beside you • c.h

one

I woke up in the morning with a slight headache. Definetly hungover. It was about 9am when I finally crawled off of my queen sized bed and took some pain medication. Walking into the bathroom, I looked in the mirror and saw that my black hair was in a braided mess and my eyeliner from yesterday was smudged under my eyes.

Sighing, I looked around my bathroom for my make up wipes. Although they burned my eyes, they smelled good and got rid of yesterday's regrets.

It was a typical day in Sydney. Hot and sunny. I looked at my face again in the mirror as I started brushing out my hair. It was a matted ball, but I finally got it all untangled as my mum knocked on my bedroom door.

"Hey hun. That one boy is here." She chimed as she walked towards the open bathroom door.

"Which boy?" I questioned her, rebraiding my hair. I looked and standing there was one of my only guy friends.

"Oh, that boy." I said jokingly. He was wearing swim trunks and an old tshirt from school. He smirked and left the room.

"Yes, that boy. What's his name, uh, Lucas?" She asked concerned. I laughed.

"Luke, Mum. His name is Luke." I responded whilst looking for my bathing suit in a pile of clothes. I've known Luke since we were about five years old and he's one of the longest friendships I've ever had.

Once I had found my bathing suit and my wet suit top, I shooed my Mom out of my room so I could change. Luke decided last minute to take me to the beach before our last date of freedom was over. The news said the surf was going to be good and it was going to be nice and sunny so I figured what the hell. Let's get some sun.

I grabbed my sunglasses, phone, a towel and my surf board. I ran out of the house and I could instantly feel the heat on the bare skin of my exposed legs.

"Damn look at those legs, Tay!" Luke taunted as I put my board on the roof of his car and I shot him the middle finger before I heard the front door open.

"Alright. I expect you to be home before 7. I want to see you before I leave for my business trip and before the first day of year twelve." I nodded and climbed into Luke's Jeep before he left without me. I waved to my mom as we left the driveway and headed towards the beach.

Once we arrived, I could smell the salt in the air. The air was hotter than it was outside of my house and  for once, the beach wasn't crowded. Which was actually pretty abnormal for the last day we have of freedom before returning to that thing they call school.

"Come on, surf, child." I yelled towards Luke as he was setting up our little area. He looked at me with an eyebrow raised and a smirk on his lips.

"Come on, Lucas! By time you get in the water, the surf will be gone and it'll have been a day wasted on doing nothing." I shouted over my shoulder as I ran into the waves and laid myself on my board. I saw a wave forming infront of me.

The height of the wave grew as it got closer. I kept paddling and quickly turned as I stood on my board to ride my first wave of the day. I stood maintaining my balance as the wave carried me to the shoreline. I hopped off the board in an attempt to catch my breath, which didn't work. I found myself, floating in the water with my board next to me.

"Hey, you alright?" Luke asked, pulling my body back onto land so I didn't drown.

"Yeah. The wave must have knocked me off my board." I responded. I attempted to stand but ended up falling back on my ass. I looked up at Luke, who took my hands and gently pulled me to my feet.

He held onto me until we got back to the towels and I sat down. He made sure to not just drop me on the towel and that I was able to sit without injuring myself.  After sitting for a while, I looked at my phone to check the time. It was only 3pm and the waves had gotten a little bigger. Luke caught some while I sat and caught my breath from a few hours ago.

"We should probably get you home. Don't want you to miss saying goodbye to your mum before she leaves for her trip." Luke spoke, standing up. He stuck his hands out and pulled me to my feet. We grabbed our stuff and headed towards Luke's car.

It took about twenty minutes for us to get back to my house, where my mum stood in the drive way packing her car for her trip she was leaving for in a few hours. Luke pulled up to the curb and parked the car.

"Well, here we are." He said, unlocking the doors. I smiled and hopped out. Before I left Luke, I looked at him he looked back at me with the same blue eyes that I'd known for the longest time.

"Thanks for the ride. And for saving my ass." I said, smirking while grabbing my bag and my board from the car. Luke nodded and once I closed the door, he slowly drove away.

I walked into the house and sighed, I didn't want summer to end. I kind of wanted it to stay exactly where it was. I despised school and didn't care one way or the other about it. My mum on the other hand, wanted what was best for me. She was a single mother with a teenage daughter. She wanted me to be my own person, but to also get an education. Which to a lot of people, was very important.

"Okay, so here's some money for two weeks. Don't blow it all on a party. Please, no party at all. Luke can come over as well as Cassandra, Lauren, Ashton, and Michael. Those two girls can't live without those boys, I swear. But no other boys in the house when I get home. Alright?" My mom asked. She persisted that I have fun, but she didn't condone partying and she sure as hell didn't condone coming home from a trip with boys over. Even though she's known Luke, Ashton and Michael for more than a year.

"Alright Mum. I know the rules. Have a safe trip and text me when you get there. Love you!" I spoke, hugging my Mom as she walked out the door. I watched as she got in the car and drove off.

I closed the door and sighed as I walked up to my room to shower and change in hopes for a good start for tomorrow.