The Beach House

Chapter 31: "Pushy" Is Putting It Nicely

               I sit on the edge of my bed and watch Soren pull his shirt on over his tan back. He turns around to look at me with those beautiful eyes and a kind smile. There's no awkwardness in his face. He's as easy to be around as air.

              "Guess I should go pick up the others now, huh?" He makes his way over towards the middle of the bed and puts his hands on either side of my my thighs so we're face to face. There's no stopping the smile on my face.

           "Guess so," I reply. I lean forward for a quick peck, but Soren comes back for a lingering kiss.

            "Yeah," he says with a reluctant sigh. I pull away and look into his eyes for a moment before making us both stand up straight.

            "Uh, before we go..." I start before realizing I don't have the right words.

             "You don't want them to know still, is that right?" I look into his eyes to see if there's any hurt or resentment behind that statement, but come up empty.

                 "It's not about you. I'm so proud to be your..." I trail off again. What are we, anyways? My eyes drift downwards while I search for a way to end my sentence. Oh God, I really have a knack for steering conversations into the most awkward direction possible.

                "Girlfriend?" he says. I snap my eyes back up. "I mean, if that's okay with you."

                "That's way more than ok." My smile is so big it hurts. I step forward and plant a kiss on his cheek. "I'm so proud to be your girlfriend," I continue, "but I still haven't told everyone about Noah. Not because i'm still not over him. I'm just afraid it's gonna completely throw off the group dynamic. I mean, they're his friends, too. And I kinda don't know how to explain us being together so quickly yet. I'll tell them. I will. But I was thinking of waiting until our last day here so it doesn't distract from the beach house or anything. If that's okay with you."

               I take a big breath in and mess with the skin around my nails. I hope Soren can understand what I mean. I'm so bad with explaining things.

               "Mariella, take all the time you need. I understand. And i'm not going anywhere."

                 The reassurance feels like a weight being lifted off my shoulders. I can breathe a little easier.

                "Thank you. Seriously," I say. I brush his cheek with my thumb. I can't even begin to explain my gratitude.

                   We decide we've probably left everyone waiting long enough. I check myself in the mirror to make sure nothing is completely obvious. My cheeks are bright and my eyes are a little crazy, but everything else looks pretty normal. I make sure to send another text saying we're on our way before heading out. We take the car back to the beach and Soren shares more of his music with me. I like the way he gets excited about his songs. And I like how he knows all the lyrics. I like him and how this night turned out and the lightness he's returned to me. It's a feeling I haven't felt in a long time.

            By the time we get to the beach, it seems our group has rallied in a circle. I'm glad we won't have to round them all up. Soren and I get out of the car when it's clear they're not going to look our way on their own. As we approach, I realize there's an obvious discussion going on. Noise starts to float to my ears until I can finally fully piece together the conversation.

            "I'm sorry, I don't mean to be rude. There's just no space and I don't know you and mom would kill me if something happens," Ali says. I look around to see what she's talking about. Everything looks mostly normal except my friends all seem pretty uncomfortable. I scan their faces until I reach and unexpected one. Bella.

              "Come on, don't be such a stick in the mud. I'm not a criminal or anything," Bella says. Her words are dripping with attitude. Jeez, what did we miss?

             "Hey," Soren interrupts as we finally reach them. "What's happening?"

             "Bella wants to come stay with us. I guess her Airbnb fell through," says Luke. He shifts his weight uncomfortably. I take in the group setting. It doesn't seem like anyone is pushing for Bella. Except for Bella herself. Their eyes are all cast downwards. Even Tess looks hesitant.

               "Come on, Sky, tell 'em they can trust me," Bella says to Soren. I make eye contact with him and mouth "Sky?" He lifts an eyebrow. He seems just as lost as me. She leans towards him and starts to play at the small necklace around his neck. I hadn't noticed it before because of its size, but now I can't look anywhere other than Bella's perfectly manicured fingers playing with the tiny pendant.

                "Uh, it's Soren, actually," he says.

                 "Duh. I thought Sky was a cute nickname." I watch Bella's eyes shift away from Soren as she realizes he'll be no help. She steps away from him and I can breathe again. Ali glances at me before returning back to Bella. I can tell what she's going to do before she even opens her mouth. She's too nice.

                  "I guess you can stay for one night. But i'm really not supposed to have any strangers in the house, so you'll have to find somewhere else to stay tomorrow," she says. Bella claps her hands in victory.

                  "We should really head back now, it's getting pretty late and the party is getting out of control," Annika says. I can tell she's antsy to get home. I wonder if she's spending the night with Luke.

                  "I'm in Sky's car and I call shotgun," Bella shouts. For someone who is a temporary guest, she sure is demanding. Tess gives me a small glance.

                  "Actually, Mariella gets the front seat in Soren's car cause she gets carsick," Tess says. "Come in the other car with me." I thank her silently as she leads Bella towards the other half of the group, who are already splitting off to locate their car.

                 "See you back at the house," I shout to them and Tess signals a thumbs up.