Life After Dinosaurs

5 - Kay

In a way, I enviedthe animal kingdom. There everyone's roles were set. All but thestrongest would mate, and the weak sharks like myself could find apeaceful serenity in their role as a bachelor. I wanted to believethat I could be like that. I wanted to be this person that didn'tcare about girls, or dating, but whenever a cute girl was laughingand happened to smile at me, my heart would leap and I'd secretlywish that she'd never take her eyes off me. Every single time I wandered pasta couple making out a tinge of jealousy would swell in my chest. Whatwas it about that conformist that she found attractive? Why couldn'tI just conform?

I found my way toa hotdog stand that put chili and nacho cheese sauce on beef dogs.After the first bite, I was sold. It tasted like it could give me aheart attack. Some of the chili oozed out of theside from my mouth and I extended my hand to catch the drop. Itburned my hand a little, but it eased quick. On the floor, the sand was littered with wrappers and half-eaten sandwiches. To myright, someone take a bite of a hotdog and tossed it onto thesand.

This was someone'shome, maybe not a person's, but an ecosystem. This party ignored wild life. The beach had been chosen because somemillionaire's daughter thought beaches were pretty. I couldn't evenremember her name, but she pissed me off on principle.

I grabbed a bunchof napkins from the hotdog stand and started cleaning up. I felt likea dweeb at first, and the vendors looks didn't help, but when Itossed the last bit of rubish into a nearby can my heart swelled withpride.

"Some kind of aneat freak?" Came the feminine voice to my side.

I straightened upand looked over. The girl was black and had green eye shadow. Herhair was dyed orange and styled into a side part pixie cut. Her topwas a partially torn baby blue shirt, with her red and orangespeckled bathing suit clearly visible. I found myself staring at thecurve of her breast before looking back up to her face and smiling.

"A little," Iadmitted forgetting about the bad boy façade I was supposed to beprojecting.

She chuckled. "I'mpretty sure that Marvin Martins has enough money to clean a beachwhen the party's done."

I moved my hand tosweep my long hair away from my eyes. Feeling nothing, I moved my handto the unfamiliar short strands at the back of my head. I looked thegirl in the eyes, they were wide, white, and her irises shimmered green. Another fake affectation, but something no less beautiful.

"You're probablyright," I admitted. "I was just thinking about all of the animalschoking on soda rings and the like."

"Ah," she saidwith comprehension. "You're one of those rich activist types."

She crossed herarms and leaned to one side. The gesture brought her cleavage intoprominent view. It made me sick how easy it was for my lust to getthe better of me. I bit my lip and looked away.

"Not exactly,"I mumbled and crossed my arms. "I'm just another poor kid trying tohave a good time."

"Hmm." Shesounded bemused if not impressed. "That's pretty gentlemanly of you to keep me fromassuming that you're rich."

"I still couldbe," I corrected and looked back at her. "Rich people hate itwhen people know they're rich."

"Not in myexperience," she said with a chuckle.

Then she smiled atme. It wasn't a come-hither smile that's reserved for pornos, or the'I'm in love with you' smile used in romantic comedies. It was afriendly smile. It was like she figured out who I was, and she likedwho she saw.

"I'm Kay," Shetold me with a nod of her head.

"Ian." I extended my hand.

She chuckled andgave my hand a gentle shake. "You're so formal. It's adorable."