Mia

The beach

The sun was setting after I finished the second book , another recommendation. I checked a few out for the night and said a red goodbye to the owners son. He winked after swearing that he'd see me tomorrow.

The walk back home was brisk but not cold, the air wrapped around me in a comforting sheet.

I felt guilty about enjoying the mans company, but I was still human. I still loved Adam and I was going to call him as soon as I got inside. I did the math and realized it was only noon in California.

Tom was waiting outside with Marie leaning against his shoulder, they were cute together. My parents never approved because she took him away from home, but he needed it. He deserved to be happy, more than any of us.

"Late night?" He asked, I laughed and sat on the steps,

"I read some books while I was there," I say. They laugh and then turn back to each other. I take this as my sign to move along.

The phone rang for awhile before he picked up,

"Hey!" He shouted. I could hear people talking in the background.

"Hi! How are you guys?" I asked. Knowing they'd decided to go on the road trip anyway.

"Great, What about you? The Italians treating you well?" He teased. I missed his voice. Hearing it now made my stomach ache.

"I miss you guys, and you," I say. I can hear him sigh, moving away from the loud background.

"I miss you too, the trip isn't the same without you," he says. I let him tell me about where they've been already, what they plan on doing for the rest of the day. He talked about the fight they had at the start of the trip and the fights they started on the road. I was nearly asleep when he asked if I was still there.

"Of course," I mumbled and fell asleep to the sound of his voice.

I woke up with a phone print on my face and a headache. Tom didn't have to wake me, it was only 10am when I rolled over and felt the hot sun on my face.

I hadn't even touched the books at the corner of my room, instead I changed into a bathing suit and then a sundress and asked Marie to come to the beach.

I do hate the beach, but I was from California and feeling the sun was part of me. I didn't have to go in the water or even watch anyone play volleyball. I could just relax.

"Isn't it lovely?" She said as we approached the sand, it was a longer walk to the beach than the bookstore, but I enjoyed the exercise.

"Absolutely," I lied. It was easy now, after years of living on a huge beach it wasn't hard to feign admiration.

We picked spots to lay and she went to the shop to grab us drinks. The huge sun hat she gave me was perfect to block out the sun and the annoying people. The familiar feeling of being baked approached my skin quickly.

"I just grabbed you a water," she said and I heard her join next to me. The water was pushed into the sand next to my head,

"That's perfect," I mumbled, feeling the jet-lag linger a bit longer. I wasn't worried about burning, years of sun abuse trained me to know when to flip even if I did doze off.

Suddenly I wasn't on the beach, but being thrown about on the ocean. I could see a ship bobbing in the water ahead, the people reaching out for me. Swimming wasn't an option, no matter how hard my arms pushed against the vast blue I couldn't move my body from the spot. The ship neared and I could feel my throat loosen and I reached up, the faces were still blurry as I gripped the ring and was pulled out of the cold water.