Rooftops

Twenty-Five

||Twenty-Five||

I'm standing at the edge of the ocean with my feet planted firmly in the sand as the water rolls in and out, splashing my feet and ankles each time a wave rolls in. Behind me, I can still hear the music and laughter of my friends all enjoying themselves out on Jade's patio.

I escaped while I could. There was only so much of my friends that I could take- especially when I didn't really know any of them all that well anymore. Sure I still considered them my friends but in all honesty, we hadn't kept in touch after my first year away. They were all different people now; so was I. It was as if I were meeting them all over again. I had spent an hour and a half talking with Brie. We talked about my life back in Texas and we talked about her successful clothing line. Then, I spent twenty minutes explaining to Tony what sort of things I did at my job, and then sat for half an hour listening to him tell me about the big companies he has designed for over the last five years.

All of our lives were different. We were no longer young adults in college or just starting their careers. We were adults. Actual mid/late twenty year olds with actual adult lives.

"Do you miss it?"

I jump at the sound of his voice; chills immediately running down my spine as my brain registers who it is. I turn around and face Justin. He's standing on the dry sand, his torn Vans slightly covered in sand as he stands perfectly still, his dark chocolate brown eyes fixed on me as I stand in the water.

"Miss what?" I ask as I push back stray strands of hair behind my ear. I'm a little surprised to see him here. A part of me wondered if anybody had invited him but when he didn't show up by the time we ate dinner, I figured either no one invited him or he wasn't going to show.

"The ocean."

I shrug, "Corpus Christi is about a two hour drive from San Antonio. Jackson and I usually drive down at least once a month."

I don't know why I decided to mention my boyfriend. A part of me wonders if I've ever mentioned him to Justin before...

Justin nods and clears his throat. He looks down at his torn Vans, his hands are stuffed into his dark jeans and the grey sweater he's wearing hangs loose around him. "Jackson's your, uh, your boyfriend?"

"Yeah." I reply, my voice just loud enough for him to hear over the sound of the crashing waves.

He looks up then and meets my gaze. His stare is so intense I take a deep breath and as much as I want to look away, I can't. I can't look away and I don't know why. "Do you love him?"