The Summer Experience

Four: The day at the beach

Back to reality

I watched Myles from afar, playing with the smaller kids at the beach. I was just taking in the way his shorts rode too far down on his torso, the way his smile lit up everyone else's face and the way he splashed like he had no car in the world. I started to slowly feel like there was something there, but then I would start seeing Morgan's face on his body and I immediately forgot what it was that I had with Myles - if anything at all.

The sun was slowly descending into the east, making the air pick up slightly and the chills were running through my legs. I had a sweater on and I was debating putting jeans on, but then what was the point at being on the beach. I took in a few breathes of the fresh air and decided I was going to make my way back to the cabin. I looked around for Mrs. Winters who seemed to have disappeared within the last hour or so. I looked back at Jenny, waving my arms.

"Jenny! I'm going to head back to the cabin. I'll start a fire for supper. Are you going back soon?"

She just waved and stuck up her fingers into a five, probably indicating she would be back in five minutes or so. I smiled and waved back, grabbing the chair I had been sitting in. I started walking back to the cabin, the winding gravel road seemed longer on the way back, but it could just because I didn't actually want to go back.

I felt a small hand touch mine, I whipped around to see a small boy standing with dirt on his feet, holding something in his hand, "Mister. You forgot your cellphone. My mommy told me to run after you." He put out his hand, my cellphone sitting in his palm.

I smiled, grabbing the phone from his little hands, "Thanks buddy! I would have been lost without this. Thank your mom too, okay?"

The boy smiled up at me, "Okay, oh and mister?" He twiddled his thumbs, looking down at the ground.

"What's up little man?"

He blushed a little and looked up at me, "Your boyfriend is real handsome, my mom even says so."

Before I could ask him who my boyfriend was, he was running off back to the beach. Had I given off some kind of signal with Myles or something? I shook my head as the thoughts ran into my head, turning on my heels and hurrying back to the cabin.

I made my way up the driveway, reaching the door and turning the knob, finding the spare key in the candle by the door. It was really quiet inside and as soon as I closed the door, I regretted coming here alone. Memories of past times started slowly flowing into my  brain, making me grip the wall for comfort.

The first time I saw this place. The first place Morgan and I kissed. The first time we made love here. I slowly started to walk towards the bedroom, throwing myself on the bed. It seemed to be colder in the room then elsewhere in the house, gripping the sheets I let the tears flow out again. This was getting old, I just needed to be stronger and move on. I couldn't be doing this every other day, people would start to worry and send me to a hospital or something. I wipped my eyes and got out of the bed, walking towards the back yard.

As I stepped out into the cold evening air, I saw someone standing over the fire, cracking a match to get it started. It took me a second to realize it was Myles. I made my way down the steps of the porch, getting closer to him. The wind picked up slowly and the match ended up going out.

"Damnit, I wish I would have remembered by lighter." Trying to start another match, I couldn't help but giggle slightly at his futile attempts.

He turned around to see me, the annoyance being replaced by a broad smile, "What's so funny, Mattieboy? You have a better way of starting this."

"I actually do" I stated all as-a-matter-of-factly, "It's called being prepared." I took my lighter out of my pocket and bent down, starting the fire with a few clicks. Myles scoffed and got up, walking to the car to fetch something else.

"Didn't your mother come with you? Or did you leave the poor woman at the beach to fend for herself?" I watched as he rummaged through the car, looking for something.

His middle finger greeted me as he searched, "She was getting a ride with Jenny and the rest. My mom told me to come help you get started, so here I am. I'm just trying to find .... aha!" He pulled out a package of hot dogs, the look on his face full of satisfaction.

I just rolled my eyes as I heard another car pulling up, someone squealing as they jumped out. I tried to look around the corner, but a tree was blocking my view. Jenny whirled around the corner, a stupid smile on her face, "Guess what we found at the beach?" She looked over at me, "You will never guess."

Before I even had a chance, a man walked around the corner, I just smiled. "Dad, what the hell are you doing here?"

He waved at me, "Nice to see you too. I'm hungry and I smell a fire, we having some hot dogs?" He walked by me, ruffling my hair. I sighed and fixed it.

The fire was crackling and everyone was cooking the food, I wasn't that hungry so I just sat on a chair away from the fire. I turned when I felt someone sit next to me.

His hand found mine and wrapped around it. The thing is, I didn't stop him.