“You cannot be serious!”

I look at the death trap in front of me and Alex just laughs, “It’s safe, Allie. I promise.”

“I don’t even know if you can drive that thing!”

He’s laughs, incredulous, “No faith! Absolutely no faith in my awesomeness.”

I laugh and cross my arms over chest, “Nope. I’m not getting on that thing.”

He sighs, “Fine. I’ll show you it’s safe to ride on and then I’ll come back for you later, okay?”

I nod just to shut him up.

If he falls into the water, I’m walking back to the house.

He gets on the jet ski and starts to drive off. It looks like fun, but I want to make sure he can actually drive it.

I watch Alex circle a couple of times and I find myself smiling.

I sober up and slap my cheeks a little bit.

“What the hell am I smiling for?”

I sit down on the beach and try to keep my eyes elsewhere, but it keeps scanning for Alex’s tall frame. I’ve never spent this much time with Alex, and I find that time kind of speeds up when I’m with him. It’s like we’re happy one second and then it’s over.

I don’t understand why I’m feeling this now.

It’s so messed up.

“Hey.”

I’m interrupted from my internal contemplation by a guy who looks like my age. He’s blonde, tanned and tall.

I squint up at him, “Hey.”

He offers his hand to me, “I’m Cam.”

“Allie.”

“Nice to meet you, Allie. You’re here on vacation?”

I suddenly hear Alex’s voice, “Allie.”

I look up and Alex is walking over with a stern look on his face.

I stand up, “Hey. Alex, this is Cam. Cam, this is Alex.”

Cam gives him a small salute, “Hey man. I’m just talking to Allie here.”

Alex stands beside me, trying to catch his breath, “Oh yeah? What about?”

I frown at Alex. He’s acting weird again.

Cam just smiles, “I’m just looking for cool people who wants to come to our party tonight.”

He gestures behind him, “We’re setting up a campfire later. The locals are helping us out so we can get together with everyone.”

Alex nods, “Oh, so you’re inviting Allie? Can I come?”

Cam says, “Of course. No problem man. We want more people to attend.”

I smile at Cam, “Thanks for the invite. We’ll be there.”

Cam grins, “Cool. See you later, Allie.”

Cam walks away and I look back at Alex, he’s glaring at me.

I take a step back, “What? What did I do?”

He scoffs, “You just met the guy and you’re attending his party?”

I look back where Cam is talking to a bunch of teens like us, “Sure. That’s what happens during a vacation, right?”

He sighs, “So you’re doing everything that people usually do during vacations?”

I nod, “Of course. We’re in an absolutely beautiful place, it’s a waste not to do everything we can right?”

I don’t understand this guy. He asks me to do activities with him, but now he’s trying to stop me from doing it. Crazy. 

He nods, “Alright. Then you wouldn’t mind trying out the jet ski with me?”

I stare at him stunned.

He grins and pulls me by the arm, “Let’s go.”

I try to fight it, but I kind of walked right into that one.

He gives me a vest and I have no idea how to wear it, so he helps me into it.

Alex pulls the jet ski closer to the shore and he offers his hand to me, “C’mon. Up you go.”

I pout.

I really don’t want to ride it.

He sighs and walks over to me. I give a yelp when he holds me by the waist and lifts me up to get on to the jet ski.

The wave makes it wobble and I scream, “Alex! 

He grins, “You’re not going to fall, don’t be such a baby.”

I ought to knock him over the head, but I’m scared the jet ski might start moving if I do.

Alex climbs on in front of me, he looks back at me and says, “Have you ridden a motorcycle before?”

I shake my head no.

“Alright, don’t hold on to the vehicle. Just hold on to me,” he says.

I frown, “Where?”

He takes my hand and wraps it around his stomach, over his vest, “here.”

He guides my hand so I’m holding on to the straps of his life vest.

He starts the engine and I hold on to him.

He yells, “Are you ready?”

I yell back, “No.”

He laughs and we drive off.

#

Alex just might be deaf after an afternoon of driving around in the jet ski. After that initial scare, it was exhilarating.

We watched the sunset in the water when he suddenly stopped driving. 

It was a good day.

Alex knocks and then pokes his head inside the door of my room, “Hey. You ready to-”

He stops speaking and gives me the once over. 

I chose to wear a white sleeveless cropped top with matching short wrap skirt.

He’s wearing a white shirt and blue shorts. He looks good in anything. Jerk.

I look down on my outfit, “What? Do I look okay?”

He clears his throat, “Yeah. Good.”

He walks out of the room, “Let’s go.”

I follow him down the stairs and I yell at Mom and Jane who’s in the kitchen, “We’re leaving.”

Mom gives me a wave.

Dad’s waiting by the door talking to Alex.

I look at them both and say, “What’s this Dad?”

Alex presses his lips together.

“I’m just telling Alex to keep an eye out for you. We don’t want what happened last time to happen again,” Dad says.

Oh! The drunk guy. We might have exaggerated that story a bit. Made Alex out to be the hero.

I walk over to Alex and wrap my hand around his arm, “I’m sure I’ll be safe, Dad. Alex will protect me.”

Dad nods to Alex, “You’ve got my number. Just call if you’re in trouble.”

I bite the inside of my cheek to keep from laughing.

We walk out the door and I yell back, “Bye!”