Chap 24: Water Is Not A Toy

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Today is the last day in Los Angeles before I leave for New York. I still haven't built up the courage yet to tell them, but I have to eventually. And today should be that day. They might feel pissed since it's already so late, but somewhere inside I know they'll accept it and be proud.

I head downstairs with a bag filled with things I need for the beach. Jack and Daniel wanted to spend their last day before tour going to the beach. Personally, I hate the beach more than I hate sports. And I hate SPORTS. The beach is like a combination of all the things I hate all in one place, meeting people, the horrendous heat wave, water touching my skin, and sand getting into my shoe. But I really don't want to complain today. I should just enjoy the last few moments with them.

"Ready," I tell Jonah and Corbyn. I take a small glimpse around noticing that the house is empty. They must be all in the car already. "Where is everyone?" I ask.

"In the car," Corbyn replies. I was right. "We should get going too, I don't wanna show up there with it being pack.

The ride took about thirty minutes, and once we have arrived, I take a step out of the car onto the sandy sidewalk. Even though I was in sandals, I still feel unsatisfied. Jonah told Daniel and me to go search for a spot while the rest of them loaded out the trunk. "How about here?" I say.

"But we're only like ten feet away from the parking lot," Daniel says.

"Your point?"

He scoffs, jerking his head signaling me to move on forward. I sigh, following Daniel closer to the ocean. "Is this good enough for you?"

My toenails are stuffed with sand, and my hands burn from carrying the chairs and bags. I drop the bags, putting my hands on my head. At this point, I don't even care that the ocean is about a basketball court length away from me or the screaming kids neighboring our area. "Yeah." I help him open a few chairs while he set the blankets on the floor. Once everything was finished, I take a seat, plugging in my earbuds. It was so noisy here, I had to blast it full volume. I ended up falling asleep without even realizing until someone shook me awake.

"Kristen, Kristen, Kristen," the voice gets louder and louder each time it says my name.

My eyes hastily open, "Ah," I react to meeting with the sun again by covering my eyes. "Why is it so bright?" I curl myself into a small ball as I hid my face in between my legs.

"Did you have a nice nap?" Zach asks.

"I did."

He laughs, "Let's go for a swim."

"No thanks. I never learned," I say with my head still down.

"It's never too late to learn."

"It's fine, I'll just move to a desert when I grow up." Right when my sentence ends, I feel my body being lifted up from the chair. I reopen my eyes, seeing that I was in his arms and he was running towards the water. "Oh my gosh, Zach, stop. I will hurt you." I threaten but I still resulted in getting wet. I sat in the sand just in time for the waves to splash me once more. I wipe my eyes and dusted off any sand on my face. The sad news was I wasn't wearing a bathing suit under my white t-shirt or shorts so I was soaking wet from head to toe.

"See, wasn't that fun?" Zach chuckles, sitting down next to me. A frown plastered my face as I throw a handful of sand at him.

"No! Water is made for drinking and bathing. It shouldn't be used as a toy!" I complain, completely forgetting about what I said before leaving the house. To not complain. In came another wave. I spit, scooting back a few feet. How did they convince me into going again?

He stares at me for what seems like hours, tucking a strand of wet hair behind my hair. His smile is so addicting and appealing. Soon I notice him leaning closer, but I stopped it before anything could happen. As much as I wanted this to happen, it couldn't. Not with this many people watching, especially with Corbyn and Jack just a few feet away. Zach looks at me confusedly, then out to see his friends. "Oh," he mumbles, "Wanna hit the water again?"

"Oh, hell no. Get away from me." I stick a hand out, getting up from the floor. I walk back to the area where all the chairs and food are. The cooler was left open from one of the boys, so I went over and grabbed a soda while I was at it and shut the top close. I hang out at the same spot for what felt forever until they finally wanted to leave or when my clothes decide to dry.

Traffic tends to be more chaotic at night so in an estimate, it took about an hour to get back home. I head straight to my room, taking a long shower to get the sand and salt off my body and into some clean clothes. I hop underneath the covers, glaring at the packed luggage near the door. Tomorrow is gonna be a big day. And that's when it hits me, I forgot to tell them about New York.

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