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38- I'm The One

Jeremy

Upon picking up the large seashell, Hailey while still stripped down, put it against her ear and gave it a listen. Her face began to beam at the sounds coming from the shell.

"You have to give this a listen. Like, this is really amazing." The shell was handed off to me.

Taking the shell, I placed it against my ear. The sound of the waves traveled through my ears. Once the waves calmed, a simple sound of the ocean could be heard with a bird in the background.

"How do you like that ambient noise?" Hailey asked finding another seashell on the ground. It was picked up and we both gave them a listen. "Like, isn't it amazing how a shell can capture the sounds around you?" We became silent as we continued to listen to the sounds. "You know, it's almost like we're listening to music. Like, when you think about it, there is sound all around us all the time. We're always listening to some kind of music."

I could feel the passion in Hailey's voice as she talked about sound and music. Somehow, I felt like I had known this girl my entire life. Seriously, where had she been this entire time? Before I knew it, both of our eyes were closed with our fingers intertwined and the shells held by another hand.

"Oh, can you hear the ocean," she began singing with the shell connected to her ear.

"Oh, can you hear the waves, you don't have to fear, you don't have to fear."

This girl had the most beautiful singing voice. And with my eyes being closed, it was as if I were dying and could hear a choir of angels singing and welcoming me to paradise. With the song continuing, I began snapping my fingers at a slow and steady rhythm.

"When we hear the waves, we can travel through the caves, you don't have to fear, oh can't you hear?"

This lasted a good five minutes with her improvising lyrics straight out of her brain. Together, we were making music. This was a precious moment that I never wanted to forget. Could this last forever? After those five minutes, Hailey took a breath and we both opened our eyes.

"You know, you have an amazing voice," I complimented. "You need to showcase that voice of yours more often. You're holding your talent out on everyone."

While still holding the shell, she blushed a bright red and put her sight towards the ground. Coming to her rescue, I dropped my shell while she still held hers. Our bodies grew close with little space as I grabbed hold of her chin. Hailey bit her lips a couple of times.

"I don't know," she replied. "Like, what if people actually hear my voice?"

"Hailey Romero!" My lips were definitely not frowning. "Are you telling me that you're afraid of what people might think of you? Do you know what this means?" She gave no response and only licked her lips waiting for my answer. "You're afraid of the future just like me."

Hailey released a laugh and pinched my nose. "Jeremy Phillips, like, I am not afraid of the future. I'm a confident woman who's in the present and is living in the moment."

"No, you are afraid of the future. If you're not afraid of the future, then why are you scared of having an audience that you don't yet have. In my book, that's called being afraid of the future. So much for calling yourself "Ms. Living in the Moment." Am I right?"

We both found ourselves in laughter and began rough housing with each other in glee. After a moment, Hailey tripped to the ground with me tripping along with her. My palm found a grip on her covered breast. It took me a moment to realize what I was touching. Upon realizing this, my whole body heated up with a furious heartbeat. Crap, I could actually feel the sweet skin of her chest.

Interestingly enough, she didn't mind and smiled in a weird approval. In fact, her fingers began to feel my own chest with a little pinch to my nipple. Crap, what was happening? Why couldn't I take my grip off of her? And why was there a weird-looking mark on top of her chest? How had I not noticed it until that moment? Someone seriously needed to put an end to what was happening here.

Something quickly caught Hailey's attention. A sound was coming from the shell. Picking it up, she held it against her ear once again. It was the sound of a song coming from the radio of the car. We both sat on the sand as I picked up my shell to listen to whatever this song was that captured her attention.

"I'm the one

I've been here for you all along

I'm the one

Whose shoulder you've been cryin' on."

This sounded like a song from The Descendents. In fact, it sounded a lot like one of the songs I added to JEM. It suddenly dawned on me that this song was in fact on the JEM. Hailey began singing along to the song and I was confident enough to sing along with this hidden talent sitting next to me.

"That's the truth and you know I'm right

From everything you say

There's no way he'll ever do you right

You love a man who treats you wrong

You think you'll change him

But you're wrong

He'll use you, he'll say so long,

After all he's said and all he's done."

As the song went on, singing along felt a little weird. Strangely, the lyrics held a weird type of truth. It felt like this song was somehow speaking to me. Was it speaking to Hailey? If so, in what way was it speaking to her? Maybe I was overthinking all of this. Perhaps I really did need to take Hailey's advice and live in the moment. All I really needed to do was close my mind and sing along with this angel. Closing my eyes and mind, I simply sang along without giving this song another thought.

Hmm. What else could be on the JEM? Thanks for reading. Remember to comment and vote!

Have you ever listened to a seashell?

Is Jeremy overthinking this song?

Are things getting a little too crazy between these two?