[BOOK 1]
"Maybe, this trip together was a huge mistake."
A group of friends survived the ups and downs of Senior year in high school.
Now, the start of summer has begun, and spending this year's summer together couldn't be better right?
Skylar and...
Dark circles hang over my eyes, and hot steam peppers my face.
A bloodshot was noticeable in my right eye, but I couldn't sleep last night. The moment I shut my eyes, the photos flood my memory and those messages cloud my better judgment.
Ezra slouches lazily against the marble countertop, his eyes tired. His eyes stare out of a front window, and pours himself a cup of black coffee into a mug.
"Did you get any messages or photos from that number?" Ezra whispers, taking a sip of his coffee, and breathes out a weary sigh.
I look up and cast a glance around the kitchen, and living room, and look back at Ezra. The sounds of the waves on the beach are background noise in the back of my mind.
The wind gently blows through the wind chime, the comforting melody but now it's almost haunting like a warning call to heed carefully.
"No, I haven't seen any pictures or messages yet, but I think this is just the beginning" I whisper, legs dangling freely from the bar stool and wearing my comfy tye dye sweatshirt.
"But I don't like that someone is watching you somewhere in the shadows... it's unsettling" Ezra acknowledges, his jaw clenches and relaxes slowly.
The clock above the back door in the corner, ticks in constant rhythm over and over in a loop.
"C' Mon let's not talk about this because Mikayla and Justin aren't supposed to hear about this" I counter, setting down my fresh cup of decaf a little too hard.
"What aren't we not supposed to know?" Mikayla adds, ties her dyed hair in a messy bun, and her butterfly tattoo is visible in the middle of her right arm.
"Oh, on how I beat Ezra at the booth we went to last night" I announce, wearing a proud smile on my face while digging for something in the refrigerator.
"Wait, wait I didn't lose to you... I just let you win so you wouldn't feel bad about it later" Ezra admits, with a sly grin on his face sliding back and forth in a pair of socks.
"Hold up, Ezra you lost to Skylar now I gotta hear about this," said Justin, spinning around in the bar stoll his elbows rest on the counter wearing the most innocent smile known to man.
Mikayla snickers, while making her avocado toast. A cup of ice waits for some cold brew with some French vanilla Coffee mate.
The sunrise pans its light shadows across the tiled floors, and kitchen cabinets, and an embarrassing photo of me as a toddler with a face full of cake frosting lays on the dining room table.
I lean my body against the counter, a few inches away from Mikayla watching a couple of teens burst through the front steps and head straight for the beach.
"Skylar? Skylar?!" Mikayla yells, a little louder for me to snap out of the trance of what caught my attention.
"Hmm," I hum in response, still looking outside the window and not casting her a glance.
Mikayla comes a little closer to me and lightly taps my shoulder. She hooks her pinkie with mine and gives a gentle squeeze to say "I'm here."
"Really? The pinkie squeeze is only for when me or you are completely stressed out" I give a small laugh, and then the sounds go quiet from my voice.
"Here" replies Mikayla, sliding me over a plate of avocado toast with a sunny-side egg and topping it off with goat cheese.
I nod in response and take a bite of the toast. The flavors from the egg, the salty and savory taste of the goat cheese, and the creamy texture of the avocado dance all over my tongue.
I could feel at peace, here even if it was only for a moment. But I'm quickly drawn out of this scene in the living room.
"Ezra give it back!" announced Justin jumping up and down to grab his phone.
"No, Justin do you have something to hide?" Ezra teases, and leans forward holding Justin's phone high above his head.
"I don't have anything to hide just give me back my phone" replied Justin heaving a sigh and trying to free his phone from Ezra's strong grip.
I set down the coffee on the counter and hit Ezra on the back of his head.
"Ow, what did I do to deserve this?" Ezra mumbles under his breath and rubs his head with his hand to ease the pain.
Ezra's grip on Justin's phone loosens and lands in my hand. I toss Justin his phone and stick out his tongue at Ezra, while Ezra rolls his eyes and walks off to the far end of the couch.
On the couch, I see Mikayla and Justin jump onto Ezra and all of them erupt into big fits of laughter. Mikayla and Justin give a tickle fest, but Ezra tries to fight the laughter and fails to do so.
My phone buzzes in my back pocket, dims the brightness, and goes into a hallway checking over my shoulder.
𝐘𝐎𝐔'𝐑𝐄 𝐀 𝐁𝐀𝐃 𝐋𝐈𝐀𝐑, 𝐒𝐊𝐘𝐋𝐀𝐑
I stare at the text message long enough to hope that it disappears, but it doesn't. Maybe keeping secrets from Mikayla and Justin will be the death of me sooner or later.
But now, I need to pretend that everything is fine, nothing is wrong and nothing will ever change....
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author's note
If anyone guesses the word count for this chapter, you can suggest what could happen in the next chapter!
I hope all of you have a great weekend and see you next Friday! 💌
