It Was All Leading Up To You

Chapter 2:

"Well hello there." He says sarcastically.

"Um hey," I say kicking my board up into my hands and standing up straighter before so realise this is the boy that has moved next door to me. The one I was staring at. The one I owe an explanation to.

"I was wondering if you could help me?" He says standing up and walking towards me with his hands stuck in the pockets of his leather jacket.

"Sure," I say smiling and nodding. 

"I'm starving and have no idea where to get food. Would you be able to show me?" He says moving closer to me. 

"Uhh sure, Best Burger's in Denson 10 minutes that way," I say pointing and dropping my skateboard on the ground. 

"Burgers. I could go for a burger. Only if you'll be dining with me?" He says taking his hands from his pockets and smirking.

"Sure, I could go for a Burger," I say jumping on my skateboard and pushing forward. 

"Eager I see." He says following my slow pace on the board.

"Well besides two bags of microwave popcorn, a bowl of lucky charms and an ice block I haven't eaten today and I'm starving," I say picking up the board and walking instead of riding. 

"I like a girl with an appetite, can't stand the girls constantly dieting and throwing it up and blah blah blah, it's really unattractive." He says looking down at his worn black converse.

"I don't care what I look like honestly if you don't like it then don't be around me. It's simple." I say turning onto a side street and checking behind me to make sure he was there. He was. 

"I like that, confident. Confident girls are the best kind believe it or not. So confident that you feel okay about staring at people through the window." He says chuckling after the last word. 

"About that I -"

"No, no it's okay. I was playing around. I'm new here. You were curious. It's fine." He says chuckling again. 

"Sure," I say not wanting to mention the real reason. He was gorgeous. That's why. 

"We're here," I say pointing to a small restaurant on the corner facing the beach. The waves were crashing and the sea salt smell was in the air. I and Josh used to come here when we were little with our parents. This place is famous for its unique burger combinations. 

"Interesting." He says walking ahead of me and opening the door for me guiding me inside. 

A waitress greets us and we are seated outside two metres near the sand. She hands us our menus recommends the special and leaves us. 

"Well, I think I will be eating the double cheese explosion." He says putting down his menu. 

"And you?" He says waiting for a response. 

"I will have The social experiment," I say putting down my menu also. The lady comes back, takes our order and reveals our total waiting for payment. I pull out my money but by the time I turn around the lady was gone and the bill was paid for.

"One thing you should know about me is I don't believe in gender roles at all ever, but the guy should always pay." He says smiling down at the table avoiding eye contact.

"I just realised I don't even know your name," I say looking at the top of his beanie. 

"Cole Taylor-Johnson." He says holding out a hand to shake.

"Laney Gilbert," I say shaking it giggling moving my hair out of my face. 

"Here you guys are." The waitress says handing us our plates and putting a jug of water on the table. 

"My first burger since moving to this contemporary yet fascinating town and I cheers to you Laney Gilbert." He says holding up his double cheese and smiling while I hold up my burger and we laugh biting into our burgers. 

"So where did you move from?" I ask as he picks up his glass and takes a drink. 

"Dallas, Texas." He says putting down his cup.

"How about we go to the beach. You can show me what all the hype is about." He suggests waiting politely for me to finish the last few bites of my burger/.

"Sure, I'll just call my brother let him know where I'm going so he knows I'm not like dead or something," I say reaching into my pocket grabbing my phone. 

He chuckles and smiles at me looking up and down as I make the call. 

We leave our table and nod to the waitress as we walk away he opens the door for me on the way out. I take him down a ramp onto the sand and take off my shoes and socks placing them near the ramp as well as my penny board he does the same and we walk towards the water. 

"I still don't know that much about you," I say walking through the wet sand. 

"Well, what do you wanna know?" He asks following me and rolling up the legs of his skinny jeans. 

"About your family," I say feeling the cold sand in between my toes. 

"Um, I'm a biracial twin, my father's adopted me and my sister when we were  a few months old." He says sticking his hands in his pockets again. 

"That's really cool, what's her name?" I ask. 

"Phoebe, She's African American while I am Caucasian. We're actually 1 of the very few pairs of biracial boy and girl twins." He says walking up towards a dry patch of sand. 

"This is so interesting," I say following him to the dry patch of sand. 

"What's your family scene like?" He asks sitting down and motioning the spare patch of sand next to him. The sun had almost fully set so it was getting harder to see him at the minute but I found my way and sat down.

"Parents who hate each other and barely pay attention to and my older brother Josh who is 2 years older but the way he acts makes it seem like it's 20. Then there's Ross he lives next door to us on the other side and has been coming over almost everyday since I was born." I said hugging my knees into my stomach and shivering.

"It is getting pretty cold maybe we could walk up to the beach towards our places?" He asks standing up and taking off his jacket. Handing it over to me. I take it and blush as I throw it over my shoulders. 

"Thank you." was all I said as I grabbed my shoes and penny board and began walking up the side of the beach with Cole, his black hair swaying in the wind. 

"It's okay." He says after sometime attempting to break the silence that has fallen upon us. 

We stay silent for a few moments listening calmly to the sound of the sea and the smell of salt in the air. 

"We're almost there," I say smiling through the wind which had picked up pushing me a back. 

We were lost in the moment we almost forgot who we were, I almost forgot about everything walking up that beach with him he made me forget. I didn't know how.