accidental | levi miller

II

Forelsket
(n.)
• the euphoria you experience when you are first falling in love.
———
I huff as I rub my forehead in frustration, staring at my phone when the fifth call goes to voicemail. I perch my sunglasses on the top of my head and take a deep breath to recollect myself as I walk up to the café across Broadwater beach. I put on a polite smile, approaching a couple walking out the door.

"Hi! So sorry to bother you but I'm kind of lost. I'm trying to get to this hotel—" I show them, pausing to look up at the couple as they nod to signal me they're listening and look down at the picture on my phone. "By any chance do you guys know how far away it is from here?" I ask, finishing the sentence with an anxious laugh.

The lady purses her lips and looks up, around the beach, and back to the map. She glances back at me and smiles apologetically, placing her hand on my shoulder.

"I'm so sorry, I have no idea. We're from Adelaide so we have zero clue where everything is." The man says, taking a bright silver pen from his pocket to jot something down. "Here—maybe they have an idea they're a local hotel." I take the paper from his hand and nod, turning my phone off.

"Sorry we couldn't be much help, we hope you find your way back soon." The woman says guiltily.

"No, no it's totally fine. Thank you for trying, though I really apreciate it!" I say, flashing a warm smile at them. The pair waves goodbye and walk away as I watch them cross the street to the beach and sigh.

"Hey, you said you needed help getting somewhere?" I hear a voice call out. I snap out of my trance and look around as my eyes land on a boy I instantly recognized.

"Levi? You have no idea how glad I am to see you." I say in relief, pulling him into a hug when he extends his arms out for one.

"How'd a pretty girl like you get lost in a place like Pemberton?" Levi asks.

"Well I've asked for directions but no one seems to know where our hotel is. I tried calling some of the crew but no one picks up the ph—" I stop rambling, realizing what he'd said. I pull my face away to look at him, feeling it turn light red. I dismiss it kindly as I tuck a loose strand of hair behind my ear and pull back from the hug.

"I—I'm sorry it just feels like we've met like this before. That's probably r—really weird sorry." He lets out a nervous laugh and fixes his hair with his left hand. I laugh along and shake my head, putting my phone away.

"No, no it's not crazy I was thinking the same thing, actually. But we've seen eachother around set so that's probably..." I trail off, my eyes looking up to meet his.

"It feels like it was way before that," he says, more to himself than me. "Anyways, I'd be happy to show you back to the hotel. I was on my way to this local ice cream parlor down the street, I'd love to show it to you." He says, a hopeful smile plastered on his face. I nod and follow him as he leads me to the parlor, grinning as we approach a small storefront. I tilt my head to look at the hand painted sign as Levi opens the door. I mock curtsy and walk in as trails behind me, laughing.

"Woah, this place is so cool." I breathe out, turning in a circle to look at my surroundings. Surfboards line the walls, and the ocean breeze fills the air with a crisp, salty smell as it blows through the white curtains.

"Guess you're a regular here, huh?" I say, pointing out a picture of Levi with the parlor's owner above the ice cream samples. He turns to me and smiles sheepishly, grabbing my wrist as he leads me to the menu. I order and start taking my wallet out as the employee hands me the ice cream.

"Oh—don't worry I got it." Levi pipes up, handing the money to the cashier. I smile gratefully at him and put my wallet away.

He links his arm with mine arm and guides me out of the parlor to the beach. We take our shoes off and start walking along the shore, the sand sinking under our feet as we start eating our ice cream.

"You're American, right?" He asks during the ongoing conversation. I shoot him a 'that's-pretty-obvious' look and grin as he bursts into laughter. "Only joking, what state are you from?" He asks.

"California, I've been there for as long as I can remember." I say, taking a bite out of the waffle cone as the water rushes up to our ankles. "Are you from Pemberton?"

Shaking his head, he swings his shoes slightly on his right hand. "Born and raised in Brisbane, though I never get to go back as often as I'd like." I nod and frown slightly, biting the cone again. "Is Rachel your actual aunt?" He asks.

"We're not related, she's my mom's best friend. They studied film together in LA and they're so close I just grew up calling her aunt Rachel." I say, shrugging lightly. "Have you always been interested in acting?" His eyes seem to light up with enthusiasm as he nods.

"I've been acting since I was a kid, commercials, plays, stuff like that. It's been such a huge part of my life and it gives me the opportunity to meet amazing people." He looks at me and flashes a warm smile, "have you ever thought about acting?" He asks, looking over at me.

"I think I'm more of a behing the camera person. I'm kind of my aunt's apprentice, I often help her direct scenes but I just mostly work around set and occasionally operate the boom mic, which is totally fun by th—" I let out a sharp gasp as a wave crashes against a rock, drenching the both of us with water. Levi unlinks his arm from mine and grabs my hand tightly, pulling me along as he takes off running. I follow closely behind and cover my head with my arm, looking back when we get to the other side.

"Well that's a first." He grins, brushing back the salt water soaked hair stuck to his face as he turns to me. I laugh and let go of his hand to wring out my hair, following him to a towel cabana near the entrance. I look around as I notice people nearby holding their phone cameras at us. I shrug it off, knowing they were probably taking videos of the beach and grab a towel, passing the other one to Levi. We dry ourselves the best we can and leave the beach, walking along the streets of Pemberton.

- - -

"Well—this is me." I say, stopping in front of the door to my hotel room as we walk to the end of the hall.

"And this is me." Levi stands by the room next to mine, making my jaw drops in surprise as he smiles. "You never noticed?"

"Guess I need to do a better job at paying attention." I remark, earning a light laugh from him. "Thanks for today, I can't remember the last time I had that much fun." He smiles and leans against the wall between our rooms as he reaches into his pocket to grab his key card.

"Me too, we should hang out more often." He reaches for my hand and squeezes it lightly before he lets it go. He walks back and waves, walking into his hotel room. I look down at my hand and notice a folded piece of blue paper as I close the door behind me. I open it and stare at the number scribbled on the paper, noticing a small sentence underneath it.

"Just in case you ever need another ice cream run if you get lost again. —L"

I smile at his cliché actions and press my back against the door, sliding down it to sit on the floor.

And little did I know he did the exact same thing the minute he closed his door.