~August’s point of view~
When I woke up the next morning, the sun was shining more brightly than usual. Breakfast tasted sweeter than I remembered. All the forces in the world didn’t have a chance to wipe the smile off my face.
The rest of the dance had been a blur. All I remember was how safe I felt in Brian’s arms.
“Hey! Alright, I didn’t bother you last night because you and Brian seemed to be having a moment… a long moment, seeing as how it lasted the rest of the party… but now I want details!”
“And hello to you, too, Carmen,” I said, after opening the door.
We decided to go to the pool. I told her about everything.
“That little tramp!” Carmen said, referring to Cassie.
“Well, it worked out in the end, didn’t it?”
“Well, aren’t we cheerful this morning,” Carmen grinned at me.
“I know… I look like one of those people on the coffee commercials!”
“So, what now? With you and Brian?”
I shrugged. “I don’t know… I wonder if I’ll see him today…”
“You can count on it.”
“How do you know?”
“Because he’s coming… hmm… I suddenly remembered I have somewhere to be,” she gave me a quick wink, and then left.
“Traitor!” I laughed, splashing her as she got out of the pool.
“Hey,” Brian said with a small smile.
“Hi,” I didn’t really know what to say. He sat down, his legs dangling in the water.
“What are you doing tonight?”
“Umm… nothing, why?” my heartbeat quickened.
“Well…” he took a sudden interest in the surface of the water, avoiding eye contact. “I was wondering if you wanted to have dinner. Like, you know, a date.”
I fought the urge to start jumping up and down like little kid. I answered, “sure,” as calmly as I could.
A smile spread across his face. It mirrored my own. “Really? Great. Umm…I’ll come by your room at like 7, okay?”
I nodded, not trusting myself to speak and risk sounding like a moron.
“Okay. See ya later…”
Could life get any better?
“Wow, that went well!” Carmen appeared.
“Hey, I thought you left!”
“Nah, I just knew you two would never say anything interesting if you knew I was listening. You two are way too shy.”
I rolled my eyes. “Good to know you like eavesdropping on people.”
“What are you wearing tonight? Hmm… first date! Come on! We’ve got a lot to do!”
“Huh? No we don’t… we’ve got seven hours…”
“I know, we’d better hurry!”
~Brian’s point of view~
Carmen was the one who appeared at the door to August’s cabin. “Uh… hi.”
“Wow, extra points for promtness. Nice outfit!”
“Uh… thanks. You do know when you were spying on us earlier that I was asking August out and not you, right?”
“And observant, too! August’s a lucky women… wait tell you see what I did to her!” Carmen grabbed my hand.
“If she’s lying unconscious, dead, or your forcing her to watch Leonardo in Titanic, I’m calling the police…” I warned.
“You two even have the same sense of humor… alright, did I do good or what?” Carmen said.
But I couldn’t make any words come out of my mouth. I hadn’t seen August in anything but regular, everyday clothes. But now she was wearing a light blue dress, the color of the Florida water, that reached her knees. Her hair was up with matching clips. I recognized the light brown sandals as Carmen’s. August was also wearing make-up. Blue eye shadow that brought out her eyes and a touch of lipstick. I hadn’t seen her in a dress or with make-up on, so both at once was almost blinding.
Like the sun: bright and beautiful, but you can’t look directly at it.
“Look… he’s drooling… that’s better than getting a response,” Carmen smirked.
“I am not…” but I wiped a hand over my mouth, just to make sure.
“Alright, my work here is done… have fun! And I want details tomorrow,” she added to August, and then she left.
“Wow… hope we can manage… she’s not here to talk for all three of us anymore,” August said.
“Yeah,” I laughed. “Ready to go?”
“Yup.”
We went to Lumiere’s for dinner. It went by quickly. We made small talk. It was slightly awkward, with the other night looming over us. By the time we’d eaten, we still hadn’t addressed anything I’d wanted to talk about.
“So… do you want to take a walk on the deck?” I asked.
“Sure,” she said, as we went outside.
The sun was setting, its orange rays shining over the surface of the water. A sea breeze swept up. August wrapped her arms around herself.
“Cold?” I put my arm around her shoulder.
“Yeah… I was thinking it would be cold tonight… well, as cold as it gets in the middle of the summer, anyway… and I was going to grab my jacket, but that brought on a lecture from Carmen. Apparently my jacket isn’t the right color to match my dress…” she rolled her eyes. “You have no idea how long I spent with her today.”
“Well tell her I said thank-you,” I said. “She did a good job. You look beautiful.”
She tried to hide the blush that crept up her face, but I noticed. And it gave me a fulfilling sense of power. “Thanks.”
How was I supposed to get onto the topic of ‘us?’ “So… there really isn’t anything going on with you and AJ, right?”
“Huh? No! Of course not…” she started getting defensive.
That hadn’t gone right. “I just mean… look, I like you a lot… and AJ’s one of those guys…”
“‘One of those guys?’”
“Yeah… you know, those smooth, sweet talking guys who get any girl they want…”
August smiled. “Not any girl. Some women prefer the whole ‘boy next door’ kind of guy. And that’s more your category.”
“Really?” I asked, intrigued. “And where might I go to find some of these women?”
“Hah. And funny, too,” she said dryly. “Well, there’s Cassie…” she shot back.
“Don’t go there. Because there are also some guys that prefer the ‘girl next door.’ Me being one of them.”
She smiled again, this time her blue eyes shimmering. The last part of the sun disappeared into the water, and stars began to fill the night sky.
“So… we’re both… in the same mindset, right?” I asked.
“Yeah.”
“Good.” I caught her gaze. She looked back at me. The other night had been a surprise for both of us. This time we knew what was coming. She looked a little nervous. But a good kind of nervous. It was, again, a unique kind of fulfillment. Of course, I knew how she felt. My palms were getting sweaty, my mind racing. And it always seems to be the guys job to initiate these interactions. The girls have the easy part.
Wiping the nervousness and thoughts from my mind, I did what I’d been thinking about doing since the party. I leaned down and kissed her.
Air no longer sustained my lungs. I could only breathe in August.
The sound of the ocean, the smell of the salt, the brightness of the stars couldn’t compare with the beat of my heart or the lightheadedness I was experiencing.
~Nick’s point of view~
“Hey, Michelle,” I said, when she answered her door. “Want to go see a movie or something? Brian’s out with August this morning, just like he was a lot yesterday… I need some social activity.”
“Where’s Carmen?”
I shrugged. “We’re all talking about going to the beach later. It was Kevin’s idea, actually. I’ll see her then. And he’ll probably come see you sometime to tell you.”
She grinned. “Cool… what time’s a movie playing?”
“If we leave in the next few minutes we can catch the next one,” I said, looking at my watch.
“All right. Let me go ask Cassie and see if she wants to come…”
“No… uh… let’s go without her.”
“Why?”
“I’m not ready to talk to her yet. Not after what happened at the party…”
“What happened?”
“What? Weren’t you there? Hasn’t she mentioned anything?”
“No she hasn’t. And I guess I was too busy paying attention to Kevin.”
“Ya know, there are more important things in the world than members of the opposite sex,” I said, annoyed I was going to have to explain everything.
“Hey, Nick,” Cassie suddenly came up.
“What happened at the party?” Michelle asked again. She turned to Cassie, “didn’t you have fun with Brian?”
I rolled my eyes. Michelle didn’t always know when to keep her mouth shut. It was one of her more annoying qualities.
“No. He ditched me for…”
“Watch it,” I warned. “It’s karma. What comes around goes around. You were the one that started it, so if people aren’t talking to you now, it's your fault.”
Cassie softened. “I know… you’re right, its all my fault. I shouldn’t blame it on anyone else.” She walked over to the couch and put her head in her hands. “I just… I’ve never cared about anyone the way I do Brian. I mean, you guys know how I feel, don’t you? You’ve got Kevin and Carmen. I was feeling left out. I missed seeing Brian so much. But I know I was wrong to lie, and I’m sorry for it.” A teardrop fell to the ground.
I was sorry, too. I sat down beside her and gave her a hug. ‘Great, Nick, you made a girl cry!’
“What happened?” Michelle repeated again.
Chapter Twelve
Chaper Fourteen
Drowning
Frick's Fairytales