Hurricane Love

Nineteen

It was 6pm and I was still in my work uniform after a long day shift at Bernie's. I was strolling along the beach on my own, camera in my hand, taking snapshots of the people on the sand.

There were a few people walking their dogs, some on their own and some in couples. The couples held hands and strolled casually as their pet ran ahead of them. I focused my attention on one couple in particular, noticing through my lense when I zoomed in the way the man looked down at his woman, his eyes almost glistening with pride at the very fact that she was his. She looked back at him with a smile that made her beautiful, laughing at his every word and snuggling into him every so often in a shy but loving manner. The sight made me smile.

I had felt that way at one point. I had walked this very beach with Mason, hand in hand, smile on my face as he made me laugh and stared at me romantically. Now thinking back to it, how could I feel so cold now? How could I feel so unbothered that Mason and I were no longer together? Why did I constantly dismiss him no matter how much effort he made to fix things with me? He was supposed to be my forever. He was supposed to be the guy to take my virginity and grow up with me; he was supposed to be the guy I would marry and spend my life with. A part of me felt like I could not give up on that. Especially not over Ryker Jordan.

As I strolled back up the stone steps towards the main road, I pulled out my bus pass and felt my phone buzz against my hand. Mason's name displayed on my screen and I sighed, placing it back into my pocket as I stationed myself at the bus stop and ignored his call. I waited patiently for the bus until it finally arrived, making the short journey back home and entering the house to the sound of voices. Stan was home.

'There she is!' he called, chuckling softly as he saw me.

'Hey, Stan, welcome back,' I said, taking my camera from around my neck and placing it on the counter.

He kissed me quickly on the top of the head as Christine began placing plates down on the table before we all took a seat.

'My favourite,' Stan said, eyeing up the huge pan of chilli in the centre of the table.

We all remained silent for a few moments as we filled our plates and I couldn't help but notice the familiar sparkle in Christine's eyes as she looked at her husband. She was always so much happier when he was home. I knew she loved him very much and he loved her too. Sometimes I really felt like they'd rather be alone together without the burden of a rebellious, angry teenager who wasn't even their own flesh and blood.

'What have you been up to then, little one?' he asked me. 'Black hair? You moving onto a goth phase now?'

'No, I just threw it on to cover up the horrible pink colour I had on,' I told him.

'Pink?' he laughed. 'When I left you were bleached blonde!'

'Yeah, I think I've moved past the crazy hair colour phase,' I said, laughing softly.

'I heard you got a job,' he continued.

'Yeah, I really like it!' I replied.

'It's a great idea,' Stan said. 'It will surely help you become more independent and you're going to be happy when payday comes and you have all that extra cash to buy...whatever it is you're into at the moment.'

We continued with dinner and eventually, Stan dismissed himself to the lounge to watch TV, leaving Christine and I to clean up.

'How are things with Ryker?' she asked.

'Don't you mean how are things with Mason?' I replied.

'Ummm...well, I thought Ryker was the one you were having issues with?' she said.