OCEAN CLIFFS

Chapter two; A hint of guilt

"I kinda wanna die" I sat into the phone, as I look out the window stained with flower petals. Natalie, who's on the other end, gives a small snort and replies with "don't we all? I'll come pick you up in half an hour than we'll get the others and head towards the beach." I sighed, agreed, and hung up. I changed into grey tights and a t-shirt that has a traditional Japanese wave on it and badlands written on it. I smile to myself and tell myself today is a new start, a new day. I grab my earbuds and some chapstick, and head downstairs.
As I walked down the stairs, I notice my mom sitting at the kitchen island, her hands on her face. I reach the last step and it lets out a big creak, and she looks back and notices me. "Oh.. hey honey, I didn't hear you come back last night" she said in a small calm voice. "I, uh, came in quietly" I said, eyeing the door. "Sorry if you heard me and your father, we were "discussing" about his new job" she said, and gave a small smile. As she was speaking I heard a car engine near by and recognized it was Natalie's. "Mom, I'll talk later, I have somewhere I need to be." I said in a rush and quickly walked out of the door. I rush towards the car and see that's there's already two other people in there, layla a teen that never grew out of their middle school emo phase and carter a flamboyant peace-loving gay. I hop into the back next to layla and give her a small hug. "It seems we added another gay to the small bundle." Carter said, eyeing me from the back and giving a sarcastic smile.
After leaving my neighborhood and getting into the highway I plop in my earbuds and blast my music. I close my eyes, letting the breeze of the open roof of the convertible go through my hair, feeling the strands of wind between my fingers like water. After a few minutes of my mind drifting away I manage to hear natalie say we're ten minutes away. I lay my head on Layla's shoulder, letting my mind race off like a horse with freedom. I think of all the good times I had with him. I smile a bit to myself, thinking of the first kiss, the first date, and the first fight; and with the last thought I opened my eyes as quick as I closed them. I sat up straight, layla giving a look of confusion but dismissing it.
I could taste it; the taste of guilt in my mouth. The taste of guilt is like shoving a knife slowly into your stomach. Before my mind could ambush me, natalie announces we're here as she pulls into a shaded parking spot by the pathway of the beach. I could see hardly anyone was at the beach, which was rare because we're in California. I slip out of the car, fixing my pants and socks and waiting for the others to get their stuff. "Did you bring a bathing suite chase?" Natalie asked as she grabbed sunglasses and a beach bag, giving her the perfect instagram model look. "Yeah, I'm wearing one under these pants" I say, patting a little on my pants. "Luckily they're a little small so they can form to my legs better so I ca wear them under this" I said to no one in particular, but just in case anyone was listening in.
   We head to the beach through the tree line and I can make out a few figures; about three splashing in the water. We get to the sandy beach and natalie sets out a beach chair and an umbrella which I never noticed she had. She plopped in the chair, putting tan lotion on and fishing out her vogue magazine. I sigh, and look at carter who was already stripping off his shirt and running towards the water in a frenzy. I lay down a towel next to layla, who's reading a book on her phone. A few minute into relaxing I hear carter scream from the water "GUYS GUYS GUYS YOU SHOULD MEET THESE PEOPLE!!" And pointed towards the tree other figures from earlier. Me and Natalie got up, layla not bothering with carter, and walked towards the water. As we inched closer I noticed one was splashing one of the others with water, and the third one was conversing with carter. Rolling up my pants, I walked up to the shore, getting knee length in water before letting carter being the figures towards us. As they inched closer, I could tell they were all fit and extremely hot. I blushed a little, realizing I'm probably not dressed for the occasion. As they finally reached us I realized one of them went to our school, his name Dylan, and the other two I've seen around a little in the city. "Ok so long story short I was in the water and I was getting pretty lonely so I walked up to these hunks and started chatting up a storm and I decided it's not fair to hog them." Carter said, patting one with silver hair on the back, giving a big grin. "I'm Miles, Miles Wranger" he said, reaching for my hand to shake. I hesitantly put out my hand and shake his, feeling the strong but relaxed grip of his hands.
After a few minutes of splitting up and awkward silence between me and Miles, he finally speaks up. "Your friend carter seems nice." I look at him, my facial expression relaxing a little. "He's friendly, like a dog that loves attention." I said, crossing my arms and looking up at Miles. "So, do you uh, live around here?" He said, clearly wanting to start a conversation. "Yeah, I live in the L.A suburb area." I said splashing a little bit of water with my foot. "Oh that's cool, I live around here too, maybe we could meet up some time if you're free." Miles said, giving a smile that stretched from ear to ear. "I could give you my number if you need" I said, taking out my phone and putting in my password. "Is that your friend?" Miles said, looking over my shoulder and at my home screen. "Erm no, that's my ex. I guess I forgot to change my background" I said awkwardly, looking back at miles. "Oh I'm sorry, I hope it wasn't too bad" he said, giving a small frown, putting an arm around my neck as if he's my best friend already.
   Ten minutes passed by and natalie decided she wanted to leave and go shopping in the city, so I quickly gave miles my number and snapchat so that we could hopefully talk again. While walking back to the car, and getting into the car all I could think about was his smile, and his perfectly white teeth; which made me a little insecure. I closed my eyes and imagined I was by him again, but instead strangers we were friends, or maybe even closer.