It Had to Be You

Beach Days

Nina didn't understand. She kept replaying the morning's conversation combing through it word for word trying to figure out what she hadn't picked up. Sometimes this happened to her. Her brain didn't quite register the entirety of the event so when it was over she'd go through it with a fine-toothed comb trying to figure out where she went wrong. She could tell her was upset or at the very least, frustrated. But even as she got ready for the beach, she couldn't figure out why.

She put on her favorite light blue one piece that came with a silver emblemed belt. It cinched her waist and she didn't have to stress about having a boob pop out at an inopportune time. Grabbing her beach bag she took one last look in the mirror. She looked cute. Her skin was sun-kissed and the lightweight cotton button down and classic beach hat made her seem effortless even if that was far from the truth. She headed downstairs and into the busy kitchen where Alexa and Henry were assembling steak sandwiches.

"What can I help with?" She asked no one in particular. Their household was a "do what you see needs doing" type of vibe so her question was mildly pointless. She headed for the laundry room to grab towels.

"Hey" she tried to sound calm as she watched Walker stacking a load of towels in his arms, beating her to the punch apparently.

"Hey." His tone was flat and he bristled when she moved closer offering to help him carry some.

"I've got it."

"Okay, are we all going to fit in the car?" Nina was doing the math and needed something normal to talk about.

"Not sure, might end up taking bikes." She followed him out of the laundry room and into the kitchen.

"I'm happy to walk." She said mainly to him but Alexa overheard.

"We can squish you in the backseat Nina don't worry about it." The last thing Nina wanted to be was squished in the backseat or that physically close to Walker. The vibes coming off of him were standoffish and made her mildly nauseous just to think about.

"I'll walk, it's okay. I'll see you guys there." She swiped a towel off the stack Walker was holding and made a beeline for the door before anyone could protest. Once outside she took a deep breath. This was only day two. Getting through the next forty eight hours seemed unbearable. She heard footsteps on the gravel behind her.

"Nina, wait up." Walker's deep-set voice gave her pause. Why was he following her outside?

"About before. I didn't mean to be rude. You just caught me off guard." Nina couldn't tell if he meant the laundry or this morning.

"Um, sure. I didn't notice." He looked at her quizzically as if he thought she was lying and that's because she was.

"I've just got a lot on my plate. I didn't mean to snap at you."

"You didn't. I'm good." She noticed he took a step closer to her and instinctively she moved back. Why did she always do the opposite of what she wanted? He looked unsure what to do next.

"Well, that was it. I'll see you at the beach I guess." She gave him a faint wave and continued walking down the driveway. This entire weekend seemed to be full of confusing interactions.

When Nina got to the beach she headed to her favorite spot and put a towel down. She was happy to had gone with the one piece, it made it easier for her to lay down and read her book without constantly feeling like she needed to rearrange all the pieces of fabric on her body to prevent her butt crack from showing.

She had just gotten into the rhythm of her novel when she heard her sister's voice from a short distance away.

"Here we are." Alexa planted the chairs she was carrying at Nina's feet. Nina stood up and helped the larger group set up their chairs, some umbrellas and the coolers full of food and drinks. Once everyone had settled in she laid down to go back to her book, keeping one ear trained on the larger conversation. It was a force of habit from childhood. Just because she didn't want to be "in" the conversation didn't mean she didn't want to be a part of it.