I'm Just Me: An Adventures In Odyssey Fan Fiction

Chapter 1 ~ Empty Feeling

"Jules, c'mon! Sam and Rick are here! We're gonna be late!!"

"Coming!!" I giggled as I threw on my cover-up and sandals. My friend Addison and I were going to a late-night beach party at Cabrillo Beach that Cameron Aston from our school was throwing. It was going to be amazing; loud music, glow sticks, and plenty of boys. All the popular kids would be there, me being one of them.

I heard Rick's car horn honk at us as I grabbed my beach bag and rushed out the front door. Addison was already in the red convertible, snuggled up next to Sam, her boyfriend. Rick sat grinning in the driver's seat, a cigarette perched in the corner of his mouth.

I waved wildly and ran to the shotgun seat. Once we buckled up, we started down the long, winding road towards the beach. The sky was a gradient of beautiful colors, giving us a perfect backdrop for an amazing night.

We talked about what we would do, who would be there, and who wouldn't. I tried to ignore Rick's flirty glances as I tied my hair up in a high ponytail. We all knew he had a huge crush on me, but I didn't like him back. I didn't want a boyfriend with smokey breath. Plus, I had sworn off men because of my mom. She always came home with different boyfriends, and it had disgusted me with the prospect of having a boy who would just carry me around to show me off to the last girl he was with.

We finally made it to the beach, and a bunch of hoots and hollers greeted us. A swarm of giggly girls in two pieces crowded around us, exchanging hugs and cheek kisses, while the guys slapped each other's backs.

They led us over to the couple of tents where there was food, drinks, and music blasting. The water looked really nice, so I slipped off my white cover-up to reveal my favorite lavender bikini. My cheeks burned as I heard a few guys whistle.

Tucking a strand of my hair, I playfully glanced behind me at them and then ran to the water with Addison. We twirled each other and splashed in the cool water, dancing to "Take Me To Go" by Jett Ballentine, my favorite singer.

Soon enough, the boys came in and joined us, and each girl went off with their boyfriend or someone they were talking to and started having a good time. Addison stuck with me a little longer, because she knew about my dating situation. We walked across the dark beach with glow sticks around our necks and ankles and chatted about clothes, boys, and other parties we were going to go to this week.

While we were talking, Addison looked across the beach and giggled.

"I think that new boy has eyes for you," she whispered.

"Who?" When I looked across the beach, I instantly knew who she was talking about. It was that tall dark-haired boy who didn't seem to have a girl attached to his hip but was just chilling with a small smile on his face. He was sitting in the sand, with blue swim trunks on.

"Who is that?" I asked, my cheeks red when I realized he was looking at me.

"I think his name is Vance. Rick says he's visiting from Colorado."

I looked at him again. He was still looking at me. I looked back at Addison.

"You should go talk to him," she nudged me, with a mischievous smile on her face.

"Addie, I don't know him—"

"Oh, c'mon, Jules!" she gasped. "He's so cute!" She started to pull me towards where he sat in the sand.

"Oh, all right," I smiled.

We walked up to him, and he gazed up at us through his longish curly black hair.

"Hey, Vance!" sang Addison. "This is Jules."

"Hey," his low voice greeted me.

"Hi," I mummered nervously. He was cute.

"I'll leave you two alone," Addison whispered, kissing my cheek before she left.

Vance smiled up at me and motioned for me to sit next to him. I did and we stared at the dark, starry sky.

"Beautiful night, isn't it?" he asked, glancing at me.

"Yeah," I replied. "So, where you from? Addie said you're visiting from out of town?"

"Yeah," he responded. "I live in Colorado. I have some family around here."

"Cool."

We continued to talk, and I soon found that Vance was a really amazing guy. We liked a bunch of the same things: music, lattes, movies, and shopping. I immediately felt comfortable around him. He made me laugh like no other boy could and made me feel like I could do anything with him. He had the most handsome face I'd ever seen-- his cheeks were chiseled slightly, and his eyes glowed.

"You're really amazing, you know," he said to me suddenly. I looked at him, my blue glow stick necklace illuminating his eyes.

"You really think so?" I asked quietly.

"Yeah," he whispered, leaning closer to me and tucking a loose strand of hair behind my ear. My insides fluttered with a million butterflies.

He looked up at the starry sky. "You remind me of the stars. So bright. So amazing. Nothing holding them down." I looked up at them as well. I then leaned back on the sand to get a better look. Vance leaned back next to me and scooted close. His arm somehow ended up wrapped around my waist.

"Gosh, you're really pretty," he whispered.

I felt my cheeks heat up, but a smile crept on my face too. I felt weird just laying there stiff while his arm was around my waist, so I let my hand creep up his chest and around his neck.

He leaned close again and the distance between our mouths became non-existent. I had never kissed a boy before; it felt strange but so good. I finally came up for air and stared at him with wide eyes.

"You just kissed me," I breathed.

He smiled, eyes half-open. "Did you like it?" he breathed back.

Instead of answering, I went back in for another kiss.

I don't know how long we were kissing, but we were jolted out of our spell when we heard some laughing and cheering from far off. We scrambled up, a blushing mess as some friends came over. Addison was grinning like crazy.

"You two are soooo cute!!" she squealed.

Vance kissed my cheek and helped me up. With his arm around my waist, we went over and joined the rest of the party-goers. I was dizzy with love the rest of the night and the only thing steadying me was Vance's strong arm around me.

He told me he was going back to Colorado in two days, so I got his number, and he asked if we could go out the next day, and that's how I got my first boyfriend.

When it was time for Rick and Sam to drive me and Addison home, Vance walked me to Rick's car. He opened the passenger seat door for me and closed it after I sat down. Leaning over the door, he gave me one last lingering kiss, making everyone in the car laugh. I pinched his cheek before we drove off.

Addison and I were so tired that we didn't even shower or get out of our swimsuits; we just flopped in bed with sandy hair and our bikinis and cover-ups on.

I was tired, but wide awake, thinking about Vance and what a great time we had. I tried to think back on our conversation under the stars. I told him I like shopping; he said: "me too". I told him I like movies; he said "me too". I told him I liked to do a bunch of things; his only response was "me too".

I wondered why I liked Vance, and not one good reason popped into my head. The only ones I could think of were that he made me feel good and he was unbelievably cute.

I absently mindedly started chewing my newly manicured nails, trying to think about why I thought I liked Vance, but I fell asleep with no butterflies in my stomach, just an empty feeling.