Life’s a real beach, isn’t it?

We got down to the boardwalk and we rushed through everyone and past everything. We were both looking wherever we could just hoping to spot one of them. We kept trying their cells and looking, we gave Kyle and Tyler a call to let them know we were going down to the boardwalk and to stay put. After an hour of searching I felt sick to my stomach. We pasted the merry-go-round and the amusement park, past the smell of fried dough and hotdogs, past the stores and music and all the lights. Finally I felt Mark’s hand in mine pulling me towards the beach. We walked silently towards the shore lines. I threw myself down and rested my head on my knees while I held them up. He looked upset too. Then he looked at me. “Listen…maybe they’re already back at the house, or maybe-” I cut him off, “Wouldn’t Kyle or Tyler call and tell us though? I mean, what if- what if something happened?” I choked back the tears; I didn’t want to seem dramatic. “They’re all adults, and there are four of them so they’ve got to be fine, maybe they-wait a second…” Mark’s face lightened up and then he dialed some number and stood up. I stood up too and waited. “Hey, yeah did dad rent the boat this month?” now I knew he was talking to Tyler. “yeah, okay thanks, yeah okay, bye.” He hung up and smiled. “Every couple months my dad randomly rents this boat he loves, I don’t know why he wont just by it but anyways, he shows it off to all the people working under & above him and he loves taking it out on nights like…well like this one, so hold on.” He dialed another number and I straightened up, the sickness in the pit of my stomach fading. He mumbled then hung up. “Alright, I just called the boat’s owner & he said my dad did rent it for the month & he is ninety percent sure they’re on it right now.” He smiled. I smiled too and then his phone rang. “Hello? What? They are? Alright, okay just tell them we’ll be there in a few.” He said. Then he shut his phone and shoved it in his pocket and looked at me. “They all just got back and they’re having a few drinks on the patio, I told them we’d be home soon we just wanted to get something to eat.” I gave him a huge smile and lunged myself towards him almost knocking him over. He hugged me back and we stayed like that till I pulled away and we started to walk back. We finally made it back home and joined are parents on the patio. They went home after about two hours or so and I went to my room. I sat on my bed and thought and just brushed my hair then I went to the bathroom to get ready for bed and through on some shorts and a tank and then I crawled into bed, I was so tired. I was just falling to sleep when something beeped in my ear and I heard a muffled voice. I jumped up and looked around then heard it clearer and threw my hand under my pillow. The walkie talkie was still under there! Then the voice repeated “Hello? Kristen? You there? The person whispered. I already knew who it was. “Yeah, hey?” I whispered back. “Can you meet me again tonight? Same place?” I looked around the dark room and listened for my parents then checked my cell, it was 12:24am. “Uh, sure. I’m leaving right now.” I whispered. “Alright, over” he whispered. I laughed out loud this time and threw the microphone on my bed and once again climbed out the window. It was so dark outside, but I kept walking and finally found a figure sitting on huge shiny things I figured were the water-covered rocks. I walked over and sat down and crossed my arms over my chest, now getting the full effect of the freezing wind from the crashing waves throughout my body. I looked up and Mark was sitting right there. “Hey, are you okay?” I asked. He looked up at me and ignored my question. “Kristen the other night--” he started. “The other night when I asked you to meet me here and I gave you back your journal, well I didn’t just want to give you back your journal, I had something to tell you…” he sighed. I waited. Finally he said “I can’t put this into words…” then he stopped talking and looked straight at me. Even though it was dark, his green eyes were amazingly bright and just so beautiful. He stood up and took my hands to pull me up too. He held onto my hands and was still staring at me trying to find words. Then he got closer to me. I could feel his body heat radiating off of his body on to mine, which gave me the chills. He smiled then put both hands on my cheeks gently and worked his lips into mine. I followed, moving my lips with his, loving how warm he was, and how many times I had pictured him kissing me and just how he was holding me. Then his hands were in mine and we intertwined them. Then he pulled away, but not from me, just the kiss. We both caught our breath and I finally said “I’m glad you told me that” being sarcastic. He grinned and I shivered again. “Oh, I’m sorry I’m so stupid, you must be freezing…” He took his sweatshirt off and I was happy to see that he had a long sleeve shirt underneath so he wouldn’t be too cold. He wrapped his huge sweatshirt around me and pulled me towards him. I wrapped my arms around him and leaned my head and body onto him. Then we sat down, this time on the sand, still leaned into him and him still holding me, we stayed there for hours it felt like. We didn’t talk just watched the waves and the sky. Then he flipped open his phone and shut it. “Its 2:04 Kristen…” he whispered near my ear. I nodded and we got up. He walked me to my window and gave me a slow kiss on the cheek then I squeezed him and I went through the window and threw back his sweatshirt. He smiled and I smiled back and closed the window.