Special Friend

Chapter One

    Grace: I never noticed how tall he was until now. Leaning against my doorway, is the one and only childhood friend, unfortunately. This means I can't get rid of him. Im stuck with him quite literally forever.
    "You're staring again," he says, breaking me out of my daze. "I know I'm pretty, but jeez."
    I make a face at him, scrunching my nose and eyes and shaking my head, mocking him. He chuckles and continues to watch me. I'm trying to tie my shoes so we can leave to meet up with Allen and Tiara, but I forgot how to tie my laces.
    He yawns obnoxiously loud. I glare at him before tucking my laces into my shoes and standing up. "Let's go," I mumble, brushing past him and down stairs.
    "You sure you don't want to finish tying your shoes?" he asks.
    I ignore him and continue walking out the door, grabbing my purse and keys on the way out. I hear him walking behind me, but I don't turn around until I reach my car. Turning my head, I realize he's right behind me.
    "What're you doing?" I ask.
    "Give me the keys," he demands.
    Shocked, I laugh. Yeah right. "No way in hell," I tell him.
    He ignores my response, grabbing my hand and taking the keys. "Passenger side. Go."
    I stare at him, before grudgingly moving to the passenger side and getting in. Setting my purse on the ground, I turn to the window and put in my earbuds. We pull out of the driveway and start on a 30 minute drive to the beach. I purposely ignore him and his snarky remarks the entire ride.

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    When we arrive, I see Allen, Tiara and some of Allen's friends. He always invites other people without asking first, which is the most annoying thing ever.
    Getting out of the car, I immediately take off my shoes and socks. The asphalt on my feet is rough, but I don't pay attention to it. I'm too excited to feel Allen's touch. I grab my purse before closing the car door. I start making my way towards the sandy ground, my eyes focused on Allen and his smile when he sees me.
    "What're you doing?" someone asks.
    I forgot he was here. "Walking over, why?"
    Before I can turn to look at him for a response, I get picked up, bridal style. I give him annoyed look, which he ignores, per usual. We walk a few feet before he drops me on the sand, straight on my ass.
    "Hey!" I exclaim.
    "Sorry," he says sarcastically.
    Before I can scold him, Allen's friend, Jayshawn, comes over to greet us.
    "Hey Oakland!" he yells while running towards us. Oakland walks past me and runs to meet him with a handshake.
    I get up and brush the sand off my ass. That's going to hurt tomorrow. I'm so going to get him back for that.
    "Hi Grace, you alright?" Jayshawn asks me after conversing with Oakland. I glare at both of them before walking past them and heading towards Allen. I hear Oakland make a remark about my 'attitude' but I ignore it. I just want to be with Allen right now.
    He comes running over and picks me up, hugging me once he gets to me. Spinning me around, I here him laughing, causing me to laugh. His laugh is so contagious. Once he puts me down he looks me in the eye and smiles.
    "Hey you," he says.
    I bit my lip, keeping me from smiling too big. "Hi there." I lean in to kiss him when someone calls my name. Ugh, I also forgot she was here.
    "Grace, hi!" she says.
    Allen lets go of me and I turn to her. "Hi Tiara."
    "Honey, I told you, call me Titi!" she says in a voice she knows I can't stand. She opens her mouth to keep talking but Oakland calls her name. She lets out a huff, almost disappointed. She turns and focuses on Oakland who kisses her cheek when he meets her.
    "Gross," I say under my breath.
    "Totally," Allen laughs.
    I turn my head to him and take in his face really for the first time since I got here. His silky black hair is in his face. His eyes seem more blue than the normal blue-grey they are, which complements his tan skin. I notice his lips seem more pink than usual. They're glossy too. My face must've changed because he asks me a question.
    "What? Am I not as handsome as you thought? Oh god, you're going to fall out of love with me!" he jokes.
    I smack his arm. Then, I ask him, "what's on your lips?"
    His smile falters slightly. It's so small and quick, I think I imagined it. He tells me his little sister put makeup on his earlier that day. "I guess I just forgot to take of the lip gloss."
    I giggle a little. "Idiot. You're so forgetful."
    "Yeah, I should work on that," he says. "Hey, you wanna go for a swim?"
    I stare at him blankly. Is he crazy? "Are you crazy?"
    Now he's staring at me blankly. "I would hope not?"
    "The water's way to cold. No way," I tell him.
    "Come on! It's not that bad! I was in there earlier with—" he stops mid-sentence. He seems to be searching my face. "I was in there with Tiara."
    My face drops a little. "Oh."
    "She wanted to go in but she didn't want to go by herself, so I went with her."
    She could've asked someone else to go with her. She didn't have to go in at all. "That's nice of you." I take a small step away from him.
    "We don't have to go in if you don't to," he says in a low voice.
    I look at the ground. "You can go, I think I'm just going to sit."
    I can feel him staring at me. "Alright, love you."
    "Love you too," I respond. I look up and he's already taken off towards the water.
    I look around the beach and notice everyone's occupied with something or someone. So, I sit right where I'm standing and play with the sand in my hands. I start making shapes. I'm making a small mound of sand when someone's foot smashes it. Looking up, I see Tiara.
    "Oh my god! I'm so sorry Gracey! I didn't see your, uh, mound," she says, even though I know she did. She's just doing this to annoy me.
    "It's Grace. You should know this by now Tiara."
    "Right, sorry."
    An awkward silence falls between us before something else catches her attention and she walks away. I sigh and rebuild my little mound again. I grab some tiny sticks that were laying in the sand around me and stick them in the top of the mound. I smile to myself.
    As I'm making a second mound, a shadow appears over me. I look to my right, seeing a pair of feet.
    "Are you playing with the sand?" he says.
    "Maybe," I respond.
    Silence falls. He steps behind me and sticks something into the sand. I realize it's a beach umbrella. He sits next to me and I look over at him.
    He smiles. "Hi."
    I don't smile. "What do you want?"
    His smile drops. "Nothing. Just a little bored. Plus, it's really depressing watching you build mounds of sand on your own."
    "Don't you have a girlfriend you can bother?" I snap at him.
    "Don't you have a boyfriend to build mounds with?"
    I don't respond. I look down at my hands.
    "Thought so," he says in triumph. "So, what's going on between you too?"
    "Mind your business," I tell him.
    He taps me on the shoulder. "Hey."
    I look at him, "what?"
    "You're stubborn," he smiles.
    I ignore him and look back at my hands and start playing with the sand again.
    "What's up with you? You've been a prude all week," he asks.
    I say nothing. He doesn't bother asking any more questions. He lays down next to me. The silence is nice between us. It's not awkward, but peaceful. You can hear the waves crashing on the shore, the playful yells of everyone around us, and the seagulls gawking. I sit up straight and take a deep breathe, closing my eyes.
    Opening my eyes, I look over at Oakland. He's watching me, a small smile on his face.
    I look him in the eyes. "You're girlfriend's a bitch."
    His face drops and he springs up. "What?"
    Still looking at him, I say it again, but he stops me mid-sentence. "I heard what you said. What'd she do to you?"
    "She crushed my mound when I was making it," I say. As soon as the words leave my mouth, I realize how childish it sounds.
    He throws his hand over his mouth to keep him from laughing. I hit him in his chest. "It's not funny."
    He bursts out laughing. "It's so funny!"
    His laugh makes me want to laugh. I try not to but I can't. I end up laying down next to him laughing as well. He lays down and looks at me. We make eye contact and start laughing even harder. We laugh for minutes on end before we stop and look at each other again.
    I never noticed how green his eyes are. They remind me of an avocado, which is ironic because he hates avocados. He has smile lines around his mouth and his lips are as red as his cheeks. His skin is like porcelain. He really is so pretty. I just never really looked at him in detail until now. He notices me tracing his face with my eyes.
    "Grace," he says.
    I like how he says my name.
    "You're beautiful," he tells me.
    A slight blush arises on my cheeks, a smile painting itself across my face. Curiosity seeps through me. I suddenly forget what his touch feels like. He seems to be reading my mind, for he reaches out his hand and places it lightly on mine laid out on the side of me. He barely grazes my skin, yet it feels like fire ants are roaming my hand.
    Someone yelling my name breaks us out of our daze. He quickly pulls his hand away and sits up straight. Im a little disappointed. Sitting up, I see who called me. It was Allen. He's not looking at me, but at Oakland, who's avoiding eye contact and looking at the sand. Oakland seems uneasy. Allen is furious, but he's trying to hide it. His jaw is locked and he's clenching his fists. I can see his chest rising and falling rapidly. Allen doesn't move towards us, so instead I get up and make my way over to him.
    "Hey babe," I say. "What's up?"
    Allen keeps his focus on Oakland. "What were you doing?"
    Confused, I tell him we were just talking. Looking up at him, I can see a vain popping out on his forehead, pulsing. He's really pissed, but I'm not sure why. He doesn't look at me at all. "Why're you so upset?"
    He finally looks down at me. He crinkles his nose a little. "I don't like when you guys are that close."
    I roll my eyes. "He's my best friend. You know that."
    His brow furrows and he steps closer to me. "I don't care."
    His face is all scrunched up, and his he's sunburned. He looks like a wrinkled tomato. This thought makes me snort. I try to hold it, but I start bursting out in laughter. This only makes him more upset. He grabs my wrist. Hard.
    I stop laughing. "Allen, let go of my wrist."
    He ignores me and turns around, pulling me after him. I tell him to let me go. He keeps ignoring me. I notice he's headed to the car. Oh hell no. He is not going to ruin the last day of summer on the beach for me.
    "Stop, I'm not leaving," I say to him, but he just keeps pulling.
    I use my other hand to try and pull his off my wrist. His grip only tightens at my attempts. He's starting to hurt me. "You're hurting me. Let go!" I hit his hand, then his arm in an attempt to get him to let go. He stops and turns around. He looms over me.
    "You're being an asshole and you're hurting my wrist," I spit at him.
    Something flashes in his eyes. Flames of pure anger. He raises his hand and the next thing I know my free hand is touching my cheek and tears are filling my eyes, obscuring my vision. At first, it's numb. Then, it feels like my cheek is on fire. He hit me.
    My tears spill over and I'm able to look up at him. The look on his face has changed. His eye brows unfurled and raised, his mouth slightly ajar, and his eyes, no longer filled with rage. Instead, it's been replaced with horror. He's horrified of what he just did. He's released my wrist. I don't know what to do, so I take a few steps back from him.
    He pleads, "I'm so sorry Grace. I didn't mean to."
    I can't him much over the ringing in my ear. I feel someone's hands around my shoulders pull me back. I think it was Oakland. I wasn't paying much attention. I was too focused on the pain in my cheek, and the fact that my own boyfriend, Allen Green, hit me.