Dark Eyed Dreamers

I was lay, isolated from the others on a towel I had sprawled across the sand. My eyes were shut and the crashing of the waves soothed me. I found myself lost in deep thought with the laughter and screams from the others who had turned up. Carolyn and Zack arrived together shortly after Jack had discarded his hood and Nikes and my other friend Louise had also arrived after Alex called her and told her what was going on. At this point all the others were quenching their boredom by playing with a beach ball Alex had brought along. I however had decided to sit out, sitting with everyone’s belongings. The noises seemed to get quieter and quieter as the moments passed but I paid no attention to it. The calm atmosphere had me trapped in a haze between sleep and consciousness. I fought to keep my eyes open and finally was about to let them slip when freezing cold liquid came into contact with my skin causing me to let out a piercing scream and bolt upright. I was suddenly fully awake. Pulling the sunglasses from my eyes I took in my surroundings. Jack stood closest to me with a grin plastered on his face, a dripping bucket in one hand. The other boys were scattered meters away and taking in our current situation. All the guys and girls apart from Jack started laughing but right now I didn’t care about them. My eyes bore into Jack’s and his grin suddenly dropped along with the colour from his face.

“Barakat, I am going to KILL you!” I screamed.

“Run,” he whimpered to himself as I took to my feet and started chasing after him. Every now and then he would check behind him and then seeing I was still there, ran a bit faster. The laughing was still going on but it was quickly fading as Jack and I quickened our pace. There was only one thing keeping me from catching him and that was length of his scrawny legs but I kept going faster and faster despite the burning in my lungs. Darting round a large cave like rock I suddenly came to a halt. I took in my surroundings only to see no movement anywhere. I looked over several rocks but there was no sign of Jack. That was until I heard a crack behind me. Whipping my head around I caught site of Jack, dead still and clearly trying to tip toe past me but instead ended up stepping on a dead crab. I let out a frustrated growl and pounced at him sending us both toppling over onto the sand. I quickly gained my composure, sitting on his hips and pinning his hands to his sides.

“Look what you did to me!” I exclaimed jutting out my lip. He simply giggled and slid one of his hands out from under me, reaching up he took a hold of one of my wet strands of hair and began to twirl it around my finger. I raised an eyebrow as he started to slow down, his eyes travelling from his fingers to my eyes before his hand halted entirely. Almost instantaneously I was pushed to the side and he was up to his feet trying to make a getaway but I turned around just in time to latch onto his ankle and send him flying to the ground.

“Ooft!” He muttered as his chest hit the sand. I rose to my feet and folded my arms across my chest.

“Nice try Barakat,” I scolded.

“Since when are we on last name basis?” He asked backing into the large rock separating us from the others. I walked over, dropping to my knees and crawling closer to him.

“Since you decided to dump the sea on me,” I replied coolly. One of my hands held me up whilst the other pointed to my face. Jack propped his back up against the rock and I took the opportunity to sit down on his lap to stop him from moving anymore.

“I don’t see what the big deal is,” he shrugged.

“Well here’s a thought, why aren’t you covered in ocean?” I asked folding my arms once more.

“Because I haven’t been near the water,” he nodded.

“Exactly, I didn’t plan on getting wet today,” I replied rolling my eyes.

“That’s what she said,” Jack instantly replied wiggling his eyebrows. I dropped my jaw and raised my eyebrows before slapping his arm.

“Jack!” I whined causing him to break out into laughter. I felt my cheeks burn and buried my face in his chest but found myself laughing too. A moment later we were still laughing and I looked up at him grinning to see what he was finding so funny. When I looked back up I caught his eye and he looked at me, grinning just as much. Within that moment our eyes locked and I was certain he could see how comfortable I felt with him. His eyes then flickered down to my lips as mine did to his and both of us lent in to close the distance between us. Within the same moment though we both froze up and pulled away. Our eyes once again locked but this time the only emotion displayed in those chocolate gems was pure horror.

“That wasn’t meant to happen,” I said, the words were rushed and almost blended into one.

“No it wasn’t,” he confirmed. I thought about how much I’d waited for Jack’s lips pressed against mine, how much I’d wanted to be sat in his embrace and just savour his being. I’d dreamt about how perfectly his lips would fit against mine, and I was right. It was just like the pieces of a puzzle fitting together and it was everything I wanted but it shouldn’t have been confirmed this way. Jack had a girlfriend. That girl wasn’t me and the guilt of betraying one of my best friends by sneaking off with her boyfriend was already eating me alive. What had I done?