Behind The Screens

4 | Not For Sno-Cones

Alex

"And here is another example of how you do something stupid- that turns out great." I told Tyler. We were sitting on the beach once again, this time waiting for Britten and Mira.

"You can thank me, man," Tyler said. "If I hadn't told you to go to starbucks, you would've never met her. And if I didn't push you into her, you wouldn't have gotten the guts to say something." I sighed. "Whatever." I responded.

"Hey," I heard a voice call from behind me. I turned around to see Britten and Mira heading toward us. I felt a goofy grin spread across my face. "Oh thank God! I thought I had the wrong guys." Britten said. "I told you." Mira spoke to Britten.

"Hey!" I exclaimed. "Sup." Tyler added. The girls sat down side by side in between Tyler and I. Fortunately, Britten decided to sit next to me. I tried not to seem so nervous as it suddenly got hotter than usual outside. I know you, I wanted to say. And you know me. But I knew I couldn't- or at least I thought I shouldn't.

"So... how long have you guys been living here?" Britten asked us. "Since I was a kid," Tyler replied. "I've been in the waves since I could walk, and skating since I could keep my balance." Mira laughed. "You sound like those surfer dudes in the movies." She said. He nodded. "I am. I surf everyday down there." He pointed to the far far end of the beach. "I've always wanted to surf. I've been trying to learn to skate too." Mira explained, looking down at her toes and wiggling them. "Well how long will you be here?" Tyler asked. "Until the morning after the festival." Mira replied.

Realizing then that I only had four days to talk to Britten, I mentally panicked.

"I'll teach you." Tyler insisted, giving her a look. It was the look he'd always used to 'woo' girls. I'd tried to use it once on a girl named Melissa after asking how many dogs she had. She quickly answered and made up some excuse to leave and ever since that day I never used it again. Somehow, though, with Tyler, it always worked. "Don't you have to go to school?" Mira asked softly. "Don't you?" Tyler replied. Britten laughed. "We'll go to school with you." She said. I furrowed my brows.

"Well, I don't know about you guys but I am hot." Britten said. "Me too," Mira agreed. "I could go get us some sno cones?" I suggested. "And then we have got to get in the water." Mira said. I nodded in agreement then Tyler and I stood and made our way toward the sno cone cart.

"A grape and a blueberry!" Mira yelled behind us. I held up a thumbs up and continued walking. "She's into you." Tyler said. "Meh." I replied. "She dropped an obvious hint." He continued. We arrived at the cart and stood in line.

"What do you mean obvious hint?" I asked. "She said she was hot." Tyler replied. I shrugged. "So?" he sighed. "So, you don't say 'let's get sno cones,' idiot!"
I turned red, clearly embarrassed.  "She wanted an excuse to show off her bikini." He explained, wiggling his eyebrows. I slapped myself on the forehead. "I didn't know!"

The only thing that I was thinking about was that she was the girl I'd always pictured meeting and now that I have, I see that she's one of the most beautiful creatures in my world. That's all you could think about when then girl you've begun falling for is right in front of you.

We ordered the sno cones and went to sit back with the girls. "A blueberry for you," I handed Britten her cone and smiled, part of me not wanting to let go. But, not wanting her to become another Melissa, I decided it was best to let it go. "And a grape for you" I handed Mira hers. She grabbed the cone and thanked me.

When we finished our sno cones there was a brief moment of silence in which Briten interrupted by saying, "the water looks gorgeous." Everyone  nodded their heads in agreement, making sounds of approval, then there was another awkward pause. I was thinking about pulling out my phone and googling 'how to communicate', when I thought back to what Tyler said about Britten's obvious hint. "Why don't we get in, then?" I said, looking at Britten. "Yea, sounds cool!" She said, looking back at me. It seemed like every time she spoke to me or looked in my direction, I couldn't stop myself from smiling. It was like a package deal- you want Britten, it's all smiles. "Let's go then."

"Where's your swimsuits?" Britten asked Tyler and I as we stood up. Tyler shrugged. "We live by the beach, we're always prepared." He said. He slipped his shorts off and flung them to the side. "See?"
I took off my shirt first, though, in hopes Britten would notice. Not that I was a show off or anything, but I was pretty fit- and it did seem to catch Britten's eye. Score.

When I looked back up, I quickly realized why Britten would want to show off her swimsuit. She was wearing a matching floral bikini with a gold body chain crossing her stomach. Luckily she didn't see me looking because she was too busy whispering to Mira as we walked toward the water.

"She's hot." Tyler said. "Which one?" I asked. "Both!" He replied. "Pushing you in front of her was the best thing I've done in my life, man." I laughed and shrugged. "Whatever." I said.

Britten

"Yes!" I exclaimed while getting on the ground and crawling into the water. I lied flat on my stomach and let the waves gently splash my face. Each time the water rushed forward, it brushed my hair into my face.

I hadn't been to the beach since my parents first got into the movie business. The longest time they've spent with me since then was a week. That's the longest time I can remember spending with them. The thought made my smile fade a little, but still not enough to kill the joy that the ocean waves gave me.

After a few seconds, Alex decided to come and sit with me. "This water feels nice." I said. I turned on my back so the water wouldn't get in my mouth, but when I realized it wasn't working, I just sat up.

"Yea, it's great here." Alex agreed. "If you sit on the beach on a bad day and just watch the sun reflecting off of the waves, crashing against the shore, listen to the sound of the ocean and breathe in the fresh air... it feels so chill- you know?" He looked down at me and realized that I'd been watching him. He looked into my eyes and continued speaking,

"It's like... Like watching melted chocolate be poured over strawberries or like you're already floating in the water... it's great." We continued watching each other, inspecting, as if our eyes were glued. He was just so...

Words couldn't explain what he was. I'd felt like I knew him already. Like he was some guy I'd met once, but then he got plastic surgery- it could happen. "I have a question," Alex said. "Come at me." I replied. His gaze finally shifted off of me and down to the water instead. He picked up some sand then let it fall from his hands. "Would you... maybe want to hang out again sometime?" He said. "You know, before you leave and all." An uncontrollable smile appeared on my face. 

I looked at Alex but he was still looking down at the water. I rested my hand on his arm to get his attention, but felt him tense up. "Sorry." I said pulling back my hand. He finally looked at me. "It's fine." He said. "I'd love to." I told him. He was beaming, closed mouthed, his lips were kissable.

"Monday after school?" Alex suggested. "Monday during school." I said, smirking. He gave me this adorable confused look. "I do have to go to school." He said.
"Who said you couldn't?" He raised an eyebrow in suspicion.

"You'll see."