"True love comes silently, Without banners or flashing lights. If you hear bells, get your ears checked."
–Erich Segal
——
PARKER ADDRESSED STACEY with raised eyebrows as she stepped out of her house an hour and a half later. He had accompanied her to her house and had waited for her to get ready for the start of their adventure.
But now that she was out, he couldn't help but ask, "Long sleeves in summer?"
"Haven't you heard about mosquitoes?" She countered, carefully descending the two steps that led to the front door. "Do you think I want to die of malaria?"
Parker laughed, shaking his head. "There aren't any mosquitoes in Brighton Bay, Stacey."
"Well, that's what you think."
"Okay, what's with the helmet, then?" He asked, pushing himself off the fence as she approached him.
"For safety, of course," She said, and gave helmet on her head a soft pat. "This is going to protect me if a hailstorm ever happened. I'm not going to die getting hammered by hail,"
Parker tilted his head to look at her as they began walking side by side when they stepped onto the sidewalk. "Are you always like this?" He asked. He didn't sound like he was judging her, he was just curious.
"What do you mean?"
"I mean, you're so scared that something is going to happen to you," he explained. "You think everything's going to kill you."
"I'm not scared," she snapped, the wind blowing her bright hair back from beneath her helmet. "I'm just cautious,"
"Yeah, more like extremely cautious," Parker rolled his eyes. "Tell me, what's the deal?"
"There is no deal," she scowled, looking away.
"Come on," Parker nudged her in the side with his elbow. "I can see it in your eyes that there's something you're not telling me, Stace,"
"I barely know you, Parker," she pointed out.
"But you know my name," he grinned. "That's something, right?"
Stacey shot him a look. "Fine, fine," he said. "How about I tell you something about myself and you'll tell me why you're paranoid,"
"It's not paranoia," Stacey corrected. "But yeah, go ahead."
"Okay," Parker began, leading her down the dirt road that led to the beach. "I think I don't have many friends because a lot of people tend to think that I'm too perky for their liking. I'm too oblivious, I talk too much and smile too much too,"
Stacey tilted her head so she could look up at him. He was wearing a small frown now and she wished she knew what to say to ease the crease between his dark eyebrows.
"The people that don't like you because of they think you smile too much are just plain jealous," She said and he arched an eyebrow, looking at her. "I think your smile is beautiful."
"Beautiful? You're making me seem like a girl," Parker laughed, the wonderful sound filling Stacey's ears. "There are a thousand and one manly adjectives you could have used to describe the glorious nature of my smile,"
"Oh yeah?" Stacey challenged, smiling at the fact that he wasn't frowning anymore.
"Yeah," Parker nodded. "Adjectives like gorgeous, breathtaking, sexy,"
"Shut up," Stacey punched his arm, unable to stifle the laugh that escaped her mouth.
They had arrived at the beach now and Stacey took a deep breath, the salty air filling her lungs. It wasn't as bare as it had been before. Now, surfers were riding the waves on their surfboards, kids were making sandcastles and others were lounging on the sand, soaking up the sunshine.
