You Shine Brighter Than Anyone

"Lilah," chirped the familiar, sing-song voice of Delilah's best friend, "Lilah, wake up!"

"Go away!" groaned Delilah, pulling her quilt over her head.

"Delilah Harte, I order you to get up this instant. We're going to have some fun today. You're not going to stay locked up in your room again. Now, let's go. Get dressed. I'll be outside."

Delilah sighed and sat up. Yawning, she stepped out of bed, and slumped over to her closet. She threw on the first thing she found; a pair or gray skinny jeans, a puke green t-shirt, and black Converse.

"Love you, Momma. Bye," Delilah said sleepily on her way out the door.

"Where are we going?" Delilah asked, hopping in the white SUV Penelope drove. The air-conditioning felt amazing compared to the blistering sun of Huntington Beach during summer.

"We, my friend, are going shopping."

"For what?"

"What else? Boys. Hot ones," Penelope replied.

"Penny, I just got dumped. I'm not really in the market for a new guy at the moment," Delilah explained.

"You're going to have to find a new man sometime, Lilah, and you'd better get a head start. I think I see a gray hair."

"Ha ha. You're hilarious. So, where exactly are we gonna find this Hot Guy Store you speak of?"

"Ah, it's this quaint little shop I like to call "the beach". The place is loaded."

"See, but the beach is also full of slutty, bikini-wearing bitches. I hear guys like boobs nowadays," said Delilah, motioning to her flat chest.

"But, if this guy is worth your time, no matter how boob-loving he may be, he'll look past the hoes on the beach."

"If only this mythological guy who doesn't care about boobs were real," sighed Delilah.

"You know, I'm starting to think we're overdoing it a bit on the sarcasm."

***

"Ooh, look at that guy," Penelope motioned to a muscular guy his a surfboard under his arm. The two girls were sitting in the sand, pointing out guys they thought were hot. Delilah had yet to find one.

"I guess he's okay."

"Okay? Delilah, the guy's a fucking sex god."

"He's just not my type."

"Really? And just what exactly is your type?" Penelope asked.

"Mmm... I like sweet guys. Not really muscular, but not scrawny either. And brunettes. I love brunettes," Delilah smiled, getting lost in her thoughts.

"Like him?" Penelope pointed to a guy with curly, brown hair, big glasses, and big green eyes.

"Yeah. Exactly like him."

"Hey! You! With the glasses!" shouted Penelope.

"What the hell are you doing?" screeched Delilah.

"I'm getting you a rebound."

The guy walked over to them.

"What's your name?" asked Penelope.

"I'm Noah," the guy smiled.

"Well, Noah, this is Delilah. She thinks you're hot. Now, you two kids get to know each other," said Penelope, standing up and walking away.

"Hey! Penny! Where are you going?" Delilah squealed, freaking out a little at the fact that she'd been left alone with a guy she didn't know.

"I'll be stalking that surfer guy we saw," she said, then skipped off.

"Hi. I'm Noah," he said, holding out his hand.

"Delilah," she replied, shaking his hand.

"Um... So, what would you like to do, Delilah?"

"How about a walk?" Delilah suggested.

"That sounds great," Noah smiled.

They walked down the beach, talking about everything from their first pets to their favorite bands. They talked for hours, finding out they had a ton of stuff in common.

"Oh, crap. I've gotta go," said Delilah after glancing at the purple watch on her wrist.

"I should probably get going, too. Would you like my phone number?" asked Noah.

"Yeah," smiled Delilah, "That'd be great."

He pulled out a Sharpie and wrote a number on Delilah's hand.

"See you tomorrow?" he asked.

"Yeah. Tomorrow."