Love and the Sea and Everything in Between

chapter five

In life, there are losers and there are winners and there are those who are patronized with participation awards. My entire life, I've fallen into the third category.

But I will not be satisfied with being a participator anymore.

So, naturally, I'm in front of the girls' dorm now, knocking wildly on the glass door until Amy answers, her hair a matted mess.

"Adam?" She blinks, whining, "I was taking a nap."

"Can you get Liz for me?"

"Sure," she mutters, disappearing back into the dorms.

I wait until Liz walks out a minute later, wearing the smile that is forever burned into my mind.

I only have a vague idea of what I'm doing, but that's okay. Because I'm here, in this moment, now, with her. And that is the one thing in the world that matters right now.

"Where to?" she asks, her eyes betraying her anticipation.

"The adventure is in the not knowing," I say with a wink.

She rolls her eyes and props a hand on her hip. "Vague must be your middle name."

"Actually, it's Zachary."

"Adam Zachary Scott? I like it."

I smile. "I'll wait with Gus while you grab whatever you need."

She furrows her brow, confused. "What do I need?"

I shrug. "Clothes, blanket, pillow, and whatever else you can't live without."

"What about school?"

"What about school? I for one am not gonna let tomorrow keep me from living today." I throw my hands out to my sides. "Live a little! We've only got so long." I grin.

She hesitates for a moment and I wait, hoping hoping hoping...

Finally, "Okay. I'll be right back," she says and walks back into the dorm.

I breathe a sigh and run my fingers through my wild hair, scratching at my scalp as I walk over to where Gus is parked.

I climb into the driver's seat and Gus roars to life when I turn the key. "No trouble for me today, eh, buddy?" I stroke the dash affectionately.

I see Liz making her way toward us, toting a brown pack. I hop out of the van and walk over to the passenger side. I slide the door open and she throws her pack in next to mine. We're standing next to each other and I look down at her. She turns to meet my gaze and smiles up at me.

"I don't know if this is a good idea. You and I, alone, wandering around. We only met a couple of weeks ago," she says, folding her arms into her chest.

"We've only known each other two weeks and already I can tell you're not the type of girl to let social constructs prevent you from going on a once-in-a-lifetime adventure with the evolutionary anomaly that is Adam West."

"You're not an anomaly, Adam."

I smile. "There is much you've yet to learn about me."

"And that's my point. I am getting ready to go traipsing around God-knows-where doing God-knows-what with a veritable stranger."

"What I'm hearing is that the perfect opportunity to get to know each other just fell right into our laps." I wink. "Besides, how many people that you actually know even say that you can't go on a joyride with a guy who's clearly into you?"

She blushes, then laughs, tongue-in-cheek. "Alright," she whispers, then again louder, "Alright. Let's do it. What've we got to lose?"

"Atta-girl!" I shout, holding the passenger door open for her. She steps in and I close it behind her.

I walk around the front and jump into the driver's seat.

As I shift Gus into gear, I glance over at Liz and, grinning, I say, "Let's make waves."

Andthen we're off.

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