A New Beginning

“Flight 78 to Huntington Beach, California is now boarding.”

My eyes glanced up to the ceiling as the voice on the intercom announced our flight. I looked back at my parents and Lexi to see their faces full of sorrow. I wanted to comfort them by saying I’ll see them later, but even I wasn’t sure when I would be back, or if I would be back. Someone behind me placed their hand on my shoulder and seeing the little 16 on the hand I knew it was Jimmy. Turning to look him in the eyes he gave me a look that said it was time to go. Lexi was the first to move by wrapping her arms around my shoulders.

“I guess I have to say bye now.” I mumbled into her neck.

“Don’t bother, cuz we both know we’ll be seeing each other later. So see ya!” she laughed through her tears.

Pulling away I moved so that I was standing in front of the people who took care of me for the past 18 years. I embraced them and completely broke down. In my mind these two people were my real parents. The lack of their blood in my veins didn’t mean anything, it’s the fact that they were there for me and acted the part that meant everything. No words left my lips. Nothing could really express my feelings at the moment. I just turned away from the quickly and walked away. I knew that if I were to look at them then I would never get on the plane. The only thing that was keeping my spirits up was the fact that I was going with my brother and his friends. Actually, they were fast becoming life long friends in my mind. I handed the lady my ticket as I followed the guys onto the plane. Tears were still rolling down my face as I took my seat between Johnny and Jimmy. It wasn’t long until I felt my eyelids grow heavy as I fell asleep.

“Layla…Layla, get up! The plane is about to land.”

I felt someone lightly nudge my shoulder to try and wake me. Lifting my head up I realized that I fell asleep on Jimmy.

“Jimmy,” I yawned, “you should have shoved me off. I didn’t mean to make a pillow out of you.”

“You looked so peaceful and I know that you needed to regain some energy. I’m honored that you used me as a pillow.” He smiled.

Someone suddenly tapped my head in a furious movement. Flipping around in my seat I found Johnny looking at me in anticipation.

“Hurry up sister! We want to get off.” He whined.

My tired body somehow managed to get out of the seat it was in and walk off the plane. I had to shield my eyes from the bright sunshine. It was mid-afternoon and the sun was directly overhead of us. The air conditioning of the airport hit me like a wall of salvation. It would take me awhile to get used to the weather here. Matt led me to the baggage claim where I waited for my multiple items to appear. I squealed in delight when five large purple suitcases came down the conveyor belt. So many people lose their luggage, so seeing mine made me happy.

“Hey Brian, did you call the cab company?” Zacky asked.

“Yeah, they should be sending over a couple of them now actually.”

Aren’t these guys famous? I thought that they would have something more showy then a taxi, but then again maybe they want to keep a low profile. From the way they guys were pairing up it looked like we were taking separate cabs. Johnny and Jimmy moved their luggage by mine as we watched the first two cars take away Matt then Zacky and Brian. I laughed as Zacky’s bare ass shot up in the back window as the cab drove off. Johnny smirked down at me while putting his arm around my shoulder.

“I can’t believe that you’re truly home Layla. Get used to random acts of stupidness like that cuz you’ll be seeing a lot more of them. Aha! Here’s our cab now.”

The yellow car pulled up next to us and the foreign man put our bags in the trunk. Needless to say, two grown men and a girl shoved in the back seat of a car does not work out well. Sadly, I offered to sit in the middle.

“Eww…the cabbie smells like beef and cheese.” I whispered.

“In that case, welcome to Huntington Layla.” Jimmy chuckled.

The ride became more bearable as we neared the beach. I hoped that we could go everyday. I loved the beach. We pulled into a short, cement driveway of a comfortable beach condo.

“I thought you lived in an apartment?” I said curiously

“This is an apartment. At least that’s what I considered it as.” Johnny explained.

I knew that I was going to like it here. The beach was in my front yard. Without saying a word I ran off toward the sand and the waves. It was empty. I had the entire beach to myself and I loved it. Removing my Adios, I relaxed in the sand and watched the water crash in front of me. The smell of the salt water soothed me as a slight breeze began to blow my hair. This whole situation still left me in shock. I knew a new chapter in my life was about to start and I was excited about it. Who knows what all this could bring for me. Using my peripheral vision, I saw that Jimmy had sat down next to me.

“Doesn’t the beach just make you wanna do something with your life? It just breathes so much life into a person.”

I stared intently at the surf trying to see what he meant by that. What did I want to do with my life? I was through with school, which left the rest of my life open. No matter what I thought, my mind would always drift to thoughts of the guys. Now that I had a true family member in my life, I didn’t want to give it up.

“What’s your overall impression of this so far?” Jimmy said interrupting my thoughts.

Throwing a toothy grin at him I stood up and strode to the incoming tide. The water barely reached my ankles when I decided to stop. I giggled when I looked down at my feet. I found it amusing when your body parts appear smaller underneath the water.

“AHH!”

I suddenly freaked out when someone pushed me forward. Before I hit the water, I was pulled back. Jimmy turned me around in his arms so I was facing him. He was apparently pleased that he was able to scare me. My heart rate returned to normal as I took a minute to recollect myself. I glanced up at Jimmy and sent him a look that could kill anyone. His face softened as he realized that I wasn’t happy.

“I’m sorry Layla. I seriously didn’t mean to freak you out.”

Jimmy tightened his arms around me as he brought my body closer with a hug. For a few seconds I stood there not knowing what to do. I would never admit to anyone that I currently felt weak in the knees and had a case of butterflies in my stomach. As if on instinct I reached up and put my arms about his neck to return the hug. Jimmy must have had some courage built up because he buried his head in the crook of my neck and inhaled deeply. When he exhaled it felt as if it was a sigh of relief. It was then that I realized that I hadn’t breathed at all yet so I quickly took a breath of refreshing oxygen. Cologne and cigarettes. This was Jimmy’s scent. I had to admit that it was very tantalizing. His thumbs began to create little patterns on my sides as he continued to hold me in his arms. A minute had passed and yet we were still in each other’s arms standing on the beach. Feeling the need to make a quick end of this I decided to return the favor of what almost happened earlier. I slowly braced myself and with all the strength I could muster I shoved Jimmy in the water. Don’t get me wrong, I know it was a mean thing to do, but I couldn’t let him know I had any feelings for him. He was my brother’s best friend. Do you know how complicated that would make things? Jimmy’s eyes found mine and terror passed through my body. His blue eyes now gleamed with a red glisten. It wasn’t anger that he felt; it was revenge. In a split second I was in a dead sprint back to the condo. Deep breaths were nearing me from behind and I began to curse my short legs. As I neared the edge of the sand I felt my body leave the ground as Jimmy tackled me. A little squeak escaped my lips as I fell back on the ground with Jimmy right on top of me. When I reopened my eyes I felt my body go completely numb. Our faces were inches from each other and his warm breath was spreading all over my face. He was staring intently into my light brown eyes like he was determining what my next move would be. I swear that my heart slammed on the double bass pedal because it felt as if it was going to burst from my chest any moment.

Oh my god, oh my god! Someone better catch this and stop it!
Layla, this is it! You’ve waited for this day to come!
Shut up! This only happened in my dreams. I can’t ruin anything yet!
He’s going to kiss you. Better hope that mint you had earlier is still working.

Jimmy raised an eyebrow and a sly smirk crept on his face. It was as if he could hear the battle going on in my head. He lowered his face so that our lips were barely making contact. His bangs fell down and framed our faces creating a black curtain shielding us from outside glances. Tilting his face he moved so that his lips were next to my ear.

“Don’t worry.” He murmured.

The tenderness of his voice mixed with his lips grazing my ear made my body break out in goose bumps.

“I can tell you’re not ready mentally for what I could do to you.”

He placed a gentle, but loving kiss on my forehead and rolled off of me. I looked at him in embarrassment and shock. I knew which part of me won that argument and he did to because he shot a sympathetic look at me. He grabbed my hands and plucked me up from the sand. As we made the short trek back to the condo he took hold of my little finger and lightly grasped it. I inwardly smiled at this cute gesture. If I couldn’t have a kiss then I could settle for this.