"AAAAHHAHAH!!"
"Shut the fuck up." I glare at Grayson, but I struggle to keep a straight face.
"You just ate shit!" He clutches his stomach a laughs harder.
We were just walking along the shore of the beach and then I saw a crab by my foot. I flipped out, and nearly faceplanted into the sand.
"I thought the crab was gonna attack me!" I defend myself.
"Attack?"
"Yes."
"What is it, a mountain lion? Crabs are basically harmless!" He begins to laugh again.
"Whatever, loser." I playfully role my eyes and we continue to walk.
Grayson continues to occasionally break out into random fits of laughter, making fun of me. I finally stopped acting serious about it and laughed along with him.
It feels good to finally laugh and smile when it's actually real.
Not pretend.
Everything about Grayson is charming. His smile. His laugh. His overall personality. I had never met someone as pure and sweet as him.
I watch his now dry hair lightly flow in the wind as we walk along the beach. His eyes are now a brighter shade of brown because the sun is setting and everything around us has a slight orange tint to it.
We approach a large rock, or boulder I should say, right next to the shore. A smile creeps on Grayson's face as we get closer. He then runs and climbs up the boulder without hesitation.
I was about to question what he was doing, but I got distracted by his muscles. And may I just say, holy shit. I keep remembering that this dude is just 16, yet he looks like that.
Why can't the boys in my school look like that?
"You coming up here, or are you just gonna stare?" Grayson winks.
"What, no- I am too scared to climb it." I blush.
"Tianna being scared? Come on, you asked me for nudes." He pauses. "Multiple times. That takes balls, so come on!"
"No it doesn't-"
"Man up!"
"I might fa-"
"You're not gonna fall, I got you!" He reassures me. There is a couple seconds of silence and then..
"Fine." I make my way to the boulder and begin to climb it.
I decide to take it slow and take it one baby step at a time. And to watch out for crabs.
I get near the top and I place one hand on the top of the boulder. I begin to pull myself up, but then the worst possible outcome happens when dangerously climbing a big rock.
My hand slips.
I let out a loud gasp as I lose my balance, but then Grayson's hand firmly grasps my wrist and pulls me back up.
"I told you I got you." He smiles softly and stares into my eyes.
I could have sworn I felt like kissing him at that very moment, but that would've been weird. So I push the thought aside and Grayson helps me stand up on the top of the rock.
We sat on the rock for a good 20 minutes just talking about life. But then it started getting deep.
"Can I tell you something?" Grayson asks out of the blue.
"Yeah, of course. What is it?" I look at him and laugh.
"I really like y-"
"THERE YOU GUYS ARE! We've literally been looking EVERYWHERE." Hanna yells from the bottom of the rock.
"How the hell did you guys get up there?" Ethan jogs over to the rock.
Before I could answer Ethan's question, another voice interupts me.
"Tia, your mom is packing up her things and getting ready to go." Hanna puts her hands on her hips.
"Oh shit, are you kidding me?" I groan and begin making my way off the rock.
As we make our way back to our cars, I feel my anxiety kick in. I hope Grayson wasn't about to say what I think he was gonna say. He got cut off before he could finish.
'I really like y-'
Really like what? Me? God I hope not. I can't do relationships. I couldn't even keep my goldfish alive for five days.
Maybe he was gonna say something else?
'I really like... yogurt.'
Yogurt. Yogurt sounds about right. I like yogurt too. Wait, that's a lie. I kind of hate it.
"Tiiaaaa." Hanna's voice rips me away from my thoughts.
"Huh- what?" I flinch.
"Help me put your mom's stupid beach chair in the car." She complains.
"Hold on, let me say bye to Grayson." I hold my finger up and turn around. As I walk away, I hear Hanna groan in the distance.
I approach Grayson with a sad smile and I open my arms up for a hug. He chuckles and hugs me back.
I feel so safe in his arms, but nervous at the same time. I've never been the type of person who opens up to people easily. Why? Because people leave. They leave when you get too close to them.
I feel a spike of anxiety in my gut that causes me to let go of Grayson.
"You alright-"
"Yeah- I uh, I'm fine." I laugh nervously.
"Okay." Is all he says, shrugging his shoulders.
I nod my head slowly and begin backing away awkwardly. The cringe is so strong, it is eating away my brain cells.
"I'll see you around..?" Grayson asks with a smirk.
"Uh.. yeah- yes, of course!" I struggle to speak. Sometimes I am so awkward, I forget how to speak proper English. It's so fucking weird.
"I'll text ya later." He smiles cutely and steps into his car.
"Bye, bitch." Ethan flips my some of my hair over my face and laughs.
"Eat a dick." I punch his shoulder.
"You love me!" He yells as he gets into the passenger seat of Grayson's car.
As they drive off, I can't help but think about one thing.
Grayson.
