The following Saturday, Jayme called me really
early (for a Saturday morning). "Ugh, what are you doing calling
me so early Jayms?" I asked, stifling a yawn.
"Duh! It's like, the last chance we're going
to have to go to the beach this year. If we want a good spot on the
sand we'll have to leave soon, so get your lazy behind out of bed and get
on over here!"
I looked at my clock: It was 7:00. I groaned,
but I knew I should go. It would keep my mind off other matters for
a day at least. And Jayme always went to great lengths to cheer me
up when I was sad. "Oh, alright. I'll be there in an hour."
I hung up the phone and wandered back into my room.
I stretched and decided a shower was the first order of the day, before
I changed my mind and went back to bed. Lazily I showered, dressed,
packed my backpack with a towel, sunscreen, sunglasses, and a bunch of
other stuff, and headed into the kitchen where my dad was having his morning
coffee.
"And to what do I owe this honour? I don't
usually see you on Saturdays until at least 11:00 am. What's the
occasion?" he inquired.
I rolled my eyes and replied, "Jayme says we just
have to go to the beach today, so I'm going. I figured I could
use a little fun in the sun today, although it's still a little early to
be making such life- altering decisions."
He laughed and shook his head. He was always
up at 6:00 am, whether he had to work that day or not. Personally,
I thought he was nuts.
I grabbed a bite of breakfast and called good-bye
to my dad. The drive to Jayme's felt longer than usual, but I finally
got there.
To my surprise, Jayme had apparently woken up most
of the neighbourhood and invited them to come along with us, since there
seemed to be about 100 people standing in her driveway. In reality,
there were only 20, but my brain was still napping.
"Hey, Sam, looking good!" I turned to see
who had made the comment, and there I was, face to face with Cameron, another
of my ex-boyfriends. Unlike with Chris, I had dumped Cam, and he
still hadn't gotten the hint that I really, really didn't want to
be back with him. He came over and put his arm around me. I
shuddered and tried to back away. "Aw, come on Sam. You missed
me, admit it."
I should probably explain a little more about Cam
here. For one, he had been a gorgeous, intelligent guy, until about
eleventh grade. Then, all of a sudden, he'd gotten into drugs, drinking,
and wild parties. When we had first started going out, he'd been
really sweet, sensitive and caring, but after about 3 months that ended.
After that he'd come to school either drunk or high every day, getting
kicked out of class more times than I cared to count. But that hadn't
been the worst part. One night we were at a party, and Cam had gotten
into a fight. I'd begged him to stop, but to my surprise he'd turned
around and smacked me across the face. I'd fallen down into the corner
of a coffee table, and needed 20 stiches to close the cut. After
I finally got up the nerve to see him again, he apologized and pleaded
with me to stop, but I told him that we were over, and I never wanted to
see him again. He chose to ignore me, and called me constantly until
finally I told him I'd get a restraining order against him if he didn't
stop. That stopped him. But every once in a while when I saw
him, he still acted as if nothing had changed.
I looked at Cam and sighed. "Cam, what are
you doing here?"
"Jayme called Landon and invited him today, and
I was at Landon's when she called, so he just brought me along. Wicked,
huh?"
Oh yeah, totally. Now I was going to have
to deal with this lame-brain all day. Wicked.
I shook my head and walked over to where Jayme was
standing. "I see Cam tagged along with Landon....sorry. I shouldn't
have bothered inviting Landon" Jayme said apologetically.
"Oh, don't worry. Cameron seems to be half
decent when Landon's around, so maybe it won't be that bad."
Everyone decided that it was time to hit the road
then, so we all piled into the cars and drove off. It was an absolutely
beautiful day for going to the beach. Once we got there, we saw that
the water was fairly calm, perfect for swimming and playing water games.
And the sand looked terribly inviting, so none of us wasted any time setting
down our towels and slathering on sunscreen.
"Ah, this is the life" Jayme commented as she stretched
out on her towel. "I'd forgotten how absolutely blissful a day at
the beach could be."
I grunted a reply and turned from my stomach to
lay on my back. Immediately I heard several guys whistle as they
caught a glimpse of my bikini. I rolled my eyes and commented about
how superficial some people are. Jayme laughed and retorted "This
coming from the girl wearing possibly the skimpiest bikini on the beach,
and who is also dating possibly one of the most gorgeous guys in the music
business. Save it, honey."
I tried to smile, but couldn't. She just had
to bring up Nick.
Jayme noticed the look on my face and decided to
push a little harder. "Ok Sam, spill. What's eating you?
Is this about Nick? Or Cam?"
I shook my head. "Naw, I can take Cam, that's
not the problem. It's just that I finally feel like I'm getting my
life back on track, and then I fall for someone new. Why do things
have to be so complicated for me? I mean, it's not so much the fact
that I'm in love again, that part is great. But why does it have
to be with a guy whom I never see? It sucks Jayms, let me tell you,
it sucks bad."
Jayme sighed and turned to me. "I'm sorry
Sam. I didn't realize this was so hard on you. Is there anything
I can do to help?"
"Just do the thing you're best at; right now all
I really need is for you to be my best friend."
She gave me a sympathetic smile and leaned over
to squeeze my shoulder. "I'll do my best" she answered.