The sun is already starting to set, but we walk out toward the water anyway. We both carry our shoes in hand and we trudge through the sand. Finally, we sit down to enjoy the ice cream that is melting like crazy. It may be December, but ice cream still melts at 65°. For a while, we're just silent, watching the water turn into a golden haze.
"Thank you," I say, smiling at the water. "This is amazing. I haven't come here in years."
"I love it here. Plus the ice cream is always phenomenal," he says as he buries his feet in the sand.
"So you're admitting that the vanilla is delicious?" He shakes his head and looks up at the dimming sky.
"I hate myself for it, but I might have to start getting this every time." We settle into another comfortable silence. Just as the sun reaches the horizon, I take a picture of it on my phone.
"Oh wow. That somehow looks beautiful even on my phone," I say. Clay looks over my shoulder, nodding in approval. "I might be a basic bitch and post it on my story."
"You should. It's a beautiful sunset. Deserves some recognition." I make a story on my instagram with pictures of the sunset, our ice cream, and one that Clay took of me while we were walking toward the beach. Right as I'm about to post it, he stops me and takes my phone from my hand.
"What are you doing?" I ask, but he just types a little note on the screen. "Clay?"
"You have to tag me, duh." I roll my eyes and take my phone back. I almost click the post button before I notice the username he tagged.
@dreamwastaken
"You-" I have no clue what to say.
"As you may already know," he starts, "my dear mother has a hard time keeping secrets from people she likes. She's an awful liar." I stay silent, so he continues. "So, in case you haven't already figured it out... that's who I am. A green block man who plays Minecraft and makes inappropriate jokes with his friends."
"I- That's awesome, Clay." Words leave my mouth, but my mind is still empty.
"That would also be why I'm not big into crowded public areas. I'm not recognized very often, but I prefer to keep it that way." He searches my face for a reaction, but I refuse to put one forth. "So... that's all. Thoughts?"
"My thoughts have already happened... all through last night, actually."
"Ah, you got dragged into the wiki pages, didn't you?"
"Maybe. I feel like I know too much about you know but from a really different perspective." He laughs and leans back on his elbows. "I'm sorry I looked it up," I say, laying back on the warm sand beside him.
"Nothing changed between us and that's all I care about. Sometimes people get really weird. One guy that I was friends with immediately threatened to leak it to the entire internet if I didn't pay him off."
"So you paid him off?"
"No, I just told his mom. He was 19 but he still lived with his parents. So he got in trouble. We're not really friends anymore."
"I would hope not," I agree. A moment later, the sun is just barely holding itself above the horizon and the last rays of gold are struggling to hold onto the water's surface any longer. I turn to look at Clay and I find his eyes already on me. For a second, he doesn't look away, but a baby crying a little ways down the beach catches his attention enough to make him turn.
"Hey, don't forget to post your story," he reminds me. After all that, I had almost forgotten completely. A moment later, the pictures are posted with his instagram tagged.
YOU ARE READING
family friends
FanfictionA few months ago, you moved into a new house and found that your neighbor, Isabella, loves baking as much as you do. After a while, you become close with her family-at least most of them. She's always talking to you about her oldest son, Clay, but y...
