I Do Until I Don't

Chapter 12

 The person who decided that men could swim without a shirt is truly a blessing. Especially since Alex is a guy which means that he swims without a shirt and that, when I join him and Sabrina to do a sandcastle, he still isn't wearing a shirt.

The person who decided that women had to swim with a top is stupid.

"How was your date with Fannar?" Alex asks me, forming a mountain of sand with his hands.

"Good. Less awkward than the first one."

How did he ever get used to the sight of Northern lights? Is that even possible?

"Do you wanna help?" Alex asks his cousin who's sipping some of Melanie's pina colada on a beach chair.

"Later."

Alex and I look at each other and smile. I swear my body stops functioning for an instant. And then, I lower my gaze and help him out build a sand mountain.

The beach is less crowded today, I guess it's because the sky is grey and the weathermen announced it would rain. We scored some of the closest beach chairs near the ocean.

How come Fannar got used to Northern lights?

Alex and I continue to build our sandcastle. He's wearing a blue and green bathing suit. His hair is still damp from his morning swim. His eyebrows frown in concentration. Gosh, he's beautiful. Especially looking focused as he is, forming little towers with a plastic box in the shake of a tower.

"Are you in the swimming team?"

Why?

Why, Life?

Why am I so horrible at starting up a conversation with someone I like? My friends back in Boston just slide into a guy's DMs and score a date a week later.

While I'm here, crushing on a guy for two years, not even managing to find a cool conversation starter. Are you on the swimming team? Really?

"Me?" Alex asks like the question was no big deal. Gosh, he's so mature. "No. I ran clubs in high school, though."

"Like what?"

"Photography, oral speech, biology."

This kid is so smart and dedicated, I can't.

How come Fannar got used to the Northern lights? It's like getting used to the stars.

"Hey, Alex? Would you ever get used to the stars? Like, if you saw them every day?"

"Umm... I guess. If I saw them every day. It'll be like eating mangoes every day. I might love them but, in the end, I'd get bored."

I shake my head. That's like saying you can get used to the sunset. Or love. It's like getting married and then the magic going away with time because you see your wife or husband all the time. That's just sad.

"What about you, Sabro?" I ask. "Would you get used to the stars?"

She thinks about it. She even takes out her sunglasses to see me better.

"Maybe not the stars. But other things, yeah. Like the mango thing, I totally agree."

"But what makes the difference between the stars and a mango?"

"I don't know. One's food. The other is a natural phenomenon."

I flip the plastic tower-shaped box, but the tower crumbles right after I take out the box.

"I would never get bored of something. Not if it's really magical."

Alex rubs his hands together to get rid of the sand.