By The Seaside

“Camille,” she introduced herself, “I had no idea Gabriel had a twin,” she said while shaking hands with him. His hand was rough but comfortable, like the sand she loved so much. Cam quickly let go off his hand, she didn’t like how good it felt to hold hands with this stranger. “I’m sorry if I acted like I was annoyed, I just thought it was your brother and,” she felt so stupid right there, telling Aidan that she thought his twin was annoying. “I, uh…”

“Don’t worry, Gabe can be really annoying sometimes, it’s incredible how much he talks,” he said looking at her, she smiled shyly.

“I kind of noticed there was something different in you, but I never thought that, you know, you were Gabriel’s twin,” Cam said quietly.

“What was it that you noticed?” Aidan asked gazing at her with his jungle green eyes.

“Your eyes,” she said after a few seconds of silence.

Suddenly the cold breeze started to blow a bit more strongly, making her hug her legs once again. “Um, I saw you down here from my bedroom and it seemed like you were cold, so I brought you this jacket,” Aidan said, handing her a wine-red jacket with khaki sleeves she hadn’t notice before. It looked as if it had been worn a lot and extremely cozy. The style reminded Camille of the jackets jocks gave their girlfriends in really old romantic movies It even had a school’s initials on the front.

“Thank you, that’s really sweet of you,” she said giving him a smile and wrapping the warm jacket tightly around her body. Aidan sure was better company than any of the people in the party. He seemed so nice. Camille couldn’t help but wonder why his cousin hadn’t mentioned him at all.

“You’re welcome,” he replied returning his gaze to the waves.

“So why aren’t you at the party?” she asked after a few minutes of silence. It hadn’t been awkward, but Cam was interested in him. For some reason she felt like she wanted to get to know him.

“Well, I’m sure your cousin will tell you sooner or later, but let’s just say these people aren’t my crowd,” he said still looking at the ocean. “Why aren’t you at the party?”

“I don’t like parties like this, everything gets too out of control,” she said looking back at the dark water.

“Tell me about it,” he mumbled, probably not wanting Camille to listen. She tore her gaze from the ocean to look at him. Aidan was more muscular than his brother and less tan, his complexion almost matched hers. Then she noticed a small scar that happened to be over one of his green eyes, it cut through his left eyebrow leaving a small, hairless space on his brow.

“How did you get that scar?” she questioned while reaching out to touch his face with the tip of her fingers.

“You don’t really want to now,” Aidan replied while jerking away before her hands could reach the scar. “Jayden will tell you everything you want to know after he discovers you’re with me.” He sounded angry, as if the memory where something he regretted or hated.

“Why do you think he doesn’t like you? Maybe you’re just imagining things,” she said, not wanting him to feel hated by her cousin. “It can’t be that bad.”

“Well, it is, but I really don’t want to talk about it right now.” He turned to face her before speaking again, his piercing green eyes mesmerizing her. “Truthfully, I just want to have a conversation with someone that doesn’t judge me, well at least not yet.”

“I won’t judge you, I promise,” Camille smiled at him. “I like you.”

“Ha,” he said, not believing a word she said. “Sure, you won’t,” sarcasm filled his words as Cam frowned. “I’ve been through this a few times already,” he said before she could speak, “everybody judges. Everybody ends up disliking me.”

“Well, I’m not everybody,” she said smiling at him as she reached for his arm. As soon as Cam touched it, his eyes stared at her fingers and followed them as they traveled from his bicep all the way until they reached the back of his hand, placed on the sand.

Aidan liked the way her soft palm felt against his skin. But it made him nervous, really nervous, and he had no idea why. Probably because she had been the first girl he had spoken to in a long time, or maybe it was because a really good looking girl was being nice to him, or maybe it had something to do with her being Jayden’s cousin. Jayden. Aidan hadn’t seen Jay since he went away. Jay knew perfectly well the story of why he had been sent away, since his twin brother was Jayden’s best friend since they were eleven. Aidan would most likely be murdered by Jay if he was caught talking to the blonde girl next to him.

After about a minute of contemplating Camille’s hand on his, Aidan lifted his head, and, sure enough, Cam was looking at him. She didn’t seem to be waiting for him to talk. Instead, Camille was just slightly smiling at him as if telling Aidan everything was going to be okay. He quickly moved his hand, making Cam’s hand fall to the sand.

“I’m sorry,” he said rapidly while looking for something in his pocket.

Finally, his shaky fingers got a hold on the half empty pack of cigarettes. He kept his head down not wanting to see the hurt expression he was sure Camille had on her lovely face. Aidan pretended to be concentrated on lighting his cigarette with the lighter he had placed inside the pack. When he finally managed to lit the cancer stick, Aidan took a long drag from it. Cigarettes always had a relaxing effect on him, and, for some reason, this girl was making him nervous.

“You’re going to die from lung cancer,” Cam stated while the smoke escaped through Aidan’s lips.

“Probably,” he responded after taking another drag, “my father did.”

“Oh, God. I’m really sorry. I had no idea.”

“Don’t be sorry. It’s not like it was your fault or something like that,” Aidan said while looking at the waves. “I’ve never understood why people say they’re sorry.”

“I guess you’re right,” Cam responded lowly.

Camille watched him as he inhale and exhale repeatedly from his still light cigarette. If it were someone else, she would have leaved the smoker, but, for some strange reason, this boy was more than just someone. Cam couldn’t understand what was that made her stay, but she was certain that it had nothing to do with not wanting to return to the party and everything to do with Aidan and his eyes.

His brown hair, falling just above his eyes, made her want to run her hands through it. She was curious to see if it was as soft and silky as it seemed to be. Cam’s eyes examined his face. It seemed serene, but she knew and felt that, behind his calmed features, pain and sadness could be found. Aidan’s scar cut his left eyebrow, making his almost perfect face imperfect. Camille couldn’t find any other imperfection on this boy other than the scar, but she liked how the scar looked on his face, so she rejected it as a flaw. Her gaze traveled to the part of his face she liked the most, his hypnotizing green eyes.

Aidan’s eyes reminded her of the forest. They were deep green and filled with emotion. Camille could see he was in deep thought because of the way his eyebrows moved close together and his eyes stared at the same spot without moving. She wondered what he was thinking about, but fought the urge to ask him. She forced herself to leave his lovely eyes and followed the straight line of his nose until her eyes reached Aidan’s lips.

His lips. Cam had never wanted to kiss a pair of lips so much in her life time. They looked soft and inviting. She was tempted by their appearance and how they fit his strong jaw perfectly. Camille had never been the type of girl to rush things with guys, she usually waited to give them a small kiss until their second, maybe third date. But Aidan was different from every guy she had ever felt attracted to. She felt as if his rosy lips were begging her to kiss them.

“Aidan,” she said while scotching closer to him.

“Mhmm,” he replied while tossing his just finished cigarette on the sand and stepping on it with his right foot.

“I, uh,” Camille was nervous. She was really going to do it.

“You what?” he asked facing her.

Cam placed her right hand on his cheek as she kneeled beside him to be on a more comfortable position. She smiled when she saw surprise on the forest green eyes her own eyes were locked to, and leaned in to kiss his inviting lips.

As soon as their lips met, a wave of electricity traveled through both of their bodies. Startled, Aidan separated himself from Camille and stared at her with his big green eyes. She was smiling warmly at him. Just when his lips were starting to form the smile she wanted so bad to see, an angry voice from behind them screamed loudly, scaring both of them.

“What the fuck?!”