Island.

Chapter 7

Seven.

I woke up to the sun streaming in from the balcony. I looked up and found that Leia was already up. After the disastrous game, we decided to talk about her favorite shopping spots that were around here, and she was giving me the scoop on other people in our school. I learned about the school’s popular kids. Other than that, there weren’t any groups. Everyone was kind of close to each other. They looked out for each other.

It was about noon when we decided to head out to the plaza.  The sun was hot and high in the sky. The palm trees that were around didn’t offer much shade, but the heat was just something I was going to have to get used to. We walked up to a ice cream shop, where there were at least six people.

“Hey guys” she waved.

“Well this is Ava. Ava this is everybody.” Leia introduced. There was an awkward silence that lingered in the air around us, until one of the girls decided to break the ice.

“I’m Aoki. How do you like it here so far?” She was pretty, with short black hair and the infamous tanned skin. She also had exquisite almond eyes and a lean figure. She was tall, a common trait among the girls here.

“Its okay so far. Too hot to be honest” I added with a nervous laugh.

“I’m Connor, Aoki’s brother” Someone else introduced. They didn’t look the same. He had blue eyes and blonde hair.

“Oh, I was adopted,” he added, noticing my confused look. That made so much more sense.

I was introduced to the twins Mikale and Maika, and the only couple Cady and Sam. I learned that Connor was from New York. Cady and Sam had been together for two years, and Mikale had a crush on Leia. And it was so obvious.

“So you were born in Ireland?” Maika the oldest twin asked. He had long jet black hair that fell into his striking green eyes. He was tall, and his lean muscles showed through his t-shirt and board shorts. He was smiling, kindly waiting for my reply.

“Yep I was. Strange huh?” I laughed. By this time we were at the beach and relaxing, watching the surfers and trying to guess who caught the biggest wave.

“No its not, really. It’s nice to have some new people around here.”

“Hey I brought a volleyball. You guys up for a game?” Leia asked.

And we set up a small net where there was a game of girls against boys. Of course, sports wasn’t one of my strongest interests, so Maika volunteered to take my place on the girls team while I kept score.

It was in the middle of the game when Leia accidentally hit the ball too hard. It went pummeling in the air and crash landed in the sand. Looking around to try to spot the ball I noticed where exactly it landed. Where Weirdo was painting. It knocked over his easel, and I saw Weirdo look up shocked, and over to where our net was. I didn’t even know he was here. It shocked me too.

Everyone looked over at him, but no one made a move to go get the ball. So I offered.

 “I’ll get it” I said.

I jogged the distance and ran up to him. He was gathering his paint brushes which were scattered all over the sand. I bent down to get the ball and that’s when he looked up.

“Um, sorry about that. I guess they were really into the game.” I smiled awkwardly. He was just looking at me with an intense gaze, as if I were the most interesting thing on this beach. The awkward feeling grew. Couldn’t he just say something so I could leave?

“Did I ruin your painting?” I asked.

Again, he just looked at me. He truly lived up to the name ‘Weirdo’.

“I’m really sorry,” I tried again. I was about to turn away when he grabbed my arm. I was a little taken aback because, one, he actually grabbed my arm. And two, he never showed any interest in anyone. But the look on his face was just the opposite.

 “Wait,” he said. “Don’t worry about the damn painting.” I was waiting for him to continue, but he just stared at the sand.

 But I realized he was concentrating on something.

“You’re different up close.”

Wow. This is all he had to say? My mind was boiling with questions, and I was trying so hard not to let them spill past my lips. I noticed that he was good looking, and taller than I thought. Maybe 6’1.

“Um,” was all I said.

 “Look I don’t mean to be too forward, but meet me at the plaza later? I would like to show you something.”

 There was something about him. It wasn’t bad. It was new. Well, at least to me. It was different. I didn’t know why but I agreed to meet him.

“Okay, what time?” He smiled this incredible lopsided smile and said,

 “Around five, if that’s okay.”

 “Sure” I replied. And with that I turned away and headed back to Leia and the others.

When I got to where we were playing, everyone was gone except for Leia.

“Where did everyone go?” I asked.

 “Oh they decided they should head home” She said, with a nervous giggle. Obviously, everyone did not just spontaneously decide to leave. There was more to it.

 “What really happened Lee?” I asked while we walked back to her house.

“I never really explained why I reacted to what you said last night. About Keanu. So I’m going to tell you now.” She looked at me with a sad expression.

“Keanu’s parents used to own a sporting goods store. And they were very well-off, if you know what I mean. On the night of the store’s tenth anniversary, they had a party and almost everyone was invited. That was about two years ago. And it was one of the best parties of the year too. But something happened. I guess he got into an argument with his parents and he walked out. From then on, he changed. He started hanging out with the wrong crowd and doing the wrong things.” She looked at me with sad eyes. It made her look so much older than she really was.

“He got into some trouble. Stealing from the shops and stuff. You’ve seen what its like here. Everyone is just trying to make an honest living.”

“So I guess he tried to get out of that lifestyle. And those kids he used to hang with weren’t too happy about that.” She told it like it was some sort of urban legend.

“Those guys made his life miserable, while he tried to get it together. He wasn’t happy. And then one day a fire broke out in their store, and his parents were killed. When the fire department got there, the place was burnt down and he was the only one there.”

So this is why people shunned him. They thought he killed his parents. This was all confusing. He didn’t seem like the type to do that. But then again, what did I know? I was new here.

“You can kind of guess why everyone steers clear from his direction,” She finished.
The only thing that ran through my mind was my meeting with Weirdo later on today.

What was I getting myself into?