summer romance (e.d.)

fifty-five

anna

ethan slowly opens his desk drawer, and a memory flashes in my mind.

i sat lazily on the desk chair and out of random habit, i reached for the handle to open it.

"stop!" ethan yelled, startling me and grabbing my hand.

"what happened? what did i do?" i asked, slightly panicked. we had just made up.

"i just... i have personal things in there," he replied, blushing slightly.

"then i won't look."

he sat there for a moment, and i could tell he was thinking about something.

"d-do you want me to show you?"

my mind snaps away from the memory as the drawer is completely opened. all that's in it is a velvet like bag, one that you'd get on vacation with a bunch of cool rocks stuffed in it.

he picks it up, and unties the string on the top.

just as expected, seashells of all shapes and sizes pool out onto his desk. there has to be hundreds.

"wow," i whisper in awe. "that's... amazing. how did you keep all of them?"

ethan shrugs. "my dad told me to. and so i never stopped."

i pick up a small white one with slight ridges. it's in the shape of a kidney bean, almost.

ethan smiles. "that's an angels wing. i found it in hawaii when i was seven."

smiling, i set it carefully back down and inspect the others. i notice some of the ones we picked up at the beach a month ago.

"which one is the first one?" i ask.

he sifts through them for a minute, then pulls out a grayish shell that looks like it's spiraled up.

"the shark's eye," ethan nods, holding it up to eye level. "when i was two."

"i'm really happy you showed me this," i whisper. "they're all amazing."

he sets down the old shell and gazes at me.

i'm so in love.

"thank you for being you," he eventually says.

i almost laugh. "what?"

"thank you," he reiterates again slowly. "for being you."

it's such a small thing to compliment about someone, but yet it seems like the most important.

a cheeky grin takes over my face as i take a step closer and duck his chin down.

right as he's about to kiss me, the door busts open.

out of pure instinct, i jump away a couple feet and secretly hope it's not lisa.

"oh," is all grayson says from the doorway. "did i— am i interrupting something?"

ethan rolls his eyes. "what, grayson?"

he reddens. "mom just texted me to tell you that you need to go pick something up at a random boutique in oxnard."

"oxnard?" he gapes. "that's like 50 minutes away. anna leaves in a couple of hours."

grayson shrugs. "i'm sorry, man. she said you had to."

"can't you just go?" ethan pleads.

grayson shakes his head. "i can't. i have to play a round with blake at the club in an hour. sorry."