Summer Love, Hidden Feelings, and Mistakes

Eva-
We were halfway to the beach when I got a text from Ian.

“Aunt and uncle say I can come. Meet me at the boardwalk?J”

I smiled and texted back.

“Sounds wonderful. (: Can’t wait!”

During the 15 minute walk to the boardwalk, I was lost in thought while Tori and Spencer chatted next to me. I thought about the feelings I had started having for Spencer, and how stupid I was for even thinking about that when I had the totally sexy Ian totally head over heels for me. I didn’t know what to do about any of this, so I decided to just live in the moment and let the chips fall where they may.
We arrived at the boardwalk and I saw Ian standing by Lara, Hunter, Maria, Kaitlynn, and a couple others. All the girls were fawning over him and making him say things so they could hear his accent. He looked a tad bit overwhelmed by them all, but graciously complied with their wishes anyway.
He spotted me, Tori and Spencer and broke away from the group to come over to us. He said hi to Tori and Spencer, then pulled a white rose out from behind his back.
“Some guy was selling these,” he said, smiling at me. “I thought of you instantly. Do you like it?”
“It’s absolutely beautiful, thanks Ian,” I said. I wrapped my arms around his neck and hugged him. He seemed slightly taken aback, but hugged me back. We both pulled away smiling. I decided to not think about Spencer at all, at least for tonight. Ian was too perfect.
We joined the group and all of us walked towards the end of the boardwalk where the bands would be playing. We got there and saved enough seats for all of us. The first band had just started, but we had all heard them play on numerous occasions, except Ian and Tori. We went to school with them, and they were all in the grade above us, same grade as Sebastian. They always played at the parties we went to. They were pretty good for a high school garage band.
All of the sudden, someone came up from behind me and covered my eyes with their hands. I screamed and ripped the hands from my eyes and turned around.
It was just Sebastian, laughing at me.
“You should’ve heard yourself scream,” he said, wiping tears of laughter from his eyes. I slapped him. Hard.
“You’re a dick,” I said. “What are you doing here? Following me?”
“Chill, young one. Me and Lydia needed something to do tonight, and my friends are playing in their band. Now why don’t you tell me who this is you’re holding hands with.”
“Oh, right. Um, Ian, this is my brother Sebastian.” Ian stood up and shook hands.
“Nice to meet you, Sebastian,” he said politely.
“You too,” Sebastian responded, looking at Ian suspiciously. “You’re not from around here are you?”
“No, I’m vacationing here with my aunt and uncle,” Ian responded, not at all fazed by Sebastian’s suspiciousness.
“Hm. Well don’t hurt my sister, or I’ll hurt you, got it?” Sebastian said menacingly. Ian merely smiled.
“I have no intentions of doing that, so I think we’ll be alright, yeah?”
I giggled, while Sebastian glared. His girlfriend Lydia arrived with a group of their friends, who came over and sat near our group. A couple of guys and girls from both of our groups went up to the front and started headbanging and moshing to the song the band was playing. The rest of us sat in our seats and hung out, seeing as it was too loud to talk.
After about another half hour of this, the band finished up their last set and introduced the next band, a country band that had all of us on our feet at the front learning a hoedown. The dance involved a lot of partner switching, so even though I started out with Ian, by the end of the dancing I had danced with many different people, including Hunter, Sebastian, Cal, who was the main singer of the previous band, a bunch of strangers, mostly college guys from out of state, and of course, Spencer. While I was dancing with him, I didn’t let myself think about it as anything more than two friends having a good time.
I had so much fun, and was completely out of breath by the time this band finished up. We all stumbled back to our seats. The guys offered to go buy strawberry lemonade for everyone, and we accepted. While they were gone, we talked about them, of course. Again I had to endure everyone talking about how hot Ian was. Lydia asked me when he was leaving, and I realized I had no idea. I decided to ask him when he got back.
The next band had just finished setting up and was starting their set. I realized that two of the guys, the lead singer and the drummer, were the ones who had come up to Maria and Kaitlynn at the tide pools. The announced themselves, then started playing a slow song. By now, it was getting late and most of the families with small children had left.
Our group was approached by a group of college guys, who asked us to dance. Not wanting to be rude, we all accepted. Our boys were busy with the lemonades anyway, and there would be plenty of time for dancing with them later.
I danced with a really nice guy, whose name was Jordan. He told me about college at the University of Iowa, his major in literature, and his girlfriend, Lacey. I told him about all the best places to visit in town, the background places that most tourists never even hear of. By then the song was done, and the boys were back with the lemonade, so we said our goodbyes.
We went over and sipped our lemonades for half a song, then paired up and went back to the dance floor. The band continued with their slow songs, perfect for dancing and talking. The night was cool, but not too chilly. For a while me and Ian just danced without talking. Eventually I asked him when he was leaving.
“We’re leaving next Friday,” he said. “But let’s not think about leaving yet. That’s a whole week away. Let’s focus on right now, ok?”
I nodded and rested my head on his shoulder, but I couldn’t help thinking about how he was leaving the same day as Tori. That was not gonna be a fun day.
I danced for the next half hour, mostly with Ian, once with Spencer, once with Sebastian, once with Cal, and a couple more times with random college guys who smelled like beer, but were nice enough.
The band finished off their last song, and started packing up their stuff. Maria and Kaitlynn went over to talk with them, and me and Tori also went over to compliment them.
They thanked us and told us they were glad we liked it, and also told us about a friend that was having a party tomorrow night. We agreed to think about coming, and all exchanged numbers. Me and Tori went back to the others and told them about the party too. There hadn’t been a good party around here in awhile, so they were all excited for it.
A party.. With drinking and drugs. Not usually my thing, and I knew it wasn’t Tori’s either, but who knows, it could be fun. Hopefully it wouldn’t end badly.