cotton candy stitches

june 15, 2018

I stare out towards the crashing waves, the salty yet comforting air blowing past me. The sound of warm slapping against the wooden pier somewhat calms me. Although I'm by myself, I don't mind it.

Evan went on an emergency road trip to go help out his grandmother. She's getting higher up there in the years. Which is, don't get me wrong, super sweet, but I miss him, you know? But family matters most.

Suddenly, I feel someone brush up against me. And if I know well enough, it's most definitely Zach.

I turn around, immediately giving him a glare.

"What do you want?" I scowl, backing up on the pier. He rests his hands on my shoulders, which I try to shove off, but's it's no use. He's too strong.

Zach smirks as he takes a step closer to me. "You wanna get wet?" he whispers huskily. My eyes widen and I can't help but let my cheeks flush.

"U-Uh... What?" I mumble, looking up into his beautiful brown eyes... I mean horrible and gross brown eyes!

All of a sudden, he shoves me off the pier. Everything starts to move in slow-motion as if it were a dramatic movie. Somehow, I manage to grip onto Zach's shirt and send him falling with me. His eyes widen in complete surprise and panic.

The cold water envelopes us as I push him off of me. I manage to swim over to the shore with all of my might. Out of breath, I collapse onto the warm sand. I don't care that it's getting everywhere; I can barely even get up.

I hear Zach panting heavily as he walks past me.

"Hmm..?" I hum as someone picks me up. Realizing what's happening, I start to flail and panic and scream.

"Jesus Christ. Stop it, Marla." It's Zach. Just to make it harder for him, I go limp and put all of my weight onto him. Zach just chuckles.

He sets me down onto the dry sand before walking off towards his friends. I groan, pushing myself up. Zach pushes me back down again.

"You're gonna get sick. Just stay, will you, Marla?" Zach drapes a towel around me before sitting down next to me. Why does he care if I get sick? Before I know it, his shirt is off and all I can do is look away and blush profusely. Like his stomach is unbelievably toned and he has abs.

I tug on the towel so that it covers my chest. My blouse is practically see-through at this point.

"What? You don't like what you see?" Zach teases. I shake my head wildly as he chuckles softly. He turns my head towards him.

Unconsciously, I lean in towards him as he places his hand on my cheek.

Quickly, I shake my head. "Stop," I whisper. Zach backs off, confused. He leans back on his hands, letting the towel fall off of his strong shoulders.

"Why?" he asks softly.

I take a deep breath, mustering up everything I had wanted to tell him before. "I hated you so fucking much. You ruined my life, Zach. I can't feel vulnerable like that, ever again. I'll feel... s-stupid." My voice cracks on the last word.

"I already feel like an idiot telling you this," I mumble, so low that I can barely hear it myself. I struggle not to cry, but that's always the toughest battle.

"Hey..." Zach tilts my head back towards him. His brown eyes glimmer in the soft glow of the bonfire, and his pink lips just draw my attention to them so easily. He takes a deep breath.

"I... The reason why I did what I did to you was that..." his voice trails off. My eyebrows knit in confusion.

"What?" I push.

I let the towel fall off of me. Although my blouse is soaked through and he can definitely see my bra, I could care less. I need to know why. His eyes flicker down to my chest for a second before falling to his hands.

"I... Fuck... I liked you a lot, one of the best crushes of my whole life. But everyone told me you were a lost cause. And I hoped that if I said things to you that ruined your image for me, the crush would fade away..." Zach's voice trails off to the crackle of the fire.

"Well, did it?" I whisper, placing my hand on top of his. He leans into me. I feel his warm minty breath against my face as he places his hand on my cheek.

"Never."

Zach's lips brush up against mine, but softly and not as rough as I thought he'd be. I let my body intertwine with him as he gently pulls me closer to him. He kisses me sweetly before pulling away.

Zach gives me a soft smile, stroking my hand gingerly.

My eyes widen.

"What?" Zach asks, worry crossing his face.

"I can't believe... Shit. Not you." I scramble away from him. "I'm sorry, Zach." I quickly stumble away from him.

"Marla! Wait!" Zach tries to make a grab for my wrist. I escape him around a corner.

"Ugh. Fuck!" he shouts.

I let the tears spill out of my eyes.

My first kiss was wasted with him. But I fucking liked it. I'm so stupid.