Fifteen Feet Ahead

Chapter VII

Hey hey hey! Sorry this chapter is pretty short, but I hope you enjoy it anyway.

Xx Audrey

Chapter VII
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It was pretty stupid that our school district was one of the only ones that started classes before Labor Day weekend. I finally get used to the schedule and routine of school, then I have a four-day-weekend and I get right back into the rhythm of summer vacation, just to go back to getting up early and homework again.

Every year my mom, Mrs. Arnolds, Duncan and I spend a Saturday at the beach together. Going to the beach wasn't really that special of an occasion in Florida, but it still wasn't an every weekend thing. Living right in the middle of the state, the beach was still a little over an hour drive in either direction. This year was different because Duncan was gone on one of his club basketball tournaments in Miami, so my mom let me bring a few of my friends. Of course I brought Lucile, Margret, and Dani.

We now sat in the seats of my mom's van, windows rolled down, blasting all the hit summer music, screaming every word.

"I was scared of dentists and the dark!
I was scared of pretty girls and starting conversations! Oh, all my friends are turning green! You're the magician's assistant in their dreams!"

Riptide by Vance Joy was one of those songs that I loved not because I loved the sound or the lyrics of the song itself, I loved it because it took me back to an exact moment of my life when everything was perfect. Even now I still hear it on the radio from time to time, and I can envision my best friends and I in that van, screaming along, my mom rolling her eyes and laughing at the wheel. It was one of those moments when I was completely aware of the good time I was having, when I knew it was something I'd look back on with nothing but happiness.

"Lady, running down to the riptide, taken away to the dark side! I wanna be your left hand man! I love you when you're singing that song, and I got a lump in my throat because you're gonna sing the words wrong!"

I looked back from the front seat. Lucile, Margret, and Dani were all jamming out with their arms up in the air. I took out my iPhone and snapped a video, because I knew it would be something I'd love to watch and relive all over again.

We pulled up to the beach's small gravel parking lot. My mom put the car into park, and the radio was silenced.

"Okay, girls let's start unloading."

• • •

I remember Lucile, Margret, Dani, and I, all dressed in our favorite bikinis, rushing straight for the ocean. The water was clear and warm, and the sun's bright reflections gave it such a blinding shine.

I ran as fast as I could, the water creeped up my body, making it harder and harder to reach Dani. She of course was the farthest out already, being the strongest and the quickest of the entire group. Water up to her shoulders, her golden hair flowing in the sea breeze, laughing and smiling her perfect braceless grin.

"C'mon Margret!" She screamed. Margret of course was the last one to get in the water. She struggled getting past the strong waves, attempting to time her advance into the ocean perfectly, without a single wave crashing on top of her.

"Just run as fast as you can!" Lucile shouted.

"Margret! Margret! Margret!" We all chanted like in that one spongebob episode where all the sea critters cheer for squidward to swim to the surface.

"Okay, okay." She took one final deep breath and bursted into the water. Running as fast as she could, screaming, "aaaahhhhhh."

We all giggled, her voice getting louder, as she inched closer and closer to our location.

"Aaaaaaahhhh!"

"It's about time you got here!" Dani joked.

"Uh," She huffed, completely out off breath from her full out sprint into the ocean.

That was one of those days I knew I'd never forget, one of the last days that I could still be a little kid. Just a few friends, splashing each other in ocean, playing Marco Polo, and searching for seashells... Seriously there was nothing better than that.

We talked about a lot of things, I don't remember most of what we said, but it was all the fun stuff. The best movies of the summer, pointing out the hot guys on the beach, trashing Stacey Jameson and her gang, the good memories from middle school, and things like that. Neither of us mentioned high school, not even Dani, and I don't think it even crossed any of our minds.

And we were all so happy, not a single worry, not a single care in the world.

• • •

Again sorry about the shortness, but I'm kinda ready to get to the good parts. How about you?

HAHA VANCE JOY THOUGH. His music is actually awesome, and you should all look him up.