The Ultimate first kiss checklist

Chapter 8

I wait with Grayson on the boardwalk as Percy goes to find Isabella.

Percy approaches us with a giggling Isabella next to him. As soon as she sees me she tenses up. Her face moves to Percy and she whispers something to him.

"Grayson this is Isabella." I introduce her to him. He gives a tight smile "It's nice to meet you. I'm Grayson."

She just gives a smile back and reaches for Percy's hand.

"Are we ready to go?" Matthew asks as he leads the group down to the beach. We follow him and I turn to Grayson and whisper "Where are we going?"

He smiles at me "There are hidden caves at the beach we go through and follow it to a private beach. Not a lot of people know about it."

I nod and follow in silence as I take in the waves crashing down on the sand. The tide is high and I wonder how the surfers aren't scared of the height and how the waves move.

I turn to look at Percy and I see them walking hand in hand, watching the waves, before turning back to Grayson.

We get to the caves and slip through the small crack. The inside is lit up as the top is open and it's filled with a small amount of water that reaches up to my ankles. We walk through it and not long after we reach the other side.

The beach is empty, seashells are scattered across the sand. We walk past the beach onto old wooden steps, half of which are broken or have fallen off.

The steps turn into a road made of stones. The ocean gets farther away with each step. The grass is a light green and everything seems brighter. There isn't even a cloud in the sky.

Before I know it I hear Matthew's out-of-breath voice. "Alright, guys why don't we set up here?" Everyone throws their things onto a pile and sits in a circle. Percy and Isabella sit opposite us. I look at Grayson to see him zoned out. I give him a nudge with my shoulder "What's wrong?" He blinks and gives me a confused look making me look at him with a blank expression on my face. "It's nothing... don't worry about it."

"Grayson, please," I beg him for just a bit more. I'm tired of just being left in the dark all the time with no explanation.

"Look it's nothing okay. I would've told you if there was something." His sudden change in mood caught me off guard. I turn my face away from him. Looked around at everyone in their conversations. My eye gets stuck on Percy and Isabella. Her head resting on his lap and him playing with her hair. I smile at their motions.

The boy who has always been there for me, who has been through everything with me has finally found someone. My heart skips.

I see Matthew walk past "Hey Matt, where's the music?" He frantically looks around for what I'm guessing is the speaker. "Uh... good question. Give me a second." And he hurries past. The music starts playing.

My heart rate picks up and I feel my breathing get faster. I stand up trying to keep my breathing in check and walk over to a bunch of trees that hide the city from this small piece of quiet. I pick up my pace until I reach the tree and hide behind it. My back hitting the tree and falling to the ground I feel tears threatening to fall. I put my head in my hands and start counting. Why now! I ask myself. I'm shaking and my heart hurts. What could have possibly triggered it?

My hands get tugged away from my face and when I open my eyes a wide-eyed Grayson is in front of me. "What happened? You were next to me one minute and the next you're gone."

"I- I am so- sorry I didn't m- mean to." I stutter. My oxygen feels like it's getting less with each breath.

He drops down next to me holding me closer to him, holding my head with one hand and the other on my back. "I'm sorry." I sob into his chest.

"You don't have to be sorry. I should be for everything." He puts his chin on my head and rocks us back and forth. "I just want to sit here... just for a little while," I say letting my breathing get back to a normal pace.

"We can stay here as long as you'd like."

I let out a sigh "Thank you." He squeezes me tighter. "What happened?" I shake my head "I don't know, I just felt like things were too much and then my breathing got faster so I thought that I'd just move around and then it felt like a panic attack was hitting me."

"But you're okay?" I can hear the concern in his voice. "Yeah, I'm okay."