Ruel
I got ready and Im in Coco's car.
"Where are we going" I ask.
"To the beach".
"Okay".
—
The drive was silent. As we pull up to the parking lot I see a group of people Coco's age.
We hop out.
"Hiii"! Coco waves at them.
"Hi Coco"! One girl says.
"Guys this is my younger brother, Ruel", Coco nudges me.
"Nice to meet you! I'm Anne" (female)
"I'm Fred" (male)
"I'm Sai" (female)
"Cortez" He nods at me. (male)
"Nice"! I say not knowing what to say.
"Shall we head down now"? Anne says.
"Heck ya"! Coco jumps and runs off.
"So do you like it here so far", Sai asks.
"Yeah. I've made some friends so that's nice".
—
The beach was okay. Fred and Cortez were easier to talk to than I thought. We had lots in common. I've got their numbers. Anne was very chatty and jittery. I didn't like her much. She was also all over me. Anne has weird vibes. Sai was really cool. I got her Snapchat. I just got Anne's Instagram since I didn't want to talk to her much.
—
I get a notification on my phone.
Esme
hii! Are you free tmr?
It's literally 1am now. I don't know why she is planning hang outs at this time.
Me
yeah. Why?
•••
Esme
Hangout?
Ruel
Sure. 1pm beach?
Esme
Yeah
I don't know. This girl is being weird right now.
Esme
I stumble up my stairs hanging on to Dante. We are both wasted.
"Hey y-you know ... I like you", he slurs out.
"Wha-what"?
He pecks my forehead.
"You like me"? I can't talk normal because I'm drunk.
"Yeahh. Do you like me"?
I just stay silent. I do but I don't know if I'm ready for that commitment.
We eventually stumbled our way to my bedroom. I hop into my bed without bringing out the mattresses. I am too wasted. Ugh shit, I forgot to get ready for bed.
I get up and i change my clothes, brush my teeth, and etc.
I hop into bed expecting for Dante to bring his mattress out. I suddenly feel the other side of my bed sink.
"Dante"?
"Yeah"?
"Oh never mind"
I don't know what takes over my mind but I snuggle against Dante's bare chest. He wraps his arm around me. I forgot to take my phone out of my pocket so I still have it. I'm bored so I text Ruel.
I feel like hanging out with him tomorrow. I text him and we are meeting at one at the beach.
Dante
The morning light seeps in through the window. Where am I!? I start looking around frantically. Oh right, I'm at Esme's. Then I look beside me to see a sleeping Esme snuggled against me. Oh fuck. What did we do. We didn't do it/hook up I hope. I forget everything!
Esme wakes up and looks around. My head is pounding from last night. I look at Esme. Our eyes both wide.
"We didn't right"? Esme says as we both panic.
"Yeah I think we didn't"
She looks under the covers. Her face looks relieved.
"We didn't". Esme moves further away from me on the bed.
Now it's just awkward.
I finally gain a little bit of memory from last night... holy shit. I told her I liked her didn't I. I can't just leave it at that. But what if she doesn't remember.
"So do you like me"? I try to act cool.
"What"?
"Never mind".
"Seriously, What"?
"Ummm. Do y-you like me"?
Her face goes blank as she remembers everything.
"Oh. Um. Y-yeah. But I don't think I'm ready for that... sorry".
"It's alright".
My heart kind of aches.
No, it ACHES.
Ruel
It's about 1pm now. I don't feel like meeting anyone. I want to keep to myself and have a Me day.
I hop in my Nissan Micra and emediately blast some, The Chats music. I find myself rapidly nodding my head with the music and screaming. When you leave me unsupervised for a period of time... this is what happens. I pull into the lot. I could've walked to this beach but I wanted to blast music. It's the beach that's next to Esme's place. I hope she's not here.
No one is here! Yay! I don't want to surf so I lay out the blanket and food I brought.
HOLY SHIT. I forgot I'm meeting Esme. Ughhhhhhhh.
Dante
Esme's phone screen lights up. She looks down and her eyes widen. Like WIDE. Her jaw drops. "Uh sorry Dante i really have to go", uhh.
"Oh um okay. Um bye".
"Bye".
Shit. I really hope this friendship doesn't end. I've known her all my life. We were like siblings but I don't know what took over me to think that Esme would like me back. I'm a stupid dickhead. I hear her leave and I jump onto my bed, punching my pillows. I scream into them.
"DANTE"
Why now!
"YEAH MOM"?
"BE MORE QUITE".
Ugh
"OKAY".
I'm so bored. I was hoping to hangout with Esme all day but this all happened. My head is pounding and my voice is raspy. I'm garbage right now.
Ruel
I've texted Esme if she's coming. It's 1:13 now. She's late but I forgot about this.
She runs towards me and sits down on the blanket.
"Hi shit head. I'm so so sooo sorry. I was at Dante's and I forgot".
(We call each other swear names sometimes)
"It's okay".
We look at the ocean.
"Dante's"?
"Oh he's a friend of mine"
"Oh".
Probably her boyfriend.
"Nothing weird but is Dante your boyfriend"?
She goes silent.
•••
"Uhh no. Haha (she nervously giggles). I'm a lonely single".
We both laugh at that.
"I'm a Pringle too. I feel ya".
She puts her head on my shoulder. What?! I kind of stiff in up. This feels nice though.
Writer: Hi! Sorry for not posting for a while. I've been quite busy. I hope everyone is safe and doing well during this pandemic!
