'm met with two green eyes. Liam is staring at me a soft expression. I stare back at him gently and the ends of my lips quirk up as I smile kindly. This, this is nice.
"It's been awhile, huh?" he comments.
I don't know if he's talking about me being in the water with a board, or us being together in the water, or maybe just us in peace right now. I'd say all of the above.
"Yeah, it has."
I'm humming Hawaiian Roller Coaster Ride to myself as I paddle around by myself. Liam and Jay went to put some things back in the jeep and left Bella and I to ourselves. Liam waves to us and I grin at him.
"How 'bout a race? For old times sake?" I cock my head to the side to glance at Bella.
She has mischievous glint in her eyes, "You're on."
My arms and core are on fire as I paddle side to side to get back to the shore. Bella is a few feet away from me when I hear Jay shouting urgently. My heart stops as I imagine the reasons why he is shouting. I turn my head back to see a small wave coming my way.
"Shit!" I move my board swiftly to the side to facet head on.
Luckily, the wave begins to die down when it reaches me and it only causes a small rock on my board. I laugh nervously and look back to see Bella relieved. I give her a thumbs up and place my paddle on my board to lean on it, but I miss the entire board and put my weight on it when it's in the water. I lose my balance as my body falls forward. I try to pull myself back, but I lose my balance and a small scream escapes my lips as I fall off my board. Shit. Fear of being seen as a mermaid is all I can think about as I hit the water. The warm water embodies me as I feel tingles run through my legs. I open my eyes to see my tail in front of me and I panic. I resurface gasping for air and try to climb up on my board. Bella is already trying to paddle towards me.
"Shit!" I exasperate, clapping my hand against the water and dropping my face on my board.
"It's okay! You're okay!" Bella tells me, "I'm going to head back and get you a towel and some clothes! Go to the cove behind the stonewall."
I curse under my breath and shake my head as I dive back under water. I grab the ankle strap and drag it behind me as I swim further out into the water to get to the cove. Ugh, how I could I be so stupid? I pop my head back up to see if I'm close because at this time of hour the water is dark and it's hard to see. I'm away from the public eye and I pull my board in front of me so I can rest my arms on top of it. I kick my tail the rest of the way, too exhausted to swim the rest underwater. Okay, plus side, at least Liam wasn't there. I groan when I get to the shallow area. I push my board forward and trudge myself across the sand to reach the shore. I'm out of breath after the third try. At this point, I'm muttering incoherent things as I wait for the tide to drag me back in. I dig my hands into the sand as the tide tries to pull me back into the water and then it comes back and I pull myself on top of the sand. I drag my body and tail to the shore line and then crawl away from the water. I collapse on the sand with my chest heaving up and down. Jesus.
"Gaby?" Bella whispers sharply.
"Here!" I mutter.
Bella rushes to my side with my towel and dabs her towel on my body, "Don't worry! I'm pretty sure no one saw. Liam was packing a few things in the jeep, but then he saw me and not you and he got worried."
I smile to myself and place my arm over my eyes. I feel my skin completely dry and I turn over as my legs come back. Bella throws the towel over me and I rise to my feet. She's handing me a change of clothes when I remember the negative of this. I wail out loud and hunch over my knees.
"What? What's wrong?" Bella asks with concern.
I let out a whimper, straightening my back and looking at back at the water, "That was a really cute bikini!"
I throw my head back wailing. Bella laughs softly rubbing my back. We walk back to the guys waiting by the jeep and Jay smiles at me with a relieved smile.
"What happened to you?" Liam asks, opening the door for me.
I grunt, "Riptide."