Author's note:
Remember, Liz's thoughts are in italics.
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"Bye, have fun today!" Evan's parents have been married for 20 years today, so his father has planned a fun day for his mother. Evan is staying with us today and tonight we are going to have dinner separately and then all of us will go to a bar. Evan and I are on our way for breakfast alone because my parents already had breakfast.
Today we are going to Lavadaki beach. That's a beach with canoes, swings in the water, sunbeds with wicker umbrella's and more. And it is, looking at the pictures, very cozy there. My parents and I have never been there before.
After breakfast, we pack up our things and get to the car. It's about a forty-minute drive to the beach so that's not too bad. Evan and I sit together in the back of the car. My dad turns up the music and we all sing along. Evan can also sing omg. It's getting better and better.
He grabs his phone and films us, singing together in a car with my parents and puts it on his private story. "Can you send that one to me too?" I ask him. "Of course!" he says.
I get the video and put it on my private story too. There's only Lea and my cousin Sophie in there. But who are in Evan's story? That's the question because I have no idea.
Arriving at the beach we still have to walk a short distance. It is a bit of unpaved road but it is perfectly doable by car. We take two umbrellas around the end of the beach at the water's edge. The first thing Evan and I do is grab a canoe and get in the water.
I sit in front and Evan sits behind me with his knees against my hips. We grab the paddles and we see beautiful fishes and other sea creatures. You can see the crabs walking on the rocks and groups of fish swimming underneath. So we take some pictures so now and then.
The canoeing is super fun. We are laughing the whole time. We are having so much fun and before we knew it, it's lunchtime already.
We take a seat and order some sandwiches. There are very nice people working here with whom we also have nice conversations. After lunch, we go back to the sunbeds. Evan hands me one of his AirPods with his music. He has a good taste in music if I say so myself. Almost all the songs he listens to I know. Now and then he looks at me with a smile and winks at me and I wonder if it has something to do with the lyrics of the music.
"Shall we go for a swim?" Evan and I get up and walk into the water. There are swings in the water a little away so we swim to them. "Did you know that my friends are very positive about you?" Evan says suddenly. "Oh is that so?" "Yes they all think you are very pretty and they say you seem sweet" It almost makes me shy. "That's super sweet! My best friend and my cousin said they think you're a cute and spontaneous guy" He gets a smile on his face.
"Liz you can sing, I heard that in the car," Evan suddenly says once we have arrived at the swings. "Yeah well, that's right," I say holding back a little "and incidentally, you can sing too, I was a little surprised about that" I add. "Yes that's right and I can also play the guitar" "That's so nice!" "I can play sometime when we get home and you can sing along if you want," He suggested. "Yeah seems like a good idea"
Around 4 pm we get ready to head back to the hotel. Evan's parents will be back at the hotel around 6 pm if it all goes as planned so in the time we are at the hotel we will lay on the beach there for a while. Tonight we are all going to dine at "knife and fork". One of the more modern restaurants in Pythagorio.
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"Would you maybe like to play volleyball with me and my brother?" an Italian girl, one of the other residents, asks us. Evan and I look at eachother. "Sure" we respond. I am not very comfortable playing volleyball in a bikini in front of an unknown boy who is probably standing right across me, but I go anyway.
Evan notices that something is not quite right. "Are you comfortable with it Liz?" Can he read my mind or something. "Yes I am but having to jump into a bikini with an unfamiliar boy I'm not really comfortable with that" "If you want you can wear my shirt if you like" "Can I?" He hands me his shirt. It is a gray shirt and it is a bit too big for me. Evan looks at me without saying anything. "What?" I say giggling. "Yes this shirt is too big, I know" I add because he still doesn't say anything and just keeps looking. "You're cute and besides it is pretty attractive, seeing you in my shirt" I turn red and giggle even more. "Come let's go, they are waiting for us" I say and we walk towards them.
"We will introduce ourselves first, though. I'm Ella and that's my brother Lorenzo" the girl says suddenly. "I'm Liz" "I'm Evan" Now the big question will come. I just know it. "Are you guys like boyfriend and girlfriend or something?" They ask. And what to say now? Evan please answer this. "Kind of, well, it's coming" Evan looks at me. I have a huge smile on my face. "Can I say that I think you guys would be a cute couple" Ella says. Evan and I get an even bigger smile on our faces.
We start our game, which we also win. The second game Ella and Lorenzo win. "This will be the deciding game" says Ella."We are going to win this Liz, I promise you" "We will see about that" Lorenzo responses. I have the ball. If I make a point now we win. "You can do it Liz" Evan encourages me. And I make the winning point. "Liz you did it!" Evan runs to me and lifts me up to give me a hug. At that moment I see my mom with her phone in her hand. She's not filming us is she?! Liz just not paying attention to her, just enjoy the moment. I hug firmly back and I'm put back on the ground. "Ella, Lorenzo, let's go!" "Bye, it was nice to meet you guys! Have fun together" And they walk away.
Around 6:45 pm we are about to walk to the town. Our parent are having a conversation about what they did today. "Love, look on your phone" Evan says suddenly. Did he just call me Love. Oh. My. God. That is so cute. I grab my phone and see a notification from Instagram. Evan tagged me in a story. It's a picture of us while we where in the canoe. There are hearts at the top of the corner. "Nahw that's really cute! I'll also post something in a minute". We walk down a small intermediate street. "Pretty young lady, please take a seat" says one of the waiters at a restaurant. This doesn't go down too well with Evan. "Watch your mouth please" I do find this a little funny and Evan and I break out in laughter.
We sit down at "Esperides Restaurant". This is a nice little restaurant where live music is played in the evening. After dinner, our parent go for coffee again. The music has been going on all evening but is now suddenly getting softer. "If anyone feels like playing guitar you can come" says one of the guitarists. Evan looks at me with a questioning look. "Evan you can play something" says his father. "And then you can sing along Liz" says my mom. Evan and I look at each other again and I nod. Evan stands up. "Yeah I want to try something. It won't be anything Greek but if you don't mind my girlfriend and I are going to sing something for you" Did he just call me his girlfriend. This can't be true. He just called me his girlfriend. And he said it so sweetly, too. We walk towards the microphones. "What do you want to play?" I ask Evan as he takes the guitar in his hands.
"Does anyone have a suggestion for a song?" asks Evan to the people in the restaurant. Many people say photograph. "Let's do that then" I say. "Are you ready" asks Evan very softly. I nod. In my mind this is very scary but I want to do it anyway. My hands are shaking as I grab the microphone. Evan plays the first notes and all the tension falls from my shoulders. The lights go out in the restaurant and all the people grab their flashlights. "When your legs don't walk like they used to before" I begin. While I'm singing, people outside the restaurant also come and watch us. Evan and I are looking in each others eyes the whole song and he also sings along from time to time. When the song ends, everyone starts clapping and saying they want to hear more. So that's exactly what we do.
