Late Summer Rain

Red Strawberry Swirls

CHAPTER NINE ~*~*~ Red Strawberry Swirls

I frowned as I sat back in the hot sand and tried not to blind myself by staring straight into the sun. I’ve been having so much fun for the last little while that I didn’t realize that summer vacation was quickly coming to an end. There were only about 2 weeks left until school started again. Oh! The torture!

Groaning, I rolled over on my stomach and looked at Ryan who was walking towards me carrying a big bucket of ice cream. We’ve been home from San Diego for a while now and today, we decided to soak up the sun on the beach. Ryan popped down beside me as I lazily sat up, and placed the 4 litre bucket of ice cream right in front of him. “Can you eat all of that?” I asked him. “It clearly said only one litre of ice cream on your summer to-do list.”

His hair was messy, standing on its ends from swimming in the lake earlier, but he looked irresistible all the same with his goofy, boyish grin and his shirtless, tanned body. I, myself had upgraded and was wearing a bikini now – something I thought I’d never wear – although it was still nothing like those revealing ones.

“Four litres is nothing especially since you’re going to be eating it with me.”

Ryan smirked before handing me a spoon, and so we sat there, devouring the banana strawberry swirl ice cream while digging our feet into the hot sand below. Half an hour later, we were both groaning, completely full from the ice cream sugar overdose. Ryan lay down on the sand to watch the sun that was slowly falling asleep from the long summer day. “Hey, you better finish the rest of this. Don’t waste it.”

“No... I’m so full right now.” He pretended to fall asleep, snoring dramatically – the way my dad always did when he went to bed at night. Only in my dad’s case, he wasn’t pretending.

“Ryan, you’ve got ice cream all over your face.” He ignored me, continuing his sleeping act until I crossed my arms on top of his chest and then rested my head on top of them.

Lazily, his eyelids lifted and he gazed at me sleepily. “You do too.” Then, he raised his head and licked the tip of my nose. “Mmm, strawberry.”

“Ew!!!” I pulled away and gave him a kick on the side of the leg. “That’s gross Ryan Proud!”

“Oh look, Dannie Andrews is actually grossed out by something. That’s a new one.”

“Oh shut up.” Standing, I made my way over to the shoreline and flicked water at him until revenge ignited in his eyes and he jumped to his feet.

“I’m going to get you back for that! Get ready to run!”

Laughing and screaming, I ran as he raced after me across the water's edge until his arms held me firmly from behind. “Caught you! Whoo- Whoops!” I’m not sure what happened next – whether he slipped or I slipped, or the impact of him clashing into me caused us both to slip, but before I knew it we were both laying on top of the damp sand, my body on top of his, my face an inch away. I swallowed hard. My heart was pounding so loud inside my chest that I was afraid he would hear it. Panicking, I started pulling away when Ryan’s hand stopped me.

There was no sign of force – just a gentle hand that cupped my left cheek, his thumb padding across my lower lip. “Don’t,” he said. “Just stay here.”

My mind was thinking, yet not thinking at the same time. He was so close that I could feel my stomach being pecked by a swarm of butterflies. Then he started leaning into me which made my head start spinning. He was so close. So close. “Wait. Wait. Wait.” I closed my eyes, but then opened one eyelid to take a nervous peek at him. “I’ve... I’ve never done this before. I don’t think I’ll be any good.”

His smile broadened across his face. “That’s okay. It’ll come naturally and whether or not it’ll be any good – that’s for me to judge.”

Ryan’s lips parted as he grazed them gently against my own. “Wait. Wait. Wait.” I said. “Am I... Am I supposed to breathe?”

This time, he laughed. “Yeah,” he said. “But it doesn’t matter since I’m going to leave you completely breathless anyway.”

Then he kissed me – slow and gentle at first, then faster, and more passionate until it swallowed me up. “This is number ten on the list, Dannie.” He said to me, pulling away just far enough to give me time to catch myself. “Fall in love.”

I swallowed hard and got off him, suddenly embarrassed by his blunt confession. “I’ve um... I’ve liked you for a while too!”  I quickly lowered my eyes, aware that I’ve been shouting as he chuckled and crawled towards me, pushing me down on the sand so that he was on top of me this time. When he leaned in to kiss me again, my entire body erupted with a burning sensation, making me savour every touch of his skin, lips and tongue.

I wonder if the way I taste drove him insane too.

Suddenly I felt something warm dripping on my chin and running down my neck and chest. I pulled away and realized it was blood. Looking at him, I laughed. “Ryan, you pervert! You’re having a nosebleed.”

Ryan straightened up and rubbed just below his nose with his arm and watched it stain red. “Shit,” he mumbled, got up and started walking away. “I’m going home Dannie.”

“W- What?” It was so suddenly. “Hey, if you’re having a nosebleed Ryan, you should lie down.” I got up and started after him. “Ryan, come back.”

“Don’t follow me,” he said, and then forced a laugh with his back still turned towards me. “It's just bad timing. I always get nosebleeds so you don’t need to worry. It’s just, I was always better when I was with you.” Again, he laughed. “Or maybe, that was what I wanted to believe.”

“W- what? It’s just a nosebleed Ryan. You’re being weird.” But even as I said it, it didn’t feel right. Something felt off. The words. The atmosphere. Something just felt wrong.

“I’ll be fine. Go home. I’m just going to–”

And when he started coughing violently, something inside me knew. You didn’t cough like that from a nosebleed. You didn’t cough up blood like that from a nosebleed. You don’t just fall down and collapse like that.

Everything happened so suddenly that I couldn’t believe the reality that was happening in front of me. He was always so energetic. He was always so cheerful. Everything was so realistic yet everything was so surreal. It was all too sudden, or maybe, it was this way all along, but I’ve just never paid any attention to the finer details.