Gianluca Ginoble and I

Chapter 19

Chapter 19

                   I put on my green swimsuit top and put on my jean shorts instead of swimsuit bottoms. I’m a fan of boyshort-styled bottoms, and cute ones are hard to find.

          I put on a cover-up and my flip-flops, and skipped downstairs to meet Gianluca, who had on black swim trunks.

          “Let’s go!” I said, slipping my hand into his and pulling him outside.

          “We’re going to the beach!” Gianluca called to our parents.

          Ignazio was walking down the pathway to his house in the distance.

          “Hey!” he called, “Where you guys going!?”

          “To the beach!” I called back. “Want to come!?”

          “Sure! Can we bring Piero so I’m not a third wheel?”

          I laughed.

          “Yes, Ignazio!”

          I tugged on Gianluca’s hand.

          “Let’s go get him.”

          We went into Piero’s house and found him stretched out on the couch, his Beats headphones over his ears, staring at the ceiling.

          I crept up to him and took off the headphones.

          He jumped, and then smiled up at me.

          “Hey, Naomi.”

          “I can see that you’re having a party in here by yourself, but I wanted to ask you to come with us to the beach.”

          He laughed and nodded.

          “Okay, I’m coming.”

          He and Ignazio went to change, and then we left, going on foot.

          “So what do we do first?” Gianluca asked me when we got there.

          I pulled off my cover-up and tossed it on the sand, running off to the water.

          I ran through it and it sprayed up all around me, and I kept running and eventually started swimming until the water was up to my chest.

          Fish brushed against me, and I bobbed down to get my hair wet.

          I stood there blissfully, feeling the cool waters swirl around me and the breeze on my face. I cupped my hands in the water and splashed it over my face, smiling.

          There was just something about being here…in the water, out in nature. There’s something about the power of the world around me, as if it knows about me and has decided to allow me to stand here for a while, unharmed.

          I moved my toes around in the sand on the bottom and shielded my eyes to look up at the clouds.

          There was a splashing behind me, and after a moment Gianluca was beside me, watching me happily take in my surroundings.

          I turned and started to walk slowly through the water to the beach. Having experienced the water, I wanted to get into the sand.

          Gianluca quietly followed me, letting me explore.

          I reached the part of the beach where the water reaches the sand. I stood there, closing my eyes, feeling the water rush over and then away from my feet, almost pulling me back out to sea with it.