Summer before Senior

Toes in the sand

I woke up to the sunlight streaming through the curtains and at my face. I opened my eyes and smiled remembering that I was at the beach and on vacation. I got up and took a quick shower and dried my hair before checking to see if Carlos was up. I looked into his room and saw his bed all messy, but no Carlos. I checked the clock in the hall to see it was already 9:47 and I almost slept through my first morning here. I went back into my room and picked out my outfit. I had light jean shorts with a loose white t-shirts pair with it. I pulled my hair into a low ponytail and then headed down the stair into the kitchen. 

I could smell pancakes as I walked down and saw Carlos already eating some while watching one of his favorite cartoons on the T.V. Mom was making pancakes while Ben has at the back porch and pulling the cover off the pool. The beach was only a three minute walk through the forest like area, but I liked having a pool right there to cool off when needed fast without having to walk all the way to the beach. 

I took a seat at the counter and my mom passed me a plate of pancakes with whip cream and berries on top. I grabbed my fork and finished them before washing my plate and then heading over to where Carlos sat. He was wearing blue shorts with an avengers t-shirts on while staring at the T.V watching some sort of hero show. I took his plate back to the kitchen and washed it before turning to my mom.

"Are we going to the store to pick up anything we might need today?"

We usually went to the grocery store the day after we arrived or the day of so we could get it over with. Mom nodded her head and went back to washing the dishes while I went to the front door and went outside to get some fresh air. 

I walked out and closed my eyes as I took in a deep breath and I was filled with clean and familiar air from the ocean. I took a seat on the swing bench on the porch and looked around. The neighborhood hadn't changed much since the last time I was here, but it was still pretty to look at. All the houses looked well put together and neat, and I saw a few other people on their front porch as well reading or drinking coffee. I got up and was about to head in when I hear a girls voice call out.

"Wait! Don't go inside."

I turned around to see a girl about my age speed walking toward me. She walked up to the stair of the porch and smiled. She had a faded strawberry brown hair colour with hazel eyes to match the few freckles that lined her cheeks. She was in a cropped yellow tank top with light white shorts. 

"I'm Madison. I moved here this year in the winter and since most people in this neighborhood are just here sometimes for vacation, I wanted to come meet you since you looked around my age."

"Well, I'm Katie. I've come to this house ever since I was little for vacation."

Madison smiled and I walked closer to her. 

"You're the only person in this neighborhood that I think is around my age. I just turned 18 this year. How about you?"

"I'm 17. Going into senior year after summer."

Madison smiled and I found myself sitting on the steps of the porch with Madison beside me. 

"Senior year was pretty cool for me. Living near the beach brought lots of parties."

I was never a person to party and I think that Madison could tell since she didn't go any further with the party comment. We started talking about movies and books and likes and I liked how she had come over to say Hi since I never would and I never really met anyone that actually lived her before since its mostly people on vacation. I had always wondered about what it would be like to live near the beach, but I like my life back home. Madison and I talked some more before mom came out and I told her I had to go help shop. We decided to meet later down at the small village close to us so we could talk some more. 

I got into the car and looked over at mom who was backing up to head out.

"That girl seemed nice. Is she here on vacation too?"

"No. Madison lives her. She moved last year after summer so we never saw her before."

My mom nodded her head and smiled.

"I think I'll be nice to have someone around your age here. You won't have to hang out with Carlos, Ben and I for the whole trip."

I smiled back at mom and we pulled into the store. It was only a five minute drive and I would usually go on my bike if we needed one or two things, but since this was a bigger trip, we just took the car. I got out and had to block the sun from hitting my eyes as we walked through the front doors and grabbed a cart. 

This place, just like the rest of the town, never changed and it was easy to find everything on the list in little time and were able to get to the checkout in under an hour and a half. 

Driving back to the beach house, I kept the window of the car open and took in the deep sea air in. I still couldn't think about what had happened on my last day of school with Josh. The only thing that I really thought about him in a boyfriend kind of way. I knew that Josh was always the really nice and kind one that won all the girls, until they realized that they liked his other friends willing to take more risks and get them more attention from the people at school. Josh had always been in the popular group because he was apparently rich and I really couldn't deny Josh really was good looking in a handsome way. Josh was never really gotten most of my attention, but I had always still found him better than all the other popular people in the school. 

I was happy to get away from home though, since I still wanted to think about what will happen with Josh when I go back home, and then start thinking more about my senior year. The beach would help me clear my mind and maybe with the new girl next door, my summer at the beach would be more eventful.