Where Do We Go From Here?

The sun hung high in the sky, blazing down on both Callie and I as we walked through the maze of people that seemed to clutter the beach. With each step taken, did the swarm of butterflies grow more fearsome. They flapped in my stomach, creating a hurricane that I couldn’t easily ignore. The entire walk over to where I could see Austin and Mike—since they were both the size of baby giraffes—I kept trying to find excuses to leave.

I could fake a family emergency or a call from work. I thought but decided against it in fear that I might actually invoke a family emergency unknowingly.

Plastering a smile on my face, Callie and I had arrived where Tony and his friends were set up. They had colorful umbrellas with their towels laid out next to three filled coolers. I could only hope that they didn’t only pack alcohol. There were a few new faces in the mix, some girls and the rest guys. I inwardly groaned as I saw these girls flaunting off their tiny bodies with skimpy bikinis.

“Verity!” I heard Tony call with a broad smile stretched across his face.

I had on a weak smile but I said “Hey.”

Tony walked over and wrapped me in a hug. I stiffened at his gesture because I didn’t know we had reached that point in our friendship—if you could even call this a friendship yet. Callie bit back a smile as I rolled my eyes at her. I gave him a halfhearted pat on the back as he continued to hold me in his embrace.

Stepping back, Tony said “Aren’t you hot under those clothes?”

I shrugged. “So far it’s not that bad.” I answered truthfully. There was a slight breeze in the air, which made wearing a shirt bearable for now. I knew that it wouldn’t be long until the blazing sun would tempt me to strip away the extra fabric and force me to take a dip in the ocean.

Introductions didn’t go as bad as I thought it would have. With his hand placed at the small of my back and with Callie next to me, Tony introduced me to Vic (Mike’s older brother), Jaime (a long time friend of theirs), Gielle (Austin’s girlfriend), Carmen (Gielle’s best friend), and Isabelle (Vic and Mike’s cousin from their mother’s side). It was a lot of names to take in and I knew I’d probably forget who they were in the next ten minutes, but I nodded and smiled at each of them while politely saying hello. I could tell by the way Gielle’s and Carmen’s eyes seemed to hold apathy towards me that we wouldn’t get along. Callie, who was shyer than me, gave everyone a weak greeting before sitting next to Mike. I, on the other hand, couldn’t find it in me to keep still. Kicking off my shoes, I told everyone that I was going for a walk. I just wanted to be alone because I wasn’t the social butterfly like my siblings.

I headed down to the water with my towel in hand and walked till there were enough people blocking the view of me to them until I pulled off my shirt and tugged down my shorts. I placed them on my towel before hot footing it to the water’s edge. The salty water cooled down my burning feet as I trudged through it, getting in waist high before floating on my back and watching as the scattered clouds danced across the open, blue sky.

“Verity!” Someone shouted over the tumbling of waves. It sounded faint since my ears were submerged beneath the water. To be honest, I thought I was hearing things until I felt someone tickle my feet.

Kicking and nearly drowning since I sunk down into the water, I emerged with a scowl on my face. “What the hell?” I practically shouted as I rubbed my eyes free from water.

Tony laughed. “I called your name, like 5 times and you didn’t answer.”

Standing on both feet, I looked at Tony and rolled my eyes. “So, your first instinct was to tickle my feet?” I scoffed.

He smirked at me. “Actually, I just wanted to surprise you, but I guess it backfired a little since you nearly kicked me in the nose.”

“Too bad I wasn’t aiming.” I muttered.

“Why didn’t you invite me if you were going to swim?” Tony asked.

I laughed. “I thought the point of the beach was that you could go swimming whenever you pleased.”

Tony blushed. “I was waiting for you and Callie to arrive so we could go swimming.”

I looked away from him because if I stared at him a second longer I think I might have melted into the ocean.

“You didn’t have to wait for me.” I said.

“I wanted to.” He said softly before adding “And I’ll keep waiting for you.”

I sighed. Tony was making it very difficult for me at the moment. My plan was to ignore any budding affection I had for him. However, I didn’t consider the fact that Tony was one hell of a gardener for this.

“What are you doing?” I asked.

“What do you mean?”

“I mean this. You’re flirty comments and sincere ways; I’m just a little confused is all.” I replied. I sunk down into the ocean so all that was out of the water was from my neck up.

Tony glanced away. “I thought it was obvious.” He answered.

Biting my lip, I said “I guess, but why? There’s a long list of girls who would love to have this sort of attention from you, and yet you’re wasting your time on me.”

“I don’t think I’m wasting my time.” Tony said sheepishly.

I sighed. “But you are. Tony, I’m not interested.” I was lying big time, but I didn’t want boy related complications in my life, not right now anyway.

“I don’t buy that.” Tony said, catching on to my lie.

“Fine, what if I was into you? What would happen then, huh? Where would we go from there?” I asked rhetorically, my voice slightly escalating. Since Tony remained quiet, I continued to speak. “I’ll tell you the tragic timeline of our relationship. We would date then after a few months you’ll realize that you want to take our relationship to the next level. However, since you don’t want to try and pressure me into anything, you’ll end up keeping it to yourself all the while you become more and more sexually frustrated. Somehow, you will bring up the topic of sex and I’ll dismiss it.

“The tension will lead into small arguments which will then dictate our relationship. What once was playful banter will turn into acidic words and then we’ll be left off as complete strangers in each other’s eyes because we had finally figured out that we are too different to sustain a logical relationship. So, honestly, why would you want to waste your time talking to me?” I was breathing heavily and maybe it was from the salt water, but I could feel a few tears pricking at my eyes.

I was a mess because I was saying what I feared would happen between Tony and I. We were so different that I could see the end of our relationship before it even started. When I glanced at Tony, I could see the mixture of hurt and confusion twisting in his face. It soon evened out enough that his features softened when he looked back at me.

“Verity, you wanna know why I keep talking to you even though you’re difficult.” Tony said softly.

I bit my lip because I wasn’t sure if I really wanted to. If I liked the answer then I’d be screwed and if I didn’t then I’d still be screwed. I nodded a hesitant yes, even if that decision was against my better judgment.

“It’s because you’re the only girl who treats me how she treats everyone else, the only girl who tells me what’s on her mind even if it’s painful to hear. You’re smart and funny and when you get past the sarcasm, you’re really sweet. I love talking to you because there’s never a dull moment when I’m around you. And that book I started reading because you love it so much, it was like I read a piece of your mind. The entire time I spent reading that book, all I thought of was you and how enthusiastic you were when you spoke about it. I couldn’t help but feel like I had a part of you with me when I carried that book around with me. I want to talk about everything and anything with you. I like the sound of your voice because I associate it with the truth.

“You are the only girl who never tried to impress me, or claims to love the same things I do. You don’t care about social status and what the new in thing is. You’re real and I love that. You may not want to be with me, Verity, but I want to be with you.” Tony was breathing heavily as he finished speaking.

If I wasn’t touching the ground, I think I might’ve just let the ocean drown me. Everything Tony said kept building the warm feeling in my stomach to the point that I could barely contain it. However, the only part I was truly stuck on in his entire speech was that he finished reading The Looking Glass.

“You read the entire book?” I squeaked out.

Tony laughed. “I pour my entire heart out to you, and you’re asking me about The Looking Glass.”

Covering my face with both hands, I said “That is the sweetest thing anyone has ever said to me.”

Tony took a few steps closer to me as I slowly dropped my hands from my face. “Do you still not want to be with me?” He asked softly.

“I don’t know.” I answered while looking back into his eyes.

Tony leaned his head down slowly. I knew where this was going and didn’t stop. In a slow moment, Tony’s lips pressed lightly against mines. It wasn’t as dramatic as they made it seem in the movies, but it still felt nice. His lips felt cold and tasted like salt, but that’s not what mattered to me. I was enjoying the way that his lips put just enough pressure to make me sigh.

Stepping back, Tony asked “What about now?”

I smiled back at him. “I guess it wouldn’t be the end of the world if I liked you.”

Tony placed another chaste kiss on my lips before saying “It’s about time." With a large smile taking up his face, Tony added "By the way, I think you should check if hell froze over."

Notes

To be completely honest, I suck at writing cutsey moments like this, so I won't be offended if you didn't care for this chapter.

Anyway, they kissed! :3

Thanks for reading and let me know what you think <3