Bittersweet

Chapter 17

Finally, I can unwind and relax at my favorite location- the beach. 

Everyone has an addiction, weather it may be drugs, the internet etc. Well, incase you don't know, let me enlighten you. 

I have a huge obsession with the beach, specifically when it's cloudy, a little cold, very early in the morning, and I'm cozied up with food. Today was that day. 

"Come on! We're gonna be late!" I yelled from the door. My dad appeared with the huge red cooler box in one hand and a medium beach bag in the other. His green-gray eyes flashed with anger then it quickly disappeared and was replaced with humor. He chuckled at my scared expression.

"Shh... Your going to wake up the whole house." He fumbled with the beach bag, "Would you help me?"

"Oh, sorry." I look up from my watch and grab the bag from him. 

"We're going to pass by the gas station to get some drinks to put in this," He lifts up the cooler, "and then you'll drive for a few minutes to practice. What's the time?" 

"Three oh four." I replied while adjusting the strap of the beach bag on my shoulder. 

"Great, let's roll." He unlocked the door and my mom came rushing to the door. 

"Have a safe trip." She kissed my forehead, "Chris, make sure she puts on sunscreen and..." 

"And make sure she puts water on her head and blah blah blah. I get it Carol. She's my daughter too." He huffed at my mom. 

"Fine." She stands up on her toes and kisses my dad's cheek. 

"Gross." I turn my face away. I hear them chuckle at me. 

I hug my mom goodbye and she adjusts my blue sundress and tosses a pair of sunglasses in my bag. I wave to her and my dad and I leave the house.

The road takes a little less than an hour and once we get to an open area, my dad stops on the side and puts the car in park. 

"Get down and get behind the wheel." He unbuckles his seatbelt and opens his door. I stay frozen in my place and I don't dare move. 

"Come on, Ana. Now or Never." He beacons me. 

"Fine." I huff and get out of the car to step behind the wheel. 

"Look," He holds up his phone, "When the clock turns to four o'clock, you'll stop on the side. Capeesh?" 

"Capeesh." I nod. That basically means I have to drive for fifteen minutes. I can do that.

True to his words, once the clock hit four, I was stopped on the side. I received some praise from my dad and we swapped places to continue to the beach. 

At the beach, we laid out two towels and sat back to watch the sun climb the sky while sipping on some iced coffee we got at the gas station. When we were both done, we scrambled down to the ocean and stepped into the cold water. 

My dad insisted I fully dunk myself into the bone chilling water. After a subtle count to three, I was thrusted underwater by my dad who did it before me. 

After our bodies got used to the cold water, we swam in deeper to do some laps. We started out by swimming side by side but then somehow ended up in a full blown race. 

With my fathers long arms, legs, and more agile body, he obviously won. Which prompted him to do a little happy dance in the water. After swimming back to shore, we walked back to our towels while panting like dogs.

"Ana..... Water..." My dad said between each breath. 

"Oh...kay.." I reached over to the other end of my towel to get the cooler. We both greedily chugged down two bottles.