“I think we should go out and rent one more tent,” my dad sighed as he watched Nick and I tackle each other in the sand. I could barely breathe, he was tickling me like crazy.
“Dad, it’s not a big deal,” I laughed. I think he thought we couldn’t hear him from our position on the beach, but I definitely could. “You should just relax.”
“Sarah Marie,” my dad’s voice became stern and I groaned and stood up to walk over to him.
“Dad, I promise nothing will happen,” I touched his arm gently. “And if it does, you can ground me for a month. Nick’s my best friend. I’m just excited because I haven’t seen him in so long since he’s living in Orlando.”
My dad cracked a smile and nodded. “Fine. But watch the physical contact. Your sisters are younger than you and I don’t want them getting any ideas,” he winked. “Oh, and lights out at 10:00.”
“Dad,” I whined.
“No buts about that one, Sar. Your sisters are younger than you and Allison’s usually in bed by 10,” his firm look made me sigh and walk away.
“Nick, do you even know where we’re going?” I whispered so we wouldn’t get caught. It was 11:00, almost. I had convinced Nick that we could get away with sneaking out one of the zippers without getting caught. My dad and Uncle Doug were too enveloped in a conversation by the bond fire.
“Yeah, I told you before. My dad and I used to go fishing out here all the time,” Nick mumbled as he helped us climb into a canoe. “Grab that paddle.” He pointed to the side, so I did.
“Aren’t there gators out here?” I shivered as I passed him the paddle and wrapped my arms around myself. Nick just laughed and shook his head.
“Don’t worry so much,” he laughed. It was dark, but the silver shine from the moon shone down on his blonde hair and illuminated his blue eyes. He was gorgeous and I was beginning to realize it.
All of a sudden, I heard a boom and crackle and watched in the reflection of the water as the sky lit up. A small gasp came from my lips as I tried to turn around and see the beautiful colors in the sky. “Wow, it’s beautiful out here!” I exclaimed softly.
“I know,” he laughed. “Why’d you think I wanted to bring you out here?” He muttered and stopped paddling. “Last year when we were out here I left the tent because I had to go to the bathroom and I saw these fireworks. I figured if we went out far enough in the water, we’d be able to see things a lot better.”
I smiled and nodded. I scooted farther back in the canoe so I could look up at the starry sky. “It’s so beautiful out here, Nick.” I whispered. “Not just the fireworks. The stars, the water…everything’s perfect. I love it.”
Nick stared down at my head that was only inches away from his face. Suddenly, out of nowhere, he placed his finger under my chin and turned my face to look at him. It was then that he introduced me to my first kiss. His lips felt so soft; so perfect. The kiss was short but amazing. “You’re my best friend and I love you.” He whispered. I didn’t know what to say. So instead I hid the smile on my face and watched my emotions blow up in the sky and distract the pounding in my heart.
“What are you thinking about?” Nick yelled over the wind blowing all around us. I glanced around and noticed we were probably still about thirty minutes away from the park.
“Stuff,” I shrugged and ran my fingers through my hair. I glanced at him and tried to muster a smile.
“You were gone for a while…” he trailed on. Something was wrong. Ever since I had gotten home, I had noticed that something was seriously wrong.
“Yeah, I know, Nick,” I sighed and looked out the window. “Long enough for you to get engaged.” I was hoping he didn’t hear me. I have a problem with saying whatever the hell pops into my head sometimes.
“Sarah, please don’t bring that up. I swear I’ll explain everything,” he tried to keep his voice below a whisper so my sisters wouldn’t hear in the backseat.
“You don’t have anything to explain,” I shook my head and finally turned to face him. I looked deep into his eyes and spoke loud enough for him to hear. “It’s your life, Nick. Not mine.”
I saw the frustration in his beautiful blue eyes. The way they fluttered and he threw his sunglasses on only gave it away just a little. I sighed and turned in my seat to face my sisters. “You guys ready to be sleeping buddies again?” I smirked and pulled my sunglasses down so I could look them in the eyes.
“Um…dad brought two tents, but one is for you and Nick,” Casey frowned. She knew I was struggling with Nick, why the hell would she force us to practically sleep together.
“I know…” I muttered. “But I was thinking. I haven’t really been able to spend much time with you guys lately. Nick can have the second tent. I’ll squeeze in with ya’ll in the other one…”
“There’s not enough room,” Allison smirked. I silently raised my eyebrows and gave her the death glare. They were trying to force Nick and I to work out our problems. This wasn’t the first time they had tried to “interfere” with my relationships.
“Then I’ll sleep outside the tent,” Nick spoke up, obviously paying close attention to our conversation. “If it was such a big deal, Bear, you should have told me before we left and I wouldn’t have gone…” he muttered. I sighed and faced forward in the seat.
“Did you not understand that I didn’t want to come on this damn trip?” I muttered and looked out the window. I heard him sigh and watched him rest his elbow on the edge of the jeep. “Whatever.” I complied and rolled my eyes. “I’ll try to find an open cabin or something once we get there.”
My brain was forgetting the fact that it was the week/weekend of the fourth of July. There wouldn’t even be an open camping ground for a tent, let alone an open cabin. We’d make it work. We didn’t really have much of a choice.
