Island.

Chapter 4

Four.

I spent the whole day reciting this exact sentence over and over.

“My name is Ava Williams. I’m just so excited to be here.” I said this with a fake smile plastered on my face and the heaviest sarcasm I could manage. And the look on everyone’s faces was just what I needed.

It was mixture between confusion and amusement. Sure, my accent wasn’t as charming as the British, or American accent. But that didn’t mean I sounded horrible either. Their expressions became more and more amused as I continued speaking and it was times like this I wish I didn’t stick out like a sore thumb.

When school was dismissed that day, it was like a breath of fresh air to my lungs when I stepped outside. I decided to walk down to the beach since it wasn’t really that far from the school. No one was going to be at the house anyway, so I decided to take advantage of the free time. I walked up the board walk and towards the beach, letting out a contented sigh when my feet touched the sand.

The beach was my favorite place to be. Always. It didn’t matter if it was hot or cold. I always got lost in the beauty of it. And here, the water was always a bright blue, reflecting the color of the sky. I always thought of the ocean as a mirror. It reflected everything. The trees off in the corner, the sun in the sky, the faces of the people enjoying the surf. But it always managed to make it all look beautiful. Even if everything at the moment wasn’t so pretty.

I took a seat in the sand, deciding almost immediately that I wasn’t going to swim, but rather observe everything. I took in the view, of all the native Hawaiians, gracefully paddling out on their surf boards. And knowing exactly when to stand for the wave. It was a majestic talent that almost everyone on this tiny island seemed to possess.

I slipped on my earphones and setting the iPod on shuffle. There was nothing better than the beach and music. All I needed to do now was lie back and enjoy the warm sun against my skin. I was halfway through Pages by There For Tomorrow.

I hummed along with the lyrics feeling the sun warm my pale skin and the breeze flow through my hair. Nothing could describe the feeling of utter peace that flowed through me. It was like I could feel the weights of the stressful move and anger towards my family melt away as I was warming up to this place. I mean, this wasn’t so bad after all. A shadow fell over me. Something was blocking out the sun.

My eyes snapped open and I looked up to see the boy from school. The very same one who was sitting alone this morning. His expression was something between annoyance and boredom.

“You’re in my spot.” he said simply, in a flat tone.

Out of all the damn spots on this frigging beach, this was his spot? What, was his name on it or something? He just won the name weirdo. I looked up at Weirdo with a WTF? expression. He just stared back down at me.

I couldn’t tell how long exactly we stayed like that, just staring at each other awkwardly. I took this time to really get a good look at him. He was tall, with gorgeous long black hair that was tied at the nape of his neck. He had dark eyes and a viciously handsome face, with dangerous full lips. He was the epitome of gorgeous. His gaze never faltered on me, and I was growing more and more uncomfortable in front of this handsome, weird stranger. After a while of staring, he asked,

 “Well are you going to move?” Seriously, Weirdo wouldn’t let up.  I got up and walked a few feet away, and sat down, completely taken by surprise by this whole interaction.
 
I watched him sit down, and take out a sketch pad and some pencils and oil pastels. I couldn’t help but stare. This spot wasn’t any different from where I was sitting only a few minutes ago. I was baffled.

Weirdo just started sketching. I grew more and more curious as to what he was drawing, mainly because I never saw someone so completely focused on a specific task before. His hand moved smoothly along the paper, but of course I just kept my mouth shut. After all, it wasn’t my business. I just decided it would be best if I went home, and tried to forget about this ‘weird’ incident.

“You don’t talk much, do you?” I heard as I turned to leave.

That would have made me smile, if this situation wasn’t so, well, weird.