Out of the Darkness

88

Tara grinned and rolled her eyes, before jumping up and down a little, clapping her hands. "Yaay, we're going to the beach. I'll text the girls. Are you going to invite Anna?" My smile dropped as I looked at her, and shook my head. "Will you stop it?" I groaned, turning my back to them. "Sorry, sorry. Just asking. I won't mention her again. Of course, the other girls probably will." "Uggghhh, why can't you guys all just mind your business??" I groaned, heading towards the back door. I heard Tara laughing as I closed it behind me and headed to my room. I passed Sam in the kitchen, then stopped and turned back to tell him about the beach. "Gonna make it a beach day. Interested?" "Oh hell yea," he replied. "Could use a day off. Let me call Kat." I just nodded, and walked back up to my room. I didn't bother texting anyone, since I knew the others would do it. Instead, I got all of the necessary things that I would need for a beach trip and changed into my shorts and tank top. I didn't really want to be around everyone but keeping to myself all the time was just going to make them annoy me more. I knew the girls were going to bombard me with so many questions about Anna too. I wasn't really ready for it but I was hoping that Sam could help me deflect. Maybe we needed a little help. I jogged down the stairs and into the kitchen. I opened the cabinet that we kept our liquor in and grabbed a bottle of vodka. Not my first choice, but everyone would drink it. Corey walked in then, and caught me. "Damn Colby, didn't know you were a morning drinker now. No judgment," he said, holding his hands up, with a grin. I rolled my eyes. "Going to the beach. Wanna come?" "Oooh, the vodka makes sense now. Yeah, sure. Is everyone going?" I shrugged. "The others are asking them. Probably." "Cool, I'll go grab my stuff and change. Who's riding with me?" I shook my head, then held the vodka up. "Uber." "Riiiight," he said, tapping the side of his head. "That's why you got the big brains." "Shut up," I said, laughing a little. I waited a while for everyone to get ready, and get to the house, before calling the Uber. We ended up needing two, since there were a few of us. Not everyone could go though. It ended up being just me, Sam, Kat, Jake, Tara, Corey, and Devyn. Corey and Dev used to date, but it had been a few years since they broke up, and they had learned how to hang out and be friends. It was still weird to me, even after all this time, that they weren't together. I had always thought that they were end game. By the time we arrived at the beach, the sun was blazing in the sky, making the ocean literally sparkle. It looked so much like my dream, that I almost froze when I stepped onto the white sand. I fought the urge to look around for Anna because I knew she wasn't there. We found a good spot, dropped our stuff, and laid out our towels. We had extra ones to dry off with, if necessary. I usually just sat around until my clothes dried, before I would drive home but when you were with others, you could never be sure how it was going to work out. We took turns playing a few games of chicken in the water. I partnered with Kat, when it was my turn. "WooHoo!" She yelled, holding her arms up, as I watched Tara hit the water, and go under. Tara came up sputtering, and Jake helped her up. "Not fair," Tara pouted jokingly. "You cheated." "How?" Kat gasped. Tara shrugged and laughed. "I dunno. You just did." I laughed, and leaned down into the water so Sam could help Kat off of my shoulders. "You kicked her ass," he said, kissing her on the cheek. I sighed and looked away from them, only to see Jake pick Tara up, so that he could kiss her. Usually, I didn't have a problem being single. I enjoyed it even. It meant that I could have fun with girls, without having to tie myself down, and neither of us would have any expectations to meet. It never bothered me to see Sam and Kat showing each other affection, or Jake and Tara. Even Corey and Devyn were standing close to each other. It seemed like I felt my heart break a little bit every time I saw it. I was jealous that they had the one they loved with them. I didn't even get a chance to see if I could love the one girl that I had really liked in a long time. Oh, and let's not forget that my dumbass would be the only one to start falling for a fucking ghost. I walked back up onto the shore, and sat down on my towel. I pulled the bottle of vodka out of our cooler, and poured some in one of the red plastic cups that we had brought, before sticking the bottle back where it was. After pouring some orange juice on top of that, I swirled the contents of my cup a few times, then took a few large gulps. Everywhere I looked on the beach, couples and families were having fun, oblivious to the torture that was going on inside of the guy sitting not so far away from them. "You okay," Sam asked, sitting down next to me. I looked over to him, then back out to the water, where everyone else was. "Yeah, I'm good. Go have fun man. I just needed a breather." "Nah, I'm good here. I needed a breather too. Jake was trying to talk us into a rematch. Besides, the alcohol is up here," he replied, winking at me as he poured himself a drink, trying to keep the bottle mostly concealed. It was illegal to drink on most of the beaches, and I honestly didn't know if this was one of the very few that you could drink. So, we were going to keep it hidden. I grinned at him, then turned my own drink up again.