『 the sound of you and i 』 ➤ the first "sounds" book

❁ Ⅲ ｐ．２ ∞ 𝚝𝚎𝚊𝚕 ❁

Parker, Chase, Harley, Josh and I all fit into Chase's car. Chase is obviously driving, he hates anyone else driving his car. Josh sits in the front. I'm in the middle of Harley and Parker because it turns out I'm the skinniest.

We're going to the nearest beach. I thought it was maybe Parker and I alone after school but it turns out she'd been invited by them and had been asked to invite me, too. She decided to leave out the details of the others coming, too. Smart.

Sandhead beach is about an hour away. We're okay with that though because tomorrow we all have a free first period. I'm honestly excited.

Harley has his head on my shoulder and a hand on my leg. He'd fallen asleep within the first ten minutes of us being in the car. He looks pretty cute.

Parker has her hand on my other leg, a bright smile on her face as she converses with Chase and Josh. They can't stop complimenting her, especially her outfit.

We're all wearing beachy outfits and I kind of love it. I don't love looking a bit more feminine than usual but I'm comfortable around these guys. The only person I'm not out to is Parker. I kind of hate that but it's okay.

Chase and Josh are wearing  shorts and hawaiian shirts. Cliche but cute. They're got their shirts open and I swear Josh can't stop looking at Chase's six pack.

Harley's wearing some swimming trunks and a black vest and he's got these adorable sunglasses on but he's pushed them up on his head, they've pushed a bunch of his hair up along with it, he looks like a dork.

Parker's got this red sheer top over a white and red striped bikini top and denim shorts. I think she has her bikini bottoms on under them. Her hair is up in a high ponytail and it looks weird because her hair only goes to her shoulders. She looks really pretty, though.

I'm wearing a baggy white shirt with my white binder underneath and some black shorts on. I've put my hair up into a ponytail too though I'm mad because I can still feel it hitting against my back. It does go past my waist, after all. Ew, ew, ew.

We do all look really summery though which is strange because it's only spring. It gets really warm here in the proper summer so we always use spring as our summer. Summer is our inside season.

~

"Are we there yet?"

God damn it, Josh. Of course. We're still about twenty minutes away. Harley is still sleeping on me and Parker is tracing shapes on my leg as she looks out the window. We've been reasonably quiet apart from Parker, Chase and Josh all bursting out in song about ten minutes ago.

"No," Chase mumbles. "We've still got about twenty minutes to go."

"Ugh, I don't remember this beach being so far away."

"We haven't been here in about a year."

"Really?" Parker chimes in. "Why?"

"It wasn't that warm last spring." Josh perks up at more conversation. "Summer was too warm."

"I get that."

Chase laughs. "It was weird."

 I laugh a little too. Mainly over remembering fond memories. 

~

See, we had another friend. Alex. She was really pretty and really nice and I guess we kind of dated for a bit at one point. She was around for a few years but she ended up moving last year in Autumn. We dated last spring and summer. Our breakup was mutual, she was moving and we both didn't want to do long-distance. She actually lives near Sandhead.

She was so smart, smarter than all of us. Even the twins, and the twins are geniuses. She was so arty, she was the perfect girl, I guess. Parker reminds me a lot of her. Maybe that's why I like her so much.  I wonder if I remind her of someone too.

~

We finally arrive at Sandhead and I look to Harley, he's still sleeping. He looks so peaceful and I don't want to wake him up. Josh saves me doing it.

"HARLEY, WE'RE HERE!!" He screams.

I swear Harley yells as he wakes up. He jumps and I laugh and so does Chase. Parker just shakes her head and escapes the car, stretching her arms up. I follow after her and watch her.

"Hey," she mumbles, winking at me. "Do I look okay?"

"Okay? You look amazing." I squeak. That came out weird.

Parker looks taken aback but she laughs. "Thanks, babes."

The nickname sends shivers up my spine. I start walking to the beach to distract myself. Harley runs after me after grabbing our bag. We put our stuff in the same bag to save space.

"We should get the best spot," he whispers to me, looking behind us to Parker, Chase and Josh who are dragging things out of the car.

I nod with a devilish grin and start running. Harley laughs and runs after me. We burst out onto the beach in laughs and we get some glances from people, some nice and some not.

We realise how busy the beach actually is. It's massive, but that's why everyone loves it. It's just like a tropical beach, or something. Everyone else always has the same idea as us. It's super annoying.

Harley and I set up on a bit of the beach that's kind of abandoned. Not far from where we parked. It's really nice. We put down our towels and I lay down on mine as Harley sets up the parasol. I shut my eyes and breath in the beachy air. grin as I feel a body next to me and I open my eyes, looking next to me to see the hazel eyes that belonged to Harley. He's lying on his stomach and he laughs a little. He leans his head against mine and I sigh happily, letting my eyes close again as he lies down on his back.

I barely notice the others come over even though they're deep in conversation and are so loud because I'm so peaceful. I don't think Harley stirs either. I open my eyes when I hear a humming closer to me and I watch Parker set her towel down next to mine. She lies down too and grins at me before looking over the beach.

"This place is really pretty."

"I know."

That's all we manage to get out because I suddenly hear my birth name yelled. I look to the others who are looking over somewhere in awe. I send them a confused look before looking to Harley who's now sitting up and staring in the same direction, although his expression is more sour.

I follow their gaze and my breath gets caught in my throat.

Running towards us, her ombre, silky hair flowing in the wind, is Alex.