In Me by Tiffany Anyel (novels to improve english .TXT) đ
- Author: Tiffany Anyel
Book online «In Me by Tiffany Anyel (novels to improve english .TXT) đ». Author Tiffany Anyel
Looking at Paul I smile saying, âWhat? Iâve never been to the beach. Itâs all soâŠI dunno. Breath-taking I guess.â I let out a sigh. âYouâre still cute.â
Laughing at Paul I smile, âWell so are you. And thanks by the wayâfor this.â He smiles at me, squeezing my hand. Releasing his hand I turn back to the window.
âAww look!â I point to two seagulls âmatingâ as one flew chasing the other. âI guess its that time of year,â Paul says with a light chuckle. âYea I guess so.â
âIs this really your first timeâat the beach?â I turn away from the window, glancing at Paul, âYea.â Looking surprised Paul turns into a drive-way, finally cutting the engine, âWhy? Is not that far from where you live and I can clearly see how much you love it. And we havenât even stepped on the beach yet.â
I smile at Paul, âYea I know. I donât knowâŠâ Why hadnât I ever gone to the beach? Why hadnât I ever gone anywhereâoutside of the twenty-mile radius of what once was work then home?
âWell Iâm glad that I get to share this first with you,â Paul smiles stepping out of the car. He popped the trunk and started taking out our luggage. âOh, let me help you,â I open the door, walking to the back of the car.
After slinging luggage and grabbing bagsâ I was panting. Paul shuts the trunk, âLetâs go inside.â âYes, lets.â I say catching a breath.
After rearranging a few bags, I finally looked up at the house. Wow. Big. It reminded me of the typical beach houseâbut better. Maybe because I was actually going to get to stay in this one. It was light blue with white shutters and a wrap-around porch that literally âwrappedâ around the entire house. I guessed maybe three, four stories.
âYou were rightâwe definitely wonât be on top of each other here. WellâŠunless someone wants to be.â I say trying to be cuteâand trip stumbling on the steps. âCrap!â
Some of the luggage falls to the ground. I watch as a beach ball rolls over stopping at someoneâs feet. âDrop something?â I look up and see Lee with a smirk on his face, juggling the ball back and forth.
Paul turns around helping me up, âAre you okay? Here put these down.â He takes the luggage, setting them on the porch. Wiping my pants I glance at Paul, âYes. Thanks.â
And without warning I turn stalking over to Lee, âGive us our ball.â
I try to grab it from his hands, he holds it out of reach, smiling down at me, âWhatâs the magic word?â âLee Im serious.â Laughing he pretends to give it backâthen moving it as I came to grab it. âLee!â
I was mad at him! Furious! And not because he was playing âdodge ballâ with me--but because we had not spoken more than a few words to each other since that night. The night something changed between us. We had never gone more than a few hours without speakingâand no longer than a day without seeing each other. Come to think of it this--right now was the first time we had seen each other sinceâŠsince that night.
I missed my best-friend. It pained me to even think about it. And here he was laughing, playing, and acting like these last few weeksâhadnât bothered him at all. And all I could do was stand hereâpeeved, ready to scream. âLee give me the ball!â
âI think your boyfriend is getting a little jealous.â I reflexively turn looking at Paul. He had his hand up blocking the sun from his faceâclearly waiting for us to finish.
âHey Paul,â Lee says stifling a laugh. I turn back to Lee with what I hoped was my own evil stare, âWhat is with you?â âWith me?â âDo you see anybody else?â
He smiles glancing at Paul, âYea I do, and his looking not too happy at the moment.â âSo you want to play dumb? Like you donât know what Iâm talking about? Fine! Two can play that game.â I stomp off heading back to the house.
âI guess now I know who Jenn invited.â Paul finally said sounding a little annoyed, as I picked up the luggage, and followed him inside.
Great--not only was Lee here at the beach but he was also staying hereâwith us. Just great--and with Jenn to boot. There goes my weekend in paradise idea.
After Paul gave me a general tour of the first floor, we walk upstairs. âAnd this is the master where weâI mean youâll be staying.â Paul says clearing his throat. Silently pleased that he did correct himselfâand pretending I didnât notice I look around the room, âWow. Are you sure? Itâs a little big for just me. I could take another room.â
There were four other bedrooms. And a huge circular sofa downstairs in the living room--I had options. âNo, of course not. You are my special guest Kate, so you get the best room in the house.â And smiling he walks to the door, âIâll let you get settled in. I need to see who else has showed up unannounced.â He winks at me shutting the door.
I walk to the double doors that led out to the balcony. It was perfect. The view was amazing. I could clearly see the beach and almost feel the water spray me as a strong gust of wind blew the waves to shore.
It was mid-day so the sun was high in the skyâblazing hot. I definitely needed to get out of these pants and into something else.
I let out a breath taking in the view, closing my eyes. Letting the sun bath meâI hear laughter below. I squint my eyes; bringing my hand up shielding them from the sun.
I see Jenn and a couple of other girls and one guy running around on the beach. Where was Lee? Infuriated at myself for even thinking about him and ruining my peace-filled moment I walk back into the room, shutting the doors.
I begin sorting through my clothes and other items I brought for the trip. Placing some items on the bathroom sinkâI look in the mirror. I looked tired but mostly hot--and not in the good way.
My hair was matted sticking to the sides of my faceâthe rest was tied up on top of my head. I run water splashing my face. I needed a shower--a quick refresher. I was glad I had bought everything I would need to make me look--well a lot better.
I had started taking better care of myself over these past few weeks--meaning no more hairy legs and straggly clothes. After a couple of days of forcing myself to give myself attentionâit became easier.
And I started to actually enjoy seeing me in a new way. Iâm surprised I am wearing a head band now--on most days I let my hair fall effortlessly.
I had even started getting glances from guysâsome girls when I went out. Which I did at least twice a week. I hadnât plopped on the couch and watched Dirty Dancing in I donât know how longâthe longest it has ever been.
I started to notice a new me lurking beneath the old one--and sometimes stepping out in front taking the reins. It felt good. She had more spunk--more balls than the old me ever had. And she wasnât afraid to tell anyone off. And she made sure to get whatever it was she wanted.
Whenever I did let her outâI liked her. But the old me was still hanging on for dear life. I stillâŠwasnât quite there yet. And this weekend could prove to be my down fall.
All my hard work could end up in my faceâif I wasnât careful. Being around strangers is one thingâbut thisâŠa house full of people that have only known the âold Kateâ--even some who I have let hurt me in the past, is going to be tricky.
I needed to be boldâdaring. I needed to find the courage to bring this new Kate to the surface. I can do that right? I take a deep breath turning to start the shower.
****
âSo did you have fun?â Paul asked as we strode along, walking on the beach. âYes I did. Who knew there was so much to do on the beach.â I smile up at himâtaking off my flip flops, burying my feet in the sand with each step.
âWell apparently only you are out on that one,â and whispering in my ear he continues, âI think everyone else has always known.â Laughing I playfully hit him with a flip flop, âShut up. I told you this was my first time.â
We had gone walking on the peer, stopping at different shops on the way. He had insisted on getting me something to remember this day--my first time on the beach. But after several times telling him noâwe stopped at this one cute quaint shop that held some of the prettiest hand-made and antique jewelry.
Walking in I immediately could not take my eyes off this one piece. It was a simple silver armbandâbut what held my attention was the design. It was an eyeâit looked Egyptian. The eye was slanted and it had a blue gem in the center at its pupil.
âDo you like it?â Paul asked once he noticed I had stopped in the middle of the store. âYea I do. Its so simple and yetâŠthereâs something beautiful about it.â
âLet me buy it for you.â âNo I couldnât but thanks though.â
We had finally left the shop with me pulling Paul away--trying to convince him that this day I would remember anyway. And some random jewelry wouldnât change that and make it any more special than it already was.
âYou still should have let me get you something.â Paul finally said taking my hand. Smiling at him I reply, âHavenât we already went over this?â
âYes. But you havenât stopped touching your arm since we left. Iâd say someone has taken a liking to a certain piece of jewelry.â Realizing I was touching my arm--I pull my hand away, âSo? I touch myself in random places all the time.â
Laughing Paul turns to me, âIs that so?â âLook at youâI was so not even meaning it that way. Thinking dirty thoughts are we?â âWell I am here on the beach holding hands with a beautiful womanâwho has just told me she likes touching herself.â
Letting out a laugh I bump him on the shoulder, âI did not say that.â He glances at me smiling. We see Jenn and another girl running up to us laughing, âHey you two.â Jenn finally said catching a breath.
Trying not to show my irritation at being interruptedâand by her no lessâI put on a cute smile, putting back on my flip flops. Paul waves at them saying, âDid you guys finally figure out who is sleeping where?â
âYes we did. Sam here wanted the blue roomâbut I told her nope it was the second best room in the house.â And looking at me with narrowed eyes she continues saying, âsince the best room was already taken.â
Paul turns to me smiling, âYep. Kate here has already called dibs.â
Comments (0)