She invited him to the beach. Well I'm not surprised, it is Natalie. That girl would invite a stranger out to dinner with us if she could. She had that streak of social confidence in her that I sometimes wish I had, but instead I have an ignorant attitude and a natural stubborn tone in my voice, one of the many things I hated about myself. I guess that's why our personalities work out with eachother.
I get up from my seated position from the end of my bed and decide to pack a bag for the day. I walk over to my drawers and pick from a week supply of bathing suits that were not-so neatly put away. Once I found the one I wanted, I grabbed a cover up hanging from the closet and stuffed both into a beach bag.
I slipped on my flip flops that were by the door and headed downstairs to a waiting Natalie.
"Good god Bailey I never thought you would come down stairs," she said dramatically, "You finally ready to go?"
"Yeah, yeah." I said, practically with no emotion at all. She gave me a claw gesture with her hand. I rolled my eyes, she should know why I'm mad.
"Is somebody a little upset that I invited a certain someone to the beach today?" She said mimicking my attitude. I gave her "the look" and she simply just laughed. That girl.
Nat grabbed her keys and we headed out the door. She had her usual skip in her step where I shuffled along the ground. I wonder how a human being can always be so happy. Though I guess she sometimes wonders the same about me and my grumpiness.
As we were pulling out of the driveway, I was kind if hoping that the day would turn around. I guess only I can make that decision.
I keep asking myself if I should be happy or mad about this whole Harry situation. I mean, I've known this kid for not even a day, I barely now anything about him except that he offered to give me a ride, which was pretty nice, and that he's shy and in my opinion, kinda cute. But other than that he's almost a stranger to me. So why do I have these weird feelings for him? I'm not a believer in love at first sight, not at all. I like getting to know a person before I make any decisions towards my feelings.
Natalie turned on the radio and rolled down all the windows. She could probably tell I was in a deep thought of some sort and tried to lighten up the atmosphere. She's known me long enough to know when I've zoned out.
"Come on Bailey, we're at the beach, it's the first week of summer vacation, and we just graduated! Try to make the best of it okay?" Nat said. I look at her, not in a bad way, but kind of in an accepting matter. I mean what she said was right, I really do need to loosen up a little.
"Ok," I agreed. She gave me a soft smile and focused back on the road. I take a deep breath, the warm salty air relaxes me a little. I guess that's one step to making this day better.
We pull into a small parking lot, almost identical to the one Harry was parked in last night before he took me home. I unbuckle my seat belt, grab my bag and step out of the car.
The distant voices of people on the boardwalk become louder the closer we walk towards the beach, though it's not nearly as crowded as last night.
"When are Harry and Dave getting here?" I ask.
"Oh, they already are," she said. I raise my eyebrows at her response.
"Oh..." I say quietly. As we walk across the boarded walkway, the ocean water comes into view. I guess everyone else had the same idea as us to come here. Hundreds of umbrellas, towels, and people spanned along the miles of sand in both directions. "Well I hope they got a good spot."
Soon enough I spot two shirtless teenage boys kicking a soccer ball back and forth in the sand. I noticed right away that Harry wasn't really the best at it, I guess that's one thing we have in common. Dave though on the other hand, actually does play soccer, so I'm spurprised he hasn't gotten frustrated with Harr'y lack of expirience yet.
Natalie obnoxiously waves to Dave, who eventually sees both of us walking towards them. He waves and gives a smile, then continues to kick the ball.
I couldn't help myself when I say I couldn't stop looking at Harry. My eyes discover several tattoos that I hadn't noticed last night in the dark restaurant. Most were on his arms, though he had an enormous butterfly across his stomach.
But it wasn't overdone, he didn't have sleeves or anything like that. But he had enough for me to not be able to count them at a first glance. He also had two birds across his collar bones, making me curious as to what that meant, or if it meant anything at all.
Thought it wasn't until I got out I my trance when I noticed he was doing the same exact thing.
But to me.
