A Girl Named Kieran

Chapter 7: High Hopes

Soon, we reach the group of people who were standing on the beach cheering for Elliot while he was surfing earlier. Their faces light up into smiles whenever they see Elliot. It's very obvious that he seems to be the glue that holds the group together.

I look over them, seeing Tyler sitting in a beach chair next to a boy I recognize to be Trent Garcia, quarterback for our school's football team. 

Another girl sits on the sand beside them and she looks very familiar, but I don't remember her name from school. When I make eye contact with her, she rolls her eyes and turns to the boy next to her, who isn't paying her any attention either because his face is buried in a book.

"Guys, this is Kieran." Elliot announces. I shy away at everyone suddenly staring at me but I smile softly.

"Hey! You're the girl from our bus!" Tyler shouts, standing up.

"I'm Tyler, in case you didn't know." He says, sweeping his hair out of his eyes before shaking my hand.

"And man, I'm real sorry about what happened on the bus. I'll never play Oreo again, scout's honor." He says, flashing a smile and crossing an X over his heart with his finger. I laugh and nod my head.

"Well the entire female population thanks you." I tell him.

The boy beside him stands up and smiles at me. His hair is dark and his cheeks are covered in freckles. He reaches out his hand for me to shake but I can't due to the fact that he's holding a Mountain Dew can in one and a football in the other. He looks confused for a moment and then drops the football in the sand, chuckling.

"Sorry, I'm a little slow sometimes." He says, "I'm Trent."

I shake his now free hand and tell him it's nice to meet him. His eyes are dark and brown, almost like a puppy's and just from looking at them, I can guarantee that Trent is the most loyal friend that any of them could have.

I look down the line, to the girl who rolled her eyes at me. She's picking at her nails and doesn't notice me at all. The boy stare at her for long enough that she finally looks up.

"What?" She asks, sounding annoyed. Her eyes fall on me and I feel her looking me up and down. I squirm under her stare, taking notice of her perfect body in a bikini. I look down at my jeans and t-shirt, trying to remember the last time I ever even put on a bathing suit.

"Oh, I'm Elena." She says.

"Pleasure." I say, forcing a big smile.

I finally look down at the boy reading. His hair is dirty blonde, pushed up off his forehead. Elliot kicks some sand in his direction.

"Hello? Earth to Gabriel?" He laughs. The boy jerks his head up.

"What? Sorry, I wasn't paying attention." He says, closing his book.

"Obviously." Elena scoffs.

The boy's eyes land on me and he stands quickly, offering me a sandy hand.

"I'm Gabriel." he says with a large smile. 'God, the boy's teeth are perfect.' I think. I shake his hand, smiling into his gray eyes.

"Kieran." I say, feeling my cheeks heat up. 'Why is everyone in this friend group so ridiculously attractive?' I wonder.

"Alright, game of frisbee anyone?" Elliot asks, holding up a neon green Frisbee.

"Yeah!" Tyler and Trent scream, running down the beach a little ways. Elena and Gabriel follow after Elliot, but Elliot turns to look at me expectantly.

"Coming?" He asks, shaking the frisbee at me.

"I think I'll just stay here and watch. I'd probably get hit in the face anyway, not super athletic." I say with a bit of nervous laughter. Elliot's face drops a little, but he fakes a smile and nods as I sit down on a beach towel.

Gabriel turns around quickly to look at me before calling, "I'm gonna keep Kieran company!" to the rest of the group. Soon he is plopped down on the towel next to me, his knee touches mine and my heart jumps.

"Hi." I laugh nervously, looking down at my hands in my lap.

"So, Kieran. You go to North Shore? I've never even seen you at school before." He says.

"Yeah, I do. I guess I'm just one of those keep to yourself sort of people. I only really talk to my best friend Haley. She's great, but yeah I don't really talk to anyone else. I'm not super involved at North Shore either. Elliot sort of forced me to come over here, he says I need to make more friends." I ramble. 

'Oh my god, Kieran. Get yourself together. Take a breath and actually process your thoughts before you go spitting them out.'  I mentally scold myself.

Gabriel sits quietly, looking troubled for a moment and then he suddenly blurts out, "Are you and Elliot together?"

I am so taken off guard that I start coughing and laughing at the same time. 

'Elliot is so out of my league, he would never think of me like that.'  I think to myself. 'Then again, here I am with Gabriel, who is equally out of my league, swooning like a little girl.'

"Uh, no. Definitely no." I stutter.

"Oh, okay. Good." he says with a smile and I try not to think too hard about his comment. 

'Don't get your hopes up, you just met this boy. He lives in a whole different world than you; a world of popularity.'

"So what's up with Elena?" I ask, trying to change the topic, "Is she always so.." I trail off, trying to find the right word.

"Bitchy?" Gabriel asks, finishing my sentence. I shake my head laughing.

"Well I was looking for a nicer word, but yes." I say and he laughs with me.

"But yeah, she is. Mostly just with me and Trent though. We've both rejected her in the last year. We weren't trying to be jerks about it either, just neither of us are interested in dating her. She's a cool friend to have around, believe it or not she's actually funny sometimes, but I could never date someone like her. She cheated on her last boyfriend." He tells me. I look over to where Elena is holding onto Elliot's arm, begging him to teach her how to throw a frisbee.

"Well don't worry, it looks like she's moved on to Elliot." I say, stifling a laugh. He shakes his head.

"She'll have worked her way through our whole friend group before long. Tyler better get ready." Gabriel jokes.

"But then why was she so rude to me? I haven't rejected her lately, I just want some friends." I shrug.

"Well I mean you're super pretty, and not in the try-hard way like she is. Plus you walked up here with Elliot, so she probably sees you as a threat." He says.

My cheeks flush red at his comment and I have to look away. 

'He thinks I'm pretty, oh my god he thinks I'm pretty.' I think to myself. I'm not normally like this, I don't know why his compliment means so much to me.

"Well, I'm certainly not trying to steal Elliot from her." I say.

"I'd hope not." Gabriel says, flashing me a smile. My stomach flips and I look down at my lap, smiling with pink tinted cheeks.