The Summer of Serendipity

Chapter 4

Mae's Perspective

I find Trevor waiting for me at the door, a smile appearing across his face the second I exit the house. I close the door behind me, making sure there are no unwanted gazes.

"You like hot," he smirks, grabbing my hand as he leads me to his car. He opens my door, making sure I get in before he does the same. Such a gentleman.

"So, you gonna tell me where we're going?" I ask as he begins to drive, not having any navigation open to give some hit as to where we are going.

"I told you, it's a surprise. I promise it will be fun. It'll be a good way to start of the summer," is all the information he gives me. The suspense is killing me and I can only hope that whatever it is we do it will be a simple romantic date, just the two of us.

Soon we begin driving along the coast, passing the beaches I'm familiar with as we head farther up north. The sun slowly begins to set, lying just above the ocean horizon. We finally pull into a parking lot, one that I'm unfamiliar with. Whatever beach we are at is clearly one that I have never attended.

"Where are we?" I ask as I survey my surroundings, following Trevor down a sandy path that clearly leads us to the ocean. Along with the crashing of the waves, the sounds of music and chattering voices begin to fill my ears. Weird.

"Welcome to the first summer bonfire," he grins as the trail finally comes to an end, revealing the beach. The beach is filled with a huge burning fire, along with at least a hundred people who are drinking and dancing to the loud music coming from a large speaker.

"What do you think?" Trevor asks, his voice filled with excitement. He clearly is thrilled to be here.

"It's awesome." I do my best to hide the disappointment from my voice. I have to admit, I didn't picture our date to be at some random beach bonfire. Especially one where I clearly know no one.

Trevor wraps his arm around me and leads me through the crowds. As we walk, I search for some other familiar face. Although I have Trevor, I can tell by the way his eyes are scanning the crowd that his friends are here and he'll want to hang out with them. The last thing I want to do is keep him from having fun.

"Pretty cool don't you think? My buddy from college told me about it and I figured it would be fun," he explains as he hands me a drink. I smell it and the smell of alcohol immediately taints my nose. I've never been a big drinker, but at this moment I can tell I'm going to need it.

"I've never been to anything like this. Are you planning on meeting your friends?" I ask, pulling his attention away from the crowds.

"Uh probably for a little bit if that's okay. I promise the rest of the time I'll-"

"YO! JACKSON!" someone yells, waving their arms in the air. The someone quickly makes their way over to us along with a few other guys. I stand there silent as Trevor greets his friends, immediately becoming engulfed by a conversation. It isn't until someone points me out that Trevor introduces me.

"Guys, this is my girlfriend Maliah," he says to his friends. I give all of them a subtle smile, unsure of what to say.

"So you're still in high school right?" one of them points out, giving Trevor a nudge on the shoulder as the rest of them snicker.

"Ya, I'm a senior right now," I respond, unsure of why the hell they care about what grade I'm in.

"Oh cool," the guy says before starting another conversation, one that doesn't involve me. Once again I'm left standing quietly, being completely ignored.

"Hey Trevor, you up for going in the water?" someone asks daringly. I glance over to the water, and my eyes are greeted with darkness due to the lack of light. No one in their right mind would go swimming right now.

"Trevor I don't think that's a good-"

"Hell ya! Let's do it," Trevor says as he takes off his shirt, completely ignoring my concerns. He doesn't even say anything to me before he takes off running to the ocean along with his friends. It's as if I'm invisible.

As they rush into the dark ocean, a group of people heads to the water's edge, flashlights on to help them at least see something. Instead of joining everyone else, I find a makeshift chair made from a log and take a seat. I sit there for the next 15 minutes, waiting for Trevor to come out of the water and hopefully pay some attention to his girlfriend. As I wait, I down at least three more drinks, allowing myself to give in to the addictiveness of alcohol.

Finally, after what feels like forever, Trevor and his friends emerge from the water, earning themselves a round of applause and cheers. Everyone surrounds them as they make their way through the crowd and towards the drinks, where Trevor then proceeds to chug a can of beer. He lets out a loud cheer as he finishes the last of it, hyping up the crowd.

As if on cue, someone turns the music up, causing everyone to instantly start parting again. I watch Trevor from my log, hoping he'll remember I'm here and will come looking for me, but he doesn't. He continues to party, clearly forgetting all his thoughts about me.

I want to go home.

Remembering Trevor gave me a ride here, I realize that I'll have to ask my mom to pick me up. She's not going to be very happy about this.

I send her a text asking her if she can pick me up, along with my location. The second she reads my text, she calls me. This is going to be fun.

"Maliah, where the hell are you? It's almost 11:00 and you're asking if I can come pick you up from some random beach?" she yells at me through the phone.

"Trevor took me to some party and I just don't want to be here right now," I sigh, trying my best to hide the drunkenness in my voice. If she found out I was drinking, she would kill me.

"I can not believe you right now. When you get home-"

"Nicole stop yelling at your poor daughter. My lovely son can go pick her up. He's not doing anything right now," I hear Natalia yell in the background. They must not have gone home yet so that means-

"Oh, that's a great idea!"

"Wait no it's fine. Jackson doesn't need to come pick me up. I'll- I'll just stay, okay?" I say quickly, hoping my mom hasn't made up her mind.

"Too late. He's already on his way," is all my mom says before hanging up the phone. It's clear she's enjoying my misery. I set my phone down, and immediately rush over to the drink table. I want to be drunk enough that I won't remember a single moment of this night.

What do you guys think? How do you guys feel about Trevor? The next chapter is going to be a continuation of this chapter so hang tight!