Kids in Love

The turbulence on the plane left me a nervous wreck. The flight dragged on and on with each dip, leaving my stomach full of nervous butterflies and my top lip full of teeth marks. I’ve been on edge since this morning and this long flight isn’t helping me calm down. As the plane roughly touches down on the tarmac, I hit my head on the window causing my eyes to tear up. I rub the spot with my already shaking hands and sigh. Not my brightest moment. Almost half an hour later I’m still standing at baggage claim, waiting for my suitcase to come down the carousel, thinking about how I managed to get myself into this mess. I should be in Santa Cruz, moving in with my new roommate and getting ready to start the internship I waited months to hear back from.

Instead, I’m home. I laugh quietly to myself, stopping abruptly when I realize how crazy I must look, my dirty hair thrown into a messy bun, sunglasses over my tired eyes, wearing a inappropriate outfit considering the heat and humidity that is sure to greet me when I walk outside (but that thought didn’t cross my mind this morning when I threw on a pair of jeans and my favorite hoodie over a tank top). At least I’m wearing flip flops. I grab my suitcase as soon as it rolls around to me, struggling with the heavy blue bag as I try not to tip over from the equally heavy backpack I’m carrying.

As I walk outside I bite my lip and try not to start tearing up behind my sunglasses. I’m alone. No family with ‘welcome home’ signs. No friends to greet me. It’s quiet and calm, despite the people walking around me. There’s definitely something wrong with this picture. This is the complete opposite of what I’m used to at school. I shake my head and remind myself that this is what home is like. It’s been so long since I’ve come home that clearly I forgot. Silly me. I should know not to get my hopes up.

Move on, Allie. I look up at the warm southern sun, a small smile sneaking its way onto my face as I start to walk again. I just have to focus on the good things that this summer can offer. Yeah I have to babysit Fisher but whatever. At least my parents are gone. I can stay at the beach house if I want to get away. My eyes light up and a full on grin shoves its way onto my face. I’ll deal with my sister tomorrow. Tonight I’m staying at the beach house. Maybe I’ll be able to de-stress before throwing myself in the lion’s den.

I roll my eyes upon seeing my momma’s boxy Mercedes truck. I told her to just drive my pickup but of course she would never want to be seen in that old, dumpy (her words, not mine) truck. This is just her another one of her ways of saying that she doesn’t approve of my choices. I purse my lips and shake my head as I get in the car. She should know by now that I don’t want to be like her. That much was obvious when I quit doing pageants.

The ride home isn’t long, but by the time I get to our beach house on the Isle of Palms its dark. I yawn and immediately decide it’s time for a bath and some dinner before tucking myself in for the night.

“Ugh, Fish.” I groan as I pull up to the beach house, all lit up and music blaring. People are sitting on the porch, drinking out of plastic cups. I lay my head on the steering wheel, sitting in the driveway for a few minutes before getting out of the car. This is not what I expected to see when I decided to stay the night here. I am not ready to deal with Fisher, much less a full blown house party. Leaving my bags in the car I walk into the house and am greeted by half-dressed children (okay so they’re probably all my sisters age) dancing in our living room.

“Allie May!” I didn’t even take two steps into the house before I heard my name being called. I turn and to see my ex-boyfriend, Jared, drunk and stumbling towards me. He grabbed me, bringing me into a loose hug. He smells the same. Pretty sure I just threw up in my mouth. Why is he here? Jared is definitely something I’m not ready to deal with yet. One problem at a time, please. I pat him on the back twice before breaking out of his arms and giving him a tight smile before walking away, rolling my eyes as I start looking around for my little sister.

“Fisher Rae!” My face morphs from disgust to anger as I catch my little sister in the kitchen with a kid that I graduated with—Dustin? Derek? Jerome? I have no idea—his hands on her hips and her hands in his hair. Two beers open on the counter next to them, countless empty brown bottles taking up the rest of the countertop. Besides the fact that my little sister has school tomorrow, that boy is just trouble looking for a place to happen. I know exactly what’s going through his head. I watch as my sister slowly detaches her lips from Derek’s (I’m pretty sure that’s his name) and her jaw drops as soon as she opens her eyes, not expecting to see me there.

“Oh shit.” She whispers as she stumbles off the counter and pushes Derek out of the way. I nod, because there’s really nothing else to say. She reaches forward to grab my hand, leading us out the sliding glass door, past the people crowding the back deck and onto the sand. She stands a few feet away from me, arms crossed over her crop top, her short skirt blowing in the wind, barefoot. Her lips are pursed and her blue grey eyes looking straight into mine—the beginnings of her signature hissy fits (to me she just looked like a younger, angrier version of mom when she’s angry). Clearly she doesn’t want me here.

There is nothing happy about the reunion that I was hoping to avoid until I at least had a tummy full of food and a couple hours of sleep. “Why are you here?”

The venom in her words made me raise my eyebrows. I was expecting her to be mad, that was a given, but this is on a different level. The last time we spoke didn’t end on such good terms but you would think that she would be happy to see me. This is what she wanted, after all. She was so mad when I told her I wasn’t coming home this summer. I looked away first, too tired and hungry to carry on like this with her.

“You’re not supposed to be here.” She said angrily with a little stomp of her foot. If she thinks she’s gonna get away with a full on temper tantrum, she has another thing coming. That’s what happens when you’re the youngest—you get used to getting whatever you want. Not tonight. I nod. Whatever.

“What are you even talking about?” I said, tilting my head to the side. Confused doesn’t even begin to cover it.

“What, now that you’re tired of runnin' around California you think you can just come home and everything will be peaches and cream?” She said, her arms leaving their post across her chest in favor of wild gestures that were not unlike her. I almost smile, thinking about how much I actually missed being home. Crazy little sister and all.

“Oh, please, Fisher. Momma asked me to come babysit.” Her arms drop at about the same moment her eyes widen so much I I could almost see her thoughts. She composes herself quickly with a roll of her eyes.

“She said I could stay home alone this summer!” There’s another pout. This is getting old quick.

“Well, clearly not.” She stomps her foot in the sand and I could have laughed in her face had my momma not taught me, at a very early age, that that was ugly. “Look, Fisher, can we skip this?” I wish I had my phone on me so I could get a picture of the look on her face.

She rolls her eyes in response. That’s fine, she doesn’t have to say a thing.

“Mom called a few weeks ago, basically begged me to watch you this summer, even after I told her about my internship.” I said with a shrug, trying to ignore the urge to tear up thinking about how hard I worked to get that job. It was my excuse not to come home this summer.

“You could’ve called.”

“The phone works both ways. And besides, Mom could’ve told you. Or dad. It’s not like they didn’t know.”

“Yeah, I guess between planning their European adventure and golf outings letting me know that they’re ruining my summer didn’t rank too high on their list of things ‘to do’.” I almost choke on the amount of sarcasm coating her words. I roll my eyes.

“Okay Fish, I get it. You don’t want me here, I clearly don’t want to be here, but it’s not like you got the short end of the stick, okay?”

“Oh yeah, because laying on the beach and telling me what to do is so bad.” She mumbles, looking down at her feet. A giggle escapes me before I can stop it. She looks so much like a puppy that I can’t help myself. Fisher looks at me and raises a perfect eyebrow (reminding me, yet again, that she was just like our momma—perfect). I cover my mouth with my hand to try to contain my laughter but for some reason I just can’t stop. Let’s blame this one on sleep deprivation.

“Clearly college has turned you into a psycho.” She mumbles with a roll of her eyes. I shrug and smile at her. She can be mad all she wants to, I’m going to try to salvage my summer.

“This is what I want you to do: go get me a few beers and, by the time I’m done, I want everyone gone so I can sleep.” I said with a nod and a wink.

She blinks twice and I just raise an eyebrow at her before she nods and scurries away. I sit down in the sand, closing my eyes and groaning. If this is any indication of how my summer is going to be, I’m going to be drinking a lot.

Standing in front of the sink, I start washing our mountain of dishes. The amount of dirty plates and cups in front of me isn’t surprising, even though we just moved in yesterday. I always end up cleaning when jetlag doesn’t let me sleep. I look out the window, taking a break from washing a cup, and notice a girl pacing near the tide. My eyes widen and the cup nearly slips from my soapy hands as she looks my way. I consider moving out of sight when another girl walks up to her, handing her a few bottles before running away. She turns back to face the sea and I realize that there’s no way she was looking over here at all.

It feels weird, watching a stranger without them knowing, but I couldn’t look away. I briefly wonder if this makes me a peeping tom. She lay in the sand, drinking her beer and looking up at the sky. Every so often she changes her position. Moving from laying to sitting and from sitting to laying again. She let her hair down and leaned her head back before turning back to the sea. I can only see her profile, lit up by the moonlight, but it’s enough.

“Would this make you a reverse peeping tom?” Louis said with a laugh. I didn’t hear him come downstairs. I feel my cheeks heat up as he comes up behind me and claps me on the shoulder.

“I-uh.” I’m not really sure if there was anything I could have said in that moment, because the look on Louis face said he already had an exaggeration to tell the lads in the morning.

“Go talk to her, yeah?” He said as he looks out the window. I sigh and bite my lip before shaking my head.

“Not yet.”

The next morning, I wake up with a smile. Despite what happened with Fisher last night, and the fact that the house is a mess, I’m home. I have to remind myself to think of the positive things. As I yawn and stretch, I decide to do my daily yoga on the beach, instead of my usual location (the living room with music blaring). I quickly get dressed in some shorts and a tank top, deciding to go barefoot as I grab my mat. I check the time and see that Fisher can sleep for another hour before I wake her up for school. I’m sure if I left it up to the alarm clock she would just skip. That’s why she’s in summer school in the first place.

I drop my mat on the ground, wiggling my toes in the cold sand and look out at the waves crashing a few feet away from me. I love early mornings, so peaceful and promising. I lay out my mat, sitting down on it to start my routine. All I want is this moment of peace. Everything that’s happened in the past few weeks feels rushed, like it was thrown together haphazardly just because.

My eyes snap open as I hear someone nearby. I move out of my downward dog to look around. I notice a mysterious hooded figure running towards me. Scrunching my eyebrows and tilting my head, I try to figure out who it is, coming up blank. A small voice in my head is telling me to run inside but I ignore it. By the time I quell my body’s flight response, I can see the person clearer—it’s a guy, probably around my age, someone I don’t think I’ve ever seen around here before. I’d like to think I would remember someone that gorgeous if they were my neighbor. In retrospect, I should have grabbed my things and ran inside but I was on a small island off the coast of South Carolina, not in San Diego. Kali always told me that it was thoughts like that that could get me in trouble one day. I always shrugged it off.

Goodness gracious. I realize I’m staring around the same time that he realizes I’m staring. There’s no getting around the widened eyes and raised eyebrows I’m sporting. I bite my lip and stand up, dusting the sand off of my shorts and hands. Can’t exactly just ignore him after getting caught like that (especially not if he’s my new neighbor). It’s not like there’s anyone else on the beach this early in the morning. The sun’s not even up yet. He looked at me with cautious eyes as I walk up to him.

“Hi! I’m Allie May.” I say with a sweet smile. I usually like to hug but a girl’s gotta have some common sense this early in the morning.

“Nice to meet you, I’m Liam…” He said with a closed lipped smile. It was all I could do not to drool. Between the smile and the accent…I am one splash of water away from melting.

“Oh! You’re not from around here, are ya?” As soon as the words left my mouth I could have slapped myself. Clearly, Allie, duh.

“London, actually.” He said. I nod. It’s quiet for a moment as I look out at the ocean again, contemplating running away and never coming back but that would be hard seeing as all of my things are in the house. I turn back to the boy and before I can stop it my mouth betrayed me again.

“So are you here for the summer or…” I bite my lip to stop the awkward that is sure to keep coming out of my mouth. No more early conversations with strangers for this girl.

He nods. “We moved in a few days ago, actually.”

“Oh, you and your girlfriend?” My heart is beating so hard. Where’d that come from? I really need to stop. No more outside yoga for me. Too dangerous.

“No, no, me and my friends.” He said with a quiet laugh. Ha, jackpot.

“Oh that’s awesome! You know what, y’all should come by for supper tonight. Like a welcome to the neighborhood-type of thing.” I said before I can realize what I’m doing. I bite my lip as I look out at the ocean again. What. Was. I. Thinking. I couldn’t have been, as I try to remember if we even have groceries here. I have no idea. Why do I do this to myself? I slap a smile on my face as I look into his eyes. Oh, right, that’s why.

“I’ll tell the lads.” He said with a nod and a grin. And I’m sure I’ve never seen anything as beautiful.

“Y’all can come by around six if that works for y’all.” I said as I start to become hyperaware of the southern drawl that I’ve been trying to get rid of for months now, to no avail. I can feel my cheeks turning red as I look down at my feet, embarrassed by how many ‘y’alls’ I had said in the last five minutes. It’s like every stereotype I’d worked so hard to break came crashing down on me the moment I stepped off the plane.

“Would you like us to bring anything?” He asked, looking down at me. Boy, was he tall (or am I just short?). The porch light just about blinded me as it turned on from behind Liam. Someone must have woken up. I noticed the blinds on their sliding glass door slightly move but ignored it, looking back up at Liam. I shook my head.

“No, no y’all don’t have to bring anythin.” I said with a small smile, trying to switch my y’all counter off (that was the fourth one in this very short conversation so far). There was more movement behind Liam and as I looked over so did he. One of his (very gorgeous, very underdressed) friends is walking out on the porch. I swear as he looks over at me his eyes widen ever so slightly before he catches himself. I blink and he is down on the sand, standing next to Liam.

“I’m Louis!” He said, a grin on his face as he stuck his hand out for me to shake, the amount of enthusiasm he has is off the charts for the early hour but I try to embrace it, shaking his hand.

“I’m Allie May! Nice to meet you, sir.” I said, my signature grin taking over my face.

“Ah.” He said with a nod. “You as well, doll.” He looks at Liam and looks back at me before running back into the house. I raise an eyebrow at Liam and chuckle. Strange.

“I-uh. I should go.” Liam said, a slight pink tinting his cheeks as he shifts from side to side awkwardly. I bite my lip and nod, grabbing my yoga mat, shaking it out a bit before turning back to Liam. “See you tonight, Allie.”

I grin and wave as he walks into his house before turning to head inside mine.