Efflorescence

Chapter 10: The Ocean

Chapter 10

The Ocean

Rhylee

After that “interesting” game of volleyball, I decided it was time to go for a swim. Since I was already out of my cloths, I just jogged down to the water.

On the left side of the beach by the cliffs, after about ten feet of shallow water, there’s a huge drop off. And that’s where I head. Where I stand to dive off of the drop off, I’m blocked by a bunch of different plants and tall grasses from everyone else on the beach.  Once I get there, I’m about to dive off of the end when someone’s arms wrap around my waist. I’m about to elbow the person in the waist, but his hand catches it.

“Calm down, Rhy!” It’s Jax. You’ve got to be kidding me.

He loosened his arms and I turned around in them and smacked his chest. “You’re so stupid!” I yelled.

“I was just playing,” he said innocently and shrugged.

“I could have killed you!” I said and hit him again.

Jax didn’t say anything, but looked me dead in the eye. The smile slipped off of his face and he became completely serious.

“What?” I asked and squirmed. It made me uncomfortable when he stared at me like that.

Jax sighed and said, “Oh, it’s nothing.” and pushed me off of the deep end.

I came up and sucked in air then immediately went back under. I could hear Jax saying something, but it was muffled by the water and I couldn’t understand it. The water was murky enough so that he couldn’t see me.

I swam to where I thought he was standing and reached out and grabbed his ankle and dragged him under with me.

Jax jumped back up as soon as possible and coughed up the saltwater. “What was that for!?” He yelled and wiped his face.

I popped up after him and smoothed my hair back. I shot him an accusing look. “Nothing. You are perfectly innocent, therefore I soaked you.”

Jax grinned at me like I had never seen him do before. I blushed and sank back into the water until my chin touched the surface. I looked through my eyelashes up at Jax. He sank down so the way we were the same height.

Then a feeling hit me that I had never had before. I just wanted to close that foot long gap in between us. I wanted to reach out and play with the curls on the nape of his neck. I wanted to gently trace his pale pink lips. I wanted to run my hands over his washboard abs and strong shoulders and muscular back. I wanted to be so close to him that no one would be able to tell where I ended and he began. I wanted him.

And apparently he wanted me, too. He launched himself at me and I curled around him like it was exactly where I was supposed to be. We kissed each other like we were the other’s life source. We held each other like we would be separated if we let go for a second.

It was odd thinking about how we had seen each other every summer since I could remember and only just now I felt this way. I remember when we were twelve and we were all over at Selena’s house. We were upset because we couldn’t go to the Teen Bonfire with her fifteen-year-old sister(at the time), Ren. She had told us, “You can’t go because you aren’t teenagers. Plus, I’m going with a boy, and kids would so get in the way of us hooking up.” After that, Jax joked about how the next year, he was so going to “hook up” with a girl there. It’s funny to think that after all these years, he’s finally hooking up with a girl at the Teen Bonfire. And that girl is me.

I giggle a little at the memory and feel Jax smile against my lips in response.

“What’s so funny?” He asks and puts his forehead against mine.

I copy him from earlier and sigh. “Oh, it’s nothing.” I pushed him back into the water.

“Not funny!” He yells and resurfaces.

We splash each other and laugh and I jump on his back and he carries me back to the sand. We got stares from the girls and smirks from some guys as we walked back to our cloths while holding hands.

I wonder if this makes us official now?

‘It better make us official,’ I thought as we knocked shoulders. ‘That was my first kiss.’