Footprints For The Evidence.

“Together?” he whispered. She nodded, “Together.”

“Come on Kat!” she called from the girl’s living room, “The guys are waiting for us down at the beach!”
Katrina slid down the railing that lined her stairway and landed flawlessly on the floor just in front of her friend.
“Give a girl a minute to get ready! Sheesh,” she said to her impatient friend.
The girl sighed and rolled her eyes, “Why do you need time to get ready? You’ve already got Jack looped around your finger.”
Katrina batted her eyelashes and gave an exaggerated flip to her long, blonde hair, “Can’t help that I’m fabulous.”
Her friend shoved her towards the door, “Oh just get in the car.”
They drove down the street and turned onto the main road of their town. It wasn’t a highway per say, their town was too small for that. But it was certainly the most traveled street, mostly because if you drove to the southern-most end of it, you were dropped off right on the beach.
The two girls had the top down and the summer wind was blowing through the car, messing up their hair but they didn’t even notice. It was one of those perfect summer moments. It was the last day of summer vacation before everyone had to start heading off in their separate directions for college. Katrina and Grace had been friends with Jack, Alex, Rian, and Zack for as long as they could all remember. It was a small town, so the people that you grew up around inevitably became close to you, whether you wanted them to or not.
“So are you gonna ask him today?” Katrina asked her friend as she lifted her feet up onto the dashboard.
Grace sighed and tightened her grip on the steering wheel a little bit. “I told you, I’m not going to ask him. There’s absolutely no point in it anymore. We all go off in different directions tomorrow, so what would be the point in talking to him about it today?”
Katrina threw her hands up in the air, “Because! I mean, if he feels the same way, which I guarantee you he does, then you two will definitely find a way to make it work. I know the both of you, you two would do anything to keep your relationship going.”
Her friend rolled her eyes as she sped on down the road. “Can we just drop it? I still don’t get how you and Jack are going to make the long-distance thing work,” she paused, “and even if Alex and I did end up going on and trying to work through the distance, have you seen him? He’ll find a new girl at college in a heartbeat. There’s just no point in even entertaining the idea of a relationship with him.”
Katrina looked at her and raised a questioning eyebrow. “Oh really?” she asked, “If there’s ‘no point’ in it, then why did you do your hair and makeup so delicately today? And you brought your sexy bathing suit too might I add.”
Grace glared at her for a few moments before turning back to the road, “Shut up.” Katrina gave an accomplished nod, “That’s what I thought.”
They pulled up to the beach and Katrina hopped over the side of the car before grabbing her bag off the seat and taking off towards the shore. Grace turned the car off and took a deep, nervous breath before getting out of the car and heading down towards the beach as well.
The guys all waved to Katrina as she bounded up with a grin plastered on her face. She smiled at all of them and said hi before sitting down next to Jack and giving him a kiss on the lips.
Grace slid and skillfully landed on the towel between Zack and Alex. She brushed her long, curly, brown hair out of her face and flashed Alex a quick smile before turning back to the rest of them. She stretched her legs out in front of her in hopes of catching a last-minute tan before she headed off to college for the year. She tilted her head back and smiled as the sun hit her face.
“So what’s the plan?” Katrina asked excitedly as Jack wrapped his arms around her waist.
“I brought the surfboards,” Rian said with a devious grin.
“Dude,” Alex said with a laugh, “You got your brother to let you borrow those?”
Rain laughed and shook his head. “Hell no,” he paused, “But what he doesn’t know won’t hurt him. And besides, it’s the last fucking day of summer and I’m leaving in two days anyway. What’s he really gonna do about it?”
The girls got up and went to go change into their bathing suits while the guys argued over who would get to use what board. They were all essentially the same, but of course, the designs were what caused every disagreement when they went to the beach to surf. The girls really couldn’t care less; they just grabbed two and took off towards the water.
When they came back from the changing room, the guys had finally gotten everything sorted out and everyone was still in one piece.
When they saw the two girls, everyone’s jaws dropped. “Damn,” Zack said with a laugh, “Glad to see that you two wanted to make the last day of summer worth it for the rest of us.”
Katrina laughed, “Oh shut it Merrick. It’s not that big of a deal.” She picked up her surfboard and walked over to stand next to Jack, who playfully tugged on the tie to the top part of her bathing suit. She placed her hand over the knot that held up the red, white, and black flowered top. “Knock it off,” she said lightly as she smiled and kissed him on the lips.
“This is certainly a side of you that we’ve never seen before,” Alex said with a laugh and a flirtatious wink as he gave Grace a once-over. She certainly wasn’t in her normal tankini attire that she normally wore surfing. She had on a skimpy, black, bikini top that had a deep, red rose stitched on the left side, and a pair of tight, black shorts that had a red line going down each side. She gave a self-conscious smile, “I figured I should wear it at least once before I fucking trash the thing.”
Alex’s jaw dropped, “Why would you ever want to fucking trash that?”
Grace laughed, “Because I look like a…I don’t even know!” she pointed to Katrina, “That bitch made me buy it because she thought it looked good.”
Katrina held her hands up, “Don’t drag me into this!”
Alex laughed, “Well, I think that you look sexy in it. But that’s just my opinion.” And with that, he took off with his board towards the water, desperate to catch some of the last waves of the season. Rian and Zack followed close after with childish grins playing across their faces. Grace laughed and shook her head as she made her way to the crystal blue water, with Katrina and Jack lagging behind, holding hands and talking as they made their way down the shore.
When they all got out into the wave zone, it became all-out warfare to see who would be able to get to what waves first. Two of them could take a wave on at a time, but any more than that and they quickly learned that it ended in collisions since none of them were wave masters by any means.
Zack’s hair was all curled from the water and being tossed around by waves and undercurrents as he paddled back to the group. He laid on his back on his board. “Give me five minutes and I’ll be out again,” he said with a smile as he closed his eyes. Rian sighed, “You’re fucking blowing the last day of summer surfing bro.” He looked over to Grace, “Wanna catch this one?” She nodded and headed farther out.
“You two ever gonna fucking surf or not?” Alex asked as he pushed his hair out of his face and rested his elbows on his surfboard.
“Excuse me!” Katrina said to him, “I have been surfing!” Alex laughed, “Yea, not like you usually do though. You’re usually at least trying to get out there every time.” The girl sighed, “Fine, I’ll take this next one with you, okay?” Alex nodded and gave a crooked smile as they both headed out farther into the blue.
“So what’s gonna happen with you two?” Zack asked Jack, his eyes still closed. Jack looked over at him, “Huh?” Zack opened one eye, “What’s gonna happen with you and Kat?”
Jack shrugged, “No fucking idea to be perfectly honest. Neither of us wants to split. So we’ll try to make it work I guess,” he paused, “But I really don’t want to think about that right now.”
Grace came back, half swimming, half fighting Rian to get her surfboard back as he somehow managed to move with hers and his own. “Give it back you little prick!” she said with a laugh as she chased him back towards shallower water.
After a few more minutes, everyone headed back to shore. They had spent who knows how many hours in the water, but it never ever seemed long enough. The six of them had grown up together on that beach. They’d meet there on their bikes when they were younger, but now they drove. It was crazy for them to think about how much things had changed. They met when they had barely started elementary. Now they were still there and they were hardly starting college. The years had flown by so fast and none of them even realized it until then.
The sky was starting to change color, and they knew that they would be losing daylight soon.
“Last-night bonfire?” Zack asked with his eyebrows raised.
“Of course!” they all replied in near-unison.
As they all headed off to get the blankets, pillows, firewood, music, and anything else they would possibly need, it hit them all that this was really it. It was their last summer night together as high schoolers. And it would be their last night together for a long time. How long? Well, no one quite knew for sure.
“This is crazy,” Katrina said as she helped Jack bring all the pillows and blankets to their spot on the beach. “What do you mean?” he asked, slightly confused. She gestured to everything around her, “This. It’s all so crazy. We’re going to be starting college soon. And, nothing will be the same after that. None of us will be able to see each other every day, Grace and I won’t be able to hear you guys play your guitars and stuff in your garage, it’s not going to be the same school with the same people we’ve all grown up with. Everything’s changing now. And I don’t like it, I don’t like the thought of possibly losing you guys.”
Jack dropped his blankets by the fire pit that Zack had built before turning back to his girlfriend. He wrapped his arms around her and pulled her into a deep kiss. “Hey,” he said softly, “Don’t talk like that. You’re not losing us okay? You certainly aren’t going to lose me. I’ll run away with you if that’s what it takes to make sure we’re together.” Her cheeks flushed red as she kissed him and rested her head on his chest. “I love you,” she whispered. He rested his chin on the top of her head, “I love you too.”
Once everyone was all situated, Rian started the fire. He had always had a knack for it, while the rest of them were hopeless and knew that if they didn’t have Rian with them, they would certainly die if they got stuck out in the wild.
They sat around the flames, making smores, drinking beer Jack had stolen from his parents, and telling stories about their friendships since the beginning of time. They had tales all the way back from the first grade, all the way up until their senior year of high school. It seemed as though they hadn’t really matured much over the years, but none of them minded it. In a way, it was like that was all just one big chapter of their lives, even though they thought it was the whole book.
“I’m gonna miss this,” Katrina said as she curled up against Jack’s side underneath their blanket. Everyone nodded, not saying anything else. After all, there wasn’t much more to say. They would all miss it, because it was a huge part of their lives that they were leaving behind.
A few more hours of talking and joking and reminiscing passed before Rian’s phone buzzed. He picked it up and looked at the message before letting out a frustrated sigh. “Shit,” he said somewhat under his breath.
Zack looked over at him, “What’s up?” Rian shook his head, “I’ve gotta get going. My dad is being…yea.” Everyone laughed. Ever since any of them could ever remember, Rian’s parents had always been the protective ones out of all of theirs. None of them had any idea how Rian had talked his way into going away for college.
“Do you still need a ride home, bro?” he asked Zack as he stood up and stretched. The boy nodded, “Yea, I’ll head out with ya.”
Everyone stood up and gave the two of them hugs goodbye. Alex gave them both fist-bumps. “Hit me up alright? I’m not going to fucking go for months without talking to the two of you.” Jack nodded as he gave them both quick bro-hugs, “Yea, what he said.” The guys laughed. “Can do,” Rian said as he stared to collect the surfboards.
Katrina gave them both a kiss on the cheek. “Stay safe okay?” she said softer than she had intended. Zack gave her a good-natured smile as he hugged her, “Don’t worry about us Kat. We’ll be fine.”
Grace gave the two of them hugs and wished them good luck before letting them head on their way to Rian’s car. They watched until their shadows had disappeared over the ledge and they heard the sound of one, lonely engine start in the parking lot. The two boys had left their final marks on the beach, two sets of footprints, and a few lines where the surfboards had dragged on the ground behind them.
Everyone fell back onto the blankets around the fire, now staring blankly into the flame. It was all becoming real all too fast. Katrina rested her head on Jack’s chest as she tried to fight back the tears in her eyes. He wrapped his arms around her and whispered sweet nothings into her ear to calm her down.
Grace laid down on her back on the blanket next to Alex. “This sucks,” she said as she ran her hands over her face. He chuckled and nodded, “Yea, tell me about it.”
She rolled over onto her stomach and propped herself up onto her elbows. “Can I ask you something Alex?” He nodded as he laid down on the blanket next to her and stared absently into the flames, “Shoot.” She looked nervously down at her fingers, “What’s one thing that you regret not doing? You know, now that you’re heading off to college.”
He laughed and ran his fingers through his choppy, brown hair, “Well, there’s this girl…”
Grace laughed, “Wait, there’s a girl ‘round here that you haven’t been with?” He laughed and gave her a playful shove, “Shut the fuck up.” Grace smiled innocently, “Anyways, I’m sorry, you were saying?”
Alex sighed, “There’s this girl. And I’ve liked her for a while. But, I don’t know, I guess nerves always got the best of me when the moment was right, you know?” Grace looked down at the sand beneath her hands, “Oh trust me,” she whispered, “I know.”
He nudged her shoulder, “Hey.” She looked over at him, “Yea?” He looked down at his hands nervously, “I know this is going to seem like really bad ti-” but he was cut short by the sound of Grace’s phone ringing.
She sighed as she answered it, “Hello? Alright, fine. Yea, I’ll be home in like, twenty minutes. See you then, bye.” She rolled her eyes as she tucked the phone back into the pocket of the sweatshirt that she had borrowed from Alex when the sun had gone down.
“I’m heading out I guess,” she said as she stood up slowly. Katrina and Jack both looked over at her, and you could tell by the look in Katrina’s eyes that she wanted Grace to say something to Alex before she took off.
Jack gave her a hug and wished her good luck at college. Katrina threw her arms around her, the girl that had been her best friend since day one, and buried her face in her neck. “Don’t forget about me okay?” she said as she pulled back from Grace’s body a little bit, “I love you, and you better not discard everything, or I’m going to have to kick your ass.” Grace laughed and forced a half-hearted smile as she wiped the tears away from the corners of her eyes, “I won’t forget you Kat. But you sure as Hell better remember me.” She gave her a final hug before walking over to Alex to say goodbye.
“I’ll walk to your car with you,” he said with a small smile. Grace was glad that the darkness hid her reddened cheeks as they made their way up to the parking lot.
“So,” Alex said slowly as he leaned against the hood of her car, “about that girl.” Grace chuckled, “What about her?”
He took a step forward and kissed her hard on the lips. Grace placed her hands on the back of his neck and pulled him closer as he wrapped his arms around her waist. Alex could feel the girl smile through their kiss and it caused him to smile in return. He pulled back just enough so that their lips weren’t touching and he rested his forehead against hers.
“I don’t want you to go,” he finally said after a minute of silence. Grace bit her bottom lip, “I don’t want to go either.” He brushed the hair from in front of her eyes, “Then don’t. We could-” Grace silenced him with another kiss. “I have to,” she whispered, “you know that.” Alex nodded but didn’t say anything. She traced her fingers down his arms, “We can still make this work you know. If you want to that is.” He nodded, “I want to.” Grace kissed him again, “Then I’ll call you tomorrow before I head out, okay?” He nodded, but didn’t loosen his hold on her waist. He kissed her gently on the cheek before his lips slid down to hers. “I’ll see you tomorrow,” she whispered. Alex nodded and finally let her go, “Goodnight.”
She hopped into her car and Alex gave it a loving pat on the hood before letting her pull out and disappear down the road, for what might be the last time for a good few months, if not more.
He went back down to the beach and saw Jack and Katrina lying on the blanket, half asleep but still talking to each other. It was clear that they were going to make the most out of their last night together.
“How’d it go?” Jack asked his friend as he sat down on the other side of the fire. Alex nodded, but didn’t say anything about it. “You two will make it work man,” Jack said reassuringly.
Katrina nodded, “It’s true. You two are too crazy about each other for it not to work.” Alex sighed and ran his hands through his hair, “I hope you’re right.”
He looked off into the distance, a blanket of stars coating the skies. “Look, I think I’m just gonna head home. Tomorrow’s gonna be a long day and,” but he didn’t have to finish. Jack was nodding and the small smile on Katrina’s face let him know that she knew.
Katrina hugged him and kissed him on the cheek. “Be good for me alright? And don’t do anything that I wouldn’t do.” Alex chuckled and nodded, “I’ll remember that.” Jack gave him a hug and a fist bump, “I’ll hear from you soon right?” Alex laughed, “Of course.” Jack nodded, “Good. ‘Cause if I didn’t you’d be a dead motherfucker.”
“Wait,” Alex said curiously, “How are you gonna get home?” Jack shrugged, “I was going to walk her home and then walk myself home.” Alex nodded and said his final goodbyes before heading off the beach to go home.
It was down to Jack and Katrina. The rest of their friends were simply footprints in the sand. That’s all they would be to anyone who went to the beach the following day.
The two of them laid there and talked and kissed and reminisced until the sun was starting to show itself over the horizon again. The fire was out, and the light gray was starting to return to the sky was the gulls flew and called out the very start of the day.
“I don’t wanna go,” Katrina said flatly as she said up and pushed her hair out of her face. Jack kissed her temple, “I know you don’t. But it’ll all be okay.” She shook her head, “I’m not going. I refuse. I just won’t do it.” Jack looked at her curiously, “Then where are you going to go?” She shrugged as she stood up and pulled her jean shorts on over her bathing suit bottoms. “I don’t know. But somewhere that’s not here, but not college. I won’t do it.”
Jack ran his fingers through his hair as he stood up, “I’m not going to let you leave Kat.” She turned to him with a light in her eyes, “Then come with me. We’ll get away from all this together. We can leave all this behind and start over somewhere new, somewhere different.”
He wrapped his arms around her waist and set his forehead against hers, “I’ll go with you no matter where you go, but are you sure this is what you want? I mean, I’ll run down this beach with you and never look back, but only if I’m running with you.” She looked up at him and kissed him before turning and facing the expanse of beach in front of her. It was just an endless line of sand. “Let’s go,” she said without taking her eyes off the shore that called her name.
Jack slid his hand into hers.
“Together?” he whispered. She nodded, “Together.”
The two of them took of down the beach, leaving nothing behind but memories and footprints.