Head on Collision

Jack’s POV

I stuffed my arms into the sleeves of my hoodie quickly when I heard Rian toot his horn outside. I rolled my sleeves up to my elbows and left the zipper undone; my black wolverine t-shirt easily noticeable under the plain black of my hoodie. I chucked my white over sized shoulder bag onto my bed and chucked sunscreen and my towel into it. I shrugged and picked it up; swinging it over my shoulder. I stuck my hat on my head almost side ways and slid my sunnies onto my face. I stuffed my feet into my flip flops and took off out of my room; yelling to my mum that I was leaving as I ran down the hall way.

“Are you coming home tonight?” she called to me.

“Probably, yeah,” I yelled back. “Bye!”

I closed the front door behind me and jogged across the front lawn to Rian’s car. As I got closer, I noticed they were missing someone.

“Where’s Alex?” I asked as I opened the back door of Rian’s deep blue jeep and climbed in.

“Well, we realised something on the drive home yesterday,” Zack started; turning around to face me.

I looked at him; confused, raising an eyebrow to accentuate the point.

“We don’t know where Alex lives,” Zack finished.

I mentally slapped myself. Of course they didn’t. I only knew because we walked home together. They had only really seen him at school.

“Oh, right,” I laughed. “My bad. You know that white two storey place on Beaton street?”

“Yep,” Rian replied; glancing at me in the rear view.

“He lives there,” I told them.

“Shit. Really?” Zack explained; taking a sip of what looked to me as a bottle of orange juice. “They must have some cash on them to afford a place like that.”

“I guess,” I shrugged. “I haven’t asked him about it; really.”

“We should go get him, yeah?” Rian offered. “So, we get a good spot on the beach.”

I nodded and Rian chucked a u-turn; pulling away from the curb slowly. He drove quickly; as Rian always did. And we quickly pulled up in front of Alex’s house. Zack produced a low whistle when we came to a stop.

“This place is so much nicer than my place,” he admitted; admiring the house. He chugged the rest of his juice. “Dude. It’s huge!”

I nodded at Zack.

“That was my reaction too,” I admitted.

Rian tooted the horn, making me jump a little. I slid over to the other side of the back seat and unlocked Alex’s door for him; sliding back and waiting for him to walk out. I sat impatiently; tapping my fingers on my board short clad thigh. I watched the front door and when it finally opened I had to smile. Alex stepped out; pulling the big door closed behind him.

He was decked out in black shorts; not sure if they were board shorts or just normal shorts and a white vneck t-shirt. His now darkish brown hair sat messily on his head and his fringe swept to the side off his face. As he came closer I noticed his flip flops on his feet; simple black ones making his pale, English boy skin stand out. He had a black bag over his shoulder and a plastic bag in his other hand. He stopped beside the jeep and adjusted his bags so he could open the door. He climbed up into the jeep and put his bags on the floor at his feet.

I looked at the plastic bag curiously; trying to decipher what was in the bag. Failing; I chose to change my focus to Alex’s face.

“My mum wouldn’t let me go without bringing something for us to share,” he shrugged. “She went out and bought corn chips and some sort of salsa dip.”

“Sounds good to me,” Rian shrugged; with a grin on his face. “I love me some corn chips.”

“Good. You can have it,” Alex said; a picked up the plastic bag; handing it to Zack to keep in the front seat. “Nice ride by the way man.”

"Thank you,” Rian grinned into the rear view mirror.

“Sup Zack?” Alex leaned forward a little.

“Nothing much,” Zack replied. “Pretty psyched for this actually. It won’t be warmer for much longer.”

“This weathers amazing in comparison to England’s, trust me,” he smiled and leaned back into his seat. “This sun is awesome.”

“Is that why you’re only in t-shirt and shorts?” Zack asked. "Whereas the rest of us have hoodies and shit?”

“I guess,” he replied; tugging at his vneck unsurely.

“Dude, chill,” Zack told him. “It shouldn’t be too cold tonight. You’ll be fine.”

Rian pulled away from the curb again and started the journey to the beach. Driving even faster now then before; I tightened my seat belt subconsciously. Alex turned his head to face me; the side of his face lying against the head rest. I copied his position; smiling at him.

“And how are you today, Jack?” he asked with a smile on his face.

“Never better, Alex, never better,” I responded; my smile just as wide as his.

According to Rian, it would take about an hour and half to get to Chesapeake Beach in good traffic. But with the way Rian drove, over the speed limit and like a crazy person, it didn’t take us long to get there. We pulled into the parking lot along the edge of the sand at about 10.30am. I looked out at the beach from the jeep. The sand a yellow almost white and fading into a crystal clear blue and the sun was reflecting off the water. There weren’t many people on the beach; a couple on one side and a few scattered kids from school who had obviously beaten us here. Rian opened his door first; popping the boot. Zack climbed out next; grabbing his own bag, Rian’s bag and the plastic bag with the chips and salsa in it. I jumped out; Alex slid to my side and climbed out behind me. We all walked around to the back of the jeep; Rian opened the boot. He and Zack reached in; each grabbing the handle of a giant cooler and pulling it from the boot. They started their way down to the sand. I slammed the boot closed. We kicked off our shoes as we hit the pathway where the sand started.

I stole a glance at Alex; who walked beside me silently. He had a smile on his face that could melt butter with how warm it was. His top teeth were showing; the corner of his bottom lip in between his teeth. I watched as his grin grew. I had to.

“What are you smiling at?” I asked him; amused by the grin.

“Nothing,” he turned to me abruptly, like he was busted doing something.

“No seriously,” I pushed. “Tell me. You were grinning like mad.”

“It’s lame,” he told me; watching his feet as we walked down the final gangplank and out onto the sand.

The sand was warm on my bare feet and I silently thanked myself for remembering my sunglasses.

“So?”

“Fine,” he sighed. “I was smiling because I’m hanging out, on the weekend with my friends at a beach. Okay?”

“Is that it?” I laughed.

“See. Told you it was lame,” he muttered and walked faster; quickly ended up a few feet in front of me.

I sped up; catching up within a few steps. I draped my arm around his shoulders and patted him on the chest with my palm. He looked at me slightly.

“It’s not lame alright,” I told him softly. “I'm happy that you’re smiling.”

“Really?” Alex asked. He reached up; holding the hand I had on his chest in his. I blushed slightly.

“Yeah,” I cleared my throat. “I mean, I like it when you smile."

He smiled up at me; the smile from before.

“As long as you hang around, you should get used to the smile, Jack,” Alex told me; stroking my hand gently with his thumb.

I smiled down at him. Rian and Zack stopped in front of us and Alex and I jumped apart; Alex pretending to look in his bag for something and I fiddled with my hat.

“This spot alright for you guys?” Zack asked and I nodded straight away; dumping my bag on the sand.

“Awesome,” Rian agreed. “This thing was getting heavy.”

He and Zack lowered the cooler onto the sand. Zack opened it; pulling out a soda and throwing one to each of us. I nodded in thanks and pulled the pin thing to open it; sculling about half the can. I put it down on the closed lid of the cooler and pulled my beach towel from my bag; lying it on the sand and plonking my but down. Alex did that same; his deep purple towel being thrown out flat beside mine. He sat down too; glancing around at his surrounding.

I was glad he was so happy and already having fun. Knowing he would be here for the day made me know that I was going to have a good time. He smiled his smile again; looking up at Zack. Zack pulled his hoodie off and the singlet he was wearing underneath.

“I'm going in,” he announced. “Anyone else?”

“Yeah,” Rian responded; pulling his hoodie off too. “I'm in.”

“How about you guys?” Zack asked Alex and I.

“I want to build a sandcastle,” I admitted with a grin.

“Yeah,” Alex agreed. “I'm going to stay up here. Maybe get a tan or something.”

“Your loss,” Rian shrugged. “I’ll race you to the water, Merrick.”

“You’re on, Dawson,” Zack smirked. “On your mark, get set, GO!”

The pair took off kicking sand everywhere as they ran down the beach. Zack reached the water first; throwing himself into a wave face first. He appeared moments later; fists in the air in victory. Rian splashed him and the wrestling begun.

“Are you seriously going to build a sandcastle?” Alex asked me.

“Yes,” I told him. I unzipped my hoodie and pulled it off. “Is that a problem?”

“No,” Alex shook his head. “Isn't it kids stuff though?”

“Alex, my dear friend,” I shook my head and turned my hat around backwards. I slid forward off my towel and sat in the sand. “I am a kid.”

“That’s true,” he laughed. "A big kid."

“I take it you aren’t going to help me?” I asked and Alex shook his head.

“I'm not much of a sandcastle builder.”

I watched him as he pulled a book from his bag and settled himself on his stomach. He brushed his fringe from his face and I smiled.

“Suit yourself,” I smiled; dragging piles of the slightly damp sand towards me.

I looked back up at Alex. He was biting his lip the way he was before and I couldn’t help but smile. I just couldn’t help but find that adorable.