Pitch » LH

three

Luke and I walked downstairs and I grabbed by small purse with a few essentials in it. We then headed out the door. I made sure to lock it behind me, knowing that if my parents found out I "forgot" to lock the door, my freedom would totally be taken away from me. Luke opened the passenger door for me and I slipped inside the car. He walked around to the drivers side, got in and put his seat belt on. He began driving out of my neighborhood and for some reason there was a silence. "So, Luke," I paused. "...have you thought about college anymore?"

"Ughh Skylar! We already talked about this, I told you babe, I'm taking the year off from school so we can go to college together next year!" He spoke with a certain sternness to his voice. We have talked about this before, but I hate the idea that he's not going to college yet, because of me.

"I'm sorry, I just thought ..." I paused and thought about what I wanted to say. "...never mind." It's my own fault for bringing college up, I know Luke doesn't like to talk about it. The rest of the car ride was kind of awkward due to my comment but it seemed like Luke had gotten over it pretty quickly.

Note to self: Don't bring up college around Luke.

"So where are we going anyway?" I asked Luke.

"The beach, to watch the sunset."

"Aw, how quirky and adorable, and like completely cliché." I said grabbing his free hand. "You know, for all the years I have lived in Florida, I've never seen the sunset from the beach," I said batting my eye lashes while leaning closer to him. He quickly looked over at me and smiled, I was trying to change the topic and bring up some conversation, and he seemed to be okay with it. I really hoped we could put my earlier comment behind and move on with the rest of our night.

-

We arrived at the beach and there were more people there then usual for a Friday afternoon. But considering it's the first day of summer, I'm not that surprised. The soft sand felt good on my feet but Luke's hand in mine felt even better. We walked down by the water and Luke took me by surprise when he lifted me up and carried me bridal style.

"I've never seen this side of you," I say wrapping my arms around his neck. Luke's not one for PDA but I could get used to this. "Don't stop though, I love it," I paused, before whispering something I thought he couldn't hear, "I love you."

Luke put me down and held both of my hands. He was smiling now, and planted a kiss on my forehead. I had now realized that he heard what I said.

"What's gotten into you lately? You aren't usually like this Luke."

"I've just missed you . . . a lot. You know, we haven't been around each other these past few weeks since I've graduated."

"Okay," I said, "I'm not saying I don't like it, its just different. I'm serious when I say don't stop, I really do love it."

"Don't stop what?" Luke asked raising his eyebrows. A smile now took over his face so I could see all his teeth, but I knew that look all to well, he was gonna try and pull something.

"Acting all cute and shit, like when you picked me up. That's the second time you did that today by the way." I crossed my arms over my chest and spoke with a straight face.

"So you like it when I act all 'cute and shit'?" he asked using air quotes.

"Yes."

"How about we make that three?"

"Ye- I mean wait what?" I yelped, and for the third time that day he had his arms under my legs while I held on to the fabric of his shirt for support, but this time we were headed towards the water.

"Luke!" I screamed. "No no no no no. Please don-" I squealed and pressed my body closer to his so I was as far away from the water as possible. "Don't. I don't wanna get my clothes wet!"

The waves swept up the beach, and its white foam was consuming every last grain of sand in its wake. The salted water crept up on us so that's Luke's feet were completely soaked.

"Fine," he said defeated, "you're lucky I think you're cute." He put me down so I landed in the now damp sand getting the hem of my jeans wet.

The air was beginning to cool because the sun was making its way down the sky nearing the horizon. A pinkish band of color maneuvered its way through the clouds fusing with the blue sky on the opposite side. There was a battle for superiority happening right above us and at the moment it seemed as if the pink was winning.

"I hate you so fucking much right now." I lied. Luke almost got all my clothes wet, even though it was completely inappropriate attire for the beach. It's not like I actually knew where we where going. I cuffed the ends of my jeans and threw my shoes over my shoulder, holding them by the laces.

"No, you love me." Luke corrected poking at my stomach.

I swatted his arm away and in my best Cher voice I replied, "As if!"

We both broke out into laughter. I clenched my stomach and let out a snort which just made us laugh even more. I looked up at Luke while I was still laughing to find his smile begin to fade as he focuses on something behind me. We were parallel to the water so I could see the shoreline that stretched as far out as the lighthouse, and he could see the endless miles of beach that rested behind me.

"Luke?" I placed my hand on his shoulder.

"Fucking hell," He murmured running his hands through his hair.

"What?" I began to turn around confused by his actions, but he twisted me back around before I could even get a glimpse of what he saw.

"Hey how 'bout we, um, start walking back?" he spoke quickly, like he was nervous about something.

"Uh, no. The sun hasn't even finished setting yet." I turned back around.

"No wait-" he begged, but it was to late I already saw what, I mean who, he was so worked up about.

"Skylar," he sighed and grabbed my arm so I would look back at him, "can we just go." He looked desperate, but I really didn't understand why.

"I just wanna say hello" I assured him.

"No we are not, gonna go talk to him."

"And why not, I haven't seen him since," I took a quick glance over my shoulder, "whatever happened between you two." He gave me a stern look.

"I'm just gonna say hello. Okay?"

He rolled his eyes and forcefully turned me back so I was facing in the direction of this person of interest, and pushed me so I took a step forward. Without looking back I began walking before Luke ran back up to my side to accompany me. I knew he wouldn't want me to face him on my own, I am perfectly capable of doing this solo but I don't think Luke could handle it. I saw him kneeling in the sand while waxing his surfboard.

We approached the slightly tanned boy in the skin tight black wetsuit that was covered in sand. His light brown hair was messy and windblown but still damp.

As we got closer to where he was positioned on beach, he finally noticed us walking in his direction. He flashed me a smile but when he saw Luke coming behind me, it was quickly minimized to a grin.

I took another quick glimpse at Luke, he was expressionless. I could tell he was uncomfortable by the way he was distancing himself from us. He avoided making eye contact and his arms were crossed over in front of his chest.

I took a deep breath, not understanding why I was so nervous. I've talked to him before, it will be just like old times, right? I took my last step so I was standing infront of his board looking down on him before speaking.

"Hey Ashton."

Hey everyone! I'm really sorry this last part was kind of awkward but we didn't want to mention Ashton's name until the end of the chapter. Hope you enjoyed! <3 ~Sarah