08/22/2015

chapter two ;

♡

two days after the first day of school, I woke to someone gently shaking my shoulder. When my eyes fluttered open, I wasn't surprised to find Benny leaning over me.

Rather than speaking, I covered my face with both arms. My mouth didn't taste gross, but I didn't want to chance the morning breath.

"Hey," Benny smiled, pressing a quick kiss to my forehead. "Wanna go to the beach?"

The word caught my attention. As crazy as it sounded, I hadn't been to the beach in California at all. My parents worked too much, and I was always at the sandlot.

"Yes!"

Benny grinned, forcing my arms aside. He planted his lips onto mine, and I immediately squirmed away, refusing to open my mouth until I turned my head away.

"Benny, I haven't even brushed my teeth," I groaned.

Before I could make an attempt to slip out of bed, his arms looped around my waist. He scooped me into his arms with ease, making it impossible to turn over.

"I don't care." He kissed me again, and this time, I didn't resist – I didn't open my mouth either, but that was beside the point.

"Is she up?" a new voice spoke from my doorway – Elizabeth. Then she broke off, and when Benny and I pulled away from each other, we found her staring at us with a bored expression. "Never mind. . . ."

A smile grew on my lips, and I pushed Benny's chest lightly, so that he would put me down. When he did, I stood to my feet and stretched – suppressing the noise that wanted to escape my lips.

"Well . . . I'll be downstairs," Elizabeth drawled, backing away a bit. Then a dazzling smile broke out onto her face, and she sent me a wink. "Don't be too long."

My eyes widened, and my cheeks heated up. Did she really think that Benny and I would. . . . ?

Once she was gone, I whirled around to face Benny, my lips parted in surprise. "Why does everyone think that you and I do stuff? We're only fourteen!"

Benny laughed, shrugging. "I have no idea."

Benny waited while I took a shower, then got ready to go to the beach. He had already been dressed properly, in a white tank and red trunks. So, I decided to match him.

Underneath a white crop top and high-waisted shorts, I wore a red bikini. My dark, curly hair fell loosely over my shoulders, not quite dry yet, and I threw it into a ponytail. Finally, I slipped on a pair of leather flip flops, and grabbed my favorite pair of sunglasses.

Downstairs, Benny sat on the couch, staring at the screen of his phone. Elizabeth, however, was no where to be seen.

"Where's Elizabeth?" I questioned, making my way into the kitchen.

"She ran to the store to get some food," he answered, putting his phone away. "You know, for the beach. Guess we'll be having a picnic. Mom's coming too."

"Oh, really?" I grinned. When I looked back, I saw that Benny had walked into the kitchen. I hadn't even heard his footsteps.

"Yeah," he confirmed, smiling warmly at me; after returning the smile, I went back to rummaging through the fridge. "It'll be good for her. She's not sick anymore, so she's been making all these plans. I think she's in touch with her adventurous side now."

I sighed, closing the fridge when I couldn't find anything worth eating. Cereal was getting old, to the point that I didn't even want to eat any of it. My hunger was a bit distracting, but I felt happy for Lynn.

"That's good," I remarked, moving on to the cabinets. "Maybe she can get some healthy exercise and stuff. So, was it her idea to go to the beach?"

"Yeah. She wanted me to ask Luke, Jamie and Terry to come too, but they aren't here."

"They'll both be off work tomorrow . . . Maybe we could all go then," I suggested, moving on to the next cabinet. "Ugh! Luke ate all the granola bars."

Benny laughed, and then I felt his arms snake around my waist from behind. He let his head droop a bit, so that his cheek pressed against my temple.

"You could call him, tell him to get some more," he offered. "He went with Liz to the store. He's helping her, I guess."

My eyebrows rose, and I attempted to look over at him. Of course, though, that didn't work, so I settled with resting my hands on top of his, which met at my lower stomach.

"Is he coming with us?" I asked.

"Yup."

"Wow," I mumbled, slightly shocked. "I'm surprised."

"Why's that?"

Because he kissed Elizabeth. "'Cause he and Skylar aren't fighting anymore. I figured he'd be spending all his time with her again."

"True." Benny finally pulled away, only to interrupt my searching and whirl me around. "But I don't mind doing that."

He pressed his lips to mine. My hand rested on his stomach, and slowly, it traveled upward. Since I had brushed my teeth, I didn't hold back this time. My hand slid up his toned stomach, his chest, and eventually, my fingers curled around the nape of his neck.

"Guess what," he whispered against my lips. Immediately after, he closed the space between our lips again.

"Hm?" I didn't bother to break the kiss again.

He pulled away once more, although his arms remained around my waist. A dazzling smile grew on his perfect face; he was out of breath, so his warm, minty breathing hit my face.

"I love you."

point of view.

Contrary to previous days, Liz and I remained silent as we explored the grocery store. Although we had made the agreement to forget the kiss, the awkwardness hadn't truly vanished.

The day ahead, I knew, would be a good one. I had a gut feeling. Still, I couldn't help but to feel horrible about it. I had told Skylar that I was going somewhere with my family – which was partially true, because Makayla was coming – but I didn't tell her where, and I failed to mention that the Rodriguez family would be with me as well.

Once we found everything we were looking for, we made our way to the front of the store to check out. Suddenly, my phone began to ring.

I answered with a, "Hello?"

"Get granola bars," Makayla's voice rang out from the other line; she sounded slightly out of breath.

"What? We still have some," I frowned.

"No, you ate them all," she insisted. "Just grab some, please."

I rolled my eyes. "Fine. See you in a few minutes. Love you."

"Love you too." She beat me to ending the call.

Elizabeth smiled sheepishly up at me. "That Makayla?"

"Yup. How'd you know?"

"I heard, 'You ate them all', and I knew," she laughed. "What was it this time?"

The awkwardness slowly began to break away, and a smile grew on my lips. "The granola bars. They're really good, actually. . . ."

"Well, go ahead and get some," she said. "I'll wait for you."

"Thanks." With that, I whirled around and practically darted for the aisle the granola bars were in.

Rather than getting a box of every different type like I wanted to, I settled for one. In all honesty, I didn't want to keep Liz waiting, in fear that the return of our comfort would crumble if I took too long.

When I got back, Liz was already setting the short amount of groceries – snacks, really – onto the conveyer belt. I threw the box of granola bars on top of a box of pink sugar cookies.

Elizabeth watched as I stood by the plastic bags, taking them and dropping them into the cart once they were full. The final price amounted to approximately thirty dollars, and I pulled out my wallet.

"Luke, what are you doing?" Liz questioned, her voice rising in surprise.

When I looked at her, I attempted to smirk – to act as though I were doing this just because I felt like it. But my eyes betrayed me, and I knew she could see the pity. For that, I decided not to lie.

"Just helping you out." And when I spoke, my voice was much gentler than I had expected. "I know that you need the extra money. . . ."

"You don't have to," she whispered. "Really, it's f – "

"No, I want to," I assured her. "It's not fine," I added in a whisper. "Not for you. Just let me do this."

Liz opened her mouth to protest, but I shook my head at her. Of course, she was stubborn – she wouldn't let people spend money on her, not when she thought she could help it. But this time, she closed her mouth. And suddenly, she looked pitiful to me – even she knew that she needed this.

"It's not a problem at all," I added in a light tone. "I've got money to blow. I don't need this . . . so I might as well do something good with it."

The cashier, a middle-aged woman, stared at me in awe. While handing her the money, I cast her a smile. Her dark eyes were glossy.

"Have a wonderful day, both of you," she said, as she handed me the cash back. "God bless."

Liz and I left the store, and my chest felt swollen. Doing kind things had always made me feel great about myself. But Liz's eyes remained downcast, and I knew she felt horrible. I wanted to give her money, but she would have never accepted that.

Once inside my car (I insisted we use mine so that Liz didn't have to use her gas), I stole a glance at Liz.

"You okay?"

She avoided my gaze, but when she spoke, her voice cracked. "You don't have to keep doing this for me."

"No," I responded, "but I want to. Do you think I've been lying about that? I'm not. I get paid way too much for a job as a lifeguard, and – "

"That's because the girls like you," Liz broke in. "It's not your fault that you're . . . well, that the girls go crazy over you. I didn't even know that lifeguards could get tipped."

"Neither did I," I laughed, but Liz was hardly amused. "And don't think I don't see the way the guys stare at you. And I've already got enough for college. If you're going to go too . . . Well, you can accept some help. I know how hard it must be. . . ."

Liz didn't speak as I finally started the car and backed out of the parking lot. At first, I thought she didn't have a reply. But then I looked over, and she was staring out of the window, hand over her mouth, shoulders shaking.

My heart broke for her. The struggle must have been killing her. I didn't want her to feel that pain. She was my best friend. . . .

I reached over and grabbed her free hand. "It's okay, Liz. I know they're not letting Lynn work, but someone will be willing. I could look around. I bet Skylar's parents have enough money to give her a job of their own. Something that won't be too hard."

Despite the fact that Skylar was my girlfriend, and Liz had always known that, I felt a bit awkward about mentioning her name. I didn't know why, considering I was the one who kissed Liz. It wasn't like she had kissed me back. It wasn't like it had meant anything to her. . . .

"I'll talk to them about it soon," I promised, attempting to hide the desperation in my voice . . . I just wanted Liz to cheer up, to be able to forget the crushing weight on her shoulders; she didn't deserve it.

"You don't have to, Luke," she whispered. "I'll figure something out."

I squeezed her hand, and my heart skipped a beat when her fingers actually curled around mine. Internally, I was afraid she would reject me, although I was only trying to comfort her.

"No," I protested, "you don't need to. If you won't let me give you money, then I'll help you in some other way. None if it is a problem. You aren't grown yet . . . Enjoy life while you can, and let me take some of that stress off your shoulders. All I want is for you to be happy."

point of view.

The ride to Santa Monica took little over an hour. Lynn sat passenger in Luke's car, and Elizabeth sat in the back with me and Benny.

As I'd expected, the Santa Monica State Beach was packed. Even still, it was beautiful, and I mentally cursed myself for not coming earlier. Benny grinned at me as Luke pulled into an empty parking space.

Luke and Benny handled the snacks, so the girls and I made our way onto the beach. We found the spot with the least people, and we set out blankets.

When the boys approached us, I said, "Guys, do not get sand on the blankets. Please!" Luke had always had a tendency to do just that – probably just to aggravate me.

Luke grinned evilly, but Lynn pointed at him. "Seriously," she agreed. "If we get sand on the blanket or the food, I'll whoop some tail."

"There's definitely gonna be some sand on the blanket, Ma, how do we avoid that?" Benny chuckled. "It's on the sand."

"This is how," I said, taking off my flip flops, which were overflowing with sand. Very carefully, I sat down, making sure not to touch the sand with my hands or anything else other than my feet. "Then . . . you wipe the sand off of your feet, and you can scoot back."

Grinning, Benny grabbed onto my hand and pulled me to my feet. He then wrapped me into an embrace. He was extra touchy-feely that day – not that I had minded.

"All right, should we eat first or – "

"Swim!" Luke exclaimed, cutting Elizabeth off.

Despite the tired look on her face, Elizabeth laughed and began to peel off her shirt. Lynn settled down onto the blanket, careful not to kick sand anywhere. Benny's arm wrapped around my waist, and he asked,

"What do you wanna do?"

"Before I get wet, we need to take some pictures, okay?"

He chuckled. "You and your pictures. With as many pictures as we take, I'm surprised your phone can still take them."

"Oh, shut up. You ask me to send every single one of them to your phone, and you save them all, so."

Lynn laughed, watching us with warm eyes. "He even wants to – "

"No, Mom!" Benny shrieked, his eyes growing wide. "It's supposed to be a surprise."

"Oh, right. Sorry." Lynn closed her mouth, a smile following, and pressed her index finger to her lips.

Curiosity hit me like a truck, and my eyes flickered between the two. "What do you want to do, Benny?"

"You like surprises," he responded. It wasn't a question – everyone knew I liked surprises . . . but I also liked them better when I didn't see them coming.

"You'll like it," Lynn promised. "Here . . . I can take the pictures."

♡

The time seemed limitless when I was with Benny. With my family. If my own parents had been present, everything might have been utterly perfect. Although . . . the ocean water didn't feel (in my eyes) or taste wonderful.

I assumed hours had passed, but the sun continued to shine brightly – we had left quite early. Even Lynn seemed to have lost track of the time, because she played around as much as the teenagers did.

The waves were fun to dive into, so that was what Benny and I had spent a lot of our time doing. Still, I felt a bit scared that I was going to start my period; my cramps had been horrible, and the signs showed that I was about to start.

In the distance, I found that Lynn, Elizabeth and Luke were closer to the beach. I would have been fine with asking one of the females to check for me and make sure that I was "good", and usually, I could count on Luke, but that was when I wore pants. . . .

"Hey, Benny," I said, turning around to face him, a sheepish expression on my face. "Um . . . could you do me a favor?"

"Yeah, sure." He ran his fingers through his wet hair, sweeping it off of his forehead.

"Uh, don't think this is weird or anything, but could you, like . . . check me? Make sure I haven't started . . . ?"

I knew Benny wasn't weirded out by periods, but I was still embarrassed. He understood instantly and laughed.

"You're good," he answered.

"But you didn't even look!"

A smirk grew on his lips, and he looked down at the water. My mouth dropped, but I couldn't help but to burst into a fit of laughter.

All of a sudden, my laughter was cut short; a wave crashed into my back with such force, I was knocked off balance and into Benny. Although he lost his balance too, his arms wrapped around my waist, as if to prevent my falling.

Once under water, he was forced to let go of me. Our bodies rolled and twisted with the wave, but we both jumped to our feet at the same time. Our eyes met, and we both burst into laughter once more.

"That was awesome!" Benny exclaimed. "I didn't even see it coming!"

"Did I hurt you?" My insecurities kicked in, and suddenly, I wanted to crawl into a hole. What if I had hurt him?

"No," he laughed, scooping me up out of the water, "not at all."

I laughed, throwing my arms around his neck. Then we heard our names being called, and we looked over to see that the others were on the beach, beckoning us.

Benny carried me the entire way to the blankets, and we both pulled on a towel. Of course, the guys simply dried off and removed their towels, but I kept my own wrapped around me.

Before we could start the picnic, we all decided to get snow cones, as there was a concession stand selling them a short distance away. Luke offered to pay, and he gave Benny and me the money to get them.

Before leaving, I slipped on the loose, white V-neck I brought along. Then Benny and I made our way across the sand, to the snow cone stand.

A group of girls nearby pointed at Benny and giggled. By the way they tried to call his name out, I assumed they knew him.

"I think they want you," I said to Benny, jerking my head in their direction as we stood in line.

Benny looked to his left, and when his eyes found them, they waved at him, grinning. One girl eyed him seductively, and I grimaced.

"You're hot!" one of the girls shouted, immediately diving behind the others, who erupted into fresh giggles.

Surprisingly, they didn't really bother me. Benny was unbothered as well. He simply averted his attention back to me, and with a small smile, he wrapped an arm around my waist. For good measure, he pecked my lips.

The girls shut up.

The flavors seemed endless, but Benny and I finally settled on a dark red flavor juice called "Tiger Blood". For Luke, I decided on cherry, considering that was his favorite flavor of everything. Ironically, it was Elizabeth's favorite as well. Lynn's was blue raspberry.

On the way back to the others, my eyes wandered across the beach and its visitors. My heart dropped to the pit of my stomach when I spotted the boy with dirty-blond hair. Jordan Phillips.

Though he'd given a believable performance on my porch, confessing his "love" for me, I didn't believe a word he had said. Even if I had felt less negatively toward him, I had already learned from my mistakes – the boys hated him, and I would never get involved with him again.