Unleash The Island

Chapter 19

It was early in the morning. It was not hot yet, but it was going to be soon. Calendars marked with X's in the classrooms had one date left. Students sat patiently until the last bell rang for the school year. Groups huddled to confirm plans, then beelined for their houses.

The next day, a group of five were piled into a car. It was an old, beat up Bronco that was handed down. They were all in bathing suits and trunks. The windows were down and the sunroof was opened. Music blared out of the speakers and they all sang along. The electric guitar took over their minds. Two of them hung outside of the car as they drove down the road.

The driver had one hand on the wheel and another wrapped around Lisa's ankle. She was propped up on the door, sitting. She was holding onto the bar on the roof. Her head was back, her long hair blowing in the wind. Across from her, her friend was also outside of the car and sat on the edge of her door. Lisa and Morgan laughed together as they sang along to whatever was playing.

Back then, it did not matter if you were rich or poor on the island, especially during the summer. Their classmates drove next to them and shouted their names. Music blared from their own car and Lisa swayed a free arm around.

"Lisa," the driver said as he gripped onto her ankle, "please, be careful."

That was her sign to get back into the car. She slid back into the passenger's seat. She had a big smile on her face. Naturally, Lisa wrapped an arm around his and placed her head on his shoulder.

"I do that all the time, Eddie," she protested.

"I know." He glanced down into her big, green eyes.

She planted a kiss on his cheek, then rested in the seat. Ed intertwined their hands and their arms laid on the center console of his car. The beach was getting close. Everybody parked their cars on the shoreline. Ed pulled into a spot and parked it. With urgency, everybody piled out of the car, grabbed their things, and ran to the beach.

Lisa and Ed grabbed their boards from the top of the car. Ed threw her bag on his shoulder and locked the car behind them. With their hands clasped together, they walked down the sandy path. Lisa swung their arms forwards and backwards. He was much taller than her. His hair was shaved, which Lisa approved of. The scar on his eyebrow, from a work accident, was finally starting to heal.

The group had already thrown their things onto the sand and jumped into the water when the two of them got to the beach. Somebody nearby was playing music through a speaker. Everybody was in a cheery mood.

Once they put their massive towel down, Lisa asked, "Could you put sunscreen on my back for me?"

"Yeah," Ed said as he grabbed the bottle from her bag.

She held her long hair in her hands. She felt his hands on her back, rubbing in the sunscreen. He got every crevice, like she instructed him years ago, until every inch of her backside was covered. When she reached for the bottle, he continued to lather it on her arms. Before he covered her neck with sunscreen, he planted a small kiss.

Lisa did her frontside. It was Ed's turn to get lathered, even though he would protest it. She planted a kiss of her own on his mid back, then covered it in sunscreen.

She threw the bottle towards her bag once they were done with it and, before she could even look up, she was in the air. Ed had her thrown over his shoulder as he ran towards the water. Lisa laughed as he trudged through the sand until the water was at his thighs. With not a lot of effort, he threw her into the water. The water crashed against her back and she was submerged.

When Lisa swam back up, she was smiling ear to ear.

It would always be Lisa's favorite memory.