The Beach

Chapter 4 - Summer Holds Such Wonderful Things

The next morning goes something like this:

I wake up. I feel like shit. I run to the bathroom and puke. I take some painkillers for my headache. I somehow force myself to go back to sleep.

I wake up again. I don’t feel like shit. I stay awake this time.

I think that all of this is somewhat amusing to Zack, who stayed mostly sober last night. “You okay there?” he asks with a little half-smile.

I nod, pulling myself up into a sitting position and brushing a few stray pieces of hair out of my face. “Yeah, I think so.”

"Good. Because guess what you, me, Alex, and Rian are doing today?"

"What?"

The smile widens. “Parasailing.”

—

We meet up with Alex and Rian on the boardwalk. I can feel my face heating up as I look at Alex and think of him kissing me last night. Alex, however, doesn’t show any signs that he even remembers it. He smiles at me the same way he always does, but there’s nothing behind it that I can see.

"We got reservations yesterday to parasail," Rian says. "Are you guys ready?"

"Absolutely," I say.

Alex claps his hands together. “Alright, let’s do this shit!”

We head over to the parasailing place, and shortly after, a few crew members take us out to a boat and give us life jackets. As we head out into the ocean, I sit down on one of the seats in the boat and turn to Alex, who sits down next to me. “So,” I say slowly. “Last night…”

Alex laughs a little. “Oh, yeah. That was a pretty crazy party, wasn’t it? I barely remember any of it.”

"Uh, yeah," I say, my mind drifting back to him pinning me against the wall. "It was pretty crazy, alright."

Before either of us can say anything else, one of the crew members asks us who’s going first. We’ve decided to go two at a time, and Zack and Rian exchange glances before Rian says, “We are.”

I can’t resist a chance to tease Zack. “Wow, Zack,” I say. “You always seem to want to be with Rian. I bet you’re in love with him.”

Zack rolls his eyes. “Oh, sure. I’m the one who’s in love here.”

"What’s that supposed to mean?"

Zack gives me a look that says, “Like you don’t know.” Then he and Rian are put into their harnesses and lifted up into the air, both of them yelling and cheering.

"Great job!" Alex yells.

"Don’t fall, Zack!" I add.

Alex laughs. “Yeah, Rian probably will, with his luck.”

He and I talk for the entire time that Zack and Rian are up in the sky, which is about ten minutes. After they’re pulled back down to the boat, it’s my and Alex’s turn.

We’re strapped into the harnesses, and before I know it, I feel us flying up into the sky, the wind whipping around us and the water growing farther and farther away. “Whoa,” I breathe.

"Holy fuck!" Alex shouts, smiling and turning to face me. "This is so cool!"

For a moment I don’t respond because I’m too busy just staring at him. The sun is still a bit low in the sky, and the faint orange light gives everything around me a soft, colorful glow. Once again, I am reminded of what it felt like to kiss him, and I want to relive that. But Alex doesn’t seem to remember it, and even if he did, we were drunk. It was probably just a stupid mistake made in the heat of the moment.

"Yeah!" I agree, laughing as I try to catch my breath. This all feels so exhilarating, so crazy, and Alex’s presence isn’t helping matters much. He’s only adding to the racing beat of my heart.

"Hey, Jack!" he says, breaking through my thoughts. "Later, would you and Zack want to come with us to Hooter’s for dinner?"

"Hell yes!" I reply without hesitation.

"Awesome!" Alex raises his voice and starts screaming, and after a few seconds, I join in so that we’re both yelling into the sky just for the sake of yelling.

And as the boat rides on and pulls us across the water, as the breeze continues to fuck up our hair, as Alex and I scream in mutual adrenaline rushes, I can’t help but feel optimistic about all this. I can’t help but think that it’s far from being over just because of one drunk night. I can’t help but think that if Alex can willingly kiss me while he’s intoxicated, then he can sure as hell do it while he’s sober.

—

If you know me, you know that I love boobs (I’m bisexual). And if you’ve ever been to Hooter’s, you know that that place has plenty of boobs. However, on this particular night, I find myself not indulging in this boob-fest as much as I normally would. This is mainly because I’m too busy indulging in the eye candy sitting right across from me, who goes by the name of Alex Gaskarth.

Throughout the whole dinner, I have countless opportunities to at least glance at a couple of Hooter’s girls, but my attention is more focused on Alex. The moment that I realize this is the moment that I realize just how smashed I am for him—I’d ignore boobs to look at him. I’ve never been able to say that about anyone else.

"Jack?"

His voice interrupts my thought process, and I look up, startled. “Yeah?”

Alex gestures to the food at the table. “We just got our food. You were kind of staring off into space there.”

I can feel my face heating up. “Oh. Yeah. Oops.”

"It’s okay," he replies, smiling. Under his breath, I think I can hear him mutter, "It’s kind of cute, actually."

Get your shit together, Barakat. Now you’re hearing things.

This theory is further proven later, when we’re all walking down the boardwalk, and Rian suddenly says to Alex, “I need to talk to you for a second. Alone.”

With that, he pulls my eye candy to the side, leaving Zack and I to stand a few feet away. I don’t try to eavesdrop, but I happen to overhear some of Rian’s and Alex’s conversation, which goes as follows:

Rian asks, “What the hell do you think you’re doing with Jack?”

"I don’t know what you mean," Alex replies calmly.

"Oh, yes, you do," Rian says. "I see the way you two interact. I saw what happened last night."

Alex seems caught off-guard at that, his eyes widening slightly, which is what makes me realize that he does remember. He quickly composes himself, though. “Yeah? Your point?”

"Are you in love with him?"

Alex shakes his head. “Absolutely not,” he says, as if the mere notion itself is crazy talk.

"I don’t believe you," Rian says.

After a moment of hesitation, Alex sighs. “I really like him. Okay? You caught me. Why does it matter?”

"Because I don’t want a repeat of last year. We went on vacation, and you met someone, and you fell in love, and then—"

"I know what happened last year," Alex snaps. He bites his lip. "I just…it’ll be different this time, okay? Jack’s probably straight anyways, so it doesn’t even matter."

Yeah, I am definitely hearing things.

Alex likes me. Really likes me. It doesn’t seem possible. But I have to know if what I heard was real, or if it was just a figment of my crazy imagination.

I glance up at the rides near the end of the boardwalk, off in the distance. One of them is a Ferris wheel that’s starting to light up now that the sun’s going down.

And as I stare at it, an idea reveals itself.

I don’t say anything about it for a while. But when we start to get closer to the rides, I decide that it’s time to put my newfound plan into action.

"Alex," I say slowly. "What would you say if I asked you to ride the Ferris wheel with me?"

Alex turns to me, looking a bit confused. “Just us?”

Out of the corner of my eye, I see Zack and Rian exchanging a glance. I think they know what I’m up to.

"Uh, yeah," I say nervously. Shit, what if I misheard? Or misinterpreted what he said? What if, somehow, I’m wrong? "You know, if you want to."

Then Alex breaks into a wide grin. “Sure.” He turns to Zack and Rian. “Can you two wait down here, find something else to do for a little?”

"Okay, okay, we get it," Rian teases, holding his hands up. "We’re not wanted. Fine. We’ll get out of your hair."

Alex sticks his tongue out at him. “I’ll make it up to you with a game of MarioKart when we get home.”

"Okay, deal. Now go, you stupid kids." He’s got a smile on his face that makes it look like he knows exactly what’s going to happen, and despite how serious he seemed earlier, I think he might be warming up to the idea of Alex and I.

While in line, we mostly chat about random shit, both of us ignoring the fact that this probably won’t be just your average Ferris wheel ride. I know it, and I think Alex does, too, but we pretend that we’re just two guys riding this thing for the hell of it. A few people give us strange looks, as if they expect us to be doing something more dangerous and/or illegal. They’re probably wondering what we could possibly gain from riding a fucking Ferris wheel. Well, they’d be surprised.

At first, we’re both quiet as our seat moves slowly upward. I think Alex is waiting for me to say something, since I’m the one who suggested this, but I’ve got a plan. I’m waiting until we get to the top.

For now, though, I just enjoy the view of a rapidly darkening sky lit with orange and the gradually shrinking forms of everything below us. It feels like we’re flying right over the ocean. “It really does look pretty cool, doesn’t it?” I say, breaking the silence. “The view.”

Alex nods thoughtfully, his gaze briefly lifting up to the sky before settling back on me. “Yeah,” he says. “The view. It’s…really nice.” Something tells me he’s not talking about the sky.

I just nod, and then we’re both quiet again. My heart starts beating faster when I realize that we’re almost there. I have to make my move.

"So, Alex," I say slowly, turning to face him. "I, uh…I’ve got something I want you to know."

"Uh…you do?" Alex asks, for the first time sounding a bit nervous.

"Yeah," I say. "And, um, it’s something I’ve thought pretty much since I met you…and, uh…"

At this point, the wheel stops again because it’s still letting people on, and it stops with our seat at the very top. This is it.

I smile, faking confidence. “Well,” I say, “maybe it’d be better if I just showed you.”

And then I kiss him.

For a moment, he seems caught off-guard, but then his arm wraps around my neck, pulling me closer to him as he starts to move his lips slowly. After a few seconds, he breaks it off, staring at me in awe.

"Jack," he says as the wheel begins to move again. "Jack, I…I, uh…" He blushes. "Jeez, I don’t even know your last name," he says, laughing a little.

I smile. “It’s Barakat.”

"Barakat," Alex repeats. "Well, uh…Jack Barakat, I…wow." For the first time, he seems completely and utterly at a loss for words. Then he stumbles out, "Will you be my boyfriend?"

My smile widens. “Absolutely.”

And with that, my summer love, my something, is achieved.

—

The next two days are paradise. Alex and I, along with Zack and Rian (and occasionally Rian’s girlfriend, Cassadee), spend our days mostly just hanging out at the beach and the boardwalk. At one point, when Rian is gone because he’s with Cass, Alex invites me to their hotel room and just treats us with some alone time. I’m getting to know him better every day (sexual innuendo not intended, surprisingly).

But, as it’s been said, nothing perfect lasts forever.

It’s Friday morning, and Alex has planned to meet me on the boardwalk, right out in front of the Days Inn. When I get down there, eager to see him, I find him standing right where he’s supposed to be…but that’s not all.

Standing right in front of him is that girl Tay. And they are kissing.