“This. Is. AMAZING!”, I shrieked, while opening the door o my room. I shrieked again, dropped my suitcase and ran to the end of the room. I plopped down on the windowbed and drew the curtains. I gasped and clasped my hands over my mouth. It was directly facing the beach!
My mom stood by the door and smiled. “How d’ya like it hon?”
“I love it”, I said, still looking at the beach.
My mom walked to me and hugged my shoulders. “Things will change now. Trust me”.
I held her arms, smiled and looked out the window.
I wished I could believe her.
“Nicole, why don’t you go walk by the beach while I do the kitchen?”, she said.
“What about the rest of the unpacking?”
“We’ll do it later silly. Now go, it’s going to be sunset and lovely”.
“You sure?”
“Yes grandma. I’ll be alright.”, she said mockingly.
I laughed. “Okay then. I’ll be back soon.”
“You know the way home right?”
Now it was my time to smirk.
“Mom. We live opposite the beach!”
“Cabin Number Three. Remember.”
I nodded and closed the door.
“Be safe!”, I could hear her yell.
Oh dear. Mothers.
I stood in the cold waters as the ripples kept hitting my ankle. I was lost in the beauty of the location, when I heard a whimper.
I turned around. There was nothing. I shrugged and looked back at the ocean.
Another whimper.
I turned around to see nothing. I tiptoed silently towards the sound to see myself facing a large rock. I took a breath and walked slightly around it.
Still nothing.
I walked another step and widened my eyes. It was me who yelped instead. Why?
Well here’s why.
It was a puppy!
I knelt down and held my hand out gently. He sniffed it, with his tail down and after a minute, he began to wag it vigourously and lick my fingers. I giggled. The puppy looked at me and I looked at him. I held him in my hands and touched my forehead to his. He licked my nose.
“Ew! Doggy!”, I said, realizing how kiddish I sounded.
I looked at him sternly, pretending to inspect him. “You need a name mister”, I said.
“What about…Sammy?”
Nah.
“What about Leonardo?”
Too long.
“What about…Mario?”
Nope.
I groaned. “This is harder than I thought it would be”, I said, patting the dog’s head gingerly. I rested my head delicately on his frail stomach.
“I wish I had some hot cocoa with me now”, some guy said.
I lifted my head almost simultaneously , snapped my fingers and yelled, "THAT'S IT!"
The puppy seemed to freak out a bit because his tail stopped wagging. I figured I was a little too loud when the guy turned around and looked at me.
Without taking or giving a proper look to that guy, I held the dog high, looked at him and said, "Your name. It's Coco." The dog blinked while the guy laughed. Not the reactions I was expecting. It was supposed to be the other way around.
"Uh...did I just help name your dog?", he said.
I looked up at him and blinked, taking a deeper look at him. I nodded, before he could realize I was nervous.
He smiled and sat down next to me on the rock. He let Coco sniff his hand and before I knew it, Coco was jumping on to him. He laughed.
"Your dog's pretty cool", he said, stroking him on the back. I looked at Coco and took a breath.
He's just a guy. Calm down.
"He's not actually my dog", I said calmly.
The guy looked at me. "Really?"
"Yeah. I found him here. Thought I'd give him some love.", I said, rubbing my hand to my other arm. I could feel him smile.
"So...what's your name?", he asked, running his hand through his messy brown hair.
"Coco", I said blindly.
He laughed.
"Not the dogs'. I was talking about yours'", he said.
I blushed and laughed silently.
"I'm Nicole. Nicole Evans.", I said. I turned around and faced his green eyes.
"What's yours?", I asked.
"Tommy", he said.
"Oh"
After a minutes silence, he burst out laughing and nudged me.
"Tommy's my dog's name. I'm Austin. Austin Tanner."
He started laughing again and I joined him. After a couple of minutes, we were just staring at the sunset.
"So...I'm guessing you're new here?"
I nodded. "Yeah. We moved here today."
"So I guess you haven't been around in town..."
I shook my head.
"Well tomorrow is a Friday...maybe I could show you around after school?"
I smiled. "That'd be amazing. Thanks."
He cracked a smile. "Perfect. Meet me here tomorrow at five. 'kay?"
I nodded.
He got up to leave. "Imma get going then. See you around Nicole!", he waved.
"Bye Austin!", I waved back.
I watched him leave until he was out of sight. I sighed and looked at Coco. He was fast asleep. I stroked his head and smiled.
Maybe she was right.
Maybe things were going to change.
-----
Nope. It's not over yet. This is just the beginning :)
