April 27th

Chapter 13

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Thirteen

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Finally outside, April took a deep breath of the briny yet ocean fresh air, not being able to ignore the beauty of the beach at midday. The sea looked jewel blue from the distance she stood at, getting more sparkly and rippled till the point where it kissed the silk blue sky at the horizon line. The sky in itself was hosting a gathering of wizard white, tufty clouds, looking as peaceful and comfortable as ever. If only her mind were as clear as that.

"So...your schedule cleared up fast," Shawn commented, walking close beside her.

"Err... Yeah, sorta," she replied, looking round at the countless foot imprints in the soft, warm sand. "Stuff cleared up."

"Busy woman," he teased. "I like that."

She chuckled. He had no idea.
They kept walking in a straight line, farther and farther away from the area of the beach she was familiar with. She would worry, but Shawn had promised not to take her anywhere creepy, so she relaxed and powered on. "Where are you taking me?" She finally asked for the sake of conversation.

"It's a surprise."

"I don't like surprises," she noted without thinking.

"So you like everything going as predicted, that's good I guess."

She shrugged. "It's easier. That way you can stay healthy. Did you know shock is surprise at its worst? Kidnapping is also by surprise because the victims don't suspect it. And assassination by sniper comes as a surprise because no one sees it coming."

"How do you even get this stuff in your head?" He asked, getting a laugh about of both of them.

He smiled and waved at a bunch of guys by the shore to their far right. "Sometimes it feels good to be surprised," he noted in an undertone.

One of the guys gestured wildly with his arms, as if trying to capture their attention. He jumped and crossed his arms over his head, yelling something that sounded like 'high glides', whatever that meant.

"Hey look, your friend's waving at you."

He turned to face him, then brought his head back down with a wide grin. "Yeah, don't pay him attention or we'll have to–"

The guy called out to the remaining, and in a second, about six different guys and three girls were all leaving the sea side, jogging in their direction.

"And now they're coming," Shawn said through his teeth. "Don't pay attention to them."

April raised her brows at him. Whose call was that to make?

The group reached them and she got to see them up close. To be honest, they left her wishing she'd been head clear enough for that meeting. The amount of abs present and on display was enough to drive a pyramid of cheerleaders crazy, and the smell of ocean and cologne was enough to make even relatively uninterested girls like April pay attention.

"Hi!" She chirped back at the group, who wasted no time in exchanging greetings and shoulder punches with Shawn.

"Why didn't you introduce us?" A tall blond guy asked Shawn before facing April with a wink. "I'm Dexter, by the way."

She grinned. "It seems we have the same last name. I'm also April Bytheway."

Everyone laughed, including Shawn, who placed his arm around her shoulder somewhat protectively. Dexter noticed and took a step back, holding both hands up in surrender.