Colourise

Chapter 25

Chapter 25

Day 2

The early morning breeze blew across Mindy's face. Sighing, she tugged at her hair, trying to loosen out its tangled ends. It was the second day at the resort, and she felt much better. Her flu was gone, and all that was left was her burning excitement for what was to come later.

Walking across the sand in her green flip-flops, she watched the sun rising above the sea, illuminating the island with a suffused glow.

She checked her watch, and noticed that she had an hour left before she had to go back to her room to get ready. She sneaked out of her room wearing nothing but a baby blue singlet and white ripped shorts.

She lifted her orange-black glasses and rubbed her eyes, just as she saw a fleeting shade of black brushed past her. She spun around and came face-to-face with someone she had been wanting to see for a long time.

'Harry!' Mindy shrieked.

'Harh?' Harry was squinting his eyes at her, his face as pale as a thin sheet of paper. He adjusted his dark green shirt over his black shorts.

For a split second, she found his remark familiar.

She noticed that he was holding what seemed like a round object bigger than a head combined, covered with a thick sheet of cloth.

'What is that?' She narrowed her eyes and stepped forward to touch it, when Harry quickly stepped back.

'N-nothing!' He scrambled upright, and smiled sheepishly. She realised how well-defined his muscles were as he carried the load, and suddenly regretted embarrassing a good-looking guy like him.

'Sorry,' she offered, 'I didn't mean to pry on what you were doing.'

'Hey, it doesn't matter,' Harry let out a light chuckle. 'Why are you up so early?'

'I don't know,' she shrugged. 'Maybe I felt like I'm going to see something extraordinary today.'

'Or someone extraordinary,' Harry winked, and she felt the butterflies stirring in her stomach.

They stood there gazing at each other for a second. All Mindy could ever do was stare at his warm, brown eyes.

Harry put the black cloth on the sand. 'So, what do you want to do?'

'M-me?' Mindy squeaked. 'But your things-'

'Oh, they don't matter, at least for now,' he chuckled. 'I hear you're one of the fastest runners in Anders.'

He was right. She was one of the valuable track athletes in school. Mindy wondered where he could ever hear that from.

'Yeah,' she swallowed hard, her heart beating fast. 'I am.'

'Race you across the beach and back?' He smirked.

Mindy snorted, and kicked her slippers beside Harry's black cloth. 'I must remind you, that I'm fast even when I'm barefoot-hey!'

Before she knew it, Harry had already whizzed past her.

'Harry! That's not fair!' She screamed as she followed suit. She was able to catch up with him in a couple of seconds.

They ran past coconut stalls, picnic tables and groggy beachgoers who were taking a quiet morning stroll if not for them. At the edge, they made a U-turn and headed back.

They were almost to the finish line when Mindy dashed past Harry, who was wheezing behind her.

'Ha-ha! Who's the fastest runner now?' She laughed triumphantly, turning her head to look at him. Even though Harry was just behind her, she knew she was running incredibly fast.