trapped | lierra

twenty six

Amber

Saturday was a lot of fun. We spent the majority of the day on the beach, then did some paddle boarding, and went for dinner. This morning on Sunday we went out for brunch as a group, then went off to do our own thing. Luke and Sierra took me back to paddle board, which I enjoyed a lot, then we went out to some shops.

"Pick out whatever you want," Luke told me.

"I don't really want anything," I admitted.

"Oh come on, you need some souvenirs," he said, then picked up a spoon that said Outer Banks. "How about this?"

"That's a spoon," I giggled.

"People collect spoons,"

"I don't want to,"

"Well, find something else then, or you're getting a spoon," he told me. I nodded and went off to look around. I ended up picking out a crewneck and hat, then met Luke and Sierra back up front of the tiny store.

"I found this that you might like," Sierra handed me a necklace.

"That's so pretty," I smiled, admiring the necklace.

"All good?" Luke asked, which we nodded to. He checked us out, which I thanked him for, then we were walking back to the beach house. Everyone else was still out, so I watched some videos on my phone as Sierra and Luke made a picnic for us to eat on the beach during the firework show. Slowly everyone started coming back with food to bring to the beach and other fun activities.

"Everyone ready?" Michael asked. I threw on my crewneck and grabbed the three blankets we were all sitting on, then we were all out the door. The beach was pretty crowded, but we found a small area away from everyone and sat there for the evening.

"What did you do today?" Ashton asked me as we all were setting up.

"Paddle boarding and shopping,"

"That sounds like fun,"

"What did you do?" I asked.

"Margaret and I went out and looked at some wild horses," he said.

"That's really cool," I smiled. "When are we getting ice cream?"

"Tomorrow evening? We can look for crabs as well," he smiled.

"Ok," I nodded in agreement.

"They come out at night, they're called ghost crabs," he explained. "They pinch, but not bad. We can catch some and then release them,"

"You can, I'm not picking up a crab," I shook my head, then took a seat next to him once the blankets were down.

"Oh come on, it'll be fun," he tried to persuade me, but I shook my head, totally against it.

"Where are we getting ice cream?"

"There's a place that sells ice cream and fudge," he told me. "We can walk there as well,"

"Ok," I nodded. The picnic was passed out and I grabbed a peanut butter and jelly sandwich, taking a bite as we waited. For the most part I just listened to the conversations going around, mostly talking to Ashton and Calum who were closest to me. The two were arguing for the most part, but obviously joking. Luke had said they were all basically brothers at this point.

"Mate, why is it taking so long?" Michael asked, breaking the conversation between Ashton and Calum.

"It should start soon," Ashton glanced at his phone. "They said it started at nine, and it's only a little past," he said. Right as if it was on cue, we heard a huge bang and everything lit up. My hands went straight to my ears and I no longer associated fireworks with happy memories, but instead my mind went straight to the day of the mall shooting.