Sand and Scoops

The Boy with the Bleached Ends

Shoyo Hinata was locking up the ice cream shop he worked at. He had finally gotten the summer job at an ice cream shop so he could save up to move here permanently. His mom always let him stay down here for the majority of the summer with his grandparents since he loved the beach so much, but he couldn't help missing the people he went to school and played volleyball with. Thankfully he's made some friends here over the years like Tadashi, Suga, Daichi, Nishinoya, Kageyama, and a few others.

Yamaguchi normally takes their boyfriend to the ice cream shop for dates and stuff while Daichi and Suga come in after they're done surfing together. Normally those four are the only customers aside from parents with children but today there was a new person that looked like they were about Shoyo's age. 

The tiny ginger-haired boy kept walking after putting the rocking chairs back in place and double-checking the door that didn't always lock. This wasn't a very big or popular beach town which made him wonder how he hadn't seen the boy with the bleached ends. "Surely with hair like that, I would've noticed him before, right?" Hinata thought out loud while he was walking to the pier. Deep down Hinata hoped that the boy would come back soon, but he didn't want to get his hopes up too high. 

The sun was setting over the ocean and the sky was a beautiful mix of pinks, purples, and oranges with clouds painted across it. Some days the sunset looked so beautiful to Shoyo that he could hardly believe that they were even real. But not even the sunset could distract the ginger from thinking about the stranger at the shop today. 

"I should talk to him!" he exclaimed, earning a few weird looks from the people around him. He awkwardly went the rest of the way to the pier where he almost always ate dinner with his friends. 

"HINATAAAAAAA" Nishinoya yelled to Hinata when he got close enough. 

Hinata started running down the pier to where his friends were sitting. Most of the group was there and it looked like Asahi had brought food from his mom's restaurant that night. They scored the big round table on the pier that night so they didn't have to move a bunch of tables together like they normally have to.  

"Hey guys," Shoyo greeted the table as he plopped down into a seat in between Kageyama and Suga. Most of the group had already started eating by the time he arrived so he went ahead and grabbed a plate and filled it up with delicious fried scallops, two crab legs, and a bunch of homemade chips, which were his favorite. 

"What took you so long?" Kageyama asked him. 

"Oh just work stuff," the other boy responded with a mouth full of food. 

"Hinata boke! chew your food before you speak!"

Hinata rolled his eyes and continued eating his food. His mind wandered everywhere and today he was nowhere near as animated as usual but, how could he forget the boy with the bleached ends? with his pretty golden eyes and the way his eyes lit up when he saw the apple pie ice cream, he was impossible to forget. 

Eventually, everyone finished their food and said their goodbyes for the night. The spiker knew he would be getting texts from Yamaguchi and Yachi about him being so quiet but that was the least of his worries right now. Right now he needs to run down the beach before his grandpa locks the backdoor for the night. 

His grandparents were really old and they forget to leave the door unlocked for Hinata when he has dinner with his friends. They also refuse to give him a key to the beach house which never fails to confuse the boy.  Luckily he made it right before his grandpa got to the door so he didn't have to ruthlessly bang on the rickety storm door that was in front of the main one. 

"Ah, Shoyo, you're finally back," Joben Hinata greeted Shoyo when he came in. The door slammed behind the grandchild as he entered the house. He set his flip flops down at the door and took a second to breathe. The air smelled like saltwater and old people but, that's the price he's willing to pay for being able to live on the beach. He waved at his grandpa and looked around for his nana. The house was dark with only a lamp turned on beside the chair where he found his grandma reading a lengthy novel.

"Hi Shoyo," His grandma said in her age-old voice. Nana Ayumi was Shoyo's favorite family member. She baked, she used to play volleyball, and she was the sweetest person in existence. "How about I bake something for the next friend dinner. Maybe an apple pie?" 

Apple pie. His heart fluttered at the thought of the boy with the bleached hair. Maybe he could bring him a small baby pie that Nana Ayumi makes? He shook away the thought because it would make it too obvious and, quite frankly,  it would be weird. Who just gives a customer a pie anyway? And what if he never comes back?

"Shoyo? Ayumi needs an answer," his grandpa told him, ripping him from his thoughts.

"Ah, uh, yes ma'am that would be nice," Shoyo responded. He was sure the group would love an apple pie since they loved it when he brought other cakes and pies his nana baked for them. it would be a nice surprise for them too so he decided to keep it a secret for them. 

"Ooo yay!" Ayumi Hinata smiled, baking for others never failed to excite her. She's a diabetic with a sweet tooth and a passion for baking which doesn't work that well. Her husband keeps her from devouring every candy, cake, and cookie she sees so her blood sugar doesn't skyrocket. 

Shoyo said goodnight to the grandparents and ran up the cold wooden steps to his room and finally felt the buzzes from who he thinks is Yamaguchi and Yachi, his two best friends other than Kageyama. He walked down the short hallway and opened the door to his room. It wasn't a big room but it was big enough for a full-sized bed, a tv with a switch, and it had a nice closet. 

He walked into his room and flopped on the bed, taking a few minutes to get comfortable, and opened his phone to read the texts from his friends.

Yams: soooooo what was up with u at dinner?

Yachi 🥺: Yea you were so in your own world today whats up?

nothing...

Yachi 🥺: s p i l l

aagh so there was this boy at the shop with bleached ends and golden eyes and he ordered an apple pie ice cream and he was just really cute uwu

Yams: a boy with bleach tips? i think he ran into us while me and tsukki were coming to the shop

Yachi 🥺: ooou looks like someone has a crushhhh

maybe...

Yachi 🥺: you think he'll be at the shop tmrw?

i hope so...he was really cute 

Yams: lol how about me and yachi become team bleached ends and stay at the shop all day tomorrow 

Yachi 🥺: im in!

do i get a choice?

Yachi 🥺: no

Yams: nope:)

Despite the possibility of him being humiliated by Yamaguchi and Yachi, he couldn't help but be excited to see what happens tomorrow and hopefully see the boy again.