Coming up to Aubrey's door in record time, I slammed on his door buzzer and keeled over, gasping for air. The handle rattled before opening, revealing two little legs in my line of blurring vision. A girl just a few years younger stood at the door, peering down at me with curiosity.
Meanwhile, I nearly died from heatstroke.
"Who are you?" she asked.
I straightened up and forced a grin, feeling like my dried lips were tearing in the process. Similar to Aubrey's, she had long whiteish blonde hair. But hers split into two low hanging ponytails down her back, making her look like a mythical forest dweller. A nymph, maybe. They were scarily similar. While his eyes were a narrow, constantly scornful almond-shape, hers were wide and round. Her face was heart-shaped, while his was like a chiseled diamond.
I let out a final huff of air, counterproductively wiping the sweat from my forehead with my equally sweaty arm.
"I'm Charlie," I said, feeling my rasping words stick to my throat like dry toast. "I go to school with Aubrey. Is he home by chance?"
She looked behind her toward the stairs, then back at me. "Yeah but he's in a mood. Told me to go away and wouldn't even play with me."
"What do you normally play together?" I asked, trying to sound casual when in reality, I suffered both guilt and a throat as scratchy as sandpaper.
"Whatever I feel like," she answered, casually shrugging. "He usually sleeps when he's in a bad mood. Go sneak up and scare him if you want! He takes his hearing aid out to sleep."
I forced a chuckle, unsure if she was joking or just plain evil.
"Thanks," I said, stepping inside the door, "I'll have a quick look. What's your name, by the way?"
"Tessa," she said, skipping toward the living room. "Buh-bye!"
I headed straight for the stairs. Mrs. Keats sounded like she was chatting on the phone from somewhere up there. I hadn't had a tour of the place yet, but from what I could gather, all the bedrooms appeared to be on the second level while all the shared areas were down below.
It was a modern, comfortable place with neutral colors and kids' paintings and portraits hung up everywhere the eyes could see. Since Tessa had sauntered off before I could ask for a drink, I'd at the very least sneak a sip of water from Aubrey's bathroom tap; even if he was asleep.
It's not like he'd know.
I tapped on the door. After listening for a moment and getting no response, I quietly pushed it open. His curtains were pulled closed, giving the illusion of late evening. The room was cold; its silence disturbed by the running of an aircon.
Aubrey's sleeping figure could be seen buried beneath his thick, black duvet cover. Only his hair stuck out against his pillow. My heart squeezed at the sight of him rugged up and cocooned like a little caterpillar. In a matter of seconds, water wasn't the thing I was thirsty for anymore. What I wanted now was his attention. Maybe that's what incited me to sit on the edge of his bed, whispering his name. He didn't react.
"Aubrey," I whispered, giving him a gentle shake this time. "Auuubreeeey."
He rolled his shoulder to shirk my hand away.
Sleeping off a bad mood was undoubtedly the best coping mechanism I'd ever heard of, but I didn't want to carry this guilt. I genuinely believed that a beach visit could help turn things around, so I shook him with a little more force. I watched as his blanket moved down an inch, revealing narrowed and glazed eyes, not registering who I was or the fact that I was here.
Instead, he reached out and pulled me down beside him. My legs hung off the bed while he buried himself against me, holding me captive. His slow, quiet breaths indicated that he was back in a deep sleep. My breaths, however, matched the pounding of my heart.
Did he see somebody else when he looked at me? Was he hugging somebody different inside his dream?
He nuzzled his forehead against my shoulder, burying himself further against me. This position was a little uncomfortable, so I pulled my legs up and faced him. He nuzzled my chest while his right hand flopped over my waist. I'd never known this kind of intimacy before. I had no idea it could feel this good. Suddenly, I was feeling less inclined to wake him.
He'd sure get a surprise when he woke up, but it'd be so worth it.
We stayed this way for maybe ten minutes before the chill of aircon became too much. It made my parched throat dryer and itchier than before, making me need water even more desperately than during my possible heatstroke.
Seeing him resting so peacefully changed my mind about waking him, so I carefully removed his arm my side and started getting up. He sighed, eyes opening just as I was beginning to stand.
His brows scrunched, blinking up at me in groggy confusion. "...Charlie?"
"That's my name, don't wear it out," I joked, but he very plainly didn't respond. Since his hair was still pulled back in a bun, I could see his hearing aid was removed. I glanced at his bedside table, finding it there instead.
I couldn't remember many signs, but I could remember 'good morning,' so I signed that to him. Staring at me, still evidently confused, he reached up for his hearing aid and put it in. "What are you doing here?" he asked.
"Came for a cuddle," I said, moving off the bed and reaching for the bathroom door handle. "I'm gonna die of dehydration so lemme just get a drink."
"Cuddle?" he asked, perplexed. "Drink? From the bathroom?"
"I ran like Usain Bolt to get here so my standards lowered considerably," I said, practically croaking. I turned the tap on and stuck my mouth under, drinking in as much as I could. I gargled it at the back of my throat, swallowing it down by the gallon. It was like tasting heaven for the first time.
Aubrey stood at the doorframe; arms folded to his chest. "This is weird, y'know," he said.
I looked up in front of me, gazing at him through the reflection with an admittedly sly grin. "Says the one who cuddled me for a whole ten minutes."
The sunshine poured through the bathroom window, lighting up his widened eyes. He looked beautiful, even with his hair in a pigsty.
"Who did bloody what now?" he asked, stepping forward towards me. "Weren't you just coming in when I woke up?"
The look of utter confusion and bewilderment on his face made me want to tease him. Turning to him, I stood grinning, staring him straight in the eyes while I rubbed my chest in a circular motion. His cheeks reddened further, looking away with immediate understanding.
"I thought that was a dream," he whispered, looking less than pleased at the revelation. But it meant that he did see me. I was the one he saw inside his dream. He cuddled me both inside his dream, and outside of it. The idea of it made me want to jump and squeal; maybe box a few pillows to a grind. I was filled with so much energy and excitement that I barely knew what to do with it.
"We'll go with that, if you like," I said, giving him a provocative wink.
He let out a huff of air, contemplating maybe boxing me square in the jaw or something. But even as he stood there in deliberation, I watched his cheeks redden. I'd probably had enough fun, so I decided to let him off the hook easy and change the subject to something more comfortable.
"Anyway," I said. "I'm here 'cause I wanna go to the beach with you."
"The beach?" he asked, arms still crossed. "I just came back from there. Why would I want to go back?"
"If my memory from approximately thirty-five minutes ago serves me right," I said, closing the distance between us, "then I'd say you got as far as Breakers Café before turning back again."
His top lip overhung his bottom lip in that stubborn fashion he tended to, looking a whole lot cuter than I'd once perceived it. Without a doubt, I was growing weaker toward Aubrey Keats by the day.
"I just didn't feel like going anymore," he said.
"I realized that," I responded, watching with a great deal of interest as he scratched his head, while some of the flyaway strands fell neatly back into place on their own. "But I wanna go to the beach with you."
Falling still, his expression hardened a little. He went quiet as if determining how to respond. Then with a sigh, he turned around and headed back inside his bedroom. I followed him out, pulling the bathroom door closed behind me.
"Your friends..." he said with reluctance, crumpling his features into that of an adorably sulky puppy. "I don't think it's such a good idea."
Taking hold of his wrist, I gently pulled him to face me. "None of our friends today," I said, looking him straight in the eyes. "Just you and me."
He frowned. "Doing what, exactly?"
This was going way better than I'd thought it would. How was he not even attempting to fight it? I had no idea what this guy thought of me, but he was playing right into my hands. It's like he was barely fazed at all when it came to me. A little confusion, a little curiosity, and a little bit of impulsivity to just go ahead and roll with it. That seemed to be the overall model of today's success.
A grin spread across my face.
"I wanna surf."
-
We powered down the boardwalk towards the ocean, with me carrying Dad's surfboard under my arm. Or rather, I did the powerwalking while Aubrey stumbled along behind me. Fewer people were about now that it was coming to four o'clock. From this distance, I could see just a few people left in the water.
"I still don't get why it has to be me," Aubrey said, struggling to keep up behind me. The way he panted spoke volumes about his current fitness level. I'd packed us a couple of water bottles, not wanting a repeat of today's borderline heatstroke. That was the most intense dehydration I'd experienced in my life, only intensified by cute snuggling beneath a freezing cold aircon.
The things I did for Aubrey Keats.
"Why is grass green?" I answered him. "Why's the sky blue? All pointless questions."
The sun still sat high over the ocean, but a comfortable coolness finally settled in. My only concern was the possibility of it getting too cold, too quickly, as I didn't want Aubrey to get cold. Just in case, I packed a couple of hooded jumpers inside my bag, which I currently had slung over my shoulder.
"My question is not pointless," he protested, bounding along behind me once we hit the sand. The sea was calmer than I'd have liked, with barely enough waves to make do with even a boogie board. "I genuinely want to know!"
When we got close to the water where the sand was still dry, I set the board down with my bag and sat. Kicking off my flipflops, I pulled my shirt over my head and tossed it aside. Aubrey fell quiet, and I watched him averting his gaze with pink-tinged cheeks. He was either awkward around me or flushed from chasing me down the length of the boardwalk.
I couldn't tell.
"Alright," I said. "Help me figure this out."
He scowled. "What do you mean by that?" he asked with disbelief. "You mean to tell me we came all this way and you can't even surf?"
"Never surfed a day in my life," I said, grinning up at him. "But we're here for you, not me."
He gave me his usual dumb look, unblinking. Without a word, he turned past me and headed straight for the boardwalk. I cracked up into laughter, jumping up to my feet and pulling him back by the hand.
"Wait, wait, wait," I said, trying to hold a straight face. How could somebody be this adorable? "Come into the water with me."
He shook his head. "Nah, I'm good," he said.
I quirked my brow at him. "You're not... scared, are you?" I asked, deciding that taunting him might produce the most optimal results. "You couldn't possibly be."
He glowered at me, doing the classic Aubrey lip thing, top overhanging the bottom in perfunctory duck beak.
"I'm not scared," he stubbornly objected, averting his gaze to anything but me. "I'm just not interested."
"Alright," I said, letting his hand go and sitting back down in the sand. I patted the spot beside me. "We won't surf. Just stay here with me."
"Why?" he asked, frowning.
"I mean, we came all this way," I said, shrugging.
Maybe this'd take ten minutes, maybe fifteen, maybe thirty. But I wanted this to work out. If I could just get him into the ocean with me then I'd be satisfied. If we could accomplish this with the surfboard, then of course that'd be even better.
"Alright," he said, slumping down beside me. Curling his legs in front of him, he stared straight ahead at the glistening water. "D'you swim, then?"
His body was as slender and pastel white as I'd imagined. His bun had come loose with more strands dangling around his face. I wanted to run my fingers through them and brush them back. He turned his head to me, brow raised. Realizing I'd been too busy checking him out to answer, I grinned sheepishly.
Busted. "Yeah, I swim. You?"
He turned back to face the ocean. "Um, it's been a while."
I tore my eyes away from him, looking straight ahead, too. I had to be patient. No matter what, I wanted to get us into that water before it started getting dark. It seemed like he was getting comfortable with me, and I was already getting attached to him. If anyone was going to jump hurdles with him, I wanted it to be me. I leaned back on my hands and stretched my back out, feeling it click.
"How long's a while?" I asked.
He shrugged. "Few years."
"What's keeping you?" I tried to keep as nonchalant as possible.
Boy talk. Boy talk. It's all this was. That's all he needed to think it was. He seemed to hesitate for a moment, before trailing his finger through the sand.
"You've probably heard already," he said, momentarily hesitating before he continued, "that I'm half-blind. Well, blind in one eye. I can still do everything but... not as good."
"So... you prefer to avoid everything altogether?" I asked.
"No," he said quickly and firmly, jumping straight to his own defense. "I just don't like to do unnecessary things."
"Is the stuff you like unnecessary, then?" I asked, challenging him more than I'd intended.
He pulled a face, crossing his arms over his knees and burying his chin on them. The cutest hissy fit face a guy could make. If I could wrap my arms around him and squeeze, then I absolutely would.
"Don't be stupid," he muttered.
"I'm being serious, though," I said, though I almost had to laugh. He was so stubborn. I wished I was better at getting around and dealing with these kinds of situations. I didn't really know the right things to do or say, but what I did know was that I didn't want to give up on him. So I asked, "Can I be honest with you?"
He lifted his head back up to look at me. When he didn't say a word, I took that as a green light. "I want to swim with you. You, specifically. This might sound really pretentious, and maybe it is, but I wanna see you doing something you like."
Aubrey's brows furrowed, confused. "How did you even know?"
"Ikeisha may or may not have let it slip earlier," I chuckled nervously, hoping I didn't say anything I shouldn't have. "She didn't say more than that, but I kind of guessed."
Aubrey sighed. After a few moments of deliberation, he stood up and brushed himself down. Touching his hearing aid, he appeared to contemplate keeping it in or taking it out. It made things complicated since it'd be bad if it got wet, but it'd be pretty vital to communicate while in the ocean. I'd make sure his hearing aid remained dry no matter what it took. I wouldn't let his embarrassment or fear keep him from doing something he loved.
And maybe he believed that of me, even without me saying it, because he looked at me with a resolute expression.
"Fine," he said. "I'll come in with you. But only because you're a hopeless clown that I can't help but feel sorry for."
Grinning up at him, I couldn't help but agree. "That I am."