Winning Skylinn

43

We decided to go to Cocoa Beach. It was a bit of a drive, but I don't think either of us really minded. It was a beautiful day, and car rides plus sunshine made for a very happy birthday girl.

I could smell the salt in the air and feel the warm sand tickle my toes as I got out of the car. I breathed it all in. "Ah. It's good to be home," I said with a happy sigh.

"What do you want to do?" Jonny asked.

"Hm...let's look for seashells." It was a task Jonny hated but one that I loved.

"Fine. Since you're the birthday girl."

We walked along the shore and I picked up some tiny shells in all different colors-pink, yellow, white, orange. They were so precious and small.

"Look at this one," Jonny said, laughing. He held up a red shell with two huge lumps on it.

I burst out laughing. "It's adorable," I joked, taking the shell from him.

"What are we gonna do with all of these?"

Suddenly I got an idea. It was one from The Last Song movie.

"Come on." I grabbed his hand and ran up to where we'd set our towels and things. Then I laid flat on my back in the sand. "You should trace me. With the shells."

"You're joking, right?"

"What, you don't want to?" I gave him my best pouty lip.

"Alright, fine. But only because it's your birthday." He scooped up some of the seashells we'd collected and kneeled to the ground.

Then he placed them one by one around my figure, until they'd all run out. "Wow. We got a lot of shells," he noted, standing back to admire his work.

"Take a picture!" I suggested, wanting to remember this moment.

He nodded and went to get my Polaroid camera. It was a gift from my seventeenth birthday; Jake got it for me.

Jonny snapped the photo. "Perfect."

"Okay, I'm hot. Let's get in the water." I stood up and brushed the sand off, then made a run for it.

I crashed into the waves and the water was just fine. Not too cold, and not too...freezing. Ocean water was never "hot" exactly.

"Come on, Jonny!" I called.

He crossed his arms over his chest. "I don't want to."

"Pleeeeease, Jonathan?" I said, making puppy dog eyes. He couldn't see them from his spot on the beach, but I knew it would work anyway.

"It's cold!"

"It's really not. Come on!"

He seemed hesitant, for whatever reason. But finally he gave in, and took off his bro tank to get in the water. He walked towards the water slowly and dipped his toe in.

"Oh, don't be such a baby. Just come in already!"

Just then, he started running at full speed. Before I knew it, he'd thrown me over his shoulder and was spinning me around in circles. I screamed in shock, but my screams turned to giggles as he whirled me around.

"See, I tricked ya," he said as we slowed down and he set me in the water again.

"No, I just wasn't expecting that," I insisted, even though he was right.

He rolled his eyes. "Fine, deny it. Race ya?"

I nodded. "Three, two, one, go!" We dove into the water and started swimming.

It used to be a contest thing we did, where we'd see who could swim underwater for the longest period of time. He usually won.

Sure enough, I came up for air way before he did. "Alright, you can come up now. Show-off," I called.

His head popped up out of the water and he wiped the salt from his eyes. "Did I win?"

"Of course. You always do. But don't go getting a big head, or you'll look like Megamind."

"Hey, what's wrong with Megamind?" he joked.

"Touché," I said, thinking of Jonah Hill's character in that movie. He was always my favorite.

We swam until our arms were sore, and then we sat on the beach with towels wrapped around our shoulders. We sat in silence mostly.

"I'm really glad you got to be here for my birthday," I said at last. The thought had been on my mind all day but it never seemed like the right time until this moment.

"Me too."

"I can't even imagine it without you, ya know? You've been at all my birthdays since I was six. Except those ones when I was nine and ten and it wasn't cool to have a boy at your party."

He chuckled. "I remember that. I felt so left out."

"I missed you the whole time."

"Really?"

"No."

He laughed again. "Gee, thanks."

"Anyway...thanks for taking me here. I had fun."

"Me too. But we should probably get going. Our dinner reservations are at six."

"Okay."

So we packed up our things and headed back home to get ready for dinner.