The beach in Westbrook is freezing in winter. The sea even more so. Seventeen-year-old me squatted down and looked at the foam that had collected by my feet, splashing against my shoes ever so gently before receding back in. The sun was getting ready to settle into the horizon to make way for the moon. This is the time where the scene was most beautiful.
For some reason, I can only think of June when I look into the ocean. Maybe it was because we essentially spent more than half our time at the beach in our childhood. Somehow, we had never gotten bored of the same sea.
With one index finger, I traced a heart in the sand. Before I could hesitate, I attempted to write 'T + J' in the middle of it. I was not quick enough, as the wave came crashing onto my hand, destroying the picture almost instantly before I could write the 'J'. I give up and look back out at sea, where I can see a faint outline of Iriehen City's landscape in the far distance.
So many cherished memories were made here. The sea carries them in its deep azure, in the waves we splashed in, and every grain of sand has its fair share of recollections, too. My tousled hair moved with the breeze, leaving me with an unbrushed mop of black on top of my head when I finally stood up, wincing from the numbness of having crouched there so long.
I trudged in the sand back towards the stone steps which bridged the pavement above to the beach. I lift my eyes from where they were focused on my feet.
And there I see her at the top of the stairs.
My breath hitched in my throat as our eyes met and for a second I believed that I was going to have a heart attack. June stared back at me. Her bangs were parted in two, her half-wavy, half-straight blonde hair having grown way longer than when I last saw her. She was taller, older, wearing jeans and a white hoodie. I almost felt as if I was just imagining her there.
June took a step back, then two. In an instant, she had twisted on her heel and sprinted off, and before I could control my feet, I took the stairs three at a time and bolted after her.
"June!"
She didn't even turn around to check if I was still there. I chased her down the empty streets as the sky grew darker. We were running for about a minute before I grabbed her hood and yanked her backwards. She stumbled backwards and tried to fight me off.
"Ow! Stop that!" I winced, as she landed a hit on my collarbone.
"Let go!"
She faced me and then started thumping at my chest. I think she still perceived me as the boy who was smaller than her and easy to beat up. In one fell swoop, I grabbed her wrist to stop her in her tracks, and she instantaneously froze, glanced at my hand, then stared slowly back up towards me to find that I towered over her now.
My line of sight fell to the side of her neck, a light scar trailing from her jaw half-way down.
"This is quite an embarrassing way to be reunited." I said to her carefully after a couple of moments.
"Tch."
She tore herself away from me, twisting so that I could only observe the back of her head.
"Can I ask one question?" I cautiously said.
She didn't answer.
"Why did you run away?"
The wind blew colder. By now, the sky above had been cloaked in darkness.
"Why were you there? At the beach?" she retorted.
YOU ARE READING
North
General Fiction"Iriehen was a dreamer's city. It wasn't a city for the faint of heart, not for someone like me, who was just waiting for the next big thing. It was a city for the people who were in the next big thing." ... When June Winters, a young attorney aspir...
