Shh, Just Kiss Me (18+)

t h r e e

"I fucking hate my life."

"Why?" Anna asks me as she presses a wet paper towel onto my silk dress.

"Did you see what happened out there? To me?"

She pauses, "...Well, yeah."

"I'm a fucking disaster!"

"Not really," Anna smiles at me through the reflection of the mirror while I fix my hair. I turn around to thank Anna for helping me and see Zoe come in with a napkin in her hand, falling to her knees to soak up chocolate residue.

"What's happening to you? First the seagull, now this," there isn't anybody in the world who knows me best."If it were me, I'd have to fight."

"Reef probably cursed her or something. You remember the day we went to Cole's house for a night and a drink, and he wished bad luck upon Jaide?"

"Let's not even discuss Reef's dumbass," Zoe replied, forcing a rub.

Waiting twenty minutes in the bathroom to clean off chocolate residue off my dress was a pain the ass. Now I'm going to have to walk around with a huge oval-shaped chocolate stain on my dress. Even better, I had heard Reef make fun of me the whole night out.

"You know what, I have some money in the car, let's buy you a new one," Anna suggested as she walked towards her seat.

"No.... you don't have to; I'll live."

____

Looking away from the ombre purple and yellow sky above my head, I looked at Zoe, Anna, and Cole sitting next to each other with all of their feet buried in the sand as the shore hit them with violent waves. We ditched the restaurant and fled to the beach to relieve some graduation spirit.

I felt a stiff breeze of warm air stabbing me in the neck. I turned my head around, only to view Reef standing behind me with his arms crossed. He looks down on me, smirking, and then he opens his mouth.

"Like the view?"

"Yeah," I respond, averting his eyes.

"Do you come here often?"

"Sometimes."

"I come here all the time." He unfolds his arms and stands next to me. I brush past him the second our skin almost touched.

"Yeah...Man, I should jump in for a swim." I say. He was acting all calm and weird. For the first time, we were having a normal conversation. The kind with no insults and sarcastic remarks.

"Come here," He pulls me back and gently forces my frame onto his. We lock eyes as he licks his lips.

Yikes...

"...What are you doing?"  I ask when he completely wraps his arms around my waist.

"Trying to comfort you, because that's what friends are for."

I push him off softly, keeping an eye out for any of our friends looking our way. They were too busy talking and laughing. Relief is my only friend at this moment.

"Yeah, you can comfort me from a distance."

"Jaide," he says demurely, "I really like you. I meant that when I said it the first time."

"Oh, you weren't kidding?"

"No," he giggles at me.

"The waves look really wavy...you know." Because where was this sudden affection coming from? He was inappropriately in my way and it kinda wasn't pleasant.

"Jaide, you are so random...and...adorably weird; it's so cute." He pushes his hair back. I can see a full view of his face. His beautiful tan complements his masculine appearance so that when I blink, I have to think twice about who I'm talking to. Reef is a very beautiful male presence. I just wish he was...my type. Unfortunately, I don't like him the way he likes me. Believe me; if I had the hots for him, I would've let him hold me much longer, but I can only see us being long-time friends. Probably in the future, too.

"Thanks," I say with care in my heart.

"Can you guys stop fondling each other and join us for a swim?" Asked Cole, wearing nothing but his American Eagle boxers and Anna under his arm.

"I'm so sorry," said Anna. I looked at Reef, and he looked a bit upset that his best bud ruined a perfect moment for him, I assume. "We'll leave you two alone," Anna pushes Cole in front of her. He defends himself, blocking Anna's childish punches. "You are such a cock-blocker!"

"Cole is an asshole!" Reef exclaims.

"You now notice that?" I reply.

"No, but forget Cole," he smiles. "I don't usually share my feelings, but I'm really going to miss you." He licks his lips again, turns his head at the shore, and catches a glimpse of sunlight in his eyes.

"Really?"

"Yeah, you guys are cool peeps."

"I'll miss you too. We'll most likely see each other in a couple of weeks from now."

"Oh, yeah, I totally forgot about our camping trip. But besides that, after, I'll never see you again." He looked sad a little like he was almost pissed that I wasn't going to be in his life anymore.

"How are you so sure?" I crossed my arms with a little smirk appearing on my face.

"Because I just have a gut feeling that it will happen," he turns to me and laughs at himself. "I'm just going with my instincts."

"It's all about communication." Could I be wrong about him not being my type, or am I just afraid of being pushed away again?

"You're right, but after a while...communication vanishes...you know. That's the sad part."

"I know what you mean, but I have faith," I said.

"Of course you do."

"Reef!" Zoe yells his name from a distance, wading in the water with her hands in the air. Immediately, Reef gets distracted, and all of his attention is on her. Not that it bothers me; she caught my attention too, and I had suddenly forgotten in twenty seconds what Reef and I were discussing. "What was all that shit you were saying in the car, pussy?"

"What was that? I'll kick your ass, Zoe!" He dashes away and runs towards the water, picking up Zoe and spinning her around.

Cole, Anna, Reef, and Zoe are my only friends. He's right; communication does vanish and the relationship that once kept us all close will soon drift us apart, and then memories that we shared will become nostalgia.