Ghost Crabs

Ghost Crabs

Location: South Carolina somewhere on the coast.

The light burned my eyes as I walked up the sand to the back of the beach house, I was staying in with two other girls. My one friend Sarah grabbed my hand and dragged me up the last flight of stairs that led to two, two-level condos. Ours and the other guests next to ours, both the condos shared a pool.

“Saya please hurry up! Charlotte is busing trying to figure out how to carry two boogie boards, an umbrella, a chair and her beach bag, we should be getting the room clean for her inspection.” I laughed at her as we hurried up across the walkway to our condo. AS we were passing we say four boys. Two were sitting on the side seats and the other two were standing near the stairs. Keeping my eyes down towards the boards I didn’t notice what they looked like or who they were.

“Hello.” Sarah said as she waved nicely to them as we descended down the stairs to our condo. The chair I was holding slipped from my hand. When I went to pick it up another hand beat me to it.

“Hello.” His deep voice rang through my ears. My eyes finally flickered up to meet his green ones. The green ones of Harry Styles.

“Hello.” I said taking the chair from his hands.

“I’m Harry,” He said. “This is Liam, Louis, and Zayn. The blonde over there is Niall.”

“Saya, and that is Sarah.” I replied back.

“Oh sugar!!! Shes coming up with the stuff. We still have to clean the room before she gets in!” Sarah said. I nervously put a strand of my blonde hair behind my ear as I looked to Charlotte who was complaining to a blonde boy who was carrying her umbrella and her chair. She was dragging two boogie boards and her beach bag. Sarah grabbed my arm.

“Saya what are we going to do!?” She exclaimed. I rolled my eyes at her dramatics.

“We can stall her if you want. Niall is doing a pretty good job at it already.” Liam piped up walking over to Sarah smiling sheepishly down at her.

“Maybe, Harry, Louis, and I could come help you guys clean up the mess.” His accent seemed kind of hopeful. Harry, after chuckling at Liam, turned to me as I looked everywhere but at him.

“I’m good at organizing.” He said smiling at me.

“Sure, we need all the help we can get.” I said grabbing Sarah as she was still going into overload. “Sarah, the boys here are going to help.” She took in a giant deep breath.

“Okay good, because I don’t think I can deal with her freaking out, because we tore up the place.” The boys seem to laugh at this, thinking that we must have been joking. Liam pulled Zayn over and told Louis the plan. They all seem to enjoy planning keeping Charlotte busy. We all seemed to go into a huddle.

“Okay. Everyone know where their going?” Harry said.

“Yes.” We all said in unison.

“Okay Ready?” Louis said.

“Get set.” Zayn said.

“Go!” Liam yelled as we all took off to our destinations. I saw Zayn sprint off towards Niall and Charlotte as she managed to get some of her stuff away from him, she started to stalk away from him. Zayn seemed to stop her as we hurried into the chaos that was our condo.

“What happened in here? A tornado?” Louis said as he took in the pillows thrown every which way and chip bags mixed on top of blankets.

“Its not as bad as I thought it would be.” Liam said as he picked up a pillow to put back on the couch.

“No time for talk, boys!” Sarah said in her tone that only meant one thing. she was going to start giving orders and obsessing over every little thing.

“Sarah!” I said. Her light grey eyes seem to becoming out of her head. “Calm yourself. Everything is going to be fine.” She nodded to me as the boys were still cleaning and putting everything back to where it belongs. She went over to help Liam in the Kitchen and I went to help Louis and Harry in living area.

“So what are girls doing tonight?” Harry spoke. Louis seemed to grow a smile at Harry who then proceeded to roll his his eyes at him.

“Trying not to leave the condo. Maybe go ghost crab hunting after dark.”

“Ghost crabs?” Harry asked as he finished putting the last pillow that belonged on the couch back to its perfect position.

“You take a flashlight and go on the sand at night. The little devils only come out in the dark, to go towards the ocean to eat. There fascinating and fun to find.” I explained. “Charlotte used to come here with her parents, and go Ghost crab hunting every night.” I said. Talking more than I should have. I giggled at myself. They seemed to look at me strangely for the giggle.

“Kitchen’s done.” Sarah said as she smiled at me. Liam seemed to have a blush on his face.

“We’re almost done here.” Just a couple of blankets.

“And I’m telling you, I can carry my own stuff!” Charlotte’s voice rang through the condo.

“Can you guys make that almost, a now thing.” Sarah said looking at Charlotte who was trying to step around Zayn who kept blocking her walkway.

“We need to stall her a little bit more.” Louis said as he looked at the ten blankets on the floor. I grabbed Harry’s hand and shoved him outside the door with me blocking the view to inside the condo. Charlotte walked up to me and then looked at Harry.

“Oh, no! Not another one!” She exclaimed. Niall came right up behind her and grabbed her bag.

“Charlie! I see you meet Zayn and Niall!” I said happily. She looked like she was about ready to kill me. Not happy. Of course none of us really were but she looked even worse.

“Yes. Ireland here as been talking my god damn ear off. Hes worse than gaydard back at the farm.” She said glaring at him. He put on a shock hurt look but than seemly laughed at her.

“Well, this is Harry.” I said introduction her to the other British boy.

“Nice to meet you.” she said throwing the chair down next to ours. “What did you guys do in there when I was at the beach trying to relax.” Her temper hitting an all time high so far. Charlotte wasn’t really one to get annoyed at people unless they messed with her cleanness.

“Oh, the usual, woke up ate something, then went back down to the beach with you.” I replied. We heard three taps on the window. I jumped and grabbed onto Harry’s arm, while Charlotte seemed to grab onto Niall at the noise. Where we had been for the past year and half, tapping meant not a good thing. We heard a small yelp and turned towards to see Sarah clinging to Liam. Louis had his hand up on the glass. All five of the boys looked at us strangely.

“I knew I would grow on you.” An Irish accent came through the silence that had appeared. Charlotte looked up at him and then pulled away pushing me away from Harry as she made her way inside. I smiled a little at Harry as he held his hand for a ‘lady’s first’ sign.

“so, girls, what are you guys doing tonight?’ Louis asked, trying not to scare us again.

“Nothing.” Sarah said removing herself from Liam.

“Well, how about you girls keep an eye on our friends here. Zayn and I are going on a double date with our girlfriends and the boys here were going to throw themselves a little mini pity pool party for being single, and lonely. Do you girls mind keeping them company?” He asked with puppy dog eyes.

“Yes!” Sarah exclaimed at the same time Charlotte proceed to say “No.” Both girls looked at me.

“I wouldn’t mind. Gives us something to do.” Sarah threw her hands up in a Triumph way and Charlotte rolled her eyes and went to her room.

“She’ll be there.” Sarah said looking at me smiling. I nodded my head as the boys proceeded to say they’ll see us down there in a couple of hours. Sarah said goodbye to the boys, Liam in particular, and I showed the boys out the back door. Harry was the last to exit as I waved bye to them. Saying thanks for saving our butts from Charlotte's antics.

“so, I guess, I’ll see you later.” He said smiling down at me. I nodded my head, not trusting myself to speak. “I’ll be looking forward to it.” He added as he walked backwards onto the walkway from our condo to the main walkway that led to their condo.

“Me too.” I added closing the door.

An hour and half later

Looking at myself in the full length mirror, I tried to cover the scars on my thighs by pulling on the the bottoms a bit. Nothing was going to cover them so, I instead wrapped the orange striped towel around my waist. Walking out of my room I spotted Charlotte in full black bikini top with matching black shorts. Her Blue striped towel hung from her arm as she looked at Sarah who was jumping up and down with excitement. Swinging her pink striped towel around her shoulders, she looked divine in her pretty pink bikini. If anyone could pull of the bikini it would be Sarah.

“You guys excited!!! Its been so long since we hung out with boys!” She said bouncing around messing up neatly placed blankets on the couch. I saw Charlotte start to bite her nails. A habit she picked up at the farm when she was learning to control her extreme OCD. Sarah went over to the door and peered down at the pool that we shared with the boys.

“There down there! Come on girls lets go!” She said through the door open, and leaped out of the condo. Charlotte walked by the couch then turned right around to fix the blanket back to its perfection.

“Stop it.” I said grabbing her arm and dragging her out into the warm Carolina air. “Its fine. You are going to enjoy tonight I promise.” I said placing my arm around her shoulders. She looked like a lost kitten trying to find her way home. “You’ll be fine. I promise.” I said reassuring her. Nodding her head she walked off of our porch and down the stairs to the pool area. I followed swiftly behind. Harry and Liam were sitting on chairs that they laid their towels out on. Niall was already in the pool swimming with Sarah who was splashing around like a kid.

“Hello there.” Harry said to me as I sat down on a chair next to his. “Shes a little ball of energy isn’t she?” He said nodding his head to Sarah. She was splashing around and trying to do tricks underwater while also trying to have a conversation with both Liam and Niall at the same time.

“Oh she can get worse. Much worse.” I said. Niall had swam over to Charlotte who was placing her towel out neatly and then fixing it every time she sat down.

“Need help with that love?” Niall asked.

‘Nope.” she said popping the ‘P’. I turned my attention back to Harry as he decided to take off his shirt and recline on his chair. Looking at him I realized that he seemed to have four nipples.

“So, we were pondering the question that Charlotte said earlier. Well not a question but, more of a statement. Niall really wanted to know who this ‘Gaydard’ is, and what kind of Farm you girls were from?” He asked sitting up on his elbows looking at me. He wasn’t judging he just wanted to know.

‘Well, that conversation we can have over dinner. Sarah apparently was on the phone earlier with Liam, and they both ordered Pizza.”

“Get one pizza just for Niall right?” He said. Niall’s head shot up at the mention of his name.

“Yes Harry?” He questioned.

“Nothing, go back to flirting.” At that Niall turned his head back to Charlotte but not before having a blush creep on his cheeks.

“Yeah, they also got Charlotte her own as well” She turned her head at he mention of her name and looked at me. I looked back at her until she got this kind of softened kitten look again and continued back to bickering with Niall.

“But I have a better question for you Mr. Styles.”

“Shot.”

“Sarah, really likes Liam, and something happened in the kitchen that has her more jumpy than normal. And, even though she is denying it, Charlotte totally is crushing on Niall. I mean look at him, ever insult she throws he laughs it off and counties to smile. Nobody but Sarah and I have ever managed to get along with her.”

“Okay so where's this questions?” He asked.

“Remember those Ghost crabs I was telling you about?”

“Yes.”

“Well how about we break into groups of two.”

“Are you asking me to be your date for this group thing?”

“No I’m asking you to be my partner in crime. Will make a competition of it. The group to have the most spotted Crabs win the game.”

“But how are we going to get them to play? What would be the prize.”

“Oh the girls will want to play after I trick Charlotte into doing it. Sarah loves games and will play anything, and to top it off, I get to see those cute little baby crabs that I love.” I explained smiling down at him. Obviously proud of myself. He broke out into a grin when he got this gleam in his eye.

“What?” I asked.

“Just thought about how I could get the mates to join.”

“What is it?” I asked excited to know.

“That is a surprise love.” He said smiling at me. His smile faded off when he looked down. I looked down to see the towel had fallen off and my scars on my thighs were showing. “What the bloody hell happened?” He said rather loudly. Sarah's head snapped away from talking with Liam. Charlotte immediately stopped mid-insult and stood up about ready to pounce. Harry's face took one look in confusion and looked at the other two girls who were staring intently on what he would do next. Niall and Liam didn’t know what to make of what was happening. Poor boys.

“Its a long story.” I said pulling the towel back over my lower body. A phone ringing was heard over the waves crashing. Liam hurried over to his chair and picked up the phone.

“Pizzas here.” He said to everyone. Sarah got up out of the pool and grabbed her towel. Her smile had returned as she walked over to the table. Everyone seemed to calm down after Liam had brought the pizzas back over to us. He said next to Sarah. I sat down next to Liam, Harry took the seat on my right as Charlotte took the seat next to him as Niall finished off the circle by sitting in between Sarah and Charlotte, much to her dismay.

“Okay, So Niall, Charlotte these are your Pizzas.” He handed two medium boxes over to them. Niall face had one of the biggest grins on his face as he looked at Charlotte open her box.

‘I like a girl that can eat.” She rolled her eyes as she picked up a slice.

“Okay, so are you going to explain now?” Harry asked as. The boys all looked at him as I cocked my head to the side to look at him.

“Harry.” Liam said sternly.

“What you have questions to Liam. So do you Niall. I’m the only one who is willing to ask.” He said back.

“Charlotte you were on the farm longer than we were.” Sarah said looking across at her friend. I stared down at my lap and subconsciously started to trace one of the tiny scars on my upper thigh.

“Its a rehabilitation center for trouble teens. Not like we were bad people, the three of us didn’t do drugs, we never smoked, and I have never really been drunk before. People who stay there call it the farm, from that song. You know about the crazy guy who sings about his dog.” She said putting down her slice. “Its a place were we learn to control our problems. If you guys couldn’t tell, I have a severe case of OCD. Everything has to be perfect. I also can’t step on cracks when I walk, and When I open a door I have to turn the handle three times. Its just something I developed when my mother died. She did the same thing.” Charlotte said pulling her knees up to her chest. Niall had put down his pizza and was rubbing her arm for comfort. She didn’t bat him away.

“Okay well, I have been drunk before, along with Saya. Some crazy nights I tell you. But I have a severe case of ADHD. As you can tell. At first I would be so wound up I could never hold a conversation. But the farm help me limit my hyperness. At one point the impulsion is so crazy that one person at the farm shot herself in the leg because she had to do. I just didn’t want to end up like that. So I ended up being friends with these guys. It got worse after my father was sent to jail for Cocaine possession. Never touched the stuff, but he was a bad crack addict.” she said. Her eyes got kind of teary when she mentioned becoming our friends. Liam took her hand in his and smiled at her. She got this huge smile on her face. Like she was in wonderland for the first time.

I looked at harry as he looked back at me for an explanation. “I went to the farm for severe Depression issues. As you could tell earlier I used to cut myself, on my legs. A couple of years ago, I was a dancer. Highly stressful one at that. It got to the point where the only way I could stay confident was to cut myself. My brother found me almost died in my bathroom. He had money from being a computer tech guy with Microsoft or something, so he paid for me to go to the farm.” I finished not looking at anyone. A hand took mine and interlaced his fingers with mine. I looked over at Harry and he was staring at the table.

“What about the jumping at the knocking?” Liam asked looking at the girls after a couple of minutes. Sarah’s face fell from her small smile.

“Well, when you got a knock on the door, that means it was because you did something bad. So that means you were either going to end up the “the Room” or getting a shot.” Sarah explained. Looking over at Charlotte.

“Whats the room like?” Niall asked. Suddenly feeling Charlotte’s hand tense.

“I only went in there once or twice.” I said squeezing Harry's hand back. “After that I learned my lesson not to cut or anything.”

“Scary. Dark. Unclean. Everything I hate. Anything you hated was found in that room. They had made it specially for you.” She said taking up a piece of pizza and ate it all in a couple of bites.

“As you can see she is eating herself silly every time she thinks of the place. It got us healthy. Somewhat healthy.” I said grabbing a slice of pizza that Harry and I shared.

“What?” Sarah said as she spoke with her mouth full of food. Everyone started to laugh at her. She smiled like she had done a job well done. The tense had died down. Charlotte bated Niall's hand away when she realized that he was still touching her. After everyone finished their pizzas, (Note that Charlotte and Niall both ate their whole pizzas), I started to to introduce the plan, since the sun was beginning to set.

“So, Charlotte remember how you said you really wanted to go Ghost Crab hunting tonight?” She looked at me like a deer in the headlights.

“Ghost crabs?” Liam and Niall both said together.

“Crabs that come out on the beach during the night.” Harry put in.

“Well, I thought we could make a competition out of it. Like 3 teams. To keep things even thought that the teams could consist of one boy and one girl-.”

“I call Charlotte!’ Niall said raising his hand.

“Sarah!” Liam said raising his hand up than two.

“Saya!” Harry joined in putting his hand up as well. I looked at him. He just smiled back.

“I’m in!” Sarah said raising her hand up. I put my hand up and everyone looked at Charlotte.

“The winning groups gets to waited on hand and food for a day.” She slowly put her hand up. When it came to barking out cleaning orders and being waited on Charlotte was the girl to go for it. Everyone put their hands down. I turned to Harry and matched his smile that had grown on his face.

“So the people to spot the most ghost crabs wins. You get to keep score and no cheating.” I said laughing at Sarah who made a groan at that.

“Whens the best time to go ghost crab hunting?’ Liam asked.

“After 9:30.” Charlotte said trying to look as depressed as she could. Sarah gave me a look that meant that she knew Charlotte wasn’t depressed at all.

“Okay, well then we can all meet down at the walkway to go to beach. Brings flashlights!” Sarah said all perky. Charlotte got up and grabbed her towel running up to the condo. Niall stared at her retreating form as Sarah patted him on the head.

“She’ll come around. Just don’t be mean to her. Saya and I are the only people who were willing to put with her insults until she finally let her guard down. She likes you. In fact the more she insults and tries to push you away the more she likes you.” I smiled at Harry as I stood up. My scars now visible but they didn’t seem to care anymore.

“Well, look at the wise and all knowing Sarah.” I said smirking at her.

“I’m going to go pick out our outfits for tonight. You are not wearing sweats. I forbid it. See you guys later.” She said waving at everyone. Liam stared at her back. Both two boys stared at the girls as they retreated back into our condo.

“Well, I’ll see you in a couple of hours” I said smiling at Harry. Walking slowly back away from him.

“I’ll see you later.” He said smiling at me with a cute grin.

“I’ll be looking forward to it.” I turned and walked up to my condo. Right before I walked in the door I looked down at the pool to see Harry still staring up at me.

Two hours later

“Please Charlotte. Wear the shirt.” Sarah said. I was twirling a strand of my long hair as I watched the scene of Sarah shoving a superman shirt in her face.

“Fine. But only if you clean up the kitchen when we get home.” She said slipping the shirt over her head.

“Yes.” She said triumphantly. I stood up from the couch and placed the pillow back to its original place. Charlotte looked over at me and smiled. Walking over to the back door, I stepped out on the porch. Looking over to the walkway I saw the boys talking. Harry looked over at me and waved. I waved back and went and opened the glass door.

“Girls, they're ready.” I said smiling at Sarah who squealed. Charlotte and I both started to laugh at her as we stumbled our way to the walkway.

“You ready to win?” Liam asked Sarah as he wrapped his arm around her shoulders.

“You bet we are.” I said as I smiled up at Harry. Charlotte took the flashlight that Niall had offered. He smiled shyly back at her.

“Okay so everyone know the drill?” Niall asked looking at everyone.

“Girls carry the flashlight.” Harry and Liam both said.

“Boys count the crabs.” Sarah and I said. We all started to make our way down to the sand. Once we were standing in a circle we all decided to split into three different ways. Harry and I would go straight down towards the ocean than make our way to the right. Niall and Charlotte would make their way down the left side of the beach. Liam and Sarah would go to the right. We would meet back at the top of the walkway in an hour.

“Come on Ireland. I hate losing.” Charlotte said walking away from the group. Niall smiled at us as he chased after her.

“Ready to go ghost hunting?” Sarah asked smiling at Liam. When they thought they were far enough away I saw Them interlock their hands together. I turned back to Harry who had his hand out for me.

“So, what do they look like.” He said as we made our way down to the ocean water. The moons light reflected out onto the crashing waves.

“Well they look like regular crabs only seem kind of translucent.” I said as I waved the flashlight down the beach.

“You mean that?” Harry asked pointing to a crab that scurried off after the light hit him.

“Yes exactly like that.” I said smiling at him. “Cute little guys aren’t they?”

“Not as cute as you.” He replied back. I felt a blush creep on my cheeks as Harry wrapped his arm around my waist. The number of crabs we were searching for were counted on his IPhone. We talked as we searched, not really caring if we missed counted a couple of crabs. He talked about his family back in England and I talked about my brother. About how Charlotte, Sarah, and I became friends.

“It was actually all Charlotte's fault. Shes really the glue that keeps Sarah and I together I guess. Charlotte is the only one two tell you straight, the bad things everyone sees. But she truly honest.” I said smiling at him. His eyes seemed to glow in the light.

“You know whenever you smile get this gleam in your eye that makes me want to smile.” He said taking my mind off of the topic at hand.

“Now you're just kissing up.” We were facing each other. Our lips a couple of inches apart.

“No, I’m not. One I could not kiss up, I’m taller than you.” I laughed at this.

“And number two?” I asked in between giggles.

“Number two.” He leaned down and placed a soft kiss on my lips. It only last for a couple of seconds but it was sweet and perfect. “There would have to be kissing involved to be ‘kissing up’.”

“You are so cheesy.” I said smiling at him. leaning up a little more I placed another kiss back on his lips. Breaking away I grabbed his hand and pulled him back towards the walkway. He was smiling the entire time. Like we just shared a secret that nobody but us knew about. When we got back Liam and Sarah were full blown making out.

Harry cleared his thought.

“So I’m guessing you had a good time mate?” He asked Liam. Sarah had a blush that was spreading on her cheeks.

“Very good, actually.” He said smiling down at Sarah and who wrapped her arm around his waist. His arm had found his way around her shoulders.

“We were talking and -” Sarah started

“Really talking?” I said staring at Sarah. She stuck her tongue out at me.

“And, we were wondering if you guys wouldn’t mind spending some more time with us watching the stars tonight.” She said looking at Harry. Harry looked down at me and smiled.

“What do you think love?”

“I wouldn’t mind that at all.” He leaned down and kissed the top of my forehead. We all were talking waiting for Niall and Charlotte to come back.

“You are stupid and ignorant, and annoying and...annoying!” Charlotte was yelling.

“You already said that love.” Niall’s voice rang out. They had come to be a couple of feet away.

“I don’t know how anyone could put up with you!” she yelled back.

“Shes running out of things to say.” Sarah said everyone. Charlotte and Niall were to far to hear us. Not like anyone could hear over Charlotte who was trying not to ramble.

“Bout damn time.” I said smiling at them.

“What do you mean?” Harry asked as he watched his friend get furious over her Charlotte's insults.

“Whenever she runs out of things to insult you about you know shes liking you. Shes starting to really let her guard down, and she doesn’t like it. So shes going to tell Niall she hates him but really she doesn’t. Its like opposite day for her whenever this happens.” Sarah said leaning into Liam.

“I hate you.”

“Whoop der it is!” Sarah and I sang together. The boys started to laugh at us.

“What?” Niall said.

“I. Hate. You.” She put an envious on every word. Niall looked defeated.

“Hes giving up. Harry don’t let Niall give up.” I said putting a hand on his chest.

“One condition.” He said smiling down at me.
“Name it!” I said worrying over my friend who was about to be heartbroken.

“Don’t get mad at me for doing this.”

“Doing what?” Harry Smiled at me as he waved his hands to get Niall's attention. Charlotte didn’t turn her back as she was waiting for Niall to reject her. Before I could do anything Harry was pointing at me then at Charlotte. he pulled me into him and kissed me very passionately. When he pulled away he smiled down at me.

“Using an excuse aren’t you.” I said smiling at him. Niall had seemed to have gotten the message because he went up to Charlotte and grabbed her face, crashing his lips down on hers.

“Yes I will.” He said placing another kiss on my cheek. “Would you like to share a chair with me as we watch the stars?” He asked wrapping his arms around my waist holding me close to him.

“I would love to Harry.” I said smiling at him.

“Well than Saya. I would be love for you to accompany to a chair that has our names on it.” I smiled up at him.

“But what about the others?” I looked to see Sarah and Liam had disappeared and Niall was not letting go of Charlotte any time soon.

“Seems their busy.” He said smiling down at me. I leaned up and placed a kiss on his lips before he grabbed my hand leading back to the pool area. As I laid in his arms I smiled to myself about how my plan did work. Only I somehow got caught in my own web. All because of some Ghost crab hunting fun.