Nephophile

HI

Joyous laughter rang in the sky. Children laughing and running freely; chasing after their frisbees on the sandy beach of Cape Town.

Jane laid with her nose buried deep in a book. Her floppy bucket hat hung low in her face. She would ever so often pop a few skittles in her mouth and take a swig of her no sugar Coke.

The next moment, she was covered in sand. From her head down to her feet. Her head slowly turned in the direction of two men who had fallen down next to her. They were too busy fighting over a ball to notice her presence next to them. Annoyed, she got to her feet and dusted the sand off her. She bent down and carefully shook the dirt off her belongings. With her towel draped over her arm and books stuffed into her slingbag, she focused on the men behind her, dusting themselves off. She couldn't see their faces as the hat was obsuring her view. "We are so sorry." One of them spoke up. Only then did she realize that they had no shirts on. Their sweat glistened on their abs, and sand stuck to their skin. They had a really good physique, which led her to believe that they were gym junkies or athletes. "I'm Harold, and he's Jake." Harold introduced them. He held out his hand. She gave his hand one glance and stalked off in another direction.

"We're really sorry!" Harold yelled after her. She sighed and picked up her pace. Just then, her phone rang. She fished it out of her denim shorts pockets. The caller ID made her roll her eyes.

"Yes?" Nonchalantly, she answered.

"Have you looked at the time? It's past 4. Get home now!" Her mother said from the other side of the call.

"On my way." She said and hung up. Her hand flies to her pocket as she wants to put the phone back, but it rang in her hand again. It was her mother, again.

Flabbergasted, she answered again.

"I really don't know what to do anymore. All she does is sulk and never does anything productive. If I see her, she has a book in her hand. You have to talk to her tonight. Her brother had graduated college and is working for one of the best law firms. I wonder if college had ever crossed her mind. She's 23, for goodness sake. All she has to her name is high school, nothing else. I think it's time you talk some sense into her, because I don't know which way with her. I'm tired. I have tried everything possible. I applied to colleges and varsities on her behalf. She rejected all of them. I even asked around for jobs, even that she rejected. You have to talk to her. Or else I have to take extreme measures."

She said through the phone, oblivious to her phone. She had butt-dailed Jane.

"I'll see what I can do, Janet." Her father said. She pictured him pushing up his glasses and shaking the newspaper occupied in his hands as he said that.

"I wish she could be more like Joshua." Her mother sighed on the other end of the phone. Jane ended the call, not wanting to hear another word of her mother's strong dislike of her.

She made her way to her car, parked under the palm trees. She climbed inside and threw her things in the back. Her hat also flew to back. The engine roared to life. Just as she was about to reverse, a tap on the window brought her to a halt. A shirtless man stood with one of her books. She rolled down her window and held out her hand, waiting impatiently for him to give back her book.

"I followed you here to give you this back." He said, scratching the back of his neck. Why he was nervous went above her understanding of men, but then again, she didn't understand Neanderthals and that's probably why she couldn't place a finger on his growing nerves. "Thank you." She said forced, still waiting on the book.

"Oh, the book!" He said when he realized he still had it in his grasp. She saw he made no attempt to give it back and sighed. "Are you going to give me the book, or are you going to keep it?" She asked, annoyed.