Love On The Beach

Chapter 3

Aria

I dress into my Benson Boone Tour t-shirt and some dark blue jeans. I put my hair into a half ponytail to show off all the color in my hair. Before we moved, I got my hair dyed light blue.
I kiss my mom and sister bye and grab my bag at the door, filled with a lot of money for the books. I meet my brother outside by his car.
I was about to get into the passenger seat when Kai tosses me the car keys.
“Um… what?” I say, confused.
“You’re driving,” he says, smirking.
“You’re joking, right?” He shakes his head. “You’re trusting me to drive this?!” I point to his beautiful, 1965, red, Convertible Ford Mustang.
“This will be your car once I get a truck.,” -I gasp - “so you might as well get used to driving it around town. Get in.”
“Um…” I stare at him like he’s crazy. “You know I’m not good at driving.”
“You’re already 16. You have your license. You need to drive, Aria.”
“But, I almost crashed mom’s truck recently,” I say. “ I am not the best driver. You know that.”
“Okay. So? You’re driving today. Get in.”
“But I can’t!”
“Do you wanna go to the bookstore or not?”
He got me there.
I sigh. “Fine. But don’t be upset when I crash.”
“Oh I’ll be upset. Just don’t crash, and you’ll be fine.”
I groan. I run over to the driver's seat as he gets into the passenger seat. I start the car once we are both in and buckled. I put the car in reverse and pull out of the driveway, and drive slowly down the street.
I tense up. My brother notices because he says, “Loosen up. I’ll help you if you struggle. Just breathe.”
I take a deep breath and nod. I’m normally the “passenger princess.” I don’t normally drive. But Kai is right. I need to drive more if I want my license. My brother is basically an adult, so he can be with me when I drive with a permit.
I push the gas pedal a little more to reach the speed limit of 35. I was going 20.
Kai asks questions about the road, certain signs and what they mean, the rules, and I get every question right. I see the bookstore, which means I have to park.
I am awful at parking.
“Okay,” Kai says as I tense up again. “Parking is hard. I am horrible at it, too. But, the good thing is, there are no cars around the store, so it’ll be easier.” He points at a parking spot. “Slowly drive into there and park. Don’t hit the brake too hard. You seem to do that a lot.”
“Okay,” I say. I slowly pull into the parking spot, making sure I’m in between the lines, and…
“You did it! Perfect!” Kai says. “Right in between!”
I let out a sigh with relief. “Great. That wasn’t as hard as the last time.”
“Yea. You didn’t crash into a sigh!” He laughs.
I laugh, too.
“Well, let's head on inside! Ready?”
I grab my bag. “Yep!”

The bookstore is WAY bigger than it looked on the inside.
So.
Many.
BOOKS!
I’m in heaven.
“Okay. I’m gonna leave you to it and look in the adult section, seeing if anything catches my eye,” Kai says, walking off.
“Okay,” I say, not sure if he heard me.
I can’t tell where the young adult section is, but I know what book I need. And it should be there.
I walk up to the lady at the front desk, reading what looks like a book about WW2.
“Excuse me.” I say.
She looks up from her book, giving me a smile. She closes her book. “Hello dear. How may I help you?”
I smile. “Can you tell me where the young adult section is?”
“Of course, dear!” She points to the hallway behind me. “Just head down there, take a right, and you should see a sign that says ‘Young Adult.’”
I turn to see where she’s pointing, then turn back towards her. “Thank you so much!”
“Anytime!” she says, still smiling.
I walk down the hallway, turn right, and sure enough, I see the sign and see hundreds of books in the section.
Best.
Store.
Ever!
On the bookshelves, they have them in order with signs that show the beginning letter of an author's last name.
I am looking for M.
I pass A, find G, then J,K,L…
M! Found it.
“Messenger, Messenger…” I say to myself, looking through the books, one by one. I’m looking for the author, Shannon Messenger.
I then look at the top shelf.
And, of course, there’s the series I need.
“Let The Sky Fall” series.
I need the third and last book.
But…
I can’t reach it.
Curse my shortness!
I stand on my toes, almost touching it, but no matter what I do, how hard I try, I can’t get it.
“Need a hand?” a kind voice says behind me.
I jump and turn around, and a guy is right behind me, a few inches taller than me.
Woah…
I stare at him, probably looking stupid. He has beautiful brown eyes, brown curly, short hair with tan skin…
Oh gosh… oh no… why am I doing this?
I absolutely can’t look away.
He is so. Dang. Cute.
I know I just met this guy, but… wow. Just wow.
I snap back into what’s happening and mumble, “Um… yes, please. I just need this one.” I point to the “Let The Wind Rise” book.
He smiles and looks up. “Oooo! You read this series?” I nod my head. “This series is amazing.” He grabs the book, then looks at me and smiles, handing me the book. I look at the price tag, and luckily, I have enough money for it. I have the first 2 books, but I could never find the third one anywhere. Now I have it.
“Um…” I lower my head, embarrassed. “Thank you so much.”
“Of course, beautiful. I’m Zayn. What’s your name?” He says, realizing what he said.
DID HE JUST CALL ME BEAUTIFUL?!?!
“Um… uh…” I say, feeling stupid.
I absolutely love it when guys, especially cute ones, call me names. I remember when my old boyfriend-
Nope. I’m not bringing that boy up.
“I am so sorry!” Zayn says, smacking his head. “I-uh… I mean… I’m not lying, but I’m sorry I called you that…”
“No!” I love the name. “No, it's fine. My name is Aria.”
“That’s a beautiful name, Aria.” He says, smiling again. “Bookworm, huh?”
I smile and nod.
“Me too. I love reading. Glad I found another that does. Well, nice meeting you, Aria. Maybe I’ll see you again.” He bows, like a prince would, and walks off, still smiling.
Cute, kind, and a gentleman. I like this guy.
I just stand there.
Mentally freaking out.
I have to be blushing.
Oh.
My.
Gosh.
That guy was probably the most handsome guy I have ever seen in my whole life.
So.
SO.
CUTE!
I stop being crazy and head my way back to the counter. I see Kai there, already paid for his books, and he’s laughing.
“What?” I say as I hand the book and money to the lady again.
“I’ll tell you outside.”
Once I get my book paid, I say thank you to the lady, and head outside towards the car.
Once we both hop in, he turns to me and says, “I saw you with that guy.”
My face feels hot.
He laughs again. “What happened?”
“He just helped me get a book,” I mutter.
“Ha. Shorty,” he says. I am pretty short for my age. 5’5, to be exact. “Nice guy. Said hello to me as he was walking out, still smiling. He’s a good looking fellow. Wouldn’t you think so?”
I hide my face. “Kai, stop!”
“Someone has a crush!”
“I do not!”
“Yes you do!”
“Not after what happened last time.”
Kai frowns. “Sorry. Forgive me.”
I sigh. “Honestly, I have no clue. He was super sweet to me, and he is really cute. But like I said, I can’t go through something like what happened between me and Brian again.”
Brian.
That good-for-nothing piece of a word I’m not allowed to say.
Brian was my boyfriend, now my ex, back in my hometown. Amazing guy. Until I found out he was cheating with my best friend, now ex-best friend, Macy. Never spoke to them again after I went to them and yelled at them. He begged for forgiveness. But I don’t deal with cheaters. Never again. That’s why I haven’t wanted to be friends with anyone, because I don’t know who to trust. But, I do need a few friends. Like Aaron. And maybe this Zayn.
“Well, seeing how nice this guy was, I don’t think he would do anything like that to you,” Kai says. “I met Mary in a store when we first moved here, and I thought she was so beautiful. Now look at me and her. We became friends and then a couple.”
I sigh again.
“It’s worth a shot,” Kai says.
“Yea. I guess. Maybe. If I ever see him again,” I say.
“You probably will. I won’t tell mom or Layla if you want,” Kai says as he puts his seatbelt on.
“Really?” I say.
“Oh yea. Of course. I won’t tease you anymore either. I’ve been through the same things multiple times. But, if you ever get close, like, close close, he better not break your heart, or else.” He punches the air, demonstrating what he would do.
I laugh. “Alright.”
“Did you like it?” he asks.
“Like what?”
“When he called you beautiful?”
I turn even more red. “Yea…”
He laughs again. “Cute. What else happened?”
I tell him about it, how he did call me beautiful, and said I had a beautiful name and how I was freaking out.
He whistles. “Dang. Well, when you do see him again, you guys should become friends.”
“That would be really nice,” I say
“Trust me, if you do have small feelings for this boy, it will be very nice. If you ever need pointers, I’m the guy to talk to.” He winks.
“Thank you,” I say.
“Of course. Wanna go somewhere?” he asks me.
“Where?”
“I had Wendy’s in mind…” He grins.
“Oh my gosh! Yes!” I start the car and pull out of the parking spot, and start driving towards my favorite fast food place ever.