Out of This World

“Where have you been keeping this little beauty,” Mandy winked, “Aria’s awesome!”

“You could say that she just fell out of the sky,” Joe joked.

“Oh Joe – you’re too funny,” Mandy smiled, punching his arm, “Well, so is Aria. You’d think that she’s never had Burger King before.”

“Her parents are those ‘oh natural’ people,” Kevin quickly covered, “Aria can let herself go once in a while.”

“We’re getting you ice cream after lunch,” Mandy beamed, bouncing in her seat, “Put a little meat on those bones.” She patted Aria’s stomach, making her sit up slightly.

“We’re here,” I smiled, leaning back to look at the three in the back seat. Mandy unbuckled Aria’s seatbelt the moment the car came to a stop, threw the door open and pulled her out with her.

“Joe’ll be nice enough to grab our bags,” Mandy yelled, rushing through the empty parking lot and the two soon disappeared down the steps that descended to the beach.

“Don’t worry,” Kevin said, rubbing my shoulder, “Ar’ll be perfectly fine with Mandy. I hope.” I gulped, hopping out of the car and pulling the cooler and my bag onto my shoulders before I ‘speedily’ walked down the stairs, leaving my brothers to handle the larger and heavier objects. The clothes that Mandy and Ar had been wearing were ditched near the shoreline. I felt a smile come to my face as I watched Mandy splashing Ar – who recoiled as the cold water drops hit her smooth, velvet skin.

Aria’s smile was amazing.

“Come join in Nick, the water is phenomenal!” Aria yelled, flashing her pearls. A toothy grin spread across my face as I let the cooler and my bag fall into the sand. I ripped my shirt off and ran into the water, tackling Aria into a hug. She let out a yelp as she lost her balance enough so I could pick her up easily. I spun around with her in my arms.

I slipped.

The water washed over the two of us, and in a few moments we broke the shallow surface gasping for air.

“Nick,” Aria playfully growled, running her fingers through her wet hair.

“I’m sorry,” I pouted, shaking my hair gently. Aria’s eyes lit up. “What?”

“You look absolutely adorable when you do that!”

“This,” I asked, shaking my head again. She nodded, her light pink lips turning upwards.

“Hey Ar, wanna go hottie hunting?” Mandy asked, stealing her wrist and leading her out of the water.

“What is hottie hunting?” Aria asked, cocking her head to the side.

Mandy stopped in her tracks, “You’ve never been hottie hunting?! It’s when you go looking for hot guys.”

“You do know that you have a hot guy right here,” Joe smirked, dropping a few bags where we had left everything else.

Mandy and Aria shared a look before they burst into laughter, running off into the setting sun.

“Damn, Ar looks pretty fine in that bathing suit,” Joe said, watching her hips sway as she walked away.

“Joe,” I warned, wading out of the water, “Don’t ogle Ar.”

“And you’re allowed to,” He questioned me, throwing a towel at my head.

“Maybe,” I smirked, drying off my face lightly.

“You better tell her that you like her soon,” Kevin interjected, plopping down on a large log.

“I will,” I said, shifting my weight between feet, “In four days.”

“But that’s when she leaves,” Joe grunted.

“Joe does have a point. If you tell her that late, she won’t be able to give you an answer. And if she doesn’t chose you in the end – you might never get an answer.” Kevin agreed, pushing his sunglasses onto the bridge of his nose.

“Then that’s a chance I’ll have to take.” I sighed.

“And risk never knowing what she’d say?” Kevin prodded.

“I guess that I can only hope for the best.”

“What if you get married while Aria’s still out searching? And then she does choose you so she comes back and finds out that you’re already taken?” Joe asked.

My chest clenched.

“Hey Nick!”

The three of us turned on our heels to face both Mandy and Ar, running towards us.

“We found some good firewood!”

“What happened to hottie hunting,” Joe grunted.

“We gave up when we realized that we’re the only people here. Then we decided on making a bonfire.” Mandy smiled, handing her pile to Joe and dropped onto her knees in front of the log Kevin was lounging on and started to dig. I jumped to my feet and grabbed the even larger pile in Aria’s arms.

“Thank you,” She smiled once she realized what I had done.

“You guys better have packed stuff for smores,” Mandy beamed, laying down a base layer of wood around the pit, putting the smaller pieces in the middle.

“We’re not that dumb,” Kevin chuckled, “We even brought sticks.”

“Ha. I applaud you,” Mandy laughed, arranging the logs into a tepee shape. I set the drift wood down beside Mandy, grasped Aria’s hand lightly, and led hers towards an empty spot between the two logs where Kevin had set a towel earlier. I motioned for her to sit down, and I sat behind her.

“What is happening to the sky?” Aria inquired, tilting her head to the right. I smiled.

The sun was just in line with the horizon. The bottom portion was a light pink which faded to dark. The stars shining through like diamonds.

“It’s a sunset.”

Her eyes lit up, “I have only read about those! Everyone back home will be beyond jealous. I wonder if brother has seen one.”

“Where is he now?” I asked, resting my head on her shoulder.

“He is on Neptune,” Aria sighed, “I miss him ever so much. I have made Neptune my last stop so I can see him one last time.”

“Fire!” Mandy screamed in joy as the flames crackled and cackled. Aria’s eyes widened as she watched the flames catch onto the larger logs. I felt her tense up, her eyes never wavering from the ever growing bonfire.

“Earth to Nick,” Kevin cooed, throwing a marshmallow at me. I swiftly caught the puff ball in my mouth, showing it off proudly between my ivory teeth.

“Have you even made smores?” I asked Aria after I had swallowed. She shook her head. I took a stick out of the nearest pile and flipped open my pocket knife. I went to work, quickly witling the end to a point. Kevin handed Aria enough for supplies for a smore each. I handed Aria the stick and screwed a marshmallow onto the end for her. I gently placed my hands on top of her own and gently swirled the marshmallow above the fire. Once the ivory was toasted to a golden brown, Aria held the stick while I gently peeled the goo off between two chocolate coated graham crackers. I held it in front of her mouth, “Go on – take a bite.”

She hazardously leaned forward. Her lips just grazing my fingers. They were oh so soft.

“By golly – I think she likes it!” Joe exclaimed, clapping his hands like the jokester he is.