The Time of Your Life || c.b

Nineteen

Dinner and a movie sped by quickly. Colby and I smiled a lot through our McDonald's date, throwing McNuggets at each other and sipping from our milkshakes. I couldn't help but to think that maybe Colby was the guy for me. I knew it was too soon to be thinking it, but as I sat there beside the blue-eyed adventurer, our stomachs full of fast food and our pockets emptied of cash, everything felt right. Nothing was wrong about my smile or the way my intestines twisted whenever I heard him say my name.

We sat in silence, parked on the street in a neighbourhood I didn't know. I glanced longingly as the newly-21-year-old, praying that maybe he could like me back. As if on cue, Colby turned to me.

"Thanks for doing all this, Agnes. You really mean a lot to me," he said. His pearly teeth shone at me in a genuinely happy grin and my heart fluttered.

"I-I got you a birthday present," I muttered. Mentally, I cursed myself for being unable to reply in an intelligent manner.

Colby didn't speak, but raised his eyebrows and watched as I pulled a small box from my purse. I smiled to myself softly, remembering when I first noticed all of Colby's rings and chains, and remembering how much I wanted one of them to remind him of me.

I handed the small, navy blue box to Colby, and he turned it over carefully. It was as if he was trying to determine the identity of the gift before he opened it. As he slid the lid off the box, my smile grew bigger. His big blue orbs grew wide in interest as they set themselves upon the jewellry inside.

He first pulled out a silver ring about half a centimetre (a little smaller than 1/4 inch) thick. He turned it over in his hands delicately and I could hear the small ting from it hitting the other rings on his fingers. On it, all around the band, were little roses, engraved in the metal and darkened by some sort of stain. I had chosen to engrave roses because I liked roses, and because, for some reason, I knew Colby liked them too. He slipped it onto his left middle finger. "This is freaking awesome," he whispered to himself.

Sensing there was something else in the box too, Colby pulled out a matching silver chain. It was plain, but I knew he liked that sort of thing. He placed it back into the box after examining it with a small and entranced glint in his eyes. He turned to me again. "You're an amazing friend, Aggy."

Friend. The dreaded f-word that we all know means we didn't make the cut. The word I used to break up with my middle-school boyfriend, Caleb. The word we use to describe a non-romantic relationship. I should have been elated that he liked my gift, in gratitude that he called me an amazing friend, but the word acted like RAID to the butterflies fluttering in my stomach, and suddenly they were all dead and sinking to the bottom.

I fought back my feelings though, and offered Colby a gracious smile. "Thank you, Colbs. I'm really glad you like them," I replied. I was, really.

"Like them? Those are insane, Aggy! How much did that even cost you? I didn't deserve that." I smiled internally. What the boy didn't know was that he did deserve it. He really, really did. Without even knowing it, Colby had given me a best friend, someone who looked after me, and someone to lean on even after all the terrible things we had said to each other. I saved all that sappy stuff for another time, though, and just smiled.

I didn't want to go back home. Spending time with Colby felt thrilling, like a roller-coaster or a water slide. I felt at home but I also felt like I never knew what would happen next, probably because I didn't. I knew I had lots of time with him, I was living with him, for God's sake, but for some reason, I was afraid to reach the end of the night. As if the end of tonight would mean the end of the miniscule chance I had with Colby.

Inevitably, the night did come to an end. We arrived back in the front drive of the mansion at about quarter past eleven at night. My cheeks were sore from smiling so much and my eyes shone in a way they only did when I got to spend time with Colby. My feelings had grown stronger than I liked to admit to myself that night, stronger than I thought I could handle. I could feel that this was not going to just be a crush. I was falling for the guy, somehow.

-----

I had the house to myself for the day, for the first time ever. I could do whatever I wanted, film wherever I wanted. And yet, my decision was to go out on my own. A beach day, to be exact. I dressed in a simple black bikini and pulled a white fishnet oversized t-shirt over top. I slipped on a basic pair of black flip-flops. Since this was LA and it was at least 95 degrees out ( A/N- yikes sorry guys i dont know anything about temperature in fahrenheit i think that's hot? ), I packed a big bag with my towel, some fruit that I found in the fridge, a few bottles of water, and some sunscreen.

I spent my drive to the beach listening to loud alternative rock and tapping my fingers against the steering wheel in melody with the beat. Once I arrived, I looked around happily. I was truly in my happy place here. The sun shone on my freckled caramel skin and made me feel a sense of relief. No camera, no social media, no screaming vloggers. Just me, the beach, and some cute boys playing beach volleyball in the distance. 

I laid down my towel neatly and used a few nearby rocks to hold it down from the breeze. When I let my bare feet touch the heated sand, all tension and stress left my body, and I took a deep breath. I decided to do some yoga on the beach, to let everything that I had built up, just tumble away into freedom.

Yoga made me feel like existence was an illusion, in a good way. I felt as if I was just another little piece in the world, another little carbon atom in a world of diamonds. Every breath I took refreshed my thoughts and gave me a new sense of happiness. No worry about balance, no worry about if I could stretch far enough–

"'Scuse me, do you think my shorts look cool?" a sharp voice cut my thoughts off, causing me to fall from my position and into the sand.

"Bailey, you scared her! You can't just do that to someone when they're in their on world!" another sharp voice, a higher, girlier one, shout-whispered. "Sorry, are you okay?"

I looked up to find two young people, probably about my age. One was a somewhat-below-average-height boy with curly brown hair and yellow-brown eyes. A few freckles littered his pale face. I took him to be the one who asked me about the shorts, as he was clad in a pair of bright pink shorts with seahorse shapes on them in blue. I snorted a little at the sight. They were kinda cool.

The other, a really tall girl with baby blue hair and flawless pale skin. Her eyes matched the boy's. She had a small and nice smile on her face, like she felt bad that I fell.

I smiled at the two. "Yeah, I'm good, thanks. And yes, your shorts are awesome dude," I pointed out with a laugh.

"Are you from here? We come here every day and I've never seen you before," the girl asked me, squinting her eyes at me to block the sun from her view.

I nodded, explaining that I didn't come to the beach often, and that I hadn't really lived here for long. She listened intently, nodding when appropriate. Suddenly, the boy spoke up.

"I'm Bailey, this is my sister Harley. And you are...?" he asked.

I laughed. "Aggy," I replied.

"Well, Aggy, looks like you've made two new friends! Wanna go get some ice cream and pretend we've known each other our whole lives?" Harley asked with a smirk on her lips and a sarcastic slur on her tongue.

I nodded. "Let's go, friends."

~

YALLL HELLO!!! we got some new characters up in here woot woot. agh i rlly want cagnes (o god help me w ships) to date but im trying to be slow and annoying about it hahahaha. pay close attention to Harley and Bailey;) they're both going to be very important in this story! and i have a very happy plan for bailey that will be announced next chapter! woo woo time for bed:) im gonna try and update tomorrow night after school too!! loves u all and thank you for 1k+ reads and 50+ votes!

also, i changed my profile a lil cos i like my readers knowing who's reading this ahaha.

-Lee<3