It's Thursday, lunch time. I actually brought lunch this time, and I'm very proud of myself. I have some pasta salad from one of my favorite grocery stores, and a few bright red strawberries. As I walk towards the cafeteria, I think about how funny it was to see Dylan in English this morning. When he walked in the room I was already seated, and he purposely stared at the ground instead of me.
Even when he sat down, he took to busying himself with getting his supplies out while I simply watched him with a humorous smile on my face. When he couldn't stall himself with his notebook anymore, he took out his phone and started scrolling through social media sites.
"Dylaaan," I had called to him in a sing-song voice.
He didn't look over but I saw him grin a tiny bit; just for a second.
"Dylan," I'd said again. "This is Miss Perfect talking to you!"
He finally turned around then, "You're gonna hold that over my head forever, aren't you?"
"It's a possibility," I grinned innocently at him and he made a noise. "What's the big deal about it anyways? I think it was cute."
Then Dylan stared at me, "You think it was cute?"
I nodded, "You're kind of adorable when you're embarrassed, even though you LEAVE ME HANGING!"
He laughed a little then, and smiled so I could see his dimples, "Stop looking at me like that!" He laughed at the fake glare I'd been giving him, then covered his face with his book.
"You're even more adorable when you try to cover your face with your book!", I told him.
"Oh, so you think I'm better looking when you can't even see my face?"
"That's not what I meant!", I hit him playfully and the two of us laughed on.
I sadly break from my memory of third period and bring my focus and thoughts back to the present. Naomi waves at me as I sit down across from her.
"Sup, Anita," Adrian says to me.
"Just lunch, you know."
Naomi suddenly gasps, "You guys! She actually brought lunch today! Round of applause, round of applause!"
Linda, Naomi, Adrian, Adrian's friend, and some other Asian girl all go on to clap for me as they chuckle and I smile but tell them to shut up. I start to eat some of my pasta salad when none other than Jason walks up to the table. Crap, I totally forgot about this...
"Anita," he says with a smile. The girls were right, he isn't as attractive once you know about him. "I've been keeping my eye out for you."
"Hi, Jason," I try to think quickly of what to do. "What's the plan for today?" I'm not thinking very well. Luckily, from across the table, Naomi senses my uneasiness and jumps in to the rescue.
"Jason Moore," she says firmly. It's a little scary and quite unexpected; we all turn to stare at her. "Do not bother her."
Jason looks genuinely taken aback, "What? What do you mean?"
"You know exactly what I mean," she tells him.
"Apparently I don't. What's with the attitude?", he seems to be getting quite irritated himself. "I was only going to eat lunch with her."
"Yeah for today and a couple other days and then you're gonna take her on dates and eventually get her into bed and do something terrible to her. Just like every other girl you've ever been with. Did you think we were stupid enough to just let you get at her? Everyone at this school knows how much of an asshole you are, and you know it. That's why you're going for her: the new girl who doesn't know any better. You're fucking pathetic. Leave our table and seriously, don't bother her again."
Everyone at our table is quiet and a couple people from nearby tables are watching, too. I don't like all the attention.
Jason gives her the dirtiest look before turning to me, "Are you serious right now?"
I seriously don't know what to say, I don't know anything, so I just stare back at him with my mouth hanging open like a caught fish. He scoffs and laughs a little bitterly then storms away, out of the cafeteria.
I turn to Naomi and so do Linda and Adrian and that other Asian girl, but Naomi doesn't look at any of us. All she does is take out her lunch (which turns out to be some really good-looking sushi) and starts eating it.
"Can I just say, you're a fucking bad ass for that," Linda tells her.
The other girl pipes in, "Seriously. Where did all that even come from?"
"He's hurt two of my friends before and was trying to hurt another one. That little boy has hurt too many people to get away with it again, and I guess I lost it when I saw his stupid little face. Sorry."
"Don't apologize!", some girl from the table next to ours says, and we laugh. A few other people from that table give her a thumbs up and we turn away from them after smiles are exchanged.
"Thank you for that," I tell Naomi, and she grins up at me.
"It wasn't planned or anything," she says with a laugh. "But you're welcome."
Adrian hasn't said anything this whole time and I can't help but wonder what he's thinking while he's watching Naomi, sitting at her side.
"You're like, a common hero now," Linda tells Naomi.
"A common hero?", she repeats humorously. "What the heck is a common hero?"
She shrugs, "Just know that you've just done something that the rest of us have only ever dreamed of doing."
~
It is now Friday morning, and I'm at school at seven in the morning. Twenty minutes earlier than usual; thirty minutes before school starts. I feel butterflies in my stomach and can't remember the last time I felt this anxious about anything. Why was I so anxious about this anyway? I guess I'm only just now realizing how badly I want to be on Varsity.
Last night, I made Dylan promise to come to school early so he could look at the list with me before anyone else... and, well, he complained. He explained to me that he has to take the city bus to school and it comes by his house every twenty minutes which means he has to take the earlier bus and he doesn't want to get up early and blah blah blah.
I got him to do it.
I see him walking towards me now! The trade-off is that I have to buy him coffee after school. Worth it.
"Remind me again why I agreed to be here this early?", Dylan asks as we walk. He yawns right after his sentence.
"Because you're a good friend," I remind him. "Besides, I need some moral support."
"Come on, you already know you made the team."
"No, you just think I made the team because you know that I'm good at gymnastics."
"You told me tryouts went well for you, and I know for a fact that you can't be any worse than the girls currently on our JV team so, yeah, I'm pretty sure you made it."
"Well I guess we're about to find out."
The two of us approach the door of the front office and to the right of it, on the wall, are two standard pieces of paper. One of them says JV CHEER TEAM 2014 while the other says VARSITY CHEER TEAM 2014. I decide to scan the JV list first, reading the fifteen names of the girls, none of which are me.
Next to two of the names are stars; one saying Captain and the other saying Co-Captain. Well I'm not on JV, so it's either Varsity or nothing. I read the Varsity list that is comprised of twelve names:
1. Ainsworth, Michelle
2. Best, Lola
3. Burns, Anita ⋆Co-Captain
4. Cera, Elizabeth
5. Freud, Jasmine
6. Fuapelaula, Kiele-Nani
7. Gomez, Vanessa ⋆Captain
8. Jefferson, Eva
9. Josue, Naomi
10. Porter, Maddie
11. Smith, Lauren
12. Whitman, Samantha
Upon the realization that I not only made Varsity, but also have been made the Co-Captain, I smile widely and squeal in excitement.
"Look!", I exclaim at Dylan as I point repeatedly to the list.
He looks through his glasses, "I told you! You're even the team's co-captain."
"I know!", I take out my phone then and snap a photo of the list for my social networking accounts - this deserves to be known.
"Someone's excited," Dylan says next to me as he takes out his own phone.
"Should I not be?", I ask him and he shrugs.
Suddenly, I hear quick steps behind me and a few girls are coming to look at the lists and it immediately becomes awkward because there's three of them there and only two of them make JV. They walk away after they look at the list for a minute, and soon more girls come to look at the list.
"Hurry up, Michelle!", one of them, who has short blonde hair, yells to her friend behind her.
"I'm coming!", the brunette girl yells back to her as they stand side-by-side looking at the Varsity list.
After they see their own names on it, they give each other high-fives and the one who apparently is named Michelle takes a photo of the list too, and I see her put it on social media. While she's doing that, the blonde one turns to me.
"Aren't you Anita?", she asks me.
I nod, "Yeah."
"Awesome, you're our co-captain!"
"I know, it's crazy!"
"It's not that surprising, you were great at tryouts," she laughs a little. "Well I'm Lauren. This is Michelle."
"It's nice to meet you guys," I smile at them.
"Yes!", Michelle says turning around to face me, but she still looks down at her phone. "Do you have an Instagram?"
"Yeah, it's a-n-i-t-a-a-a-b-u-r-n-s."
"Awesome," she says then looks up with a grin. "See you later!"
The two of them walk off after that and I'm all smiles. I turn to Dylan and he laughs and when I ask him why, he says he's just glad that I'm so pleased. The bell rings for class to start and we go our separate ways; he to French and I to History.
The rest of the day is nothing to report about, though I do seem to be getting more recognition from people now that I've been made the Co-Captain. Maddie in my first period actually speaks to me for one thing, and I find out that she's not a stuck-up person like she looks, but you she is preppy and is at least a little spoiled. Maddie is nice though, and that's all that really matters.
Naomi, Vanessa, and I all celebrate together at lunch and it's a lot of fun to share my excitement with people like this. In Washington, on the rare occasions I got excited about something, there was nobody to share my excitement with.
With a final ring of the bell, the school day comes to an end as well as my first week of school at Chatsworth. Dylan sends me a message on a messenger app, telling me to meet him where I've parked which is the second floor of the three-story parking garage on campus.
Most people are lingering after school, socializing in the nice Friday sun, so I'm alone as I walk up the stairs to the second floor of the parking garage. When I reach the second floor, I see Dylan over in the corner on his hands and knees picking up his belongings. Looking at the other side of the garage, I see three boys laughing and hurriedly walking away.
As I approach Dylan, he is zipping his backpack up and brushing his hands off on his jeans.
"Are you okay there?", I ask him seriously.
"I'm fine," he tells me. "But they ruined my Chemistry notebook." He holds it up and I see that it's split into two pieces.
"So you know this is the exact definition of bullying, right?"
"I know. It's not like I can really do anything about it. Let's just go."
I nod, realizing he doesn't want to talk about it anymore and we walk to my car.
I unlock it and we get inside where we both put our backpacks on the floor and buckle up. Starting the car, I roll down the front two windows and hand Dylan an auxiliary chord so he can play music from his phone.
"What do you wanna listen to?", he asks me.
"Put on whatever you want."
"I don't know what type of music you like."
"I know, just play the type of music you like!"
"Okay, okay."
As we pull out of the garage and onto the road, a song by The Neighbourhood plays through the speakers and I instantly sing along quietly. Dylan grins over at me from the passenger seat and turns the volume up a little higher.
He asks me, "So where are we going?"
"To get coffee," I tell him.
"Well no duh, I know that. I mean where are we getting coffee?"
"My new favorite place. I've only been there once, but I love it."
"What's it called?"
I think to myself and realize that I don't even know. "...I don't know."
"It's your favorite place and you don't know what it's even called?", he laughs a little. "I guess we'll both find out."
We pull up to the place and Dylan gives me a dollar to pay for an hour of parking. I look up at the coffee shop's sign and find that it's called Moon Rise Cafe. Dylan pokes me and tells me that he loves this place and tells me that I must have good taste. We walk in together where the guy from the other day, Alex, is standing behind the counter.
"Anita! Dylan!", he exclaims as we approach him. I'm pleasantly surprised he remembers my name. "I didn't know you two knew each other."
"I didn't know you knew her," Dylan says.
"I didn't know you knew him," I say, and we all kind of laugh.
"What can I get for you all today?", Alex asks us.
"I'd like a Vanilla Latte again," I tell him. "And a small fruit salad."
He nods and then Dylan orders a Cappuccino along with a grilled cheese.
After we get our food, we take a seat at a table over in a corner. A couple other people are scattered about at other tables, eating or drinking or talking or reading at low volumes. Dylan and I consume our food and drinks in silence for a little bit then soon begin to talk.
"So do you have any siblings?", Dylan asks me.
"No," I tell him. "Only child. Do you?"
"I have a little brother, but he went with my dad," he says plainly. I learn a lot about him from that simple sentence.
"I'm sorry," I say, then there's a short pause. "How old is he?"
"He's nine now but he was four when they left. I was eleven."
"I see. Do you miss him?"
"My brother, yeah. Can't really say the same about my dad."
I nod and decide a change of topic is in order, "Do you play any sports?"
"Soccer," he says. "Doesn't start until the Spring, though."
"I love soccer! I'll be excited to watch you play."
"You gonna cheer me on, Miss Co-Captain? Speaking of, do you do any sports? Other than apparently Cheer leading."
"I used to do gymnastics, which you should probably know."
"Right," Dylan nods. "How long have you been doing that for?"
"Since I was six," I tell him.
"Did you quit because you were moving here?"
"No, I stopped when I was a Freshman. Fourteen."
"Why?"
"My mom made me withdraw because she believed it was the main cause for my problems."
He glances at me and I can tell he's trying to be careful, "What kinds of problems?"
I sigh a little and speak slowly, "I had an eating disorder. Anorexia. I would never allow myself to eat anything."
"Oh," he says, obviously trying to remain respectful. There's another short silence. "What did you do about it?"
"Had to go to the doctor often. My parents had to make sure I ate Breakfast and Dinner, and I had to eat lunch at school in the counselor's office."
"So do you.. not.. have the disorder anymore?"
"Well I was pronounced cured in the beginning of Sophomore year, and I was at a healthy weight again. My parents didn't have to watch me anymore and I felt healthy again. But sometimes today I still have struggles with it. I convince myself I'm not hungry sometimes and don't eat lunch. Or I eat less. But I'm healthy," I laugh a little to try and make the situation a bit less serious and Dylan grins at me.
"That's good, I'm happy for you," he tells me. "So all in all you like it better here in Cali?"
"So much better," I say. "I'm generally way happier all-around."
"Probably because of me, right?", he gives me a cheeky grin and I laugh.
"You actually are a main part of it!"
"You're welcome," he grins.
We leave Moon Rise Cafe thirty minutes later when there's only ten minutes left on our parking ticket. When we get back in the car, Dylan plays a lot of good songs; some I know and some that I don't, but I like them all. We've been driving for ten minutes when I realize I'm not really sure which direction I'm supposed to be going.
Dylan told me his house is on eleventh and Starr street, but I'm still new to this place and I have no idea where Starr street is. I let him know this and he then directs me in which ways to turn. It's almost four o'clock by the time we get there, parked outside a nice, simple house with a swinging bench on the front porch and a pretty green lawn.
Dylan thanks me for the coffee and I thank him for waking up early to be with me. After I watch him unlock his front door and disappear inside, I drive back to my house without any music. I just roll down the windows and listen to the sounds of the city around me. I don't do it often and it's interesting and calming in a different sort of way.
There's something serene about listening to the sounds around you that are completely natural and spontaneous. I find myself not wanting to go home yet so I end up driving around for almost an hour. I get home at five with a smile of a different kind on my face. I talk to dad who's planning on ordering pizza for dinner tonight, and tells me that mom is at her studio still, putting in some work.
I go up to my room and get my Calculus and English homework out of the way so I won't have to worry about it later. By the time I'm finished with it all, there's a ringing of the doorbell and I run down the stairs to answer the door.
Dad yells down the stairs that it's probably the pizza guy and that he'll be down in a second, he just needs to find his wallet. I open the door and, to my surprise, I see Ivy of all people standing at the door with a large pizza box in her hands. She's dressed in black pants and a red t-shirt that says Romio's Pizzeria on it.
"Ivy!", I exclaim.
"Anita?!", she looks at me. "This is your house?!"
"Um, yeah," I say, laughing a little.
"Holy shit, your parents must be like millionaires! Oops, I'm not supposed to swear in front of customers."
"You don't have to worry about me telling your boss," I assure her with a laugh. "So you deliver pizza?"
"I do," she nods. "It's not the dream job of course, but it's not bad at all."
Dad comes down then with twenty dollars in his hand.
"Dad, this is my friend Ivy from school," I tell him.
"Is that so?", he says, looking at her with a smile. "It's nice to meet you. Thanks for bringing us our pizza."
Ivy laughs, "No problem. It'll cost you fifteen dollars, though."
My dad laughs and signs the receipt, then hands her twenty dollars, "The extra money is your tip."
"Thank you," she smiles at him, then waves to me. "I'll see you on Monday, Anita!"
"Bye!", I call to her then close the door behind me.
Dad and I go to the table in the kitchen where I look at the clock on the wall that tells me it's nearly half past six.
"Where's mom?", I ask him.
"She should have been home a half hour ago, but she texted me and said she'll be a little longer."
"...Do we have to wait for her to eat?"
"I asked her and she said no. So we can dig right in."
"Yes!", I cheer, opening the square box. "What kind did you get?"
"Half cheese and half bacon and pineapple, like always."
"Excellent. What wine shall this be accompanied by?"
Dad laughs at my words and pulls a bottle down from the wine cabinet, "How does a Merlot sound?"
"Perfect."
Together, dad and I consume half the pizza, during which I tell him about making Varsity and being the Co-Captain. He lets excitement and pride in me be shown, and he says that we ought to celebrate over ice cream. We run to the nearest grocery store and get some Oreo ice cream, my favorite.
We get back home and dish it up and take it to the living room where we look for a movie to watch on television. The two of us decide to watch a new comedy and it's hilarious. There's only fifteen minutes of the movie left when mom finally walks through the door.
"Hey," she says, stepping into the living room. "Sorry I took so long."
"It's all good," I tell her. "Did you get a lot done?"
"I did," she nods. "It's coming along nicely, I'm excited."
"We left you some pizza," dad says. "It's on the stove. There's also some Oreo ice cream in the freezer."
"Okay. What are you guys watching?"
"The new Will Ferrel movie," dad tells her. "It's nearly over though."
She disappears into the kitchen and the movie finishes as she's eating in there. Once it's over, dad turns down the volume and I take the bowls and put them into the dishwasher. I tell mom the news about Cheer, and she congratulates me and demands that I give her a hug. Mom and dad start talking about what exactly mom did today and this and that, and I listen for a while but I grow bored of the conversation.
I tell them goodnight and go upstairs to my room. After changing into my pajama's, I turn on my computer and turn out the lights, getting into bed with it. On Facebook, I have more friend requests from people whose names I recognize from being on the Varsity list and a couple other people I don't really know. A green dot shows me that Ivy is online too, and she messages me.
Ivy Garcia
Hola, chica
Anita Burns
hi, pizza girl
Ivy Garcia
Idk if you're trying to insult me but if you are it's not working
Anita Burns
whaaat, why would I ever want to insult u?
Ivy Garcia
Maybe you're suddenly a mean person, idk.
Srsly tho, why don't we have parties at your house?
Anita Burns
well I've only known u guys for like a week, I didn't think we would just party right away. I'm sure we will in the future though
Ivy Garcia
We better. Your place looks amazing
You know who I think would like it?
Anita Burns
who??
Ivy Garcia
Dylan :)
Anita Burns
wow, what is that even supposed to mean?
Ivy Garcia
Come on, I know you think he's bomb
Anita Burns
maybe I do, so what??
Ivy Garcia
Awwww, you admitted it! Just wait til Naomi hears about this, heheh
Anita Burns
😒
why are u guys so obsessed over me and him anyway?
Ivy Garcia
Because you're like the only person he's ever really talked to lol. He totally likes you and that's rare af okay
Anita Burns
if u say so, I still think y'all are overreacting a little bit. I've only known him for five days!!!
Ivy Garcia
It only takes one day to start liking someone ;)
Anita Burns
speak of the devil, he just messaged me
Ivy Garcia
It's a sign!
Well I'll let you go talk to your lover-boy, I gotta go to bed anyway. Work was a lotta work lol. Hasta luego, chica
Anita Burns
Adios
I click over onto the message from Dylan.
Dylan O'Brien
Give me your number.
Please.
Anita Burns
um, why???
Dylan O'Brien
1, most friends have each other's numbers
2, it's much easier than messaging you from Facebook all the time
3, I got something to tell ya
I send him my number and after it says that he's seen it, he logs off. A couple seconds later, my phone alerts me that I've gotten a text. Having a feeling that I know who it's from, I unlock my phone and read the message.
Your friend Dylan is taking you to the beach tomorrow. Text me when you wake up. You're welcome. 😛
~
Saturday morning I wake up at ten with the sun shining through the thin curtains on my windows. After laying lazily in bed for five minutes, I grab my phone and text Dylan "Good morning hobo" and stretch my arms before sitting up. I grab my phone and unplug it from its pink charger before walking down the stairs to the kitchen.
As I'm pouring myself some Lucky Charms I get a text back from Dylan that says "Morning loser. How'd you sleep?" I reply saying that I slept wonderfully and take my bowl into the living room.
As I eat my Lucky Charms and watch Spongebob Squarepants, Dylan lets me know that he plans to pick me up at one so I better be ready by then. I finish up my cereal and watch a couple episodes of Law & Order: SVU. I look outside through the window in the living room and see that both of my parents are gone since both of their cars are missing.
I walk back upstairs and prepare to take a shower, but not before blasting my happiness playlist. Once I'm squeaky clean, I step out and dry off and look for something to wear. I decide on a pair of light-wash jean shorts and a black t-shirt with a the white logo of my favorite band on it, plus some black sandals.
I figure it'd be in my best interest to bring some extra clothes and a swim suit, so I get a large purse to put them in. After I change, I add a towel, sunscreen and my water bottle to the collection plus my wallet and favorite Victoria's Secret lotion.
I sit at my vanity to do my hair in the same hairstyle I always do and put on my make-up. I see that it's twelve-thirty as my phone screen lights up with a text from Dylan. He's asking for my address and I send it to him with the information that it's a bit secluded and there's no houses too close-by.
Once I'm done getting ready to go, I walk downstairs with sunglasses on my head, and my phone and purse in my hands. I watch some music videos on the music channel while I wait for Dylan, and a bit after one o'clock, a knock sounds from the door.
Turning off the television, I walk over to the door and unlock it before pulling it open. Dylan's on the other side looking quite adorable in a white v-neck and a pair of cuffed jeans.
"You own a frickin' vineyard?", he asks me first thing.
"I guess I forgot to mention it," I tell him.
He nods as he looks around, "Your house is gigantic. Do your parents own all this property?"
I nod.
"It's really pretty out here. Must be nice to live here."
"It is. I consider myself lucky."
"You'll have to give me a tour some day," he says. "But for now, we're heading to the beach!"
"Yay!", I exclaim then lock the door behind us before we climb into Dylan's car.
"Before we actually drive to the beach," Dylan says as we pull out onto the main roads. "We're heading to the store."
"For what?", I ask him.
He glances at me before focusing back on the road, "You really never have been to the beach, have you?"
"Nope."
"We need drinks and snacks, of course. That's why I brought along the cooler," he points to the back seat and I turn around to see a rather large, blue cooler sitting there.
"Good thinking," I commend him.
We get to the grocery store and start shopping. As we walk through the aisles we poke a lot of fun at foods that sound or look really gross, funny birthday cards, and cheese samples that leave a bad taste in our mouths. Thirty minutes later, we finally get to the check out with quite a wonderful collection of foods.
There's Arizona teas, extra water bottles, strawberries, pretzels, ice cream sandwiches, oranges, and pasta salad. Dylan and I grab the bags and we head back to his car. He makes me play some music and I instinctively put on the playlist that I play whenever I'm driving, and a song by Daughter comes on first.
"You listen to Daughter?!", Dylan asks me almost immediately.
"Yes, I love them!", I exclaim. "You know who they are?!"
"Yeah! I saw them in concert this Summer. They're amazing."
"Ah, you're so lucky! So I see we have similar music taste, that's really good."
"Why's it so good?"
"Music taste plays a huge role in how well people are able to get along with and like other people," I inform him. "Wouldn't you agree?"
"Definitely," he nods. "I'm glad we have similar music taste, then."
We're driving for nearly ten minutes when I finally ask him where exactly it is that we're going.
"We're going to my favorite beach," he tells me.
"What's it called?"
"Albany Beach. There's usually not many people there at all, plus it's gorgeous. That's why I like it so much."
"Awesome," I exclaim. "How long is it gonna take us to get there?"
"Promise you won't get mad?"
"What, why would I get mad?"
"Some people don't like long drives," he explains.
"As long as it's no more than an hour and a half, I can deal."
"It'll take us probably forty minutes."
I shrug, "That's not bad. It's a small price to pay for an apparently wonderful beach."
"Cool."
On the drive there, Dylan and I play road games, moo obnoxiously at some cows that we pass (that was just me, not him), talk about kids in our Chemistry and English class, and I sing along to various songs that come up. I try to get him to sing along with me but he just laughs and tells me that he'll leave the singing to me.
I take a selfie at one point with him in the background but he refuses to smile for it. I end up liking it anyway and put it up on Instagram and Facebook, thinking that my friends will certainly have something to say about it later. We finally get to the beach at two thirty and I can hardly contain my excitement.
As we get out, I try to take the cooler out of the back but I realize that it's too heavy for me. Dylan picks the whole thing up so easily and I stare in pleasant awe, realizing how strong he must be. We walk down the short path to the actual beach where the gravel turns to sand and the sound of crashing waves grows more prominent.
I smile widely as we walk around a bit in search for a spot we deem perfect. We set up a decent sized blue and white striped picnic blanket and set our things upon it. The two of us sit down and as I look around I realize we're the only people here.
"This place is beautiful," I breathe, taking it all in.
"I told you," Dylan says beside me. "The drive was worth it, huh?"
"Definitely. Can we run around in the sand?"
"You wanna run around in the sand?"
I nod.
He smiles, "Then let's do it."
The two of us take our shoes off and stand up quickly, running forwards, backwards and in circles all around the beach. Sometimes we stop to look at a hermit crab or a crab trying to hide from us. We also find dried up sand dollars and really pretty seashells that we store in our pockets despite their sandy conditions. At one point we run directly towards the water but just before we would have gotten wet, we stop.
"We should go in," I say to him.
"Or not," he says. "I kinda don't wanna get my jeans wet."
"Well didn't you bring swimming trunks or whatever?"
"Duh. Did you?"
"Duh," I mimic him. "Shall we change then?"
"Do you really really want to?"
"Yes!"
He sighs lightly, "Fine. Go to the car and change and I'll wait until you're done."
"Okay!", I exclaim in excitement, then run up to the car. I sit in the trunk and try to change my clothes as discreetly as possible and I exit the car fully clad in my baby blue bikini. I run back down to the blanket where Dylan is sitting towards the water, watching it.
"Your turn!", I yell at him as I stuff my clothes into my bag.
He stands up then looks over at me for a good minute. When he realizes he's been staring he says an awkward, "Oh. Okay." Then hurries up to the car.
I giggle at him because he's so cute. Jeez, Naomi and Ivy are so right; I suddenly have a massive crush on this guy. And every minute that passes in each other's company I can feel the crush growing bigger and bigger. Like now, when he's coming back down the path toward me in his black swim trunks.
I'm surprised by how muscular he is because 1, it's not like I've ever seen him in anything less than his usual button-ups and 2, he's so awkward and kind of nerdy-looking that you don't really think about him having such amazing abs and arm muscles. Now I realize that I'm staring so I quickly turn to look at the crashing waves.
He tosses his clothes into his backpack and turns to me, "Are you ready then?"
I nod vigorously, "The question is, are you ready?!"
Dylan gives me a look, "I don't know anymore. You look kind of crazy."
"Come on already!", I grab one of his wrists and pull him along with me as I run straight back towards the water.
We stop just so that the water reaches just above our knees and that's all it takes for me to let go of him and freeze up. I tense up immediately at the cold water surrounding my legs; it's so cold! I get goosebumps on random parts of my body.
"Okay!", I exclaim. "Done!"
"What?!", Dylan laughs at me. "After all the fuss you put up!? It's not even that bad!"
"It's too cold, Dylan!"
"Nonsense, you just have to get used to it is all," he grins at me mischievously.
I grow scared of whatever plan he has brewing, "Don't look at me like that... Why are you staring at me li--"
Suddenly I feel myself being hoisted into the air and I gasp a bit in surprise. Dylan is carrying me bridal style and I'm laughing but simultaneously shouting for him to stop whatever he's doing, but he doesn't. Instead he laughs next to my head and he walks further out towards the water then suddenly kneels down.
We're completely submerged by the cool water and at first I freeze up again because it's soooo cold but after a little while my body does begin to get used to it. Just when I think I might run out of oxygen, he stands back up so we're no longer in the water.
"Take me back to land!", I demand him and he does, laughing all the while.
Once we're back on the sand, he sets me down and I feel the warm sandiness beneath my feet. Standing at his side, I just now realize that Dylan is an entire foot taller than me. I lightly smack him in the arm.
"You're a terrible friend for doing that to me!"
He laughs again, "I was helping you, actually! Come on, you can't deny that now you're used to the water's temperature."
I cross my arms and purposely face towards the water and away from him, "Whatever. Can we have a water fight?"
"A water fight?", he raises his eyebrows. "I don't know if you're ready for that."
"Why do you say that?"
"I'm like Poseidon," he says with an arrogant smirk that's entirely out of character for him yet makes him insanely attractive. "You know, the Greek God of the Sea?"
"Yeah, yeah, I know who Poseidon is," I tell him. "I think I could take you anyway."
"Alright, but don't say I didn't warn you!"
For the next few hours, we're splashing around in water and knocking each other over and tripping over our own slippery feet as we throw water at one another, laughing all the while. When we get tired of that, we dry off and lay in the sun, and drink and eat all the little things we brought.
We change back into our regular clothes as the sun starts to set and the atmosphere gets a little cooler. Finally, when the sky is getting purple and blue and the stars are starting to make an appearance, Dylan and I lay on the blanket on top of the sand staring at the twinkling lights above us.
Music from a playlist Dylan calls his Beach Playlist plays from his phone as we lay there. The only sounds are that of the music and the effortlessly enticing rhythm of the waves crashing onto the sand. It's silent for a long time as both of us our lost in our own thoughts. Lana Del Rey is crooning lyrics to a melancholy love song.
I start to analyze the lyrics the way I always do, finding their meaning and relating to them in any way I can, if at all. Before I know it, I'm talking out loud about what's on my mind.
"Dylan," I ask him in a quiet voice. "Have you ever loved someone? I mean besides your family."
He's silent for a second, then answers, "No. I haven't gotten to know anybody well enough to... love them."
"You will one day," I tell him.
We're both still looking between the sky and the water when he asks me, "Have you?"
I shake my head, "There was one boy I once dated who I thought I could have been falling in love with, but no."
"Why not?"
"He just wasn't who I thought he was."
"Turned out to be a jerk?"
"Well, you know... I thought I was the only person he was dating."
There was a silence between us for a minute, but I heard him sigh, "People like that are the reason I choose to distance myself."
"But what about me?"
"Clearly, you're different."
"Clearly?", I ask him.
He shrugs, "There's just something about you. I guess you're like the sun."
"How am I like the sun?", I ask as I turn to face him, though he remains staring up at the dark sky with the pale moon reflecting not only on the lenses of his glasses, but in his big brown eyes, too.
"You're there all the time so people seem to underestimate your existence. But there's people, like me, who see the sun's purpose. Appreciate it."
I smile then turn back onto my back, "So I'm the sun. I guess you can be the rain then."
Dylan laughs a little, "Explain."
"Everyone here sees you as a nuisance; always in the way, useless, annoying, whatever. But there's people, like me, who see what good the rain can bring. How if people gave it a chance, they'd see how purposeful and secretly amazing it is."
He smiles at me, "Well thank you. We're pretty good with these metaphors."
I yawn, "How's this for a metaphor: the sun is taking a break and going to bed because it's really tired."
"That's a terrible metaphor."
"You're a terrible friend."
"How!?"
"You should have carried me to the car by now so I don't fall asleep out here."
He laughs then, catching on to the memo and picks me up, carrying me to the car... but I think I'd rather fall asleep in his arms.