Girls With Luv

THIRTEEN Spencer

So, I've accomplished the art of being the awkward third wheel in yet another situation. While three people find refuge behind chopping boards and a pot of boiling curry, the other two slowly hide within the newly formed walls of an invisible cocoon. I'm used to being this way, to be honest. I prefer being with myself. But it wouldn't have hurt to get closer with legit celebrities chilling inside the house I currently live in, right?

I stare at Liya and Julian who went out and are sitting by the pool, chatting. I've never seen her like this, not even with Kyle. She seems carefree and comfortable, and the notoriously shy member of EuphoNia seems equally ecstatic, if not more. Good for them, seriously.

I secure the juice glasses on a tray, grab my phone and sling bag and head out into the backyard. The couple that I'm currently shipping stop talking and smile at me. I smile back but make a mental note to not barge in. Liya deserves this more than anyone else.

"Hey." She smiles and it really looks genuine. She's literally glowing, god bless this man right next to her. "Where are you headed?"

"I'm gonna check out the beach," I reply.

"Alone?" Julian's eyebrows scrunch up as if the thought of hanging alone by the beach is preposterous.

"Yeah. Liya, give me a call when the food is ready."

"Will do. Hey, just a second." She stands up, grabs my wrist and drags me to a corner. "You want me to come with you?"

"And leave the love of your life all by himself? How can you be so cruel?"

"Shut up, I'm serious."

"So am I. Just go and relax. I wanna do some writing." I pat my bag, which is the safe house for my diary, and smile. Liya looks unsure and I roll my eyes. "Seriously woman, sit your ass down. Poor guy will start overthinking. Tell me about it all when they leave." I wink.

"Deal." She grins and slowly walks back to where Julian is sitting. I give out a sigh and head for the open beach before someone else stops me.

When you cross the back gate of the beach house, it slowly widens into an enormous, spacious arena that is plain sand stretched out infinitely. It's an okayish long walk and the closer you get to the beach, the colder the waves become. Of course, my outfit doesn't do anything to make the whole process easier for me but I think my skin has accommodated the cruelty. Anyway, I stop by a range of tender plants and connect my earphones. As the music forms a halo around me, I reach the sheer emptiness of the beach. It is pure magic. There are very few people spread out against the large background and the waves gently caress the sand with a sound that breaks through my musical walls.

I close my eyes, take a deep breath in and grin at the sea laid out in front of me. I've been to a beach before, this is not my first time. However, those public beaches and the extensive crowd that came along with it like a free package never allowed me to actually appreciate the beauty of water meeting land. I would struggle to make sense of what was happening while everyone else around me ran around here and there, clicking selfies and almost drowning. I'm glad that that is not the case anymore.

I twirl around, letting my hair fly freely as the sea breeze plays with it in circles. It seriously feels like I'm in a music video. The contrast between my vibrant pink hair and the rest of the scenery is kinda nice, especially when there aren't judgmental eyes lurking around as if on a secret mission. I take out my phone and click pictures - of the sea, the mostly empty beach, my sweet happy face and whatnot. I look at the pictures and smile; I do look like a happy child. I keep scrolling, zooming in the way my mom does when she tries to analyze how bad her right eye looks.

But something catches my attention in one of the pictures. Someone standing behind me, about twenty, thirty steps away, trying to photobomb in one tiny corner of the frame. It's not the act of photobombing that makes me enlarge the image, instead, it's the guy caught in the act. The hair, the extra-large glasses, the jawline... I know that face, I'm sure of it.