Ginger Fever

Part 1-The Text

Chapter One

The beach always calmed Karis's mind, the soothing sounds of the rhythmic crashes of waves would always drown out her thoughts, but here she was digging her toes into the sand desperate for stability. Her blood pumped through her chest and her thoughts were too strong to drown, but were swimming against the current of the waves.

Her fingers strung around her phone, like the cattle at her Grandma's farm when their legs would become entangled in barbed wire. Their pleading bleats for help as the thorns dug deeper into their legs would echo through the plateau, sometimes forcing her Grandmother to get her shotgun. Karis always remembered the faces of the unsuspecting prey to a bullet as her Grandmother placed the muzzle to the cows temple.

The salty air whipped through her hair and surrounded her, yet Karis could not form a breath, it was as if all of the oxygen in the world was nonexistent. Between her breaths, she slipped a prayer from her lips and into the wind hoping to be carried off to whoever would listen.

Karis wasn't the religious type. Though she went to a parochial school when she was younger, she never dedicated her older life to god. Every Wednesday when she was little, she would be shuttled across the street to the old church her school owned. Karis would sit in the splintery pews for hours picking at her pleated skirt that went past her kneecaps, as her teachers would beg her to focus. But how could Karis focus on the priest who spoke too much, her ears would bleed trying to contain his sentimental words too complex for a four year old. Karis would then grow up to despise people who talk too much.

After she left the church, Karis never stepped foot in a church again, until a couple months ago when her Grandma died. However, when in need she would remember her past, and whisper a prayer hoping the god she never returned to would listen.

No boy had ever made Karis whisper a prayer to god. It was the first time in her life when she actually had to work to attract a guy. Karis was humbled by the fact Robbie hadn't caught feelings for her yet. Usually it took boys about 72 hours to become overwhelmed by her beauty. Karis was unconventionally attractive, her red hair that she previously cut off to her shoulders due to a breakup framed her jawline perfectly. Her blue eyes matched the sky, even on cloudy days, and were always filled with wonder. Her freckles were scattered across her face like ink splatters, but yet Robbie hadn't noticed her beauty. The lack of Robbie's desire for her made him much more desirable, and it was Robbie who was about to receive Karis's brutal text.

The wind started pushing her back, almost egging her finger on to hit the send button. If a neurosurgeon could cut into Karis's brain, they would see red emergency lights and flashing strobes signaling that a nuclear attack was about to occur. But to the naked eye, no sirens were blaring, no tiny little people were running historically, but the small sound of a sent text message dueted the howling wind.

Karis released a big sigh of relief, as she looked up from her phone and into the ocean for a change of scenery. She knew Robbie was on the other end of the deep blue, probably wondering what was taking her so long to text back.

Robbie's parents owned a small house out on the French coastline, and was living there all summer and according to sources is popular with the French girls.

The waves formed and crashed as they carried her message to France. Karis's eyes fell back down to her message and stayed locked onto the small sentence. She pleaded for a response, she cursed for a response, alas she knew Robbie well enough that a response would not be in a timely fashion.

Robbie liked avoiding conflict. This wasn't the first message Karis sent that questioned their friendship, and challenged a relationship. In fact, Karis sent one a week ago asking Robbie if he thought she was pretty, but Robbie had just ignored it. But this text was different, this one he couldn't ignore.