I'm Fine

Chapter 27

Damian pulled me through massive crowds of people, who I constantly stumbled over and had to hold tightly onto Damian's hand to make sure I wasn't going to fall face-first onto the ground. It seemed like forever, but eventually,  we escaped the heat of the throngs and I could breathe in the cold night air. My chest rose and fell, and then I took a glancing sweep of where we had ended up.

"On the beach?" I asked, remincing about the dream I had on the beach with Damian this morning.

"Yeah. Just wait, you'll love it!" he replied, excitement lit up in his eyes.

He gestured for me to follow him, and I did so without another word. The sand trickled into my shoes and when Damian pulled out a blanket and told me to sit down, the first thing I did was pull off my shoes and tip a whole mound of sand out of it. He chuckled and sat down next to me. I had deju vu about this morning and an uneasy feeling fluttered in my stomach.

Despite spending all this time with Damian, all I could think about was how Brody would react if he found out. I tried to escape that thought loop, but without Damian talking, my brain fell into that stupid unease.

"How long are we going to wait for?" I asked, burying my finger in the sand.

"Not much longer," he replied, staring at his watch. "Give it a couple minutes," he continued, returning to look at the stars.

"Okay," I breathed, returning to drawing pictures in the sand.

After maybe two minutes, I'd finally relaxed. I was focused in digging a little hole with my finger and Damian's shoulder was pressed against mine as we waited in the cool night for my surprise. I was about to ask Damian another question, when a whining sound exploded in front of me.

"Wha-" I said, as a colourful burst of fire exploded aginst the inky sky. My eyes widened with awe and pure unbridled amazement.

Not even the slightest exchange of words passed between us as an array of fireworks whistled into the sky and lit it up with neon colours. I could feel the easiness between us slip into a comfortable silence as the display ended. Damian shuffled around on the picnic blanket and I hadn't realized what he was doing until a warm hand wrapped itself around mine. We shared a look and all thoughts of Brody and boredom fell away as the two of our faces leaned in closer.

No one else was anywhere nearby, either at the far end of the beach or watching the fireworks from a different location. So, no one saw the two young teens leaning together on the beach, hot breaths entangling and a swap of a hot and long-awaited for kiss.

"That was—"

"Beautiful."

We grinned at each other in the dark, just able to see one another in the ominous glow of the moon and far off street lights.

I couldn't believe how normal and yet so undeniably thrilled I felt. Damian, my childhood best friend, was sitting right there next to me on the most amazing night of my life, and I think now we were something more than friends.

Damian and I sat there watching the sky, and by the time we had started to pack up, the stars in the night sky had shifted.

"Thank you, Damian." My voice was barely over a whisper, but he still looked up with a wide grin.

"You're welcome," he replied. Together we rolled up the blanket and headed back in the direction of his car. Most of the people from the fair had trickled away in the dark, so only a few stragglers remained and it took us no time at all to reach his car.