One Last Time

Chapter 10 | Midsummer

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It Might Be You
Stephen Bishop

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I close my eyes as I welcome the midsummer breeze, listening to the radio of Reed's car. It's been two hours after our lunch with Ronnie. I wondered why she hasn't question my lack of sleep. I found out from Reed that he told her about our night out, resulting to my tired state. Ronnie wanted details but all he said is that we went out for dinner then had a picnic in Wonderland.

"Wonderland, huh?"

"What? Isn't it though? We went to a magical place deep in the forest that nobody else knows about."

I smile at him, and he smiles back at me. I look out window and observe the cars pass by as we get closer to the beach, which I haven't been to in a very long time. I didn't bring any swimwear because I don't plan to swim at all. Reed said he didn't either and just wanted to walk on the sand for relaxation. He runs straight to the shore once we arrived. I watch him dig his feet into the sand then try to drag them as he walked. He calls me over and I follow after him but stopped when he goes into the water.

"C'mon, Maya! The water feels great, especially under this heat."

"Nope, I'm fine right here."

I lay on the sand watching seabirds fly. Reed continues to play around in the ocean, creating a picture of what a child's like on his first day on the beach. Its innocent aura with Reed's gleeful smile melts my heart. I didn't realize I snorted loudly at the thought until Reed's right in front of me. "A sand-dollar for your thoughts?" he asked.

"Sand-dollar?"

"We are at the beach."

I jokingly rolled my eyes at him. He sits down besides me and starts to build a sandcastle. I decided to help him out of boredom. We didn't have any tools with us to help with the shape but it's turning out better than expected. There are two medium lumps parallel to each other with a deep trench in between instead of a moat. While I'm building more walls, Reed's struggling to make a tower on his own. I snickered at him but Reed caught it so I shut my mouth pretending nothing happened.

"You think I suck? You do it then," he challenged.

"Fine!"

"Fine!"

I huffed at him. I flatten the top of my tower building, feeling my lower lip becoming numb from how much I've been biting it in concentration. I continue adding more sand to shape the roof but it falls apart as soon as I try to form it. I groan out of frustration after four tries. Reed's smirked turned into a pout when his tower got destroyed by the tide. He soon moved on to help me finish mine so at least we have one stable tower for our sandcastle. An idea suddenly formed in my head. I pace to the water then get a handful of wet sand to help form the roof. Reed quickly understood what I'm trying to do and holds the sand as I shape it into a cone.

Reed noticed I'm having trouble with it, so he envelopes my hand with his. The sand finally sticks together and keeps its cone shape. A huge smile forms on my face from our accomplishment. I look up to find Reed staring at our hands. I blush after realizing what we're doing then pull them away from his hold. He smiled at my flustered state. We didn't break our gaze until the tide splashes at us. I screamed from how cold it felt while Reed unflatteringly cackled. He stopped as quickly as he heard the unexpected sound he made. My eyes bulged out of shock, not holding back my laugh. I land on my back from laughing too hard. Reed suddenly hovers above me, making sure I'm trapped.

He glared down at me, "You think this is funny?"

"I think you can make this as either the most embarrassing moment of you've experienced or the weirdest thing you've done in your life," I continued laughing. Reed lifts me up and carries me towards the ocean. I attempted to free myself from his hold to the best of my abilities.

"Reed, we don't even have extra clothes with us!"

"Uh, yeah we do. I packed clothes in the back of the trunk along with yours that Ronnie secretly packed for me," he smirked.

I screech as he dived both of us in the water. I cling onto Reed for warmth, "You're crazy, you know that?" he wipes my wet strands of hair away from my face. He doesn't say anything at first, affectionately caressing my right cheek. Despite the coldness of the water, I feel a blanket of warmth from Reed's stare. I hope he can't feel my heartbeat racing from how incredibly close we are.

"Am I too crazy for you to go on a date with?"