Ocean waves (poppy tetanui)

11 🌧️

I was sitting beside Summer as she and Bodhi painted something for a little project we were all doing tomorrow. Curious, I looked at Bodhi and asked, "So, what is this about?"

She smiled and replied, "It's a local tradition. Stairway's pumping like once a year, so everyone gets obsessed over the big waves."

Summer jumped in, "Let's do it then. It can be our big send-off."

I looked at her, amused, and said, "Summer, you're crazy, and I love that for you, but no." Everyone laughed. I turned to Poppy and said, "And you would kill me." She nodded, and I put on a fake shocked face at her agreement.

Manu chimed in, "Any of you thinking of going up there, you're barred from the Club, alright? So just relax."

Summer and Bodhi laughed. "See?" Summer said.

Bodhi added, "I can't believe y'all are going back to New York in a week. Our lives are going to be so empty."

"Hey, you know it's true," Summer said.

I grinned and replied, "Hilarious, but no. Yeah, y'all gonna have a bland life after we leave." I pointed at everyone as Poppy playfully hit my hand, saying, "Stop."

I nodded, smiling, "Fine."

"Yo, you guys should come visit me and Cameron in New York," Summer suggested.

I looked at her, nodding, "She's got a point."

Poppy stood up, positioning herself between my legs with her back to me, and said, "Yes, and then let's go to Hawaii."

I laughed, "Hilarious." Poppy hit my knee, and I raised my hands, looking at Manu and Prawn. "See, this is abuse."

They laughed but quickly stopped when Poppy glared at them. Then Bodhi said, "Pops, Hawaii's on the way to New York."

Poppy responded, "I know that. It's also on the way back. Think about it."

Bodhi countered, "You think about it." They all laughed until Bodhi's phone buzzed, and she excused herself.

After she walked away, Poppy stepped aside so I could stand. I stood up as Poppy looked at me, Prawn, and Manu, and said, "Oi, boofheads! Stop trying to avoid crafternoon."

I gave her an offended look, "I would never avoid anything in this life except corn, but that's not the point." Poppy laughed and gave me a quick kiss on the lips, making me smile. I saw her blush lightly, which made my smile grow even bigger.

I then walked over to Summer. "So, we're leaving soon?"

She nodded, "Yeah, I'm excited but definitely gonna miss this place."

I nodded, "Me too, but we'll come back."

"Of course, they will miss us too much if we don't," Summer said, and everyone agreed.

I chuckled and started to help Summer paint. After a couple of hours of painting and building some stuff, it was getting dark. Everyone was inside the house eating, but Poppy and I were still outside finishing the sign for tomorrow.

I looked at Poppy, "Hey, I want to talk to you about something."

She put her stuff down and turned to me, "Yeah, what's up?"

I smiled and stopped painting. Taking a deep breath, I said, "As you know, I'm leaving soon, and I don't know how you feel about it. I want to make sure you are okay with it and to continue, um, you know, our relationship."

Poppy took a deep breath and walked towards me, stopping in front of me. She then said, "I'm sad about it because I love being around you and I love us, but I'm not leaving you. We'll make it work, I promise."