Finding Him

Chapter Twenty One

"Run! Run, Al! Run!" I shriek as Al and I struggle to run away from a charging Dex and Mike in the sand. Her foot slips and her hands fling out to catch her balance. I pull her forward by her other hand and we stumble-sprint another few feet. Good thing Al and I are dancers, otherwise we wouldn't have the balance to run away from the boys- who were taking a few solid face plants to the ground every four feet. Funny, I assumed football players would be more graceful.

Thankfully, they weren't because the water guns filled with ice water that they carried looked less than pleasant to be shot close range with. Fortunately for us as well, Dex had only been able to find crappy little water shooters in his basement that barely squirt a few feet let alone the good few yards Al and I were ahead of them.

Snickering, I watch as Dex's foot hits a patch of loose sand as he runs; making him topple over himself. Gosh, he was so cute! His blue eyes were smoldering half with frustration and half with amusement. I loved the way he looked up at me from the ground. He had laughter pooling in the corners of his eyes and his white teeth were smudged with a few grains of sand. His teasing voice rang out among the crashing aquamarine waves and screaming children, "Nikki, help me! I can't get up! I think I broke my ankle!"

Mike charges forward with determination masking his face as he points his water gun in front of his tanned muscular body and targets Allison. He lunges forward screaming, "I got you now, Allie!"

She giggles gleefully and runs off into the distance; obviously enjoying the chase. He runs after her with a lot more grace then Dex ran after me. Ignoring Dex for the moment, I look at the two toned figures running towards the purple horizon. Mike was the only one who made Al giggle verses her normal- slightly obnoxious- laugh. Allison only tolerated being called Allie when it was Mike who was saying it.

They run awkwardly in the now cooled-off sand since nighttime was quickly approaching. The horizon is a deep purple, accented with gold and streaks of a plush pink that reminds me of little tufts of cotton candy. The ocean is morphing from its stunning aqua color to its equally beautiful silver color. I always thought that the ocean had two personalities; the morning ocean being the breath-taking, almost too perfect Tiffany-blue color, which was meant for play and fun and memory-making, but the nighttime ocean, the pool of liquid silver, was meant for thinking.

You could look at that infinite pool of grey and trace it all the way back to the horizon. It was made for mystery and relaxation and coziness. When midnight hits over the water, everything is better. It's the time when soft kisses are placed on your lips that are so light they almost don't exist. That ocean is a symbol for all the possibilities life holds. Time slows down and everything that has been and will be doesn't matter because all you can process is how quiet it is and how much time you have left and how it doesn't matter what might go undone tonight because in the present, everything fits just right.

As I turn back to Dex, his smile becoming slightly impatient from being left "injured" in the sand for longer than he anticipated, I know that everything is falling into place. His bright blue eyes gleam mysteriously in the quickly dimming light. Further down the beach, Jen, Tom, Dylan, and Shawn's shrieks of glee can be heard. I can almost see Shawn's head of blond curls bouncing around in the dark.

Will and Grace decided to not show up. Normally, I would think it rude that I extended the olive branch to them only to be stood-up, but I honestly didn't even care. I love Will. Indeed, I do. However, it's in the way you love someone who you've looked after for such a long time that it's almost like a second nature to love them.

Dex was a different kind of love. His was a love that couldn't be quenched or satisfied. Every second spent with him only made it grow more hungry; more addicted. He made me melt into the ground with every fleeting glance, and could make me gasp for air with just a simple word muttered into my ear. His was that type of love people always dreamt of having. I didn't think it existed before. Shawn and Dylan were just lucky; a couple that was found once in a million.