Well, this is awkward.
I smiled at him and waited to see what he'd do. We'd agreed that the ball would be in his court.
He smiled too. A real smile, one that reached his eyes. "Leia," he said, and opened his arms a little tentatively. I went in for the hug, reluctantly making it a catch and release thing rather than the long snuggle I would have preferred.
"John," I said. "How's it going?"
"You guys know each other?" Darrell asked.
"Yeah, high school," I said.
"Great! You should come along," he said to John. "I'm teaching her how to surf on Friday. We're getting an early start but a bunch of us from the hall and Delia's roommate and some other girls are coming later too. Beach parties are always fun." The guys in the group discussed it, gaining enthusiasm, and John was swept up in it. I couldn't tell if he actually wanted to go or not. Well, he was a big boy, he could find a way out if he didn't want to go. In the chatter, Darrell asked me to dance, so off we went. He was a good dancer, which is always nice. One guy kept bumping into us; a solo dancer, apparently very into his experience and kind of flailing around. We gave up and walked toward a water station instead to refill our bottles.
"Dude!" Darrell said happily as he waited for me to finish filling my bottle. I saw the back of some guy as they did a brisk hug. What I could see was nice; muscular broad shoulders and nice legs, long-ish rumpled dark hair with thick streaks, not that much taller than me; my forehead was about level with the top of his shoulder. "Delia, this is Arthur Fitzgerald. Fitz, this is Delia...."
"Knight," I said, smiling and trying to keep my cool. But holy cow, was it hard. This guy's appearance hit me like a ton of bricks. He had fair skin just kissed with a tan, sharp cheekbones and jaw line, carefully tended stubble, and enormous light eyes with a thick fringe of long lashes. His lips were full and lush and he had a large hawk nose that kept him from being movie-star handsome. His shirt was partially unbuttoned and what I could see peripherally was nicely muscular. He smiled at me, his eyes crinkling and dimples popping out of nowhere. I'd have fanned myself if it would have done any good and hoped that his personality lived up to the hype of his appearance.
"Nice to meet you, Delia," he said. "You new here this year?"
"Freshman," I confirmed.
"Fitz, I'm teaching her to surf on Friday. You should come, a bunch of people are coming, it'll be a party." Darrell said. I was kind of amused at his promotion of the party.
"You ever tried before?" Arthur/Fitz asked me.
"No, but I skateboard." Both of them looked at me with more interest.
"Surfing's easier," Darrell said. "If you're decent on a skateboard, you should be able to pick up surfing easy enough."
"Delia!" I turned to see Serafina waving at me. As she started over a guy she was passing gestured too broadly with his cup and spilled the contents down her front. He spoke to her and she frowned as she pulled her wet t shirt away from her body. The incident had dampened her spirits and I noticed several guys checking out her chest as she came over, including Darrell. I'd have been irritated if I wanted to date him, but neither of us seemed that into the other. And besides, he seemed determined to limit the time the two of us were alone together. Which was good, because his buddy did things to me. I introduced my roommate to Fitz, who nodded politely. Darrell and I arranged to meet at the beach--good news because I could leave whenever I wanted, and the boys ambled off. I smiled when Arthur looked over his shoulder once.
Serafina poked me. "See something you like?" she asked, and we cracked up. It turned out that it had just been water that had been spilled on her--RAs were monitoring the party, which was supposed to be dry--and she recovered her good mood as her shirt dried quickly. "I like my shape, but I want to be in control of how much anybody sees," she said, smoothing out the damp wrinkles. We talked more about other people we'd met, danced with each other and other partners, and packed it in around one. She waited until we were back in our room to tease me about Arthur.
"Cupid's arrow struck hard," she said, grinning as she changed into her nightie.
"Hardly," I snorted, tossing my shirt into my laundry hamper. "I just know his name and that apparently he surfs too. No, that, my friend, was sheer lust, not love." She laughed. Then I did fan myself with my hand. "My level of experience is broad but shallow, and normally I'm very cautious around guys, but I kind of wanted to rip his clothes off." She chortled.
"You'd better get some condoms, then," she teased.
"Ok, that just cooled me off," I said. "I don't want to rely on just condoms, and while I don't intend to wait for marriage, mainly because I'm not sure I want to get married, I don't want my first time to be with the first guy who unzips." She flicked back her sheet and got into bed.
"Yeah, I want a serious boyfriend before I give it up," she said yawning. "My parents are devout Catholics, they'd be appalled if they knew I wasn't waiting until I get a ring, but everybody has to do what's right for them. Just remember our agreement, advance warning, blackout periods. I'd also like to add no overnights. It would be weird." I snorted as I turned out the lights but agreed. Nobody wanted to be the third wheel.
We both slept in and she went to play volleyball and I went into the city to explore with Naomi and some of her friends. We had fun as they showed me Westwood Village; the best places to get your hair cut, good optometrists and dentists, where my bank branch was, places to park, gas stations, where to get my shoes fixed if I wear down the heels of my pumps too much--not that I was planning to wear them much--theaters, where chain stores like Trader Joe's and Victoria's Secret were as well as fun little boutiques--I bought a pareo to wear with swimsuits since the beach was hugely popular and a few cute stackable rings for my fingers. We stopped at the Rite Aid so one of the girls could pick up a few things and I bought a lot more sunscreen and lotion. We had lunch at Poke Bar and I heard about other good restaurants. I found out where all the coffee places were and on the way home, all of us with some purchases, stopped by Stan's Donuts and took six home with me. To share with my roommate, not just stuff the full half-dozen down my gullet, although I could have. I love donuts.
Serafina came back when I was online, looking at websites that described learning to surf, wanting to be prepared for the next day. She was a little sunburned, sweaty and tired, but she'd had a good time. She went to take a quick shower and we compared notes when she flopped down on her bed to relax. I split the donuts with her and she laughed when I said I was previewing my surfing lesson tomorrow. I tossed her some aloe for the sunburn (redheads know how to prepare for sun exposure like nobody else) and we joined a bunch of people going down to dinner; we were trying different places each day. Both of us were starting to drag; so many activities, and I wasn't used to the heat. I was starting to feel like I'd been popped into an oven, and the wildfires continued. Two of the enormous expensive houses in the hills had been destroyed that day. It felt kind of shallow to be having so much fun while such serious things were going on, but I rationalized this, thinking that I was entitled to live my life, I wasn't doing anything to encourage the fires and it wasn't my job to fight them. Life does go on and crappy things happen every day. That night we went down to one of the lounges to watch movies.
I was up early the next morning; Darrell and I had agreed to meet at eight. Serafina wasn't getting up that early and would come along with the others. I'd packed a tote bag earlier with my beach towel, filled water bottle, sunscreen, and other incidentals; I'd never been to an ocean beach before and had solicited ideas the night before. I pulled on my suitable-for-surfing rashguard over my bikini--the rashguard was too thin to go without something on top, making sure the drawstring on the bottoms was snug, slid on some sandals that were fine for sand, and headed for the beach. I parked where Darrell had told me too and picked up the board and leash at the shop. From my research, I knew that I had a longboard of the kind called a foamie, which had a soft top and was durable and buoyant. I saw Darrell when I left the shop, the board under my arm, so I went over and dropped my things. He'd brought Arthur and another guy who didn't surf but who would watch over our stuff. Even better, the guy who was watching our stuff was so fair he was almost an albino and we bonded instantly in our wariness toward the sun. Tom was thrilled somebody shared his vampire-like tendencies and offered to rent us an umbrella to share. We high fived and he went off.
"Hey, Delia," Arthur said lazily, and smiled as I flicked my towel out by Tom's and dropped my stuff. I'd done sunscreen before I left the car so I was ready to go. Darrell grinned and we started off with them showing me how to use board wax to improve the footing on the board, putting on the board leash, then we put the surfboards on the sand and Darrell showed me how to pop up to my feet from a prone position. My natural inclination was to put my left foot back, which was called 'goofy.' Whatever. They showed me where my feet should go, and it took a couple of tries before I got everything right.
"That was fast," Arthur said.
I shrugged. "I was on drill team," I said. "I'm used to explosive movements, although we didn't hop up from a prone position." Both guys looked at me with more interest. We moved into the shallows so I could try it in a real-world environment. It was less stable than the sand, but not bad because the board was so big. We paddled out to where there were small, gentle waves and I caught my first wave. Balance was side to side, and it was indeed easier than learning to skateboard had been, plus at the leisurely speeds I was going at, landing was a lot softer. I learned how to target my spot, how to get there, turn the board, and try to catch the wave. I spent the next hour on these small waves; the guys sometimes went out farther for bigger waves, but I waited until I was pretty comfortable before trying anything larger. I fell off a lot more, but the water was warmer than I'd expected and it wasn't a hardship. They guys had explained who had the right of way on the waves and what 'dropping in' was and why it shouldn't be done; it was rude and potentially dangerous. The etiquette was harder to remember than the actual surfing. I got the hang of turning pretty easily, and by the time I was ready to go in for a break and to reapply sunscreen, I was feeling pretty comfortable out there.
People had arrived while I was out, and Serafina had set up on my other side, away from the umbrella. I dug out my water and took long, thirsty pulls on the bottle when I flopped down. Tom smiled and passed me a cold bottle when I finished the one I'd brought. We talked and I put in eyedrops and found my sunglasses. I had a little headache from all the sun. I realized why the people at the store where I'd gotten my suits had advised against white or light colors; the wax rubbed off on my suit and would discolor light colors. As it was, there were wax spots on my midriff, over each boob, and on the front of my bottoms. I stayed under the umbrella while I recovered, then redid my sunscreen and went in search of a water station to refill my bottles. I drank another while I was there, then realized I was also hungry and got some food to take back.
While I was waiting in line, I turned at a hand on my shoulder. It was John. "How's the surfing, Leia?" he asked.
"SO much fun. You should try it," I said enthusiastically. "Paul should try it, he'd love it." He laughed.
"That's all my parents need, Paul bugging them to go to the beach all the time," he said affectionately. "You look good out there."
"I am definitely coming back," I said. 'How's Zero Week going for you?"
"LIttle overwhelming," he said. "But good. It's a new experience. What about you?"
"It's more than a little overwhelming," I admitted. "But I'm dealing by just going along with everything and not over-analyzing. Which is really hard. I'm looking forward to classes starting and the social aspect calming down." He smiled.
"I'd like to catch up with you," he said. "Want to go to dinner tomorrow night?
"I'd like that." I gave him my dorm and room number when he said he'd pick me up. We crossed back to the group, comparing notes about campus and the surrounding area, and when we'd finished lunch, he joined a volleyball game in progress and I chatted with others until I'd digested enough to resume surfing. I drank a lot of water and headed back out there.
I paddled out and sat up, waiting for a wave. "You're a natural," a light baritone said, and I looked over to see Arthur. I smiled.
"It's a lot of fun. I'll have to come back."
"Come early and watch the sun come up while you're in the water," he recommended. "You have a boyfriend?" I shook my head and he smiled. "Then I'd like to ask you out. Next Friday? I'm never good for much during the first week of classes."
"I'd like that," I said, and then a suitable wave approached.