Show Them What it Means To Be Alive

but right now I wanna watch the tide roll in with my best friends

After a little while, the constant movement of the small car that Melanie had become accustomed to slowed down to an eventual stop. It took her a little while longer than that to ease out of her daze; And once the last of the car doors slammed shut, she realized they were finally there.

Wherever ‘there’ may be.

The morning sun was in the midst of rising, and the pink and purple sky was filled with just enough light for Melanie to see the shadows of Alex and Jack racing each other towards the horizon. Melanie took a step outside, slowly taking in the feeling of being on solid ground again.

And it was then that she saw where they were going; just ahead, was a small stretch with hills of sand, followed by a beautiful blue ocean, the rising sun casting sparkles onto the contours of the small waves.

Rian and Zack weren’t too far behind the first two, but unlike Jack and Alex, they were headed towards the water. It had almost gotten to the point where Melanie didn’t bother questioning what Alex and Jack were up to, but it really looked like they were trying to make snow-angles in the sand.

“I really hope they get sand in their pants,” She admitted to Kara, who was standing where the concrete sidewalk met the sand, overlooking the beach.

“Don’t – they’ll just take them off,” Her friend laughed in response, “And continue doing... whatever the hell it is they’re doing.”

The two girls spent the next few minutes with looks of amusement plastered across their faces as they watched the boys destroy wherever peacefulness was left of the beautiful scenery.

“So this is where I’m being kidnapped to?” Melanie mused. “Sure beats being fed to arctic creatures.”

“Well you can thank Alex for that,” Kara smiled, “After all, it was his idea for us to take you here.”

“I think I’ll do that now,” She replied with a grin stretching from ear to ear.

She ran towards Alex who was sitting down, watching the sunrise while idly playing with the sand in his hands. Jack had apparently ditched him to jump in the waves like a hyped up child who’s never seen an ocean before. And either he had gotten sand in his pants, or Kara’s warning was useless, because the kid was in his underwear.

The feeling of sun-warmed sand between her toes was easily the most perfect feeling Melanie had encountered this season. That spot, however, was quickly replaced by the feelings of Alex’s arms around her, and his warm laughter as she tackled him into the sand.

“Thank you, thank you, thank you, thank you!” Melanie squealed as she planted soft kisses on Alex’s neck, cheek, nose, and forehead.

“You’re so welcome.” Alex smiled with a smirk, “But, you missed a spot.” He pouted, sticking his bottom lip out.

“Ungrateful now, are we?” She teased, but still softly pressed her lips onto his.

“You know, sunrises are my favorite,” Melanie mumbled into the silence.

They were now repositioned so he was laying on his back, with his legs slightly spread and her in the middle. They were both facing up, looking towards the clouds of orange and pink in the early morning sky. Alex gently twirled his finger in Melanie’s light brown hair as she carefully listened to every one of his heartbeats.

“Hello?” She questioned, after not getting a response in a return, “Anyone there?”

“I’m thinking,” This time Melanie got a response.

“It’s a miracle,” she joked

Alex carried on, ignoring her sarcastic, although harmless, comment.

“About a few nights ago,” He began; she instantly knew what he was talking about, “Did you mean that?”

“Well, yes. I mean, um. I don’t know.” Melanie stuttered, her mouth not quite knowing how to form words out of her jumbled thoughts.

She didn’t want to upset Alex, but at that point, ‘I don’t know’ was the honest truth.

“What do you mean?” Alex inquired, still playing with the younger girl’s hair, “I can take it. I’m a big boy.”

“Alex. It’s just that, I meant it. But I don’t know where to go from here.”

“Do you like me?” He cut in

“Yes,” She shamelessly admitted

“Good. I do too. Is that so hard?”

“You don’t get it,” Melanie interrupted, “It’s not that easy.”

“Okay, then you’re right. I don’t get it. What are you trying to get at?” He pressed on.

“Alex – I can’t fall for you. We have like, three weeks left of this camp. What’s going to happen afterwards? We can’t pretend this is going to work. I know this is summer. It’s supposed to be easy. But I can’t give my heart to you with the thought I may never see you again.”

“Melanie,” Alex’s voice softened, it comforted her to realize he had taken all of her worries in, “Fuck fate. Let’s try this out for ourselves, no one else.”

She smiled at that thought, although knowing her mind didn’t work that way.

“It’s easier said than done, Alex. I just can’t do this. I can’t have you for a month and then live the rest of my life knowing what I’m missing out on.”

“Live in the moment, Mellie. Think about what you’d miss out on if you didn’t give this a chance.”

Melanie sighed, knowing she wasn’t going to win this.
Although she wasn’t even quite sure which side she was on in the first place.

“You know what?” Mel asked softly; Alex perked up. “Fuck it. I like you, you like me. So what do we do now?”

“Well,” Alex started, fighting the ocean breeze to adjust his bangs, “Since we have a few weeks left, I think we should get a head start. I’d love to be able to call you my girlfriend. But if you just want to be two people who like each other, that’s fine too,” Contrary to what he said, his hopeful tone dropped a bit for the past part.

“How about we’ll just be Mel and Alex for this weekend? We both like each other, so I’ll decide on a label later.”

“Label? Like Mel-ex or something?”

“No, like boyfriend—girlfriend, silly.”

“Boyfriend. I like the way that sounds.”

“We’ll seeee...” Melanie sang. To her, it felt nice to be the one to keep Alex guessing this time.

The conversation stopped as their tired eyes focused completely on the explosion of colors coming from the horizon. Although the summer heat made her perfectly comfortable, the heat radiating off of their close bodies was a different kind; one that she could embrace year-round without getting tired of.

“Hey Mellie?”
“Hm?”
“Happy Birthday.”