And That's How It Happened

Chapter 13 | Day 13... | But Is It Better?

Song of the Chapter: Story of us by Taylor Swift.

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When three o'clock rolls around, we all head to the beach. Turns out that everyone's schedule was free. Yay. Except Winnakly and Treynakly, who were with their aunt. Not yay. We decide to take the hotel car, piling everyone in. It's a perfect day. The sun is beating down, making the water a relief, the clouds are gone, the water is at amazing temperature, and we find a secluded part of the beach so people don't constantly bother us, asking Hotshot or Krycyand for autographs. He doesn't need a bigger head.

We barely contain the twins. They have to wait fifteen minutes to let their sunscreen settle and the second the timer goes off, they go sprinting towards the waves. Not that I can blame them. I'm hot on their tails as I jump in. The cool water is refreshing and isn't too cold or too warm. We play around, chasing each other and just relaxing. When our fingers get wrinkly, we gather on the sand to build a sandcastle. We end up making a kingdom with Lxansyer as king and Vakeny as queen. Mom brings an inflatable volleyball and they set up the net as I blow up the ball. We split up with Hotshot and Lxansyer on my team and we get to hit first because our team is slightly smaller.

I run up and down the front, making sure that the ball doesn't pass me and if it does, Hotshot is there to block. I jump up to block a ball, and when I land, I fall on a mound of sand, making me lose my balance.

Hotshot and Lxansyer crack up from behind me.

"Thanks for caring, guys," I say to all of them, as they're all laughing at me.

"We care. It's just hilarious," Hotshot gasps.

Rolling my eyes, I walk off to read in the shade, letting the teams even out. When they finish with volleyball, Krycyand and my family go searching for seashells along the beach while I stay back with Hotshot and Kylanerr.

"Hey," Kylanerr says, sitting next to me under the umbrella.

"Hey."

"How have you been?"

"Fine. I haven't seen you know a while, though."

"And whose fault is that?"

"Yours."

"How?"

"Well, ever since that day after the charity event, you've been avoiding me. You know I didn't really kiss him."

"You kissed him?!"

"No! I said that. It was to raise money and he only kissed me on the cheek. It was nothing," I rush to fix things.

"Oh," he says, but I can still see the tension in his body.

"Please look at me."

"I don't know if I can trust you."

"What? Of course you can."

"Can I? Every time I see you, you're with him," he says, jerking his head towards Hotshot, who's playing by himself in the sand.

"Because we're friends!"

"Friends aren't accused of having relationships."

"It's the media! They twist thing to get what they want! Money! Hotshot and I are just friends. I don't even think of him like that!"

"And you have that infernal nickname for him!"

"Yeah, that's what friends give each other."

"If you want to be with me, I don't want you around him."

"Are you dictating who I can and can't be friends with?" I ask incredulously.

"He's ripping apart our relationship."