Fleeting

California Girls

14th June 2019

"Her freckled face remains unchanged,

Just a memory lost to space."

"Are you sure you just want to go to the beach?" Jaxon asked Evie for the hundredth time. "We're supposed to be showing you around and we haven't really done much of that"

I couldn't argue with Jaxon. As tour guides, we sucked. And yet Evie never seemed to mind.

"The beach sounds perfect," she reassured us before stifling a yawn with the back of her hand.

"You look tired." Tori's eyes dropped to her.

She shrugged. "Just haven't been sleeping well."

I analysed her face, noting the loss of colour in her cheeks and the bags under her eyes. Even her freckles, which were usually so prominent, had faded into her white skin.

But it wasn't just her face, it was her being. She looked tired, but also worn out.

I instantly felt guilty. Maybe it was our doing? Or more specifically mine?

I was the one who had dragged her into our problems, after all. She should have been relaxing around Torrance or exploring L.A. but she'd spent her time helping us.

We had to acknowledge that although we had wanted to help her, she may have helped us more.

"You do look..." Hazel struggled to find the right word without offending her new friend. "Dead on your feet."

"If you want to just relax at your hotel you can-"

"No." Evie was quick to cut Jaxon off. She looked out over the sea with an expression that seemed a million miles away from us. "I just want to enjoy my last day with you guys."

Hazel's eyes shone with unshed tears, and the rest of us fell silent. It was easy to forget that Evie had another home, in another country, across a vast ocean from us. Tomorrow she would fly home. And no doubt she would leave with promises of keeping in contact and we would promise the same.

But it's never as easy as that. Life gets in the way. Family, careers, they would all take precedent over someone who was halfway around the other side of the world.

"I'm going to miss you." Hazel took Evie's hand, chuckling at the usual electric shocks that seemed to accompany her.

It would be one of those things none of us would forget about her. It was just so uniquely Evie.

Evie squeezed Hazel's hand. "I know, I don't want to go," she whispered, her smile sad.

Even I had to swallow a few times.

"Right, enough of this...sadness. We are going to have the best effing day ever." Jaxon rubbed a hand over his face. "Damn sand in my eyes."

Everyone chuckled as Tori bumped his shoulder against Jaxon's. "Sand?" he asked with a raised eyebrow.

"Don't judge me," Jaxon quibbled back.

When we finally reached the steps down from the boardwalk to the beach, several people had already gathered. It was always the same during the summer. No one wanted to miss out on a glorious day at the beach.

It wasn't as busy as a Saturday, but it still meant walking around a number of holidaymakers and locals.

"Time to find our spot." Jaxon led the way, his longer legs having no problem with the shifting sand.

I and Evie struggled a little more and Hazel - whose balance had always been questionable - had to cling to Tori lest she face plant the floor.

"Ooohh." Hazel hopped a little as the hot sand brushed against her toes, peeking out of her sandals. "Careful of the sand."