from; hope
morning :)
my phone buzzed at 8:04am, awaking both me and the monstrous ali.
"what the hell kell, i'm about to beat you to a pulp if you wake me up one more time," she hisses from under her pillow.
"it's just a text, calm yourself," i groan in reply, reading it and lighting up immediately.
to; hope
good morning, you out on the beach?
from; hope
yep, as always ://
to; hope
omw, i'm taking you up on that 'keep you company' offer
from; hope
bless you kelley o'hara
i laugh to myself "keep sleeping al, i'm just gonna head down to the beach," i say, getting into a bathing suit and a comfy t-shirt, and heading down towards the shore.
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"i've come to save the day!" i call out as i approach her large lifeguard's chair.
"squirrel!! you're here!" she excitedly says, hopping down and greeting me with a gorgeous grin.
"sorry about last night, i just had already made the plans, even if they were with brody," i cringe and she giggles.
"well you're here now, and that's what counts," she states and i nod. "so i'm starving and on a break, you wanna get food off the boardwalk?"
"uh sure!" i say. normally i wouldn't agree to something so quickly, but brody's advice really hit me hard. he's right, i only have three days left here after today. i need to do everything i can before its time to say goodbye.
so hope and i head off towards the golden plate eatery, which is her favorite place for cheap boardwalk food. not only does she talk about that, but the topics of rainbows, cookie brands, checkers, and other random crap happen to come up. i learn all her little silly quirks, like how when she shakes someone's hand it has to be their left, or her hair is always up in a bun so it's out of her face but she doesn't get weird tan lines. she teaches me all the rules to be a lifeguard, and i talk about my love for surfing. i even offer to teach her how to surf.
we each get a burger, sit on a bench in some nice shade, and simply look into each other's eyes.
"hope, i have to tell you something. it may sound stupid, but i have to tell it to you," i begin, taking a deep breath. you only have three days kelley. get it done.
"yeah, i have something i need to tell you too, but you go first," she says with pink cheeks.
"well.. you see i-" words are falling on top of words. i can't seem to get a simple sentence out and i feel like everyone's waiting on me, staring and waiting. her eyes burn into me like two fires of hope and wonder.
hope.... i think i might be falling in love with you, but i can't seem to admit it because that's who i am. i'm closed off and easily-embarrassed, i make a lot of mistakes and i need to make sure that this is real and this isn't just another mistake for me.
"this is the best burger i've ever had," i make up with a laugh.
"i was gonna say the same thing!" she says with a glint of nerve in her eyes. she's lying, and we both know it too well.
"well i had a lot of fun, but i should probably go make sure my roommate is still alive. surfing lessons tonight?" i ask her. she nods and throws a away our wrappers.
"later squirrel," she says, running off to find her lifeguard chair.
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"hey ali," i arrive in the room greeting my friend with a down attitude.
"what's up with you?" she asks, as i collapse onto my bed.
"confusing stuff," i simply reply, followed by a scream muffled by my pillow.
"you know, i'm a pretty smart person," ali says with a smirk.
"you barely scraped through high school kriegs," i chuckle.
"okay well tell meee, i can probably help figure it out kell," she says out of sympathy, sitting on the end of my bed.
"alright, well it's about brody," i begin, deciding to just replace her name with 'brody'.
"ooh, what's going on?" she furrows her brow.
"well, i think im falling, but im falling way too fast. ive only known him for what... 4 days? and im just scared. ive never felt this way about anyone, let alone in such a short amount of time. plus we're leaving, and i'll never see her again," i rant.
"her? you mean him?" ali looks at me with a confused expression.
"yeah yeah, him," i mutter.
"alright well you need to tell him how you feel, before it's too late," ali suggests.
"that's what everyone's telling me, but you don't understand. i tried today, it's not easy. i froze, i talked about a hamburger, a flipping hamburger!" i replied with distress.
"you'll work up to it," ali gives me a warm smile. i return it and bring her in for a hug.
"thanks for being there for me kriegs."
"that's what best friends are for kell."
—————————————
later that evening, i'm supposed to go back to the beach and give hope surf lessons, but ali pipes up and says "how about i join you?"
so once again, i'm forced to think up a master plan to distract her.
we gather our things, me with a surfboard and ali with a magazine, and head down. i shoot hope a quick text.
to; hope
i'm here, but don't acknowledge me until i go in the water😂, i'll explain it to you later
ali sets up her chair as i grab my board and sprint into the water, kicking up sand as i go and not even caring.
soon, she swims out in a bathing suit that's not her lifeguard one for once. she's absolutely stunning, her eyes catching on me and her hair flicking back in the ocean breeze.
"hey, you ready?"
"ready as i'll ever be."
i spend the next hour and a half teaching her how to surf. she learns really quickly, and she has strong legs so skill comes naturally to her. i'd have to say i was impressed.
soon enough we were both able to do it on our own and simply chatted while riding out the small waves. i couldn't wait to take her back at high tide and really show her what it was all about.
"you know, it's brave of you to get back out here, after like almost dying," she says, eyes glinting with admiration.
"well you must be pretty brave yourself, being a lifeguard and all. have you had to save anyone?"
"no, it's actually the most boring job ever, i'd rather be a waitress at hooters, but it pays well and i need rent money," hope answers.
i wish you would save me... cmon kell, stay focused here.
another wave approaches, so without answering i paddle away, preparing to ride it. as it's on the verge of crashing, i hop up onto my board, gain my balance for a quick moment, and then head on towards shore along with the wave.
my gaze scans the beach, soon landing on ali in her chair. she looks up through her huge sunglasses and waves with a smile. hope runs up behind me and my heartrate rises.
i turn to face her and give a fake grin.
"i think i'd better go, but you have the hang of it now?" i ask her. she nods and i wave goodbye, running off towards al.
"who's that?" she questions, raising one eyebrow.
"i dunno, she was asking me for surfing tips so i helped her out a bit," i answer.
"well from what i saw she doesn't need tips, she's fantastic," ali exclaims.
"i know..." i breathe, looking out at her as she nails a particularly large wave for low tide. "uhh you wanna grab some food and head back to the room? we can just get mcdonalds cause i personally wouldn't like to go broke."
"yeah sure, dollar menu here we come," ali giggles, as we pack our things and head off to eat.
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hii sorry if this is bad but im finally getting into my other fanfic so im in the mood for that rn oops bUT I UPDATED ANYWAYS BC ILY AND I LOVE OSOLO WOOHOO
vote&comment plsss <3