Shotaro and I lie belly down on our boards, letting ourselves get pulled and pushed by the current. The sun was beginning to dip but we weren't ready to leave the water. It was perfect today, all nice and warm.
"Race for the next wave?" Shotaro suggests, impatient with 'just chilling', "Come on!"
"Pfft," I scoff at the idea, "We both know you're better at surfing even though we both manage to embarrass ourselves in front of the usual's. You're better than me at everything," I tell him flatly. He makes a sour face at me, "It's true," I say, shrugging my shoulders.
"No, it's not," He disagrees whole-heartedly.
"Yeah, you're better at, of course, basketball, football, soccer, volleyball, and pretty much all sports. You're better at dancing than I am, too. You're better at..."
"You're better at telling jokes," Shotaro cuts in, hearing enough of what I had to say, "You're better at writing stories. Marcie, you're better at laughing and having a careless fun time in anything that you do." His words start to make my cheeks burn red,
"You're better at being willing," He continues, "And participating positively, like when we went to that service day with Kayleigh's church's youth group. I got tired of talking to elderly people real fast but you kept at it and acted like it was the most exciting thing to hear about life stories. See, Marcie, you're better at your own things. Don't compare yourself to me. You're special all on your own." He looks forward to the horizon, "Now are we going to surf or what?"
"Yeah... okay," I choke, my emotions getting the better of me. The next wave begins with a huge swell we both turn around positioning ourselves to ride it. When it comes, we paddle with it and both spring up on our boards at nearly the same time, riding together side by side.
"Not to close!" Shotaro laughs as I lean towards him.
The next moment comes and goes in a blur. I'm not focused on riding the wave as much as I should be, still caught up in what Shotaro had said moments earlier. I lose balance and wipe out, getting tossed and crushed underwater like I'm nothing. I try to surface quick as possible because I hadn't fallen in prepared with a breath. The current is strong and unyielding, but when my face finally makes contact with the summer air my head is struck hard.
"Marcie!" I hear Shotaro's voice call after me, but I can't think or see clearly and I struggle to breath because the air had been knocked out of me, "Marcie are you alright?" It's now that I realize Dusty's 9 foot Fiberglass longboard had hit me after being thrown into the air. Shotaro comes to me, puts an arm around my waist then pulls one of my arms around his shoulders. Here we can stand, though the water is still chest deep, "Oh gosh, you're bleeding..." Shotaro whispers as he struggles to bring me to shore. I can't think or move right. Finally, we're in ankle waters and most of my weight I put on him. My legs won't support me and my head hurts like crazy with the worst headache I have ever experienced.
Oh, gosh; Cliff steps. I look out at them as they ribbon their way up the rock to the streets above.
"You're not going to make it up there walking, are you?" Shotaro said, distress ruining the sound of his voice. He had read my mind and, suddenly, the ground wasn't beneath me anymore. Instead, I lay cradled in Shotaro's arms. Even with my weight, he took to the hot concrete steps quickly.
"I'm bleeding all over your shoulder," I say, examining the way I had spread the crimson liquid like a thin runny layer of paint.
"You really think... I care... about that?" He says his rapid breathing getting in the way of his words, "You're so... dumb... Marcie." I couldn't think so well at the time but now I realize those cliff steps probably seemed never-ending to Shotaro, yet, he carried me on without slowing or stopping.
"It's alright, Marcie, we're almost there," I knew even then that he was lying.
That was the summer he carried me to safety. That was the summer I fell deeper and harder for Shotaro than I ever had before. I wanted him to be mine, and I his. I had to confess my feelings to him, but at that moment I couldn't decide when.
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A/N: Please vote and Comment guys! I want to know what you think! :D
YOU ARE READING
That was the Summer
Teen FictionMarcie has had a crush on her childhood friend Shotaro for a long time but has never confessed her feelings. This summer she knows she needs to be brave but struggles find the right moment to tell Shotaro how she feels. Will she ever find the right...
