Golden.

When people mention the word “beach”, the first things that come to the minds of typical teenagers are beach balls, surfing, bikinis, girls in bikinis, fit guys, drinking, partying, tanning…

But in the beach, there’s more to that. The simple serenity of inhaling the fresh air, and gripping the sand grains in your hand, and the sun hitting every feature of the face, the way the white water dissolves back into it’s natural color, the sandy breeze that comes once in a while, the clouds that shape somehow merely for the wonder of capturing the view through a tiny lens, the hartwarming smiles that come everynow and then—there’s so much to love about the beach . It’s the time to relax and to leave every care of school and work behind, back in the city, where there are flourescent lights twenty-four-seven.

By the Saltward beach, on an island almost unknown, there are about than a thousand people occupying the long, smooth sands. And that’s pretty little, comparing it to how many people there are back in the city. There’s noise, there’s silence. It’s a little mix of everything, this little island. Mostly people, water, sand, and restaurants—lots and lots of restaurants occupying any available space on the inner side of the beach. The advantage of tourists give the people income.

And of course, right in the middle of it all, the teenagers, us. They make up a big part of the beach, because without them—us, there wouldn’t be noise, rowdiness, and well, fun.

But there’s something more this this beach, this time, to me. It’s a getaway—an adventure, a chance get away from all the chaos that lies behind my career. It’s a chance to get away from people telling me what to do and when to do it and how to do things. I get to live my own life over here. And that’s something I’ve been waiting for for too long.

“Hey!”

I turn around to see one of my best mates, Louis, with a glass of champagne in his hand. He straightened his dark brown hair. The night was young, and the beach was being liven up by the hard rock music, the grimaces on the faces of the people who passed by, and the bright stars that sparkled in the ocean.

We did our secret handshake. Or the bro handshake. Whatever people call it. He was wearing sunglasses, despite the dark that fell over us. “It is incredible here! I never want to leave. I mean, of course, we have to get back to our career but…this temporary getaway is amazing.”

“You’re absolutely right,” I said, sighing. He scanned the place. “I swear, I’m loving it here! The girls, the music, the night sky, the heat.” He took off his sunglasses, I guess, finally realizing it was dark when he mentioned ‘the night sky’. He would let out a loud laugh in between his sentences. I was pretty sure that Louis was slightly off, maybe dozing because of all the champagne.

Liam came up to us, holding two surfboards. His curls were pretty messy, probably from all the (awkward) dancing he let out on the dance floor earlier. “Hey, Lou!” He called. “Let’s hit the waves!”

Louis’ eyes grew and he jumped in excitement, handing me his champagne glass. “It’s on!” He said, running off with Liam. He walked back up to me, with his finger pointed at the glass. “Take it easy on that.”

I laughed, and watched them hit the waves in the dark, wearing glow-in-the-dark bracelets around their wrists and ankles, just in case.

I could see a guy with perfectly gelled hair talking to a petite girl near the dance floor. I was quite surprised, Zayn’s the shyest in the group. Must’ve let loose tonight while talking to girls.
Then I spotted Niall near the bar because of his glowing dirty blonde hair. He was scarfing down a really big ice cream float. There were a lot of people around him, and a lot of them were girls, shouting “Chug! Chug! Chug!” I laughed to myself. There’s more dancing, more lights in the air, more fireworks, more of everything…

And then a horn blows, louder than the sound of the waves and the music blasting in my ears.

“Party’s over!” I don’t recognize what the policeman said at first, until I hear the grown of the teenage crowd. The crowd disperses slowly, and you can almost see the great amount of footprints in the sand. And just like that, we teenagers need to submit to authority, no matter how hard or frustrating or stupid it is. It’s even worse having to submit to management, our authority, who rules our lives and makes us do whatever they think is ‘best’. We’re kind of forced to agree with everything they have to put on the plate. And it isn’t fair.

I’m Harry.

And we’re One Direction.