haze / afi

part 10. beach day

checking her tote bag for the millionth time this morning, violet panics as the time gets closer to needing to leave to go to the beach.

why is she panicking? you may wonder. she has no need to.

everything she needs is in the bag in front of her. other than the things ashton will be bringing for her. however, her mind continues to race, this is the first time she'll be spending a long amount of time with ashton and his friends. and now her friends.

she checks the bag again. extra charger for her phone. check. sunglasses. check. a book to read. check. money to buy food and drinks. check.

that's all she needs with her. she needs to leave now, already seeing she's gonna be a little late after checking through things a thousand times.

walking outside, violet's glad with what she chose to wear to the beach. the bright, hot, sunlight already taking effect. she has light blue jean shorts on with a short sleeve beige shirt, as well as her purple flip flops, not wanting sand getting in her shoes.

once she finally arrives at the beach, she grabs her phone out from her pocket, clicking on ashton's number to find out where he and the guys are.

"violet! hey!" ashton quickly answers. "are you wearing a light coloured shirt? with blue shorts?"

violet looks around, still not spotting where he is. clearly he could see her.

"turn back just slightly— there!" he directs, violet is now facing a little away from stores near her. looking onto the beach.

"oh! i see you now." she laughs, starting to walk towards them. "i'll be there in a second."

she hangs up the phone. walking onto the sand to get over to where the guys are. she could see they already have everything laid out. towels, a couple of tote bags most likely filled with things they need, the same way violet had filled her bag.

she stood beside ashton's towel, looking down at the four guys who seem to be soaking up the sun. luke and calum shirtless, most likely hoping to top up their tan.

"i'm so sorry i'm late," violet places her bag on the ground next to the empty brown towel, assuming it's the one ashton brought for her.

"don't worry about it, i'm just glad you're here now." ashton smiles up at her, sitting himself up properly to straighten out the brown towel for her.

before sitting down, she looks over to calum, giving him a smile and wave. she does the same to michael, he says a quick hi to her.

violet sits cross legged at first, taking a deep breath in. taking in the scent of the salty ocean, the sound of the waves crashing into land, the beautiful sunshine and gorgeous crystal clear blue sky. this is everything she ever wanted. to live somewhere that feels like home. this is it.

"you okay?" ashton knocks her from her deep thoughts, she nods her head.

"i'm great." she breathes. "it's so beautiful here."

"isn't it?" luke looks over to violet, agreeing with what she said. he also passes her the bottle of sunscreen that he had next to him. "ashton said you might need some."

she takes it from him, opening it. "thank you, don't wanna get burnt on my first day at the beach." she laughs, starting to spread it down the length of her right arm.

she spends the next few minutes making sure she covers every inch of skin in sunscreen. her arms, legs, neck and face. she couldn't risk getting sunburnt. as much as she hates how sticky it is, it'll do the trick.