No, We Are Not A Couple

Amanda

I open my eyes blearily and sit up. It's 10 AM, and today Leo and I are going to the beach with a few of our friends, including TJ. I swing my feet off the bed and head to my bathroom. I jump in the shower and let the warm water run over me. Last night was stressful, so I'm glad today we just get to relax. I massage my scalp gently with my favorite  apple shampoo. We're really lucky to live on the coast. Warm weather, beach ten minutes away, and sandals are always in fashion. 

After the shower, I slip on an eggplant  purple bikini. The bottoms tie at the sides and the top has tiny bows in the back. I pull on a black cover up and take my beach tote bag out to the living room. Mom and dad have already left for work, so I slip on white flip flops and wait for Ellia to pick me up. After ten minutes, I hear the shrill honk of her horn, and I head outside. I swing into the backseat next to Kaiya. "Hey!" I greet them happily.

"Hey, Amanda! You ready for the beach?" Ellia says.

"Obviously. Is everyone else meeting us there?" Ellia nods. Fifteen minutes later, we arrive at the beach, where TJ and her little car are already there. Only a few minutes later and Leo and Garret arrive. We all greet one another with hugs and smiles. Leo, however, lingers at my side.

"Sara texted me this morning." He murmurs, looking to see if anyone else heard him. I look up at him with dismay.

"Let me see." He comfortably hands me his phone. I unlock it and go to his messages. The top two are Sara, and surprise, surprise, me. I remember the last text  I sent Leo. It was only yesterday, and it was just simple stressed banter about the party. I jerk myself out of the reverie and select Sara's name. I scroll up a small bit and see Sara texting him in short, choppy, angry texts. Leo responds with calm and logical responses that I would be proud of. What happened at the end, was Sara found out she wasn't invited to the beach trip today, and that I'm here, so she's mad again. I hand Leo his phone again. "Expected." I say, shrugging. Leo nods, and sets his phone down on his towel. "You okay?" I ask as everyone runs out to the ocean.

"Yeah, I'm fine. Thanks, Manda." We sit down on out laid out towels. "Did you get any sleep?" Leo asks, giving me a sidelong glance. I look out towards the ocean sheepishly.

"Kinda. I.. didn't go to bed right after we hung up. Maybe.. like.. a little bit later?" Leo looks at me unbelieving. "Okay, so maybe I got only a couple hours of sleep, but I'm fine! Promise." I smile at him and he shrugs.

"Okay, fine. You happy it's finally summer? We'll be seniors in three months, Manda."

"Yeah, wow. It's kinda crazy isn't it? We've known each other forever and we're literally graduating this year."

"Hopefully." Leo replies good naturedly. I roll my eyes playfully.

"I'll help you, ya dummy." He slings an arm around my shoulders and rubs his head against mine.

"Manda, Manda, always a help." I pull away and playfully bat at his arm.

"You're lucky I've put up with you so long. You'd be lonely."

"Maybe." We sit quietly for awhile after that, watching everyone splash each other and run with the waves. Leo finally hops up. "Ready to go in?" I turn and he's holding his hand out to me, grinning. I hesitantly take it, and he pulls me up. We're walking to the ocean when from behind me, Leo sweeps me up and begins running.

"Aaah! No! Leo, it's going to be-" He runs into the water and drops me, the icy water chilling my skin. "COLD!! LEO BIRON!" I stand up and run back onto shore, chasing him, as our friends laugh from behind.

. . .

Later, I'm standing in the ocean, the water up to my knees. I'm laughing with Kaiya, who just told me about her date last night. I look up when another car pulls up next to ours. A girl who is, quite frankly, gorgeous. She runs out and says something I can't hear. The girl runs to Leo and hugs him tightly. Kaiya and I wade back to shore. Garret hands us out towels, and we head towards Leo and this girl. I feel my chest squeeze and I bite my lip.