I looked at the sun beating down on the water, letting the sound of the waves and people enjoying themselves calm me down. Daddy and I had another argument last night. I wanted to go to college but I couldn't afford it, even with all my savings I'd be up to my ears in debt. Nothing I did seemed to be working. Like trying to take one step fowards only to take two steps back. I closed my eyes and let the sun soak into my skin, and slowly I started to feel a little bit better. No matter how many arguments with daddy, or how many money problems come my way, I had the beach. And my camera.
I opened my eyes again and picked up my beloved camera slowly bringing it to my face. I clicked a few pictures of some guys surfing some incredible waves, girls hanging out with soda's and sunglasses linked by the arm, some kids building a sand castle. And then, my camera landed on him. He was shirtless, had golden skin, with dark brown hair with the richest brown eyes I had ever seen. My breath got caught in my chest and I couldn't hold back my smile. He had come a little late this summer, it was already July. At first I thought he wasn't coming, that he had forgotten all about me and was probably getting ready for some fancy college in the fall with a beautiful girlfriend and probably not even an inch in debt. But here he was, in the same beach he had come to since ninth grade.
He was always so interested as to why I always had my camera with me, he himself was quite the photographer. He stole my camera the first summer we met and took so many pictures of me and everthing we did that night. I still have every single one. Thats what we did, we looked at each other from afar, and winked sometimes. Then one night totally unexpected we'd meet up and have the night of our lives. We never talked about the bad stuff, like our parents, hometowns and pasts. But just have a blast and one hell of a night together before we both dissapeared into our own separate lives with nothing but just memories of eachother.
"You found him didn't you." A sweet excited voice sang ripping me from my camera lense and back to reality. I turned to see my best friend in the whole world Morgan Bale standing over me blocking my view of the sun. Her wild, red hair was down as always running free and she was wearing her favorite red white and blue bikini top with jean shorts. Her sweet southern twang filled my heart to the brim with joy. She'd been gone for a week to visit Arizona State where she'll be attending in the fall.
"Morgan! You're back!" I said and got up to hug her.
"Lilly! You wouldn't believe how amazin' Arizona State is. I wish you could go with me! They offer photography you know." she said sounding just a little bit sad.
"Don't worry Morgan, just mention me when you're famous for being the world's most talented journalist!" I said, as we sat back down on the towel. She had her ever present shoulder bag with her. She sat it down in her lap and patted it a few times. I raised my eye brows at her. She looked a little guilty.
"Morgan..? What's going on?" I asked.
"Don't get mad okay?" She said taking her sunglasses off and putting them on the top of her head. I nodded, wanting her to continue.
"I took one of your pictures of that boy.. And I looked him up." She said taking out a folder and handing it to me.
My body went rigid. What? This wasn't how it was supposed to work! He and I met up once a year in the summer had an amazing night together like a fairytale. But that was it! No happily ever after with us, after that night we would go back to our normal non-fairytale lives. I ripped the folder open and saw pictures of him with unfamiliar people, at his school, playing lacrosse, prom with his hand around another girl. That cut my heart a little seeing him with another girl. I had always wished but never admitted that he might think about me as much as I thought about him and thought I was his one and only. But that wasn't realistic, just hopes that I knew deep down would never come true.
