Where I Belong

The next morning I was awoken by someone shaking me and calling my name.
"Five more minutes mom." I mumbled. I heard two deep chuckles come from beside me, causing me to open my eyes. Standing beside my bed was Brian and Matt, looking down at me with an amused expression.
"What do you fucktards want?"
Brian gasped sarcastically and placed his hand over his heart in a mock hurt manner.
"Andie, how dare you! I'm deeply hurt!" I shook my head at him before sitting up and rubbing my eyes.
"What do you want to do today?" Matt asked.
"I don't care.. Whatever you wanna do." I replied sleepily.
"We could go to the beach?" As soon as Brian suggested it I bolted up and into the bathroom to get ready.
"Matt, pack the surfboards!" I yelled behind the door. I brushed through my hair and applied light makeup before walking back into my now empty room to grab my bathing suit and a pair of shorts.

Finally. Finally I was going surfing again! Nothing could ruin this day. I turned my Iphone on while I was getting ready and danced around my room to Blink 182. Once I was dressed and ready to go I ran downstairs and bounded into the kitchen where Val, Matt, Brian and a girl who looked exactly like Val stood, talking while Val made breakfast.

"Good morning, hun!" Val said over her shoulder while making bacon.
"Morning Val." I replied while sitting next to Matt at the island table. I nudged Matt with my elbow and nodded my head towards the mystery girl when he looked at me.
"Oh! Alex, this is Michelle, Val's sister and Brian's girlfriend!" I smiled at Michelle and waved shyly at her.
"No no no. Come here hunny, I'm a hugger" She said while standing up and walking towards me. I chuckled before standing up as well and embraced her.
"It's nice to meet you Michelle." I said when the hug was over.
"You too Alex! I hope you don't mind me asking, but what is your full name?" Val came towards the table with multiple plates filled with food and set it down on the table. Everyone immediately dug in while I just grabbed a piece of toast and spread some peanut butter on it. I never was a big eater.
"It's Alexandria, but you can really call me whatever you'd like."
"Lexi it is then!" She really was very nice.
"So Andie, how excited are you to go surfing?" Brian asked with his mouth full. I scrunched my face up in disgust and Michelle slapped his arm for being gross. I giggled at the face he made at her, which looked like a mixture of 'What did I do?' and an innocent small child.
"I'm beyond excited. I haven't hit the water in months and I really miss it. Wait, how did you know I surfed?"
"Val told everyone." Matt said simply. I playfully glared at Val and picked up a strawberry from a plate in front of me and threw it at her.
"I'm sorry Alex!" She said while shielding herself from my strawberry attack.
"It's all right Val. I still love you." She smiled at me then went back to eating her breakfast.

After everyone was done we packed up everything we would need. The guys loaded the boards on top of Matt's SUV and I packed up my board wax, dry clothes, a hair brush and anything else I would need for a day at the beach. Soon enough, everything was packed and we were loading into the car, the guys in the front and us girls in the back. The ride was short and was filled with Matt and Brian arguing over which music station to listen to, and when they finally decided on one we pulled into the beach parking lot.
My excitement got the best of me and before the vehicle completely stopped, I was climbing over Val and opening the car door. I jumped out and started unloading everything from the trunk while the guys took the boards from off the car roof.
I ran onto the beach and sighed at the feeling of the hot sand beneath my feet. Oh how I missed this.
I eventually found the perfect spot where the sun was shining at the perfect angle because I knew the girls would want to tan. I collapsed onto the san and soaked up the warmth that the sun was emitting. I took a deep breath in, relishing on the familiar salty, moist scent of the ocean.
"Jesus Christ woman! I've never seen someone so excited for anything." Matt said as he set the surf boards down. I grabbed a handful of sand and rubbed it in my fingers before taking a deep breath, filling my lungs with the fresh air and sat up.
"Mattie, pass me my board please!"
"Here ya go, doll." He said handing me over my surfboard. I grabbed the wax from my bag and started rubbing it all over the board.
"Later!" I called out to everyone from over my shoulder as I ran towards the water with my board tucked under my arm. I ran into the water and kept running until I almost couldn't touch the ground beneath me and dived under the water with my surfboard under me. When I came back up I sighed and smiled before paddling out into the deeper water to catch the bigger waves.

~

I caught some pretty good waves until I looked out into the horizon and saw the biggest wave of the day. I big my lip and smirked before paddling out to catch up to it not knowing of the coral reef near by.
This wave was mine. I looked to the left and right only seeing two other surfers fighting to catch it as well, silly amateurs.
I kept paddling until I was the perfect distance from the growing wave and turned my board around quickly and started paddling in the opposite direction. Soon I felt the wave pick up my board and I quickly stood up and steadied myself. I felt so alive. This is what I've been waiting for, this very moment when the biggest wave of the day was carrying me as I rode it until another smaller wave came from the side and made me lose my balance.
The wave I was riding came crashing down on me, forcing me to plunge into the water. I took a deep breath right before I went under, the surfboard leash pulling me further down by my ankle. I was being pulled by the water and the leash in many different directions and when I finally gained control of myself I started kicking upwards to get back to the surface.
As hard as I kicked I wasn't getting anywhere. I felt my lungs clench from the lack of oxygen and when I looked down I noticed my leash was caught on part of the reef. I kept kicking trying to free myself but to no avail. My vision started blackening when I saw black hair whip in front of me. Suddenly I felt my foot get free and with all the energy and will-power I had left, I kicked up rising closer to the surface.
"Are you okay?" A worried voice said from beside me when I surfaced. I kept coughing up water until I finally could speak.
"Yeah, thank you!" I said looking to my saviour. When I did my breath hitched in my throat. Oh my god. He had long-ish black hair and bright blue eyes with a gorgeous smile. I smiled at him before looking over to see my board snapped in half.
"Fuck!"
"Aw shit, that sucks." The boy beside me said. I simply nodded before swimming over and grabbing the two halves of my broken surfboard. I pouted and swam back to no-name.
"Get on my board" He said simply. I swam over to him and sat down on his surfboard near the front of it. He sat behind me and started paddling towards shore.
When we finally reached the shore we got off his board and started walking onto the sand.
"I never got your name." He suddenly said.
"Alex, and yours?"
"Liam." He said smiling at me. I smiled back, making my dimples pop out.
"You have the most fucking adorable dimples I have ever seen." He said poking one of them. I blushed and thanked him before leaning down to pick up my pulverized surfboard.
"Who are you here with?"
"My brother and my friends. Wanna come meet them?" I asked him, looking up at him. Holy he was pretty tall. He must be almost 6" tall.
"Sure, lead the way." I started walking towards everyone when I felt a hand on my lower back, making my cheeks redden.
"Hey guys, this is Liam. Liam this is my brother Matt, Brian, Val and Michelle." I said pointing everyone out. Liam shook Matt and Brian's hands respectively and waved at Val and Michelle.
"Holy shit! What happened to your board?!" Val asked, well more like shouted. I then proceeded to tell the whole story about what happened. The girls both pulled me into a hug after I was done which I laughed at but gladly returned.
"Thank you so much for saving Andie." Brian said to Liam.
"It was nothing. Surfers gotta stick up for each other." Liam smiled down at me and wrapped his arm around my shoulder pulling me into a side hug.

Liam left shortly after to get dried off and changed but returned right before we were about to leave.
"Hey, I would really like to hangout with you again." He said scratching the back of his neck awkwardly. I laughed and smiled before pulling out my phone and handing it to him and he did the same with his own.
"Text me sometime and we can make plans to chill soon! Thank you again Liam." I said after we exchanged numbers. He grabbed my waist and pulled me into a hug. I wrapped my arms around his neck and melted into him.
"Anytime, love." He mumbled into my hair. His hug was warm and comforting. I felt safe in his arms, which I know sounds super cliche and over-done but it's the truth. Our bathing suit clad bodies added extra heat from the skin on skin contact, making a shiver run down my spin. I slowly pulled away from the hug and smiled up at Liam, which he returned before we said our goodbyes.

"He seems like a very nice young man! Good pick, Lexi." Michelle said when I climbed into the black SUV. I blushed and giggled at her before pulling my phone from my shorts pocket, seeing that I had a new text message.
"I don't like him. He seems like a tool." Matt said from the from, which Brian agreed with. I rolled my eyes at their over-protectiveness and opened the text.

I can't wait to see u again. Hopefully the next time we hangout u don't almost drown :P -Liam xo <3