One Night in July

6. Surf shop

The next morning brought beautiful weather. The kids drove into one of the towns to walk around the shops, look at touristy stuff, get some lunch, buy some cheap crap, get ice cream, and have a great time. The adults when to a different town to walk around that was a little less touristy. As we walked to our first destination Agitha said "yo which one of you was snoring last night." Isabella laughed "it wasn't me, but I think I know who it was." "Oh I'll tell you who it was!" Gwen said. Johnny laughed "haha I'm sorryyyy I can't help it." "I was about to kick you to the couch" Gwen said. "I swear it runs in the family." Isabella laughed. "Dad's snores could wake the dead!" Johnny looked at his sister. "Remember that camping trip where-" He didn't even have to finish the sentence. She burst out laughing "oh my gosh that was awful!" 

Back to gwens POV...

The twins wanted to stop at a surf shop/gift store so we all went in and looked at stuff for a bit. Johnny spent almost the entire time talking to the girl running the register. I thought it was a little weird. I wondered what they were talking about. Maybe he was getting directions or something or tips on the town?I shrugged. After a bit we decided to head out. I turned to look back as I was walking towards the exit, but Johnny was still talking to the girl. I bumped into the side of the door because I was looking fully behind me towards Johnny and the girl without even realizing it. Agitha laughed. "bro are you good?" I shook my head feeling a little confused. "yeah haha that was weird." Johnny turned around when he heard the thump. The girl gave him a small piece of paper which he slid in his pocket and then he hustled after us. "What was that all about" I asked Johnny waving my hand back towards the shop. Johnny smirked and then pulled out the little piece of paper and brandished it. It had a phone number on it. "Oooooooo" Said Isabell and Agitha in unison. For some reason I was having a hard time making words come out. My chest and throat felt a little tight. "I'm like really thirsty can we stop for something?" we agreed to get sandwiches at a little shop on the corner. I ended up next to Johnny when we sat to eat lunch. He noticed me picking at my food. He faced me and quietly said. "Hey are you okay? you look like you don't feel good and you haven't eaten anything." I tried to think on my feet. "Oh yeah I think I'm just like in a mood or something. I'm about to start my period (which was actually true) so yeah ...sorry it's just like the hormones I guess." Johnny furrowed his eyebrows a little. "Gwen, just because the cause of your bad mood is hormonal doesn't make your feelings invalid. Obviously you don't really have control of what your body is doing right now to make you feel this way, but we can still talk about how you feel if that would help." I smiled at hime. "you're sweet...It's nothing though. It's literally just a feeling almost like a stomach ache but a feeling if that makes sense? I can't pin anything to the emotion ...it just..is" He briefly rubbed my back right below my neck. "Sorry G, if you want to go back to the house I'll drive you." I put on a convincing smile. "no no I'm good." 

After a couple more hours we headed in the direction of the car. As we passed a Walgreens Johnny said "hold up I need to grab something really quick." "I need something too...forgot one of my toiletries" I said as I went in after him. As we walked towards the back of the store to the health section Johnny said to me in a low voice like someone would be listening in "hey can you cover for me tonight?" I could tell he was trying really hard not to smile from ear to ear. "What do you mean?" I asked. "Okay so the chick from the surf shop said she wanted to meet up tonight so I'm going to try and sneak out after dinner and if my parents ask you can just make something up about where I am." I laughed dryly "What about stranger danger?" I was mostly kidding, but there was a part of me that wasn't. "nahh it will be fine. She lives in like a house with other people who work here in the summer, like life guards and stuff" I raised an eyebrow. "how old is this girl." "19" He responded. "does she know you're a minor?" Johnny laughed. "C'mon I am almost 18 don't give me that...but to answer your question she does not know hahah I lied and said I was 18." I sighed. "I will cover for you, but If you get in trouble or caught don't you dare throw me under the bus." I said holding out my hand. "deal" He said as we did our handshake. 

"Okay G, what all did you need?" he asked. "oh yeah, I need a box of tampons I completely forgot to pack any. I grabbed the box I wanted and turned to walk to check out, but Johnny was holding a box of pads reading the label intently. "um haha what are you doing?" I asked slowly. "You can't sleep with tampons in-plus when your period are like really bad sometimes it helps your cramps to wear pads not tampons." "good point I said" as he walked past me with the package. I was pretty impressed, but not all that surprised. We had been best friends for so damn long we knew everything about each other. Being on swim team together has also made a difference. Johnny knows how heavy my periods are and has bailed me out of several situations at swim meets by carrying a few tampons in his backpack. "Ok I need one thing and then we can go." Johnny said. We walked down the travel isle and he grabbed a small box of condoms. "oh my god Johnny you just met this girl.." He smirked but wouldn't make eye contact. "let me be young and dumb, mom." 

After dinner we all sat in the living room. The energy was low. Some of us read, some of us played card games. Johnny looked at his watch and then casually slipped out of the room not before giving me a wink. "be careful" I mouthed. He swatted his hand as if to say. "this isn't a big deal." 

10:00 pm

I got out of the shower and found Johnnys side of the bed to still be empty. Isabella and Agitha were alright under the covers and watching a movie. "Where's Jonny?" Agitha asked. " He said he wanted to go on a run by the water while it wasn't hot." My lie seemed to work. "ah yes that's what I want to be doing on vacation...exercise" I snickered and put some pajamas on. 

11:00 pm

I lay awake staring at the ceiling. The girls were dozing off in their bed. Suddenly I heard our bedroom door click and Johnny slowly opened the door. He was super sweaty. I forgot that he had run to this date as to not cause suspicion with a missing car. "how was it?" I whispered. "tell you after I shower" he whispered back. I rolled over. That feeling in my chest from earlier was back, but stronger. I knew what it was. I had known for a little bit I think, but I finally admitted to myself right then and there as I lay in bed...the reason for my heartache.