New Boys

10

We got the bus to our local beach and walked along the pier hand in hand. The smells of the sea and fish and chips blew me away. The sudden gusts of wind hit my face but it felt fresh. The sun hit the sea causing it to sparkle and the reflections shone onto Max's face, making him glow and his smile appeared brighter. It looked real. The beach wasn't completely busy because it was heading into autumn now, but groups of families passed us every now and then. We bought doughnuts and sat over the edge of the pier, watching the waves crash onto the shore, watching the little kids scream every time they came close to the water. "There's no one else I'd want to be here with, you know. Before you and Harvey came here I just had Olivia. And now I've got you, I've got Harvey too, but Harvey's different to you." He looked into my eyes and smiled, and gently pushed my head towards him, encouraging me to rest my head on his chest. He wrapped his arm around me and rested his chin on my head. "I can't believe we've only known each other for almost two weeks. I feel like I've known you all my life. I've never felt this happy before. Seeing you smile instantly makes me happy. I love you, Leah."
"I love you too Max."
I looked up at him and he looked down at me. His eyes were filled with reflections from the sun, causing them to sparkle. His hair looked golden brown, and it slightly covered his forehead. He was perfect.
He jumped up and gave me a help up. "C'mon, let's go to the arcade."
"Ughhh do we have to?" I hated the arcade, but I knew Max loved it, and I would do anything to see him happy. "Pretty pleaseee?" He gave me the puppy eyes and I couldn't resist. "Okay then." We both laughed and headed to the start of the pier. As we went inside his eyes lit up like a child in a sweet shop. "Oh my god I love this place so much!" He pulled my arm to a game and we played for a while. When I finally got him away from the machines the sun was starting to set. We walked back to the bus station along the beach, taking in the beautiful view. As we got to the pony riding part of the beach I heard someone crying. "Max, do you hear that?"
"Yeah, wait hang on." He turned around and I followed him, and I saw a little girl alone on the beach crying. "Hey are you okay?" He crouched to reach her level and sat down next to her. "I've... I've lost-t my m-mum!!" She burst into tears and max pulled her into a hug. "Heyyy it's okay, what's your name?"
She wiped her eyes and murmured "Lily." Max grabbed her hand and we headed off of the beach. "That's a pretty name, Lily. I'm going to take you to the beach security, and they can find your mum, it'll be okay." She held his hand the whole way and I followed, they were taking about all sorts of kid-like things, and it was adorable to see max like this. We dropped her off at the security and jumped on the bus. "What you did for that little girl was amazing today, loads of people could have just ignored her. You're amazing."
"Well she was little, and alone. I hate seeing kids upset so I like to help where I can."
We got back home and walked back, the sun still setting. We reached his house and stood outside. "I had a great day today Max, I'll see you at school tomorrow?"
"Yeah, see you in the morning. Maybe I'll walk with you and Harvey for once." I let out a happy sigh caused by laughter and stepped up onto tip-toes to kiss him. "I'll see you tomorrow Max. I love you." I turned and started to walk away. "I love you too Leah!!" He shouted to me as he went into the house.
Later that night I got a snapchat from Olivia, expecting it to be our usual conversation. But it wasn't. I read the message which said "Harvey was showing me pictures from tour today, and he happened to accidentally show me a picture of Max that you might want to see. Be careful Leah, don't let him mess you about. I think he's with someone else."
I started to feel hot and my heart started to race. I struggled to breathe normally and I felt faint. I thought things were going perfectly, but something always had to mess that up.