Endless Summer (bxb)

Part 3: The Beach House

There it was, Rachel's infamous beach house. It was located on top of a stone cliff that overlook the vast sea. You can see both the sunset and sunrise since the view on the horizon is wide. I rolled down my car window to breath in the smell of the beach. It was fresh and you could smell the sea breeze.

Suddenly I thought about my dad, who had separated with my mom. I still remember the last time I saw him, it was in the east side coast and dad had been drunk on multiple days. My mom got so frustrated that she tried to reason out with him, only to have my dad tackle my mom and punched me in the chest. Since then, my father had disappeared and left my mom sad and upset for a few months. I never decided to ask questions because Brett once told me that when adults have a fights, it's off limits to children. But now that i'm no longer a child, can I reason out why dad left?

Rachel slid the van door open and helped everyone with their packages, while Montana parks the car in the garage. I walk past the beautiful front patio of the house, it had a beautiful hammock and a transparent roof that illuminated the chairs and tables beneath . It was an isolated area since no one else lived around the coast, therefore it made it comfortable to sit in the front lawn.

"Okay you know the rules, the rooms are first come first serve!", Rachel tells everyone. But before Rachel could even walk, I ran past her and aimed for the balcony room that overlooked the sea. I bolted straight to the front door and notice that Rachel was no longer behind me. I shrugged and head straight towards the stairs. Suddenly Rachel appears from behind me and grabs my feet making me fall to the bottom of the stairs.

She ran past me and got the room afterwards, "Since when was there a shortcut around here?", I asked.

"Ever since you kept beating me in the race, I renovated the kitchen to have a backdoor and it was the perfect plan since it was closest to the stairs", Rachel chuckles

I nodded, "You have finally defeated me in this race!". I looked around the balcony room and admired everything around it. Then I gave my farewell to the room and headed towards the door.

Corey enters the room and almost bumps into me. I panicked and I leaned against a wall, "So this is the room both of you fight for eh?", Corey looks around and slides the curtain to reveal a view of the sea, "It's beautiful here"

Rachel fiddled with fingers and crept towards Corey, "You can take the room if you want to Corey"

Corey looked at Rachel and smiled at her, "But I didn't even win the race?"

"Yeah but I own this house and I can visit this house anytime, but you guys rarely visit here so I always make sure I prioritize the guest"

That is strange, Rachel was kind but in competitions like our race and prizes like this room, she never backs down and she always claims her glory. I start to notice the look Rachel gave Corey, the subtle smile she gives and the nervousness in her voice. Rachel still liked him.

I felt someone behind me and found Brett peaking in the corridor. He utters an action to follow me and I did. We both went inside his room and he locked it.

"Okay, is it just me or does Rachel still like Corey?", Brett asked

"Damn, you didn't see the way she looked at Corey a while ago?"

Brett sits down and looks at me, "Dante you gotta help me"

"Help you in what way?", I raise my eyebrows and cross my arms.

"Make it look like Corey is still a douche"

Suddenly I felt angry at Brett, "Why would I do that?"

"Cause I know you always got my back", Brett stood up and offers me a fist bump.

I gave him a fish bump and released a deep sigh. How am I going to make Corey look like a bad person? Why am I even helping Brett do this?

Montana releases a loud scream and shouts, "Dinner's ready ya hoes!"

I walk past Drew and Allison's room and suddenly hear thugs on the floor. I bet they were waiting badly to have sex so bad that when the time came, they just let all hell loose.

"Get a life you two!", Brett shouts as he walks past me and pats my shoulders.

Corey walks past me too and smiled as he headed downstairs. Rachel suddenly called out to me and I approached her.

"Dante, can I tell you something but please don't tell Brett", Rachel asks.

"You know I have a bro code with Brett"

Rachel suddenly frowns and offers me a pinky promise, "Because what I might tell you might hurt him"

"You like Corey don't you?"

Rachel smiles and hugs me tightly, "You are always the smartest one in the group"

"Well it was obvious"

Rachel then look at me seriously, and with a calming voice she said, "You know Dante, I think this time, I am serious with a relationship and I'm gonna put all my heart into it, I love Corey and I just know he likes me back"

I smiled at her but inside, I was sad. I never felt this way before, sad and upset of not getting a shot in a relationship. I nodded and she gives me a kiss in the cheek before heading downstairs.

I contemplated on what both Rachel and Brett told me, but I figured out that Rachel is to be the voice of hearing in this topic.

During dinner, we ate outside on the backyard, it was slightly windy and you could smell the sea breeze. It was wonderful and the sun was starting to set. Drew and Allison finally went out of their room and looked like shit. Drew's shirt was inside out and Allison was only wearing one shoe. We all laughed and Brett approached me and asked to speak with me in private.

"So how'd it go with Rachel?", he asked

"Sorry Brett, I can't do it.."

"What do you mean you can't do it?"

"It's just...", I tried to play out every outcome of what I'll say to Brett and just realized they were all bad.

"Oh I get it", Brett nodded "You like Rachel don't you?", Brett suddenly looked upset.

"What? That is-"

"Nah Dante, I thought you were like a brother to me, turns out your just like Corey, stealing the girl I've always had a crush on"

"Brett don't-"

Brett walks past me bumps my shoulders on the way. Montana approached me, "Damn what was that about?"

"I don't even wanna talk about it"

Montana raises her hands, "Okay, sure, no problem at ALL"

We all sat down in the table overlooking the sunset. Rachel stood up and raised a glass of champagne to everyone, "I would like to raise a toast, a toast to a beautiful vacation and a wonderful experience....", Rachel continued making a toast but I was focusing on Brett, who had not raised his glass of wine and looked pretty upset. He tried to avoid eye contact with me throughout the toast.

As I ate the delicious sea food delicacies, I caught in the corner of my eyes Rachel flirting with Corey. It still hurts to see them both but I guess its for the best. Sometimes love for friendship is better than loving your interest. It's complicated but at the end of the day, you are your own moral scale and you can always feel what is right and wrong. But now, I felt like I regret not taking action.