Blame It On the Beach

Chapter Twelve

^ joshua ^

The next couple days go on pretty much the same way; we get up, eat a lot, swim, and tan. We hang out with Milo, the three of us, a couple more times, mostly sharing dumb stories while we lay by the beach or the pool. I feel like I'm growing more and more used to his company, and with each day I'm more and more glad that the Ferrises moved into the house next door.    

It's Tuesday afternoon after our shift, and the three of us are walking to a deli that has pretty good bagels, when Quinn audibly gulps and tries to subtly fix her hair. I follow her gaze, and see Joshua Berg standing on the corner, looking like a male model with his windswept hair and dark sunglasses on.

"Holy. Shit," Quinn whispers, as we get closer to him.

"Hey Josh!" I say, and he looks up, smiling slightly when he sees us.

"Hey guys," he replies, giving Quinn and I hugs, smelling strongly of cologne. He looks at Milo. "And who's this?"

"This is my new neighbor, Milo," I say, as they nod at each other. "He's in my grade."

"How've you been?" Quinn asks, slightly breathily. "How was senior year?"

He turns to her, his eyes obscured by his dark shades. "So much fun," he replies. "You're gonna love it."

"You going to Penn State?" Milo asks, gesturing to the t-shirt Josh is wearing from the university. Josh nods. "Cool, my cousin goes there."

"Oh really?" Josh says. "What's her name, maybe I'll look her up." Now he's smirking, and I'm rolling my eyes.

Milo's lips twitch a little, like he's containing a smile. "It's actually a 'he'. But if you're interested..."

I grin, and start to laugh when Josh's smirk falls off his face. Milo's eyes shift to me, and he grins too.

"Are you waiting for someone?" Quinn asks.

Josh nods. "Yeah, I was gonna grab lunch with some friends."

My stomach grumbles a little, reminding me of our interrupted quest for bagels. "We were actually on our way to lunch too," I say. "By the way, I'm having a party at my house this Friday, if you want to come."

It took a whole lot of begging to get my mom to let me have a thing on Friday. But since two of our good friends from home, Margalit and Cassandra, are coming in for the weekend, and my dad went back home yesterday, Mom agreed to go out with one of her friends for the night so that I could have people over, as long as everyone is out by 1 and the house doesn't get trashed.

"Sure, I'll be there," Josh replies, and with a final goodbye we go our separate ways again.

"Did he get hotter or is it just me?" Quinn says bluntly once we've walked into the deli, and I send an apologetic look to Milo, who is smiling a little awkwardly.

"If you don't hook up with him on Friday, I will personally beat you up," I say.

Quinn scoffs. "As if you could take me in a fight."

"I'll get Milo to help," I say, resting my elbow on his shoulder as we wait on line to order.

Milo holds his hands up. "Whoa," he says, when Quinn turns to glare at him. We all order bagels with cream cheese, and once we've paid we head back outside, starting to walk along the boardwalk as we start eating.

"So this thing on Friday," Milo asks in between bites. "How big are we talking?"

I swallow a bite of my bagel. "Not that big," I reply. "I don't really want my house to burn down."

"Smart."

"You invited Krista, right?" Quinn asks.

I nod. "I can't exactly not invite her."

"Part 2 with Sawyer?" Quinn's tone is sarcastic.

I breathe out a laugh. "Perhaps."

"So, your friends are coming in?" Milo asks after a while.

"Yeah, Cassandra and Margalit," I reply. "We became friends with them sophomore year after we all had to do some dumb project together. They're both really nice." Cassandra is the token "hot girl" in our friend group at Horace Mann. Pretty much every guy in our grade wants to hook up with her, with her light brown hair and blue-grey eyes. Margalit is one of the chillest people I know; she doesn't really care about others' opinions and in general is great to hang out with.

"Yeah, and they've never come out here before, so it should be fun," Quinn adds.

By the time we reach the beach, we've finished our bagels and decide to go for a swim, even though we don't have any towels. We spot Alex, Noah, and Sawyer playing volleyball a short distance away, and swim over to them. Quinn sneaks up on Noah from behind, jumping on his back, and he lets out a scream. He turns around, laughing when he realizes it's Quinn, and we all greet each other.

We join in on their volleyball game, and have been playing for a while when Alex turns to me and asks, "Aren't your friends coming this weekend?" I nod.

"Are they hot?" he asks, smirking, and Quinn and I roll our eyes.

"C'mon," Sawyer says. "What are their names?"

"Cassandra and Margalit."

"Alright, so is Margalit hot? Or Cassandra?" Noah asks, and they all laugh.

Quinn and I exchange amused looks. "Hmm, something tells me you're not exactly her type," I say, and Quinn laughs.

Noah frowns. "What are you talking about?" he says, flexing his biceps. "Who wouldn't want this?" Quinn tosses the volleyball at his face. I notice that Milo has remained quiet throughout this whole exchange.

We play around a little more, before deciding to get out. Sawyer, Noah, and Alex leave together, while Quinn and Milo and I stay behind, lounging in the sand.

"You know, you're allowed to ask if our friends are hot," I say to Milo, knowing it's the stupidest thing I could possibly say but still wanting to say it. He looks at me, his eyebrows slightly raised in surprise.

Then he just shrugs. "I didn't really want to make you feel uncomfortable," he replies. I nod, feeling my cheeks heat up in embarrassment. "Also, I kinda-" But he is cut off by the sound of a phone ringing.

Quinn jumps up, dusting sand off her legs. "It's my mom," she says. "I'll be back in a little."

Without towels, it's a little uncomfortable lying in the sand as it sticks to our still-wet bodies, but Milo looks comfortable as he rests his arms behind his head.

"You were saying?" I say.

He looks at me for a moment, then turns back to the ocean ahead. "Oh, nothing."

We sit side by side in a comfortable silence, as I feel the heat emanating from his body. We're close, almost touching. Not quite.

"You know, I'm glad I moved next door to you, Emilia Marshall," he says suddenly. And I don't know if it's the honesty in his voice, or the way his eyes crinkle at the sides when he smiles at me, or if it's just the salty smell of the beachy air and the serenity of the waves ahead of us, but suddenly I'm leaning in and giving him a quick kiss on the cheek. Just a light peck, nothing crazy, but it's enough to send my heart racing and make my stomach flip.

He looks over in surprise, as his cheeks turn a little pink. "What was that for?" he asks.

I shrug, trying to act casual even though deep down I'm anything but. "I'm just glad you moved next door to me, Milo Ferris."