Encounters

Anna
I like the way the salty air tastes, and the white sand did not disappoint, especially after enduring the six hour car ride with my family to the beach.

I started to think about how perfect this scene is. I try to appreciate it to the fullest extent, because I won't be here forever. And it's really funny how unaware we are of the perfection around us, letting it all slip on by.

I often become lost in my own thoughts, and I realized then and there that my entire life is based on a series of observations. I'm an observer, not a doer.

I opened my eyes, and suddenly felt as if there were a pair of eyes on me. I may have been paranoid, but I noticed the ever-so-often passing male to glance at me longer than what was considered "normal". Whatever that meant. There must be something on my face, I thought to myself. Deciding it was my being self-conscious, I pulled out my book and began to read. Reading always managed to relax me, letting me venture off into my own world of fiction. The amount of peace was invigorating, and the breeze from the ocean could only contribute to my high. I was really under the impression that it could not truly get better than this.

That was when I felt something hard smack my face.

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2 hours.

2 hours left of this horrid car ride.

My family wasn't the best company, but they weren't the worst either. They tended to be very loud, and by "they," I mean my mom and my sister. Despite this usually true fact, they'd actually managed to stay quiet for some time, allowing my sanity to slowly crawl back into my mind. My loss of rationality was mostly due to my screaming 4 year old sister. You'd think I'd be used to it by now, right? Think again.

The flight from Georgia to California wasn't all that bad, but most of my suffering came from the distance between the airport and the beach. The airport was quick; there were no delayed flights, and no more hassle than what was considered usual, which was shocking. We had one last rest stop, then the next time I got out of this car, I'd be home. Not my actual home, but my true home, where I belonged. I loved the beach more than anything, and I hope to make it my actual home one day although it seems unlikely. But hey, a girl can dream, right?

Even though we came here annually, I never grew bored of the place. I had the same level of excitement every year during this 6 hour drive, but this year I was overcome with joy, not quite understanding why. Maybe it was the fact that I'd finally have full freedom from my mom's overprotective wrath, considering the fact that I'm now 21. She still clutches onto me, as if I were an irresponsible teenager. Even when I was a teenager, all I did was sit in my room and read my books. Why did I get treated as if I lied and snuck around behind her back? I became agitated just thinking about the situation, shifting around in my seat to distract myself.

As much as I enjoyed spending time with my family, I longed for the alone time and solitude that was about to come my way. The sand beneath my feet, creeping its way between my toes. The taste of the salt air. The sound of the waves crashing against the shore. It was all so surreal, especially the alone part.

I guess that's what separates me from the crowd: I loved being alone. There was nothing as comforting as the undisturbed silence that surrounded me when I was alone. Sure, I had friends whom I talked to at school, but I always went home alone, declining any offers of hanging out with the others. I have been told numerous times by my family that this is extremely unhealthy, although it was worded a bit differently, and much more harshly... Maybe I knew deep down it was bad for myself, but I couldn't seem to give up the happiness it brought me...

I was jolted out of my staring-out-the-window and my deep thoughts by my mother, who was practically screaming my name. "Anna!" she shouted. "What?" I snapped, removing my headphones from my ears. "I asked you to wake your sister up. Her nap time is up." Great, I thought to myself. Scooting over to her car seat, I tapped her arm, attempting to wake her up. "Sophie..." I whispered, my voice trailing off. "Wake up."

You can predict what happened next. The whining and crying was too much for me to bare, so I put my headphones back in and blared the music. If I couldn't handle her, how would I be able to deal with my own children? It was a scary thought, so I decided to push it away. I returned to my previous position, curled up into a ball and staring out the window once again.

The next 2 hours drug by slowly, resulting in me looking up how far we were from the great Laguna Beach on my phone. Going to my maps app, I waited for our current location to be registered and entered the address of the destination. Just before the results popped up, I heard a joyous shout.

"We're here!"

~

Check in at the hotel took forever, as predicted.

The staff apologized for the inconvenience, offering us a discount. Once the financial part was done, we finally started unloading the car. Most of the suitcases consisted of my mom's things; She always over packs whenever we go anywhere. It was mainly me and my step dad who did the heavy lifting, so it must have taken 30 minutes to get everything into our room, going up and down in the elevator. It also didn't help that we were on the 23rd floor.

Once I was unpacked, I did not hesitate to prepare myself to check out the pool and the beach. I threw my bathing suit on, not paying much attention to which one, I was that excited. I finally noticed how tan the lime green bikini made me look when I glanced at myself in the mirror.

I hurried to scoop up my beach bag and phone, scurrying out the door. My mom seemed annoyed by me leaving so suddenly, but I honestly couldn't care less. I've been waiting all year for this.

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I opened my eyes, only to find I had fallen out of my chair, face down in the sand. I looked up, finally noticing the boy who was frantically talking to me, with concern in his voice. Everything seemed muffled, sight and hearing. I stumbled around on my hands and knees, finally tuning in to what he was saying.

"Are you okay? I'm so sorry! I tried to catch it in time but it was too fast for me."

He was crouching down so that we were eye-to-eye. I looked down to see that he was holding a red frisbee. My first instinct was anger, but that rage faded once I looked back up at the culprit of my damaged face.

He was... Alluring. Dark brown hair, and light brown eyes, more like hazel. One of my few weaknesses. His jawline shaped the maturity of his face, emphasizing his moles on his left cheek. His lips were slightly parted, showing his beautiful white teeth. His mouth had a slight smirk, making me wonder for a split second if he was just messing with me. His hair was tousled, but in a sexy, effortless kind of way. I looked down at his body in awe. He had a muscular build, just enough to outline his biceps and every other major muscle in his body. I raised my eyebrows in reaction to being quite impressed.

I didn't know how long I had been analyzing him when he snapped me out of my trance.

"Hey? Can you hear me?" He was waving his hand in front of my face.

"Oh..." was all I could choke out. I was at a loss for words. I stood there dumbfounded, searching for something to say, which wasn't like me at all. I always knew what to say.

"Did I hurt you? Are you okay? Can you talk?"

He seemed to be overreacting, but he had a reason to. I wasn't even talking and I most likely had a terrified look on my face. Gaining composure, I stood up straight and dusted the sand off of my arms and stomach. Come on, don't act like an idiot, I mumbled to myself. He's just a person, a very attractive person.

"It's okay, really. I'm fine. Just caught me off guard," I forced myself to say, looking into his piercing eyes. My head still felt a little cloudy.

"Are you sure?" He touched my arm, his concern for my well-being obviously growing.

The touch sent heat through my body, as if he were a furnace. I felt my face get hot and my eyes widened. Goosebumps surged down my body all so suddenly, sending a chill down my spine.

Pull yourself together! I was disgusted with myself. Although, nobody this attractive had ever given me the time of day, so this was something I was obviously not used to. I found myself calming down, trying to find a way to make words come out of my mouth.

Talk, you idiot.

"I, um.. Yes. I'm sure. I-It's okay, really." I instantly regretted speaking in the first place, my oh-so-embarrassing southern accent becoming evident in my words. Even though I hated my voice, I felt a smile grow across my face.

"I'm so sorry, it won't happen again. I promise. Cross my heart." He grinned, doing this weird hand motion across his chest from right to left. I gave him a weird look while smiling, then I couldn't help but laugh.

He sat there for a moment, smiling and looking into my eyes without saying anything.

The very attractive boy seemed to be the one to snap out of a trance this time, because he finally shook his head, smacked his lips and started to talk again. "I should get back to my game. Again, I'm so sorry... I'll see you around, hopefully?" He asked, standing up. He tilted his head slightly, waiting for me to answer, but I said nothing. Not out of being rude, but take into consideration the state of shock I was in. He grabbed my hand, holding it for a moment. Again, with the heat. I was nearly sweating.

My eyes darted around, hoping he couldn't see the hotness in my face. I finally replied. "Yeah, see you around."

I wanted to say more, but I didn't want to seem desperate.

As he ran away, he looked back and smiled at me. All at once, he tripped and fell, landing face first into the sand. My first instinct was to bust out into laughter, but instead I ran over to help him up, although he clearly didn't need it.

"I guess that's what you get for hitting me in the face with a frisbee," I retorted, letting a chuckle slip out. Others who saw him trip seemed to be laughing, too. I held his hand as he stood up, brushing himself off.

"Yeah, I guess, I... Whoa!"

"What? What's wrong?"

"Your cheek is swollen! Like, really bad!"

Great, just what I needed to kickstart my month here. A deformed face.

"Oh, it's no big deal," I lied.

"Bullshit! I mean, I don't mean to freak you out but you need to get some ice on that!"

Maybe it was hi masculine body and face distorting it all, but I was liking his concern for me. It made me feel... Important.

"I'll go up to my room and get some now, it's alright," I reassured him for the bajillionth time.

"Alright, I just feel so bad..." He seemed to be thinking. "I might be sounding too forward, but I'd like to make this up to you. Maybe you could meet me for ice cream later? My treat."

I felt my face get hot again, and my blushing was probably extremely obvious this time. "It's okay, really. You don't have to do that."

"But I want to." He stepped closer to me, lightly touching the injured part of my face.

I hoped my being weak in the knees wasn't obvious to him, but I was definitely feeling it. The two times he touched me, I felt as if I were going to melt.

"Okay, you win." I grinned, trying to look appealing. Again, with the accent. I wish I talked normal, so he wouldn't think I was illiterate or something.

Wait, why do I care what he thinks of me? I just met him. I wasn't going to let my guard down that easily.

"Is this your hotel?" He asked. I nodded.

"Great, mine too! Meet me in the hotel lobby at 3. I'll be waiting."

His flirty remark left me wanting more. I simply replied "Okay, can't wait," before turning around. He stopped me with his hand on my shoulder, handing me my beach bag. "You forgot this. And I never got your name?"

That grin. "Thanks, and it's Anna." I said softly my voice becoming all girly and shy. He smiled that to-die-for smile.

"Name's Dylan." He winked at me, then trudged away slowly.

I had then realized the source of my awe. Of course, Dylan. I was so flustered that I hadn't realized it was Dylan, the same Dylan I'd seen on TV and some movies, talking to me and touching me and winking at me. Maybe even flirting with me? Nah, only in my wildest dreams. Even then it was highly unlikely. But I still couldn't stop the smile spreading across my face when I turned around to see him staring at me, and that cute smirk, too.

Dylan
As I walked away, I turned around to see those huge blue eyes staring back at me. I couldn't help but smile at her.

Ever since that day she had some kind of control over me. I remember thinking, Wow, I have some newfound respect for this girl that I've known for about five minutes. I had decided that it was because she did not know who I was, but I was ignorantly mistaken. This girl... this one was special, and it took me too long to see that.