The Beach

I was lounging in one of the chairs that lean back in my red bikini, fully equipped with matching red sunglasses, my iPod, my cell phone, and sunscreen. It was the perfect day, day two out of 45 of vacation in Cali. Mom and Dad had gone to visit some relative I’d never met that lived about an hour away, so I was living it up by the pool at our hotel in Beverly Hills. No one was there to bother me, no homework to attend to, and, best of all, I could pretty much do anything I wanted.

I assumed Mom and Dad were giving me so much leeway here because I was 17, and they trusted me. Man, did they trust me. It was amazing. I was a good kid, and it got me anything I wanted. I was thinking about that, laying in the chair trying to tan my might-as-well-be-albino skin, wondering why some kids chose to misbehave, when my cell phone vibrated with the first text message from Virginia that I had received since I left.

The screen told me that I had received a text message from Joe, my best friend back home, so I clicked the button to read it. “Having fun?” it read. I quickly typed back, “Yep! I’m laying by the pool, tanning;)” making sure to add a winking smiley because everyone knows that I’ve never been tan a day in my life.

I relaxed back into the chair, tucking my phone underneath my right thigh and switching the song on my iPod to a louder one, and I closed my eyes. Taking a deep breath, I could smell the chlorine from the water, and it made the moment that much better. Barely two minutes later my phone vibrated again. Joe’s reply read, “Glad you’re having fun. Good luck with that tan. What’s it like over there?”

I didn’t really want to text; I mostly just wanted to lay back and possibly fall asleep, but talking to Joe was quite appealing. “Ha, thanks, I’ll need the luck,” I typed back, “and it’s great here. Everything is so sunny and big and loud. My favorite.” I pushed send, tucked away the phone again, and just before I closed my eyes, I scanned the pool area.

Setting up at a table a few feet from my chair were four boys, two girls, and what I assumed to be a mother and father. Three of the boys were older and both girls were around their ages, too. The other boy was younger, maybe ten. All the boys, including the father, were only in swim shorts, the two girls were both in pink bikinis with cover-ups, and the mother was wearing a summer dress. They were setting down bags and a cooler when I looked over, and I couldn’t help but watch them. They looked like they were having fun and they had only just arrived. I wondered which room they were staying in and when they had checked in.

My phone vibrated again, pulling my attention away from the family, and I focused back into my own world.

----

As I walked back to my room with an aching sunburn at around four in the afternoon, my mind was wandering out to the shops where I could buy clothes and jewelry and good music, and it soon wandered ahead to my room where the aloe was waiting to cool off my fiery skin. I hoped it would turn into a tan but the chances were slim.

I started fumbling with my bag as I searched for my room key when I was finally in the right hallway. I wasn’t paying attention, and I walked into someone, dropping my bag and all its contents on the floor. Looking down before looking at the person, I saw my room key land on someone’s bare foot. I then looked up to see one of the boys from the family out at the pool.

“I am so sorry,” I told him. “I was looking for my key in that mess of a bag of mine…” I said, trailing off.

He slowly smiled. “It’s all good.” He bent down and started to help me pile things back into my bag, handing me my room key as we stood up.

“Thanks.” I smiled back at him.

“No problem.” His brown eyes were warm, and he stretched out his arm. “I’m Joe.”

I laughed and shook his hand and said, “I’m Amber. You know, my best friend back home is named Joe.”

“Really? That’s cool. Well, nice to meet you, Amber.”

“You too, Joe.” I let go of his hand and attempted to walk by him, but he purposely stepped into my path. “Uh, I need to get by you,” I told him with a chuckle.

“I’ll walk you to your room,” he said.

It seemed weird, but I went with it, and we continued on my original path. “So, your friend is named Joe, too?”

“Yep. My best friend of two years.”

“That’s cool. Where are you from?”

“Virginia,” I admitted, not at all missing the state.

“I’m from around here. We’ve lived in California for a couple years now.”

“It’s amazing here. I want to stay forever,” I said as I stepped up to the door of my suite and started to insert the key.

Joe laughed. “We’ll see. You might change your mind. Don’t make any rash decisions.”

“I don’t think anything will change my mind.”

He simply shook his head. “We’ll see,” he repeated. “It was nice meeting you, Amber.”

“You too!”

We said our goodbyes, and I went into my room, securely locking the door as I was slightly creeped out by Joe. He was nice, but some people are too nice, and those people kind of freaked me out.

I found the aloe sitting on the dresser, knowing instantly that Mom had probably put it there knowing I would be burnt before the day was over.