Those Waters

Those Waters

The beach wasn't as crowded as usual. I saw a few of my fellow early morning joggers. Other than that the beach was deserted. Just the way I liked it. I started to run.

The sun was just beginning to rise, and the sky was turning beautiful shades of pink and orange. The waves hit the sand and with my relaxing music, it was just perfect. It made me feel completely invincible.

"Hey, Willa!" said one of the older joggers.

"Hi, Grace!" I responded and ran until I reached the crowded section of the beach. My light brown hair swished in its ponytail as I ran.

Once there, I walked next to the water. I took off my shoes and socks. Letting the salt hit my toes felt so refreshing, as it did every morning. The beach was more packed than it normally was, probably due to a volleyball tournament being held.

I walked over to the big crowd that circled a volleyball net. I watched as a girl in a pink tank top and black shorts leaned down to hit the volleyball. It went over the net and hit the ground while two girls on the other team stared in awe. The girl's blonde braid swished around as she high-fived her teammates.

When she turned around to take a drink from her water bottle, I slowly realized who she was. Abby Derek, in other words the girl who broke up me and my ex-boyfriend, Ryan. He cheated on me with her for a whole month without me even knowing. We had dated for almost 8 months before Abby came along.

I started to walk away from the volleyball game. My eyes started to water. I still couldn't believe Ryan did that to me. It's been about a month since I broke up with him, but even now I still can't understand why. Oh, right, Abby showed up flirting with him at that stupid party and it was all downhill from there.

"Willa?" a voice behind me said.

"Yeah?" I turned around to see Ryan staring at me with icy gray eyes.

"Oh, hi Ryan." Don't cry. Don't cry.

"I saw you running, thought you might like a partner."

Seriously? Does he think we could go back to the way it was? I looked away and wiped at my tears.

"Actually, I'm jogging by myself now."

He had a small hurt expression on his face. Well, you get what you deserve, I thought.

"Oh, well then I'll see you around," he said walking off like a kicked puppy.

Yeah he deserved it. I'm pretty sure I've made it clear I don't like him anymore. I didn't did I? No, I told myself, you don't. After what he did to me how could I? I couldn't forgive him.

I watched him walk a few steps away when he glanced back at me. My breath caught in my throat. Someone started running in his direction. I didn't see the girls face until she reached Ryan and gave him a hug. Abby was hugging Ryan. Right in front of me.

I blinked back tears. I bit my lip, trying to tell myself I was over him, that what we had was over, but that still didn't help the anger I felt swelling in me. How could Abby do this to me? How dare she move here and then steal my boyfriend out from under me? I have had enough, I thought. And something inside me snapped.

I walked towards them, they were still embraced in their hug. I got to where they were standing. I reached out and yanked her off of him.

"What's your problem?! You move here and think that gives you the right to screw around in other peoples relationships?!" I yelled as I shoved her in the chest.

Abby's eyes widened then quickly narrowed in rage. "He obviously wasn't happy with you or he wouldn't have cheated on you in the first place!" she snarled. Her hand lashed at my face and slapped my cheek.

My hand reached out and pushed her. I lifted my leg and kneed her in the stomach. She fell back, but some gathering spectators caught her. I reached a hand to my face where she'd slapped me, already feeling it starting to swell.

My brain started registering what I'd done. I haven't ever gotten in a fight before and I'd chosen this one to be over a boy? One that had cheated on me, nonetheless. I started backing away, looking at Abby who looked like she was ready for more.

"You know what? Forget it. You two are perfect for each other," I said, still backing away. Her eyes still looked flamed as I turned around.

I started to jog towards the other end of the beach as the crowd started to thin out. I heard Ryan yelling for me, but I didn't want to hear it. As of now, I decided, I was done with him. I didn't need this drama.

Out of the corner of my eye I saw something reflect off the sun in the sand. I walked over to it, seeing it was a necklace. I picked it up to look at it. It had a turquoise bead on a gold chain. A single bead, but it still meant something. We can never go back, I thought.