The next morning I woke up to see my father sitting in a plush green chair across from the couch, watching me sleep.
"That's creepy." I muttered, my eyes half open. He chuckled softly.
"I've got the day off, so I was gonna see if you wanted to walk around town or something." He said, looking a little guilty about last night.
"Have you seen the newspapers and magazines?" I asked him, ignoring what he said and closing my eyes.
"Yeah." He replied.
"I dont like all of it." I said. "Its a lot of attention. How do you handle all of that?"
"I love it." He said with a smile. "I'm always talked about." I sat up.
"Why are you so conceited?" I asked.
"I'm not!" He replied so quicky and defensively. I raised my eyebrows and shook my head.
"Let me get dressed quick. I wanna go to the beach." I said, grabbing my bag and running upstairs.
"Wear lots of layers!" He called to me as I hurried out of the room and changed into a pair of denim shorts with small, threaded tears and a black, v-neck t-shirt.
****
I was glad all the rain had stopped and it was sunny outside. The sand was hot so I kept on my sneakers and just walked along the shore, examining sea shells without picking them up. I ended up bumping into someone who immediately turned around.
"I'm so sorry!" I said, then quickly realized it was Zaydon.
"Are you following me?" He asked.
"No!" I replied defensively, then laughed.
"This is my friend Hale." Zaydon said, pointing his thumb to a kid slightly taller than him with bleach blonde hair and big, dark brown eyes. "And this is my other friend Dannie." He pointed to a girl with long, light brown hair that wentdown to her waist. She had dark brown eyes and wore a green tank top with camouflage capris and was holding a rainbow beach ball.
"Hi. I'm Lynnee." I said.
"Hey." Hale replied, seeming more interested in the waves. Dannie rolled her eyes at him and took my hand.
"I love your name." She said with a small, sweet smile. "Wanna go swimming? I brought a beach ball."
"Sure." I said, even though she had already lead me away from the Hale and Zaydon before I answered.
She kicked off her sneakers and I immediately did the same and started walking into the water.
"Cold!" I hissed, mainly to myself. Dannie laughed.
"I know, it's an ocean." She said, smiling. We continued wading through the water until it was slightly below our waste and were soon joined by Zaydon and Hale.
"Okay, let's do volleyball but without a net." Dannie said. Zaydon and Lynnee on one team, and Hale and I on the other." She stepped back a little bit until she and Hale were at least five feet away from Zaydon and I.
"I want us to start off easy." Dannie said. "About five feet should be good." She tossed the ball into the air but didn't hit it because of our small distance apart.
We played for about forty-five minutes. Then we got out of the water and made our way to the picnic tables where a young woman was taking food out of a large basket and setting it down on the table. Dannie and I both stopped to slip our shoes on and tie the laces before sitting down.
"Lynnee, this is my mom, Angela." Zaydon said. "Mom, this is Lynnee."
"Hello dear, would you like a sandwich?" Angela asked. "It's peanut butter and jelly." I smiled.
"Sure." I said. "But can I bring my dad over?"
"Of course!" She said with a big smile. "The more there are the better it is."
I thanked her and went off to find my dad, who happened to be laying in a beach chair, wearing sun glasses and smearing sun block on his arms.
"Have you been a loner the whole time we were here?" I asked him.
"Well you didn't exactly invite me to play your baby-like version of volleyball." He said in an irritated tone.
"Sorry." I replied.
"Besides, I signed some autographs while sitting here anyway." He replied, looking off at the water. Or at least I thought he did. I couldn't tell with the sunglasses he had on.
"Will you come eat with us?" I asked. "I'll introduce you to my friends."
He shook his head.
"I'd rather not." He said.
"Why not?" I asked.
"Because I don't feel like it." He said flatly. "And you're blocking my sun." He motioned with his hand for me to move.
"You have got to be kidding me!" I wanted to hit him in the face. "You really are conceited. And it seems as though you could care less that I'm here." My dad took of his sunglasses and rolled his eyes. He sat up.
"I'm not conceited, I just know I'm better than lower class people." He said.
"I'm lower class." I stated. He sighed and began to look irritated.
"Not what I meant." He said.
"Are you gonna come eat with us or not?" I asked. "Because if not, you're just gonna be sitting here all alone, doing nothing."
"Correction: I'd be getting a tan." He said.
"You're already tan." I told him. He shook his head.
"Whatever." I replied. Then walked back towards the table. When I turned around, I saw my dad following closely behind.
"They wont care that I'm going to be eating with them will they?" He asked quietly.
"No, of course not." I replied. When we got to the table I sat down next to Dannie and across from Zaydon and Hale. My father sat next to Hale and Angela sat on the other side of me.
"It's a pleasure to meet you, Mr. Adamson." she said with a sweet smile, showing her pretty, white teeth.
"Thanks, you too." He replied.
"Alright kids, let's eat." She said with a smile.
