Ecie & Esme II: Another Day Like This

Five

The next morning the group woke up and stood at the edge of the hill and looked out across the water.

'I don't want to leave,' Joey yawned wrapped in Owen's arms. 'I want to stay for another day.'

Owen kissed her head.

'What time do we need to get down to the bay?' Langley asked.

'Five,' Markus replied.

'What are we going to do today?' Verde asked.

'We're going to pack up our tents after breakfast then we're going to either scuba dive or snorkel, mountain bike or hang out on the beach,' Markus replied. 'We'll have lunch at a hotel by the port then we can do whatever.'

'What's for breakfast?' Grayson asked stretching. 'I am so hungry.'

'Thank you Grayson,' Ecie said. 'You can put me down and stop touching my butt.'

Grayson laughed. 'I'm still trying to be nice.'

'You're just being a pest,' Ecie laughed as he put her down on a deck chair.

'Who's going to go in?' Luke asked.

'We are,' Esme said holding up Sara's arm. 'Where's the rental?'

'It's over there,' Luke replied pointing. They left the group and went to rent out some equipment.

'Are you going to sit here all day long?' Verde asked sitting down next to Ecie.

'Yep,' she nodded. 'I'll watch you guys have fun.'

'I don't see why you came,' Verde laughed. 'All you've been doing is sitting and watching. You should have stayed at home and taken care of your foot.'

'I like being away from home,' Ecie replied. 'This is much better.'

'I don't mind sitting with her,' Langley offered standing in front of them. He smiled kindly at Ecie and nodded at Verde. 'I'm still feeling a little tired from yesterday.'

Verde looked at Langley then back at Ecie. 'You'll be okay sitting here with Langley?'

Ecie nodded. 'What else is there really for me to do anyway?'

Verde smiled at his friend then squeezed her arm. 'I'll be back soon.'

Verde left and went to join the others at the rental.

Langley sat down in Verde's seat and looked out across the beach. He turned to Ecie and paused for a moment. 'I'm sorry about yesterday. It was very inappropriate of me to put you in that position.'

Ecie nodded.

'I just know that you're unhappy at the moment and you're going through something,' he moved to the edge of his seat and held Ecie's hand in his. 'You need to dump your boyfriend.'

Ecie looked at Langley.

'You need to end things with him.'

Ecie almost laughed shaking her head. 'You're crazy if you think I'm going to do that. I love my boyfriend. I'm not just going to break up with him because of you.'

'But I know you like me too,' Langley insisted. 'I just know you do; otherwise why did you call me, why did you spend most of the summer with me?'

'The world doesn't revolve around you Langley,' Ecie replied tucking a strand of hair behind her ear.

Langley held the side of her face in his hand. 'I really care about you.'

Ecie shrugged. 'I'm sorry then.'

Langley kissed Ecie on the lips. 'I know we'd be so good together.'

'Well then I hope you know what you're doing,' Ecie replied.

Langley nodded. 'I wouldn't still be pestering you if I didn't understand.'

Ecie chuckled. 'You've got no idea what you're doing.'

'Three, two one...'

Esme, Sara, Paul, Joey, Owen, Verde, Luke, Markus and Grayson jumped from a boat and into the sea landing with multiple splashes.

'How deep is this water?' Sara asked coming back up to the surface and smoothing her hair back.

'I think it's pretty shallow,' Joey replied looking down into the water. 'It's so nice in here. I know that E would've loved it.'

'Imagine if a giant shark came up and eat us all up like in Deep Blue Sea,' Luke laughed. 'How cool would that be?'

'How about we just go under,' Grayson suggested pulling down his mask and adjusting his oxygen tank. He ducked his head underwater and was soon followed by the others.

They swam down a little underwater and started playing games underwater. They swam down a little deeper and saw different fish swimming along. They also saw the coral swaying to the rhythm of the current and Owen pretended to be walking on the ground of the sea.

Joey laughed and pushed Owen a little. He pulled her in close to her and pretended to dance, before trying to kiss her. Joey started laughing and large bubble blew out from her mouth.

The others joked and did silly things underwater before swimming back to the surface.

'That was insane,' Verde gasped taking in fresh air. 'That was so insane.'

'I know,' Sara agreed as they swam back to their boat. 'Did you see all the cool fish?'

They climbed back into their boat and peeled off their wetsuits and masks and tanks.

'The sea is the bluest thing I've ever seen,' Esme said sitting down on a padded seat. 'I wish I could just sit here all day long and stare at it.'

'Everything just looks so much better out here,' Markus agreed sitting down.

'Hey!' Sara shouted as she landed in the water. 'Guys!'

Luke pushed Joey into the water as well and laughed as they splashed in the water.

'That's not funny Luke,' Joey said. She swam closer to the boat and climbed up slowly. She grabbed hold of Luke's hand suddenly then pulled him down into the water with her. 'How do you like it now?'

Sara laughed as she and Joey jumped on top of Luke and tried to push him down underwater.