Summer Lovin'

People who know me well, know enough to never wake me up when I don’t think I’ve had enough sleep. Why?

Because I’m definitely not a morning person. I’m a total bitch when I’m sleep deprived. Once it’s around noon, I’m okay and people can wake me up then. But when it comes earlier than that, don’t even think about waking me up.

I’m a teenager, and I know teenagers like to sleep a lot, but I don’t know, something about me is always tired and I always have to sleep.

It’s weird.

I sleep through anything. Literally. One time I slept through a tornado, and a fire alarm at the same time. My dad wasn’t too happy about that. Whatever.

I can sleep literally anywhere.

I fell asleep on my friend’s wooden floor in the most awkward position, and I fell asleep standing up when my parents and I were taking a tour somewhere. Yeah, my dad wasn't too thrilled about that one either.

Suddenly, someone was shaking me violently, causing me to scream out of fright, flailing my arms around everywhere.

"Nahla Jackson Stahr, wake up!"

I groaned, burying my head in my fluffy pillow, trying to drown out my mother's cries. "Go away!" I barked, trying to get back to sleep.

She shook me again, even rougher than the last time. "No! Get up now! You are coming shopping with me!" She shook me again, practically throwing me off the bed until I finally had enough.

"I'm up! I'm up!" I said, raising my hands. "Just stop shaking me!"

She patted my back, content with herself. "Good. Take a shower and eat. We leave in two hours."

It takes me an hour and a half to get completely ready. I get up, take a shower, and sit around for fifteen minutes so my hair can air-dry. Then I blow-dry my hair, get a shirt on, then go back to straighten my hair. I put my eyeliner on, brush my teeth, and after a final look-over, I go downstairs to eat breakfast.

And it takes all if almost two hours.

[&&SL]

So, once my dad refused to go out on this shopping spree, lucky him, my mom and I left, taking the rental car to the nearest big city.

Mom decided on this little shopping trip because I needed real summer clothes since mine were all for Chicago summer weather and not California summer weather.

After what seemed like an endless amount of shops and stores and swiping of her credit card, she finally decided that we were done for the day. So we put all our bags in the car and sped off towards 'home.'

Since we hadn't eaten lunch, and it was around two in the afternoon, we decided to try a little restaurant near the beach house to eat. It was just a little crab shack right on the beach, and it had really high ratings.

After we were sat outside on the pier with a view overlooking the beach, we gave our waitress our order and I looked at the ocean.

It wasn't a real big place for tourists, more like the locals since their houses, including ours, was only a few feet off the water. Surfers were all over the beach an water, crashing on the shore with the waves.

Some were getting pretty far, and with some really big waves, but they all ended up crashing because of a huge wave.

One surfer caught my eye in particular though. He seemed to be the best out there, since he was staying on his board the longest and rarely crashed. I could clearly see his face, since we were a bit too far, but even Ray Charles could see he was determined to conquer a big wave. He got on his board, paddling out farther and farther into the ocean, until a huge wave started to form. He got off his board, probably deciding that wave was just too big, and watched as it came closer and closer to him. Suddenly, once the wave hit him, he disappeared. I gasped a little, ready to run over and save him since he didn't surface for a minute. The wave was long gone before he finally came up, relief washing over me.

Something about this kid…something inside me had to make sure he was safe. It was weird, considering I can’t even see his face.

“Nahla, are you even listening to me?”

I looked over, tearing my eyes away from the interesting surfer and nodded. “Yes, you said something about having burgers for dinner.”

She nodded, raising her eyebrow at me. “Yes, that’s right. I was thinking we should have a barbeque. How’s that sound?”

“Sounds riveting.” I said before taking a sip of my water. I almost spit it out, but forced it down my throat, making a terrible face as I set it down. “Ew. What the hell is in this water?”

“Watch your mouth. And it’s California water. Much different than Chicago. You’re going to have to get used to it this summer, unless you want to die.” My mother smirked, taking a sip of her water, no sign of spitting it out like me.

“Ick. It tastes terrible.” I said, sticking my tongue out at it.

Well, all the locals were right, that little shack was amazing, even if it was really crowded. But still, I don't think I've ever had better shrimp in my life. I guess that's what you get when you life right off the coast.

[&&SL]

When I woke up, I went straight over to the my window wall, seeing all sorts of people out today. It was sunny, naturally, but it seemed like it was a particularly beautiful day today. Not a cloud in the sky. I sat down, putting my tangled hair up in a messy bun and putting my glasses on.

And that same kid was out there surfing again, beating out all the other surfers there, going farther and longer than the rest of them. He was a little closer now, and I could jus barely see some really brown curly hair on his head, but I still couldn't see him face because I was too far.

"Nahla! Come for lunch!"

I sighed, hearing my mother's voice call up to me from downstairs. I could tell she made sandwiches for lunch just by the smell of the fresh Italian bread.

I forced myself up and walked downstairs, the smell of bread and meat becoming stronger and stronger each step. My dad was sitting in his char, a sandwich in one hand and the morning paper in the other. Turkey, lettuce, cheese, and tomato with mayonnaise. That's the exact sandwich he eats every single time when he makes one. I don't think I've ever seen him make a different one and not give it to someone else.

My mom likes ham and mustard on hers, and only mustard. She hates mayo, just like my grandma. They have a strong hatred of the white substance, but it doesn't bother me.

Me? I like turkey, mayo, and cheese and that's it. I eat a lot, but when it comes to homemade sandwiches, I don't really like much.

I sat in my seat on the other end of the table that my dad didn't occupy and my mom set my food in front of me. "Thanks, Mom."

She sat kiddy corner from me, already taking a small bite of her sandwich. "What're you doing today?"

I shrugged, picking off the stray piece of lettuce that managed its way to get on my sandwich. "I don't know. I might go tanning."

She nodded, swallowing her food. "Okay. Your father and I won't be home really all that much today. Your dad discovered an old high school friend and we're going over to his house. You don't want to come, do you?"

I shook my head. "No thanks. Old people reuniting isn't what I really want to do today."

[&&SL]

I let out a long breath, rubbing in the tanning oil before laying down on my lawn chair. I put my sunglasses on and my sun hat, and shoved the little white and purple ear buds in my ear before hitting play on my iPod. Closing my eyes, I tapped my fingers to the beat of 'The Dance Floor Anthem' by Good Charlotte.

I love music. You can find me almost always listening or playing music all the time. I don't know why, but I always have to be listening to music.

Mom and Dad put me in lessons when I was a kid so I would learn early. Well, they were right, I did learn. A lot. I can play the piano, trumpet, guitar, violin, drums, and banjo. But piano is my main instrument. I love how pretty it sounds. I just...love it. I think it sounds the best. But maybe I'm being a little biased since I've played that the longest, but still, I think it's the best.

Mom and Dad made me practice a whole ton though. That's all I did when I wasn't in school. It was either being in lessons or practicing at home. I never once put it down unless I was eating or sleeping. And even then I never really let go of my drumsticks at night. Practice really DOES make perfect.

But it also sucks all your time away.

Oh well, if you love it, it doesn’t matter, right?

[&&SL]

I sighed, putting my sunglasses on the top of my head after I took my hat off, and looked around. Only a few people were on the beach today, considering it was such a beautiful day. I guess the locals are just used to it.

I picked up my things, getting and heading inside the house.

[&&SL]

After changing my clothes, I went to grab my sunglasses off the nightstand, but I knocked them off causing them to break. I groaned, rolling my eyes and grumbled to myself as I threw them out.

I looked out my window wall, smiling once I saw a little shack near the restaurant my mom and I went to yesterday.

That might have sunglasses. Hopefully.

I grabbed the house key off the counter and headed off to the little hut type thing.

[&&SL]

Once I got there, it smelled strongly of salt and water, which caused my nose to burn and cough a little. What the hell? Does everything smell like this?

A girl was at the front counter fiddling with something in the register, and I noticed a rack of sunglasses on the counter. I headed over there, and the girl looked up.

She gave me a bright smile. “Hey, welcome to The Surf Board, can I help you with anything?”

I shook my head, already looking at the sunglasses. “No, I’m just lookin’ for sunglasses is all.” I looked down, and through the glass counter were some Ray-Bans, just what I was looking for.

I tapped my fingernail on the glass, trying to point as best as I could to the white ones. “How much are those?”

She took them out, and set them in front of me. “One forty five.”

I blinked, tapping my finger on the glass again, contemplating on whether or not I should get them, then I looked up at her. “Do they break easily?”

She shook her head. “No, not at all. They can pretty much withstand anything.”

I nodded, then smiled at the purple ones. “Those the same price? The purple ones, I mean.”

She took them out and set them next to the white ones. “Nope, just five bucks cheaper.”

“How come they’re cheaper?”

“Harder to sell. Mainly people go for the ones with the neutral colors like white and black. Hardly anyone here goes for the different colors.”

I bit my lip, trying the purple ones on and looking in the mirror. “Hm, I don’t know.” I tried on the white ones.

“In my opinion, I say go for the white ones. Even though they’re just a little more expensive, they go with more outfits. With the purple ones, they’re harder to match.”

I sighed, trying on the purple ones again. I snapped my head over to the sound of bells and a slamming of the door, to see a boy with brown curly hair walking in and heading straight towards the surfing area.

I swallowed slowly, slowly putting the sunglasses on top of my head. I couldn’t help but stare. He looked so familiar.

“Don’t worry, you’re not the only one who stares.”

I looked over, tearing my eyes away from the guy and looked over at the counter girl. “Sorry, he just looks familiar is all.” I looked in the mirror again, seeing the boy in the background of the reflection. I kept staring.

“He should. He’s like one of the top ten surfers in the country. He’s number five.”

“Really? What’s his name?”

“Nick. Nick Jonas.”

“Nick Jonas?” I asked aloud, looking at her with a raised eyebrow. I went wide-eyed, looking over at the boy to see if he heard me. He didn’t even move.

“He’s too busy with those boards to listen to what we’re saying.”

I looked back over at her, nodding. “Oh, uh, sorry, I didn’t catch your name?”

She blushed slightly, smiling a bit. “Sorry, I don’t usually wear my nametag around here. I’m Marley.”

“Nahla.” I smiled, looking in the mirror again, only to see that the boy was out of sight. I looked around, flinching when I saw that he was standing next to me at the counter. I cleared my throat, acting like I was trying on the sunglasses on, a blush creeping up on my face.

“Nahla. That’s an interesting name.” Marley comment, ringing up the guy’s surfboard wax. “I like it.”

I nodded, putting the white ones on again. “Yeah, well, my parents are…interesting people. But thanks.”

“Nick, tell her to get the white ones.” Marley sighed, seeing my put the purple sunglasses back over my eyes. My eyes went wide as I turned towards Nick, seeing he was looking at me.

A small smirked danced on his lips. “Get the white ones, they go with more.”

“Hah! See! Told ya!” Marley beamed.

I laughed lightly, nodding, and set down the purple sunglasses back on the counter. “Okay, white ones it is.”

“That’s eight bucks, Nick.” Marley said to the boy next to me, and he nodded, throwing a small wad of dollar bills on the counter.

“See ya tomorrow, Mar. Bye, Nahla.” Nick smiled, waving at us, and I blushed as he left.

“You’re not from around here, are you?” Marley asked, putting away the purple Ray-Bans and rang up the white ones. “It’s kind of odd that someone here in California doesn’t own a pair of sunglasses.”

I smiled lightly, taking out my credit card. “Nah, I’m from Chicago actually. Tennessee originally though. I did have a pair of sunglasses, but they just broke, so I came down.”

“Vacation?”

I nodded, swiping my card. “Yeah, after I begged my parents to get me over here.”

She laughed lightly. “Here? I’m surprised you didn’t go somewhere more popular.”

“I’m surprised too, actually. But I think this was the only beach house that they liked, so whatever. As long as I’m in California, I’m good.” I signed on the little box, and put away my card before setting the sunglasses on the top of my head.

“Hey, listen, you wanna come out to lunch with me tomorrow? I get off early that day. Why don’t you come down? I can show ya the sites if ya want.”

I smiled, nodding. “Sure, sounds good. What time?”

“Noon.”

I groaned internally. “So early.” I mumbled to myself. I looked up at her, nodding. “I’ll meet you here.”

“Sounds good.” She smiled, and gave me her phone number. Once I gave her mine, I walked home, seeing that the sun was already setting, and not a soul was in sight on the beach.

Mom and Dad were home then when I got home. It looked as if they had just gotten home.

“Hey. How was your friend’s house?” I asked, sitting on one of the bar stools at the counter in the kitchen.

“Really fun. It was nice to see Kevin again.” Dad smiled, sitting at the table. “We’re having dinner with the family tomorrow night here.”

“Are you hungry, Nahla? I can make you something really quick for dinner if you want.” My mom asked, going towards the refrigerator.

I nodded. “Yeah, can you just make me some mac and cheese or something?”

“Sure, honey.”

I sighed, thinking of how early I have to get up tomorrow. “I have to get up early tomorrow….”

“How early?” My dad asked, raising his eyebrows at me as he sat next to me in the bar stool next to mine.

“Like, ten.” I said, scrunching up my face in disgust. “Ew, just saying it makes me want to scream.”

They laughed, shaking their heads at me.

“How come you’re getting up so early?” My mom asked.

“I met a girl in a the little shack by the restaurant we ate at yesterday, so we’re going out to lunch then she’s gonna take me around to see the sites and stuff.” I shrugged, tapping my fingernail on the pop can in front of me before opening it.

After a half hour, my mom put the mac and cheese and in front of me and I ate it quickly before running up to my room.

I sighed, lying on my stomach in front of my window wall, watching the sun set as the waves crashed against the shore. I wish it was like this all the time.